I've been writing about creating wealth for a dozen years. Before then, I wasn't writing about it. I was doing it. My income has actually increased since I stopped actively "creating wealth." But that's the thing about getting rich- when you get rich, it is just too damn easy to get richer. It's not fair, but it's a fact. When I decided to get rich, I didn't know the first thing about the subject. I was an editor. I wanted to be a novelist. I had never taken a course in finance or economics. Plus, I was broke. But I had a great advantage. I was working for a human wealth machine-a man who, at 43, had already created three hugely profitable businesses. He decided to adopt me as his surrogate son and taught me everything he knew. I retired 12 years later with a net worth well in excess of $10 million. Two years later, I went to work as a business consultant to Agora. Bill Bonner, Agora's founder, adopted me as his kid brother. He also taught me everything he knew. In the 15 years that has passed since, my wealth has multiplied many times over. When I turned 50, I wrote about entrepreneurship (under my pen name Michael Masterson) for 10 years. I wrote close to a dozen books and several thousands of essays. I adopted my readers as my surrogate siblings. I told them everything I knew about starting businesses. Then, at 60, I retired the "Michael Masterson" pen name and went to work for The Palm Beach Letter, an investment advisory service in the U.S. Since then, I've attempted to tell my readers everything I know about creating wealth-which is a bigger and more complicated subject than entrepreneurship. In today's essay, I want to tell you the most important things I've learned about building wealth. I won't tell them in detail, because I don't have the time, but I'll tell you the principles and I'll tell you how you can get all the detailed information you need if you want to emulate my experience. Let's begin with some of the lies about creating wealth. At one time or another in my wealth-building career, I foolishly believed in the following so-called "facts":
Do any of these "truths" sound familiar? Have you been following any gurus who advocate these "facts"? If so, pay attention. I'm not the only person in the world who went from broke to rich. There are many, many people who have done so, and some of these people have written books about it. I don't read all of the popular books on wealth building, because I feel comfortable with the system I've developed myself, through my own experience. I don't follow the advice of others, except when it dovetails with my own experience. But that's not to say that my system is the only system that works. Nor do I want to argue that it is the right system for you. All I can do is to report my own experiences to you as honestly as I possibly can. You are my surrogate siblings. I want you to succeed. The only way I can help you is to tell you what I know to be true. And this is what I know-from my own experience-to be true about creating wealth: Truth #1 You'll never get rich unless you understand some fundamentals about saving, spending, and investing. We've put together an illustrated essay on that. Truth #2 The single most important factor in avoiding the spending spiral that kills wealth is to stay in the house you have now. Nobody else that I know of has made this simple point. But I can tell you that it is true. Truth #3 Stock investing (or even bond investing) is an inadequate strategy for building wealth. It won't get you rich or make you wealthy, however much you wish it would. Even Warren Buffett, the world's most successful investor, knows this. His wealth has come not from being an individual investor but from being the principal of Berkshire Hathaway-a business. Keep that thought in mind every time you hear his name quoted. Truth #4 The most important single factor in wealth building is the size of your investible income. Investible income is what you have left over each month after you've taken care of your lifestyle expenses. Again, nobody else I ever read had the courage to say this before I did. (Now I see one of my proteges saying this and, of course, I am flattered to hear him pretending it is his own idea.) Actually, that's the second most important factor in building wealth. The No. 1 strategy is acquiring equity in a startup business. There are many ways to do this. The most commonly talked-about ways are downright foolish. But there are smart ways to do this, even if you are a novice to business. Truth #5 Investing in rental real estate is unique-it stands halfway between active income and passive income. Next to entrepreneurship, it provides the highest return you can get from any financial endeavor. Truth #6 The biggest mistake retirees make is giving up their active incomes. I know that this is exactly what you hope to do some day. But I'm warning you, it's a big mistake. If you are already retired, you are probably hoping you can replace that income with passive investment strategies. I'm here to tell you that they won't do. To keep your wealth for a lifetime, you need multiple streams of passive income. Your goal should be to build each stream of income to a level at which you can live on that and that alone. Do these statements make sense to you? If so, how are you doing? Every week, we receive letters from our new subscribers. They all say the same thing: "I feel like I've finally found a trustworthy source of advice, but I'm not a wealthy person. In fact, I am worried I don't have enough money to follow the advice that I'm being given." When I received the first letter that made this point, I thought, "Boy, isn't that the truth?" It is so difficult to create wealth when you are essentially broke and feeling burnt out by following so many of the "lies" I mentioned at the beginning of this essay. But then I thought, "What the hell are you going to do about this, Mark? Will you write a condolence letter? Will you ignore the letter? What can you do or say to help people in that situation?" And that's when we came up with the idea of the Wealth Builders Club. The idea was to form a community of our subscribers who were "not yet" wealthy. We would teach them everything we knew about building wealth from the bottom up. We would assume that they didn't have a stockpile of cash to start with. We would resist the temptation to allow them to think that stock, bond, and options would solve their problems. We would tell them the truth. And so the Wealth Builders Club was born. And since then, we've been working day and night to develop the best wealth-building program in existence. I've done a lot of the heavy lifting myself. But I've also brought in Tom Dyson, Tim Mittelstaedt (our editor-in-chief), and the rest of the PBL team to help me. And through them, we've recruited some of the sharpest wealth builders we know. The goal was very simple: a program that could help club members generate a seven-figure net worth in seven years or fewer. That seems like an impossible goal. But I assure you it's not. I've seen motivated, young, and driven individuals do it time and time again during the past 30 years of my career. Now, the Wealth Builders Club is a work in progress. We have so much more planned for it. But already, it is much better and much more comprehensive than anything else I've seen. Look at what some Wealth Builders Club members are saying:
The response has been so overwhelming, that the club is now expanding worldwide. I've already taken it to countries in the West and South America, and since the past year it's been running successfully in India. In all my travels to India the country has caught my fascination, and seeing the entrepreneurial spirit that so many Indians carry, I believe the Wealth Builders Club can have a great impact on Indian ground. Now spend a few minutes to read about the programs we are planning to bring here. It is a preview of what you will learn by becoming a member of our club:
I'm writing this essay because Anisa and the gang at Common Sense Living are opening membership to the Wealth Builders Club India once again. It's your chance to be a part of this exclusive and dynamic club. It already has a number of satisfied members who are reaping the amazing benefits and slowly and steadily changing their approach to life and wealth. I wish they would promote this club every week, because I don't believe you can find any other program that can do what this club will do for you. If you do know of one, I'd love to hear about it. If not, then this could be the chance of your lifetime. Our goal at Common Sense Living is to make you wealthier every year. If, at the end of your year's subscription, your net worth isn't considerably higher than it was when you subscribed, you should cancel your subscription. But as far I know, we have been making our readers wealthier.. Plus, we're going to help you every step of the way. The Wealth Builders Club contains step- by-step instructions for creating wealth. If you are not yet wealthy, I implore you to do one of two things today. Either become a member of the club or write me a note telling me why not here. If there is anything missing from the Wealth Builders Club, we'll put it in. If you want to join but can't for some reason, I'm sure our customer service team will find a way to let you join. But I urge you, don't just read this and sit back and think, "I'll take action later." Time passes quickly, and it accelerates as you age. Before you know it, another year will have passed. And then another. I don't want you to be rereading this essay several years from now and thinking, "Why didn't I take action sooner?" The time to step onto the road to wealth is always right now. Not next month or next week. Not after you've finished some current project. The time is right now. Take action today! P.S. I believe anyone-with the proper mindset and the right plan-can become wealthy in seven years or less. That's why I formed my Wealth Builders Club... to help the person who's "not yet rich." Inside, I share my personal formula for amassing wealth. I lay everything on the table here... all you'll need to generate a fortune outside of the traditional financial markets. When we first opened the doors of the U.S. club, thousands of readers joined. One member, Cameron McDonald from Georgia, told me "You are offering so much it's almost unbelievable!" And member Carl Wyland says, "I have noticed that my profits and bottom line have grown every single day and in some cases by the thousands." by Mark Ford |
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Truth and Lies About Creating Wealth (Secret 11)
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