Income, Assets, And Net Worth – What Do You Need?

““Wealth unused might as well not exist.”” – Aesop, The Miser and His Gold

In an issue of Strategic Opportunities, James Dale Davidson had this to say about building wealth: “Contrary to the misleading advice in "The Millionaire Next Door" and other best-selling books, the key to becoming really rich is not pinching pennies but . . . through ownership.” Jim makes an important point, although he misinterprets the 1996 best seller to do so. Dr. Thomas J. Stanley’'s Millionaire Next Door was a study of millionaires, not multi-millionaires.

The Miser’s Guide To Wealth Building

For this bottom tier of the American rich, working hard, living frugally, and saving money have been the three ingredients in acquiring a seven-figure net worth. And if your main goal in life is to retire comfortably, following this formula is absolutely the best and surest way to accomplish your mission.

But is that the way you want to live your life? Pinching pennies? What’’s the point in making money if you don’’t have fun with it. Don’’t get me wrong. I believe in saving. But since you want to live well AND have a comfortable retirement, you have to do more.

So what can you do?

First, you must increase your income. Bump yourself up to another income level and you and your family can enjoy a better life. But consider this before you do: There are basically only four lifestyle levels in America.

The Four Basic Living Standards

If you have a family income of less than $50,000, you are poor. Life sucks. If you earn between $50,000 and $150,000, you are just getting by. Your bills are paid and you can afford some small luxuries, but you have to be careful. McDonald’s is your favorite restaurant. You keep promising yourself you’’ll start saving but your bank account reads “nada.”

When your family income exceeds $150,000, you are comfortably middle-class. You don’’t worry about paying bills. You can save for college and retirement. You can go out to dinner and the movies. And you can take vacations.

Here’’s the interesting thing: This lifestyle doesn’’t change in any meaningful way when your income passes $200,000, $300,000 or $400,000. In fact, it doesn’’t really change until you are making more than a million dollars.

There are differences. If you are making, say, $750,000 a year, your house is nicer than that of the guy who makes $150,000 – but both houses are nice. Same is true of your cars and your furniture. And if you apply the SYTSF rules of Living Rich, you can have a better lifestyle earning $150,000 than does the garish jerk who’s making five times as much as you.

Keep in mind that the more you make, the less, percentage-wise, you keep. Make $150,000 a year and you’ll have more than $100,000 to spend. Make $750,000, and you’’ll have about $350,000. When you start making more than a million bucks a year, there is a big change. Unless you are completely out of control, you will be able to save most if not all of your after-tax income that exceeds the million. In other words, if you make $2 million you should save almost $500,000 a year. That can add up pretty fast.

So if you can get your income above a million, you can get rich by saving. But if you can’'t make more than a million bucks a year, you have to find another way to acquire wealth.

The Other Way To Build Substantial Wealth

How do you acquire the $4 million-plus liquid net worth that will allow you to retire with a post-tax income of, say, $250,000? For that, you need to own something. Forbes magazine put it this way: The very wealthy “typically own significant stakes in successful businesses in industries that are leading the economy forward. Great wealth, in other words, almost always springs from ownership, not income.”

I remember making this point to PH. Following some basic SYTSF principles, he had elevated his income from about $25,000 to more than $200,000. He was very happy but also interested in making more. I told him my theory about the four levels and suggested he start his own business. He did, and that business today is worth more than a million dollars.

Here’'s SYTSFs 5-Step Wealth-Building Program:

1. Get your income up to at least $150,000 so you will be able to enjoy life and save a measly million for retirement.

2. Live rich.

3. Get yourself equity in a business, –something that will be worth at least $3 million by the time you retire.

4. Gradually build a real-estate portfolio that can, itself, be worth a million bucks some day.

5. Invest the rest safely.

That’'s the plan. Stay with SYTSF and you will absolutely, without any doubt, make it.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

How To Educate Yourself For Success – And Get Wealthy The Smart Way

““No matter what a man’s vocation or avocation may be, the nature of his progress through life is largely dependent on his ability to sell.”” – Frederick W. Nichol

It's no secret that countless studies show that better-educated people make more money. The question is, how you can YOU become richer by making yourself better educated?

Actually, this is a big topic, one that would take hours and hours to properly cover. I’'m not going to do that here, but I can give you the short and succinct version. And then we can go into it in a little more depth at some other time.

Let’'s start with this observation: Virtually all high-income individuals have two benefits. First, they are in positions of authority. (Think politicians and company presidents.) And second, they have a relatively high degree of knowledge about something valuable (as do, for example, lawyers, doctors, and engineers).

If you can get yourself into a position in which you have BOTH knowledge and authority, you can make a lotta, lotta money.

OK, So You Forgot To Get A Medical Degree . . . What Do You Do Now?

Here’'s what I would do: I would figure out what line of work I’'d like to be in and then become an expert at some aspect of it that would make me a lot of money.

What business or profession could that be in your case? Well, if you are already committed to a career, and you like it well enough, you could stick with that. If, on the other hand, you hate your work and everything about it, and everyone connected with it, you should look for greener pastures.

But for the moment, let’s say you work as a bookkeeper for a new-car dealership and are not satisfied with your $40,000 salary. You could dream of owning the business, but that’'s not likely to happen any time soon. You need money to own a car dealership. Money you don’'t have right now. For the immediate future, you have to set your sights on something that is attainable. So, look around. Aside from the owner, who else is making good money? Well, the sales manager is bringing down a steady $90,000 a year. That’'s not bad. And then there’'s Joe, the No.1 salesman, who is making even more than that.

You check it out and discover that you can’'t be the sales manager because the company has a firm policy of hiring only MBAs for that job. So that leaves you one option: becoming a salesman and going on to claim Joe’'s spot as Numero Uno Salespro.

You could tell yourself, “Forget about it! I am not a natural, and God only knows it takes a natural schmoozer to sell cars.”

But if you are smart, you will recognize that selling cars, like almost everything else in life, is a process that involves no magic, just specific actions –each of which can be studied and then learned.

Let’s say you become friendly with Joe and eventually gain his trust. You take him out for a drink one evening and get him to open up and reveal his secrets . . . the things he does to consistently outperform (and outearn) every other salesperson.

Learn To Sell Anything

I’m not an expert at selling cars, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the conversation went something like this:

Joe: “If I’'m selling to a couple, I always shake hands with the man first. That way, he feels important. Something he needs to feel to make the decision I want him to make.”

You: “That’'s neat, Joe. What else?”

Joe (smiling): “One thing I never do is say, right off, how much a car costs. If, before I’'m ready to close, a customer pops the ugly question, this is what I say: ‘Let me ask you something, Mr. So-and-So, how important is it to you to drive a car that is safe and comfortable for your family?’”

And then Joe would tell you a few more “things” he always does. Now, these “things” individually may not amount to all that much. But put together in a single presentation, they add up to this: how Joe manages to be the company’s No.1 salesperson month after month after month.

Since that – becoming as good as Joe – is your goal, these specific “things” he does are the secrets you need to learn. None of these secrets is magic. They are merely specific, “educated” actions that can be learned.

The great salesman, you now understand, is not somebody with supernatural powers but an ordinary person with specific, valuable knowledge.

The same is true of any moneymaking profession. People who actively earn high incomes do specific things that result in some desired outcome: a sold car or a perfectly designed microchip, for example.

Most people who aren’'t financially successful don’'t understand this. They feel they are adequately educated and blame their poor circumstances on factors that are either unrelated or only marginally related to their lack of success. They say their bosses don’'t like them. They claim to be victims of racism, gender bias, or prejudice. They say they are not understood. Or not properly appreciated.

If you find yourself talking that way, do yourself a favor. Button it up. Stop complaining. Dale Carnegie said the three worst things you can do are criticize, condemn, and complain. He was talking about how to win friends and influence people, but this is wisdom that can be applied equally to financial success.

Gripe Elsewhere. This Is Moneyville.

Stop complaining about your circumstances and start doing something positive. Say goodbye to the comfort of blaming others for your own shortcomings and say hello to the knowledge you need to succeed.

If you start today by identifying a specific, high-paying job that you want to do, you will have taken the first big step. Figure out what you want to do and then promise yourself that you will become an expert at it, even though you have no immediate prospects of doing it.

Starting tomorrow, learn something about that job. Find out what it takes in terms of hours and days. Find out what it typically pays and when it pays more and why. Ask about the daily routine, the common problems, the biggest challenges, and the best rewards. Ask. Observe. Read.

Keep it up, day after day, until you start to feel as if you understand the job. Then accelerate the process. Approach those, perhaps from other companies, who do the same job. Tell them what you know and ask their opinions. Admit your ambitions to them. You’'ll be surprised at how much they’'ll tell you.

As you become more and more of an expert, it will start to show. Even if you don’'t intend it to. You will be more informed. More confident. You will speak with greater authority and more clarity. People will begin to treat you differently. They will gradually come to regard you as a person who deserves their respect. You may find them asking you questions, seeking your advice. You will notice that your boss and other “superiors” will look at you and talk to you differently.

Ultimately, you will no longer feel ignored or unappreciated. Then, one day, the opportunity will assert itself. A job will open up. And you will be called in to fill it. Why? Because the word will already be out. You will have already demonstrated that you are “perfect” for the job, and so the decision to hire you will be an easy one.

In the case at hand, you will be hired as a car salesman because you know the cars– and you know their prices, and you know the selling protocols and procedures, the company requirements, the legal requirements, and so on.

Your next goal will be to outsell every other salesman. And you will do that by, again, studying the specific actions of the best salesmen and then learning those specific actions until you know them completely. That will give you the confidence to use them. And in using them, you will get the reward of seeing them work and this will give you the motivation to continue.

Before you know it, you will be at the top of the heap, earning the kind of money you are right now only dreaming about. And then you can start making promises to yourself. First to make a hundred grand. Then a million. Then 10 million. After that? Anything is possible.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

The Richest Man in Babylon: Perpetual Income

Babylon was reputed to be the wealthiest city of the ancient world. Not just in terms of its ruling class, but also among a large population of merchants and professionals and farmers who lived in beautiful homes, enjoyed produce from their own gardens, and were able to comfortably retire well before they were too old to work.

So says George S. Clason in his 1955 best seller, “The Richest Man in Babylon”. It’s not a serious book, but it’s an amusing read if you have a taste for success parables. It’s also a reminder of the wealth-building principles in the tradition of Ben Franklin that we hold to in Seven Years to Seven Figures.

The story begins with Bansir, “sitting upon the low wall surrounding his property, gazing sadly at his simple home and the open workshop in which stood a partially completed chariot.”

Kobbi, a friend and musician, stops by to borrow two shekels.

“If I had two shekels,” Bansir replies gloomily, “to no one could I lend them — not even to you, my best of friends; for they would be my fortune. No one lends his entire fortune, not even to a best friend.”

Floored by the thought that the two of them haven’t got two shekels between them, the old friends begin to speculate on the disparity of wealth in Babylon, even among free men, and cannot understand why they, who have worked so hard for so many years, are still so poor.

They decide to consult with Arkad, who is said to be the richest man in Babylon.

“So rich the king is said to seek his golden aid in affairs of the treasury,” Kobbi says.

“So rich,” Bansir interrupts, “that I fear if I should meet him in the darkness of the night, I should lay my hands upon his fat wallet.”

“Nonsense,” says Kobbi. “A man’s wealth is not in the purse he carries. A fat purse quickly empties if there be no golden stream to refill it. Arkad has an income that constantly keeps his purse full, no matter how liberally he spends.”

“Income — that is the thing,” exclaims Bansir. “I wish an income that will keep flowing into my purse whether I sit upon the wall or travel to far lands.”

And with that goal in mind, the two old friends go to seek the wisdom of Arkad.

Thus ends the first chapter of “The Richest Man in Babylon,” with Basir coming to an important understanding: “The reason why we have never found any measure of wealth,” he says, “is because we never sought it.”

When it comes to wealth, the two most common mistakes people make are:

1. Believing that if they want it badly enough they’ll one day get it.

2. Believing that working harder and longer than their neighbor will achieve it.

I am involved in three personal wealth-building projects. In each case, I’m working with an intelligent, energetic, and serious person who has spent 20 or more years working long hours, enduring great stress, and making enormous sacrifices. All three of these people have arrived at middle-age with very little to show for it. Some memories, some good stories . . . but virtually nothing in the bank.

One has been an executive for non-profit organizations all her life. Another has owned and run his own business. A third has spent 25 years trying to get an import-export business going. All three are extremely smart, hard-working, and at least as ambitious as I am.

So why aren’t they rich?

Simply this: They have not sought wealth in the sense that Bansir describes it. They have not directed their working lives according to a proven, practiced method of wealth building.

In pursuit of wealth, most people make foolish mistakes — simple mistakes that add up to a lifetime of disappointment and, ultimately, failure.

Becoming good at producing wealth is no different from becoming good at any other complex skill — singing, acting, surgery, etc. You must develop specific, individual skills. By practicing these specific skills, you become better at them. As you pair one skill with another, new strengths emerge. Gradually, you change from being a hardworking person who cannot seem to save money to a wealth-creating dynamo.

It’s all about habits — developing specific little habits. Each one is not difficult to master. But each one must be studied, learned, and practiced.

It takes 1,000 hours to master painting, dancing, or gymnastics. It takes no more time to master the skill of building wealth.

I know you can do, it because I did it. For the first half of my life I worked like a madman, helping other people get rich. But it was not until I stopped to figure out how I could actually acquire wealth and made that acquisition plan a formal part of my life that things changed for me. You too can start to become wealthy by coming up with a plan that will make it happen.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

Become A Millionaire By Investing Only A Dollar A Day

In “The One Minute Millionaire,” authors Hansen and Allen say there are two routes for climbing “Millionaire Mountain”: the long route and the short route. The long route is the safest and easiest. You can become a millionaire by simply investing a dollar a day (roughly $30 a month) over a period of time.

Here is how long it would take you to become a millionaire by investing a dollar a day:

* at 3% interest: 147 years

* at 5% interest: 100 years

* at 10% interest: 56 years

* at 15% interest: 40 years

* at 20% interest: 32 years

Thus, you can become a millionaire in your lifetime by finding investments that yield at least 10% annually and sticking with the investment program. Most people don’t want to wait that long. But most impatient people never get rich. The authors wisely advise that while following their get-rich-quicker scheme, you “take the long route at the same time” by putting aside an extra $50, $100, or even $500 a month toward your retirement. Who could argue with that? The secret to becoming a millionaire faster?

Invest more money and get a higher return on your investments. That’s basically right. I have covered both of these strategies numerous times in past messages. You can invest more money only if you have more money to invest — and having more money is a matter of making more and spending less.

In one of our first New Year’s resolutions for 2015, I asked you to get to work on increasing your income by taking steps to increase your salary. Are you making satisfactory progress? Regarding higher returns: We’ve talked about this too. You can and should try to get good returns on your stock and bond investments — but don’t get greedy and put a big chunk of your money into speculative investments. You’ll get burned. Instead, shoot for 10% in the stock market and whatever you can get with bonds.

Rely on real estate and your own side business to bring you the really big ROIs. How are you doing on these goals? Now is a good time to do a year-end progress report and get started on next year's plan. 2016 is right around the corner. Lets's great things!$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

The Fastest Way To Become A Millionaire

In “The One Minute Millionaire,” the authors tell us that you can get your first million faster (and surer) by following this simple three-step approach:

Step 1. Create a “millionaire mindset,” they say, by developing self-confidence and allowing your burning desire for wealth to grow. I’ve talked a lot about mind and attitude and how the mental process affects physical outcomes. There is no doubt that having a positive attitude is a positive thing. It makes you happier, calmer, and better able to push on when others quit.

But it’s very difficult — maybe impossible — to will yourself into positivity and confidence just by going through some mental exercises. Real confidence and real positivity come from knowing that you can deal with the outcome of any situation you are likely to find yourself in.

There’s only one way to have that kind of confidence: You have to have been successful in similar situations before. There is only one answer to every problem you have — whether it’s a technical problem, physical exhaustion, or fear. The answer is training.

Only by training (i.e., experiencing the challenge and overcoming it) will you find the solutions you are seeking. Be positive. If you are not naturally positive, or if you find yourself slipping into negativity, do try whatever mental games you want. But know that real confidence will come to you only when you have practiced your wealth-building skill over and over again. You will be truly confident that you can make money only when you have done it repeatedly.

Step 2. Form a team of people to help you. I’m a big believer in developing a team, but my take on it is this: You can’t get people to help you unless you are willing to help them first.

Every time you begin a new relationship, ask yourself two questions:

1. “What do I want from this relationship?”

2. “What can I give to it?” Unless you provide real value to the other person, you won’t be able to count on him to help you (in any serious way) when you need him most. By paying attention to the needs of others, you’ll be giving yourself the best chance that they will be helpful to you.

Step 3. Choose a proven “millionaire model” for wealth. According to Hansen and Allen, there are four major “models” for wealth building:

* business

* investments

* the Internet

* real estate

If you look at what I’ve had to say on the subject of wealth building in many past messages, you will see that I have a similar idea. (Not surprising. Most people who study wealth come up with the same group.) But I don’t see the Internet as meriting its own category. It’s a medium, just like television, radio, and so on.

The “one-minute” secret, Hanson and Allen say, is to take the first step: Allow yourself to become a millionaire by (1) deciding you want to be one and (2) imagining (visualizing) what your life would be like as one.

These two simple actions will create inside you a core desire that will fuel all the work you have to do later on. You can do both of them together in less than a minute. After that, the rest is easy. Well, I don’t know that I’d use the word “easy” — but if you haven’t given yourself permission to become wealthy, why not do so now?$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

Resolution: Increase Your Income

Let’s start with some simple arithmetic. Joe Ordinary is 25 years old, makes $28,000 a year, and gets ordinary 3% to 4% yearly increases. Over a 40-year career, he makes approximately $2.3 million. Elwood Blues is not satisfied with ordinary. He follows the advice he gets here every morning and averages a 6% increase in wages over the same 40-year period.

By the time Elwood retires, he’s earned about $4.3 million. As you can see, increasing your income — even by as little as 3% or 4% a year — can make a giant difference over the course of a lifetime. Imagine what would happen if you could do even better than that!

Well, you can. Today, I want to talk about how you can get BIG salary increases — double, triple, or even quadruple what your peers get. And to get your New Year started right, I want you to set a “category-A” goal for yourself — to increase your salary by at least 10% this year. Let’s start with a very short discussion about how salaries work in a normal, free-market economy.

Businesses exist to make profits. As an employee of a business, it’s your job to perform a function that helps produce those profits. The more important your work is seen as being in terms of creating profits, the greater your salary is likely to be.

Thus, salespeople generally make more than accountants and profit-center managers have higher salaries than engineers. In other words, if you want to get a higher salary from your boss, you have to make yourself more valuable to her. So that could be a “category-B” goal — to make a resolution that you will find a dozen ways (say) to become more valuable to your boss.

Take a moment right now and list the ways you are currently valuable to her. Then make another list of things you can do to increase your value. That list will be a good source of ideas for writing up your monthly objectives. This month, for example, you might make it a point to get your boss her most important report a day earlier than normal.

Next month, you might tell her she can delegate to you the sales call she hates to make. As the months roll by, your boss will recognize that you are operating at a higher level. She may be surprised at first — even threatened a little, if you aren’t diplomatic about it — but she will appreciate how you are making her work life easier and more productive. And she’ll begin to depend on you.

Eventually — and this may happen in four months or it may take a year — she will see you as an entirely different and more important employee than anyone else she deals with. She will begin to think of you as indispensable. At that point, you will have no trouble getting that 10% raise. You might do much better than that.

Here’s a key point: The habits you will develop this year in order to get yourself the 10% raise will be the same habits you need to double or triple your salary in the future. Superstar employees don’t do a hundred things better than ordinary, good employees. They usually do just a handful. You’ll discover and perfect your handful this year in seeking to please your boss, and you’ll be able to use your new skills to go all the way to the top. One caution: It’s not enough just to do a better job and make your boss’s life easier.

To get that raise you want, you sometimes have to ASK FOR IT. You have to promote yourself not only when your salary review comes up but throughout the year. (Remember, it’s your responsibility to make sure you get noticed — it’s not the responsibility of those you work for.) Another caution: Sometimes, what you have to do to please your boss is not necessarily the best thing for the business. Some businesses — and this happens more often with larger, corporate businesses than with growing enterprises — become fractionalized and politicized in parts.

In such businesses, it’s possible to get a job working for someone who doesn’t really care about making the business grow profitably. He cares only about himself. If you have such a boss, you have to be a bit duplicitous. You have to do everything you can to please your boss (or he will fire you) — and at the same time, you have to find a mentor at your boss’s level (or above) whose interests are aligned with those of the company.

Work to please your mentor at the same time as you work to please your boss. By pleasing your boss, you keep yourself employed and you’ll get your raise. And by pleasing your mentor, you will be able to get away from your boss (when the time comes to abandon his rotten ship) to a secure, inside position.

The work you do that makes your company better is the most important work you will do (for your company and for yourself). Only by making your business better can you expect to make dramatically more money than you do now. The greater your contribution toward your company’s success, the higher the salary you will demand. The best way to be a big contributor is to practice a financially valuable skill. I’ve made this point over and over again in past messages.

For example, I said: “You can’t earn a high income, consistently, unless you have a financially valuable skill. To merit a lot of money for your time, you must do something very well that creates value for others.” In business, there aren’t a whole lot of financially valuable skills to choose from.

Though it’s good to know how to analyze a spreadsheet, write a balance sheet, or engineer a new design, if you want to break into the big bucks at work, you are almost certainly going to have to start doing at least one of the three things businesses traditionally pay big bucks for:

* selling

* marketing, and/or

* managing profits

Yes, I know you’ve heard it before. And, no, I won’t be angry with you if you decide to stick with what you already know. I’m just pointing out that in going after this goal of increasing your income, there is the standard ladder (i.e., becoming more valuable to and pleasing your boss) and then there is the jet-propelled way — which might mean changing your profession. Whichever way you take, you can and should be able to boost your salary by 10% this year.

That is what your goal is — and here is how you are going to do it:

1. Make a resolution to be more valuable to your boss (and/or your business — see above). Do it now. Write it down.

2. Make a resolution to develop one or more of the three financially valuable skills identified above.

3. Make a list of a dozen or so ways you can please your boss and/or improve your business. Write these down too. And pick one or several of them as monthly objectives for January.

4. Figure out some way to communicate to your boss or to your company’s president that you want to make a bigger contribution this year. (No need to tell him you want a higher salary. He will “get that” without your saying so.) Will this be enough?

Last January, an old friend of mine mentioned to me that she was struggling on her yearly $45,000 income. She told me she was “hoping for a 5% raise” but was worried that she might get less because her company was floundering. I gave her the advice I just gave you — and she brushed me off. Then, in April, in an e-mail message on an unrelated topic, she again mentioned that she was “struggling to make ends meet.” I told her — almost rudely — that I didn’t think she had any right to worry or complain, since I had given her the solution she needed. She e-mailed me back to say that she thought my advice was “just like all the good advice I read — well-meaning but not relevant to my situation.”

We discussed her “situation,” and, not surprisingly, it was not as special as she thought. This turned into a challenge. I told her that if she didn’t get a 10% raise by following my advice, I’d give it to her myself. She refused the charity (smart woman that she is) but accepted the dare. It wasn’t even six months later that she wrote to tell me she’d been promoted. Her new salary? $62,000. If you set for yourself the modest goal of getting a 10% raise this year — and get it … and then get an increase of just half that amount for the next 10 or 15 years … you’ll be worth millions more when you retire than you will be worth if you do nothing. So start with that 10% goal.

And develop the habit of making yourself more valuable. Don’t brag, but do promote yourself. Then watch your income grow!$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

Real Estate Investing: Comps May Dictate Your Success As An Investor

Where you find your information and how you use it will go a long way in determining your success on a given property. If you are looking for a quick flip, your price will be determined by the comps you use. In fact, almost everything you do from that point will be reliant on the comps you use. Local properties will shape everything from your price to your renovation projects. By relying on old or inaccurate information, it will result in a lower price and less money in your pocket. Properties you are comparing the subject property to are the ones that buyers and realtors will be using. Just make sure they are the right ones. Using the appropriate comps in your area is absolutely critical to your success as an investor.

There are many instances where overzealous investors have unrealistic expectations for their properties. They may have seen a similar house in the area sell and automatically think they can get the same amount. Unless you know everything about that property, you are setting yourself up to fail. Start by looking at properties that have sold within a one mile radius of your house. Anything farther out than one mile can’t be considered a good comp. After you have your list of properties, you can start to go to work.

Look at the style, size, location and amenities of each property. The more differences, the less likely that a buyer will use that as a comparable. Even though you may give value to a pool, deck or fireplace, it does not mean that they will. Sure, some value must be given, but you need to be careful in placing a firm price on any one of those items. The only items that should guarantee value are living space (square footage) and bedrooms.

The best place to find sales and pending sales properties are through the MLS. If you are not a realtor, you will not have access to it. This is where having a license comes in handy. It is a bit of an effort to find comps, but this is the main part of their jobs. They should be able to provide you with sales for the last six months in your area. Listen to their advice and suggestions on what they think they can list the home for after you are done with your work. Don’t ignore their suggestions just because you think the quality of work will be nicer or you like the location better. Your realtor knows the market better than you and will know what a realistic value is.

Look through each comp and see if any deductions were made for a buyer paying cash or for a foreclosure sale. This is important information that you could use to increase your price. You can look at internet valuation sites as a starting point, but if you want to dig a little deeper, you will read the actual listing sheets. This is what they are there for and need to be used even if you think you have a good idea on the area.

Money is made in real estate either on the buy side or when you sell. If you do decide to sell, you need as much information as possible to make your decision. It is not enough to have information, but you need to look at the right information. With the help of your realtor, you should know as much about the property and the area as possible. Use this data to get the maximum return when it is time to sell.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]