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How Critics Made Steve Jobs a Success When it comes to success, the life of Steve Jobs can teach all of us a thing or two. Jobs success with Apple computers did not come until the second time that he was with the company. But the last 7 years of ...

Keeping Tabs on Taxes and Inflation If your wealth resides mostly in real estate, you probably already know that your hard earned equity can vanish during those times that real estate markets plummet. On a similar note, if you're still saving par...

We Move In the Direction We're Facing Most of us carry within us a desire to reach a brighter future. Sometimes we sabotage our efforts to get there by continually looking over our shoulder at the past. Getting where we wish to go requires knowing what to bring with us from our past and what to leave behind. To help us gain this focus, strategic coach Dan Sullivan uses a brilliant exercise he calls the Quick Thinker. It starts by taking a few minutes to identify the future we want by jotting down about 3 or 4 bullet points. Next, we decide which part of the past gets to come along. The rest we discard. At this point, we simply utilize the present to make the best possible progress. Some of the things we may choose to keep as a part of our brighter future could include strengthening our family relationships. We can also put effort into building our family's relationship with God, staying in shape and maintaining good nutrition, and even teaching others how to live in abundance. As we examine our past, we may want to consider bringing along the best of our family heritage and traditions and the experiences--including the good and the bad--that we've learned from. Utilizing the present simply means to make the best possible progress we can choose by continuing to focus on those things that are going right in life. We can also remember to have constant gratitude,  to stay in motion, and continuously add value to the world by making ourselves necessary in some way every single day. Last of all, we'll want to use the best tools available to us so we can stick to true principles, employ proven strategies and concepts, and grow in an exponential fashion. This simple exercise is a powerful tool that enables us to clarify where we've been, where we are, and where we'd like to go. A better tomorrow is easier to reach when we outline what our future ought to look like instead of looking over our shoulder at a past that cannot be changed. A quirky movie from a few years back can illustrate how this works. Living In the Past Stunts Our Growth Anyone who has attended a high school reunion or similar gathering recognizes that there are folks who always seem to be living their lives in the past. They tend to beat themselves up for mistakes made many years ago or try to desperately hold on to their accomplishments from yesteryear. They may feel that they don't deserve a brighter future because they want to justify where they currently are because of past decisions. They're a lot like Uncle Rico from the movie "Napoleon Dynamite." They are constantly looking backwards instead of forwards. If you've seen this movie, you'll recall Uncle Rico sitting on the front porch obsessing about what might have happened years ago if his high school coach had just put him in the football game. Rico was absolutely convinced that his team would have gone on to win the game and then taken the state title. He is certain that he would have been recruited by the NCAA and then the NFL and would have ended up with a Super Bowl ring on his finger. Rico fantasizes about how he should be sitting in his hot tub with his soul mate instead of living out of a van and selling plastic bowls. His nephew Napoleon, on the other hand, provides a positive contrast by looking to the future despite his current challenges. He goes after what he wants, supports his friends along the way, and ends up finding the happiness he was looking for. Think about which character you more closely resemble and consider how will that might play out in your future. We all have choices in how we handle our progress or lack thereof. This is true in the present as well as in the future Most of us would prefer to move ahead in life with consistent growth and abundance and that doesn't happen by chance. We have to take certain steps or we end up languishing along the way. Remember,

Finding Shelter From an Economic Big Bad Wolf You remember the Three Little Pigs, right? There's a useful metaphor in their story that can help each of us prepare a safe haven from economic uncertainty. Think about what happened to the houses of ...

Straw, Sticks, or Bricks? Most of us are familiar with the story of the Three Little Pigs. Among the most useful metaphors in that tale is the one comparing houses of straw with those made of sticks and those made of bricks. We all know that what...

The Power of the Company We Keep One of the most common traits of human nature is the one called reflexivity. It's what we're referring to when we say the phrase "monkey see, monkey do"? It should come as no surprise that people tend to adopt the behaviors, attitudes, and choices, of the things they surround themselves with. This can apply to the books we read and the media we consume. It also involves the people with whom we keep company. Think about it, as a parent, how do you feel when your children begin spending time with questionable friends. Most parents instinctively understand that, over time, their children will being mirroring the actions of their companions. That's the bad news. The good news is that this rule also holds true in the other direction. We tend to become better individuals when we keep better company and absorb better words and ideas. If we have set a goal of moving toward a future of abundance, we have to consider how we intend to get there. This is why it's essential that we carefully assess the people and the ideas that we are inviting into our lives. Whether it's a decade from now or 50 years from now, these choices will have a measurable impact on who we are. In the world, there are individuals who contribute to society and those who take from society. We use other terms like the makers and the takers, or the haves and the have-nots, but we're talking about the same basic division. The main figurative difference between these two groups can be likened to the neighborhoods in which we choose to live. One chooses to live in mindset of abundance while the other takes up residence in a scarcity spiral. Success coach Dan Sullivan points out that the scarcity spiral begins with envy. If we find ourselves fixating on the achievements or wealth of others and becoming jealous or upset because someone is enjoying success, it puts us in a destructive mindset. Some justify this jealousy by supposing that the person who is thriving somehow took more than their fair share of success and that left less for everyone else. This kind of scarcity thinking can lead to guilt and a sense of shame when we haven't achieved the same level of success. This, in turn, leads to feelings of anger and resentment. Many people have come to believe that this perceived unfairness can only be resolved through government redistribution of the wealth of others. They don't realize that they've bought into a zero-sum mentality where one person's gain is believe to come only at the expense of another. This type of scarcity thinking tends to make us miserable. Happiness Hangs Out Where Abundance Does When we catch ourselves drifting into the scarcity mindset, it's important that we pull ourselves out of it and move toward the abundance neighborhood. Take a deep breath and consider why no one becomes upset about the air you just used. They don't care because there is still plenty of air for everyone else to breathe. We don't worry about anyone breathing too much of "our" air because there is abundance. This is true when it comes to other areas of life. Yet there are still individuals who feel like when someone else is successful, that somehow, their own success has been diminished. Gratitude is what puts us on the path to the abundance neighborhood. As we consciously appreciate the value of everything and everyone that we already have in our lives, it naturally leads us to the next stages of creativity and cooperation. It's at this point that we feel more free to add to the world around us. We're free to invent, to collaborate, and produce. When Karl Marx came up with the name capitalism, he did it  because he thought the producers were capitalizing on the needs and wants of other people. A better name for capitalism would have been to call it cooperation. If we look at what real capitalism accomplishes, it enables people to cooperate with one another to meet their needs.

Recognizing What's Below the Line Most of us have heard the phrase "dealing above the line." It's a great reminder to live and work with responsibility and accountability. It's a concept that has application at every stage of our lives whether as children, youth, or as adults. At a time when a great many Americans are living with an entitlement mentality, the idea of living and working responsibly is greatly needed. Too many people think they deserve the best career, the best house, car, or family just for existing. They assume that everything in life should come as quickly and as easily as fast food burgers and credit card financed vacations. Those of us who have been around for a while or have simply been paying attention to how things really work know what lasting success requires. If we do a better job of teaching and living the principles of responsibility and accountability, we tend to thrive. When we don't, we tend to dive. Dr. Edwards Deming is known for his work in transforming Japan's manufacturing industries to the high level of quality for which they are renowned. In teaching quality, Dr. Deming would draw an imaginary line point out, that many people in the world choose to deal below the line in 3 zones. The bottom zone is blame. In this realm, people are always blaming circumstances for their setbacks or failures. It's a victim mentality that ultimately holds people back. One rung up on the ladder is the zone of justification. We often see people justifying why they can or cannot do something. It amounts to nothing more than making excuses. This too, impedes our progress. In the next zone, we find shame. This is where people bar themselves from success because they feel inadequate or undeserving. They consider themselves too stupid  or too far behind the curve to ever succeed. Dr. Deming taught that when we choose to operate in the zone of blame, justification, or shame, it is all an absolute waste of our time, energy, money, and resources. It's only when we deal above the line that we progress. The Two Dollar Rule All progress begins by telling the truth. And the people we must be perfectly honest with starts with ourselves. That honesty is what enables us to live above the line in the zone of responsibility and accountability. Responsibility means that we respond with all of our God-given faculties and abilities in any situation rather than playing the victim. It was one of Dr. Deming's students named Marshall Thurber who pioneered the use of the "Two Dollar Rule" in his Fortune 500 company. Thurber strategically placed jars throughout the company's office for 90 days. Any time that an employee caught themselves dealing below the line, they had to put two dollars into one of the jars. If they failed to recognize it themselves, a coworker could point out what they were doing and call for the two dollar deposit. At the end of 90 days, the plan was to donate whatever money had been collected in the jars to a charity. Amazingly, at the end of 90 days, they had collected over a quarter of a million dollars and the productivity of that company went through the roof. This two dollar rule can be successfully put to use in any setting including work, home, volunteer efforts, etc. When we learn to recognize those times that we're tempted to deal below the line in blame, justification, or shame, we can make a correction. Getting in the habit of dealing above the line in by shouldering responsibility and accountability puts us on the fast track to real personal progress. Imagine how much more abundant the world could be if more people shed their entitlement mentality and focused on dealing above the line in all areas of their lives. Learn more by visiting with a wealth architect today.  

Which Neighborhood Do You Live In? Ever heard the childhood phrase "monkey see, monkey do"? It speaks to a common trait of human nature known as reflexivity. It means that we tend to adopt the behaviors, attitudes, and choices, of the people we surround ourselves with. It also applies to the books we read and the media we consume. This is why parents start to worry when their children start hanging out with a less than savory crowd. They know that the chances are that their children will start to mirror the actions of their friends. Fortunately, the converse of this rule is also true. The better the company we keep, the greater the words that we absorb, the better we tend to become. As each of us looks toward our individual future, chances are that we would like to move toward a life of abundance. This is why it's so important that we carefully assess the people and the ideas that we are bringing into our lives. 10, 20, or 30 years from now, these choices will have a definite impact on who we are. In the world, there are givers and there are takers. We also describe them as the haves and the have nots; the thrivers and the strivers. At it's most basic, there are those who contribute to society and those who take from society. Success coach Dan Sullivan describes the difference between these two groups as one that lives in an abundance neighborhood while the other lives in a scarcity spiral. He says that the scarcity spiral begins with envy. When we focus on the achievements or wealth of others and we get jealous or upset because someone else seems more successful, we get into a destructive mindset. We may feel that they took more than their fair share of happiness and that leaves less for us. That envy can lead to guilt and a sense of shame that haven't achieved the same level of success. These feelings can lead to anger and resentment. We may be tempted to believe that this perceived unfairness should be resolved through the redistribution of the other person's wealth. This is a good example of a zero-sum mentality in which one person's gain can only come at the expense of another. The scarcity mindset makes us miserable. Abundance Breeds More Abundance Now, take a deep breath and think about why no one would be angry about the air you just consumed. It's simple, there is still plenty of air for others to breathe and the breath itself will be recycled naturally. We don't stress about someone breathing too much air because there is abundance. This is something that a lot of people don't understand when it comes to other areas of life. They feel that if someone else is happy, that their own happiness has been diminished. This is why it's so important that when we catch ourselves drifting into the scarcity mindset, that we pull ourselves out of it and move toward the abundance neighborhood. The journey to this part of the map begins with gratitude. As we increasingly appreciate the value of everything and everyone that we already have in our lives, we naturally progress to the next stages of creativity and cooperation. This is where we feel freer to add to the world rather than take away. We feel free to invent, to collaborate, and to produce. Cooperation is what they should have named Capitalism. Karl Marx coined the name capitalism because he believed that producers were capitalizing on other people's needs and wants. In reality, they were simply cooperating with one another. When we cooperate and exchange, that creates an abundance that would be difficult to achieve all by ourselves. We learn that by doing what we do best and encouraging others to do what they do best, we all benefit. One of the single greatest decisions we can make is to choose to avoid scarcity and to embrace abundance in life. Learn more by visiting with a wealth architect today.

Choosing the Right Investments Matters The Baby Boomer generation that has seen its financial health shaken twice in the past decade thanks to ongoing market volatility. Members of Generation X, Y, and the Millennials are also feeling the pinch after struggling to find decent employment after completing college. Many people find themselves feeling disconnected and powerless. When it comes to preparing for the future, all of us still have choices. Choosing the right investments is more significant than many people realize. To understand the word investment we must first understand how it has evolved. Investments are really just financial instruments. Regulations from the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency that cover what can and cannot be said about “investments.” FINRA generally categorizes stocks, bonds, or securities as investments. In other words: put your money into those investments and it will be subject to certain risks including taxes, inflation, and market volatility. Of course, there are other ways to invest besides those that are subject to risk. For instance, we invest in education for our children and ourselves. We can store a year’s supply of food, fuel, and other preparedness items as investments. So, what would you call something that you can put money into and it can be used for income that is not tax-deferred but tax-free? Ideally, this investment would have liquidity so you could access your money with just a phone call or electronic funds transfer. It should provide real safety so that during those years the markets decline, you don’t lose money. Likewise, in those years when your money grows, it should lock in those gains as newly protected principal. Finally, this instrument should have stable rates of return that is not only realistic at an average of 7, 8, or 9%, but is also tax-free. And when you go to take out this money, it also remains tax-free. Remember, this is not a retirement plan as defined by the industry. To them, a retirement plan is something you do under the Internal Revenue Code section 401(k) or as an IRA. But what we need isn’t a traditional retirement plan or investment as defined by financial industry regulators. A Metaphor To Remember Suppose you were a farmer and could buy your seed in the springtime and only pay tax on the seed you purchased. Or, if you chose, you could wait until fall and pay tax on the seed and everything you sold your harvest for. Which would make more sense? The latter one could be a good representation of a traditional IRA or 401(k), a pension or profit sharing plan, a 403(b), or 457 tax-sheltered annuity. You put in the seed money with pre-tax or tax-deductible dollars, but during the harvest, you agree to pay tax because you were told you would be in a lower tax bracket. Unfortunately, ending up in a lower tax bracket has not been axiomatic for over 25 years. But people still do it because they believe that it’s the best way to save. They believe that this is how their money is going to grow the most. But the truth is, you choose investments that will generate the most, based upon the time in life when you’re going to need the most. So let’s say that you only had to pay tax on the price of the seed, but later on in the fall when you sold your harvest for a whole bunch of money—you could do that without paying tax on what you sold your harvest for. You want your harvest to be tax-free. Do you realize that 91% of Americans still put their retirement money into tax-deferred savings plans? A Roth IRA may be a step in the right direction, but there are still far better ways to save and have tax-free retirement income. If you’re still using a tax-deferred vehicle, you must understand the difference between a strategic rollover and a strategic rollout to protect you against higher taxes in the future. Don’t wait until retirement to deal with it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The Damage Being Done To America Dennis Prager has been a commentator for well over 30 years. He recently summarized the long-term damage being done to America, both domestically and abroad, by the current administration. It’s not a pretty picture for president Obama. As president, he has overseen the weakest recovery from recession in modern American history. In five years, he has mired us in an additional $6.5 trillion of debt—after calling his predecessor ‘unpatriotic’ for racking up $5 trillion in new debt over 8 years. Of course, future generations will be the ones saddled with this enormous debt. He presides over a country in which more Americans receive government aid than work full time. He has no method of paying off this level of debt other than printing more money, which means taxing everyone, including the poor, through the resulting inflation. This also means cheapening the dollar to the point where other countries are seriously discussing dropping the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. His 2,500 page Affordable Care Act has made it virtually impossible for thousands, soon to be millions, of Americans to keep their employer-sponsored group health insurance plans. He has stymied American medical innovation with an utterly destructive tax on medical devices. He has also caused hundreds of thousands of workers to lose full time jobs because of the costs imposed by Obamacare on employers. His Internal Revenue Service has used its unparalleled power to stymie political dissent and no one has been held accountable. He has divided the country by economic class through using classic Marxist language against the rich and corporate profits. And Dennis Prager’s list goes on. What exactly does this mean to you? It means that the writing is on the wall for some predictable consequences that will impact nearly all of us. What Should We Expect? First and foremost, taxes will be going up. They’re not just likely to go up dramatically, but could rise in a manner that none of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. This means that we must protect ourselves from the effects of those rising taxes eroding away our retirement nest egg at the time in life when we can afford it the least. This requires that we recognize the difference between an attitude of scarcity and one of abundance. Too many people who support the idea of redistributing the wealth of those who are producers and job providers think that this constitutes abundance. In reality, it kills jobs and stymies the economy. As a country, we’ve painted ourselves into a corner and part of the price of getting out of it is that taxes will have to go higher. Another threat that arises from government’s continual printing of money is inflation. This will water down the purchasing power of every dollar that you have saved away for the future. It also means that the costs of the gas, groceries, greens fees, and prescriptions you purchase today will be dramatically higher in the future. There’s also the danger posed by continuing market volatility and the impact it can have on the money people have socked away in their IRAs and 401(k) plans. The bottom line is that your nest egg needs to be protected from losses. This means that it should be accumulating in a vehicle where when the economy goes down, you do not lose principal. Likewise, when the economy grows, your money needs to be able to grow as well and turn that increase into new principal. When inflation rises, if your money is linked to those things that inflate, it helps rather than hurts you. Finally, truly protecting your nest egg means that your money is in a vehicle where it is accumulating tax-free; it can be accessed tax-free, and eventually can be handed down to your heirs—tax-free as well. This requires knowing and utilizing proven strategies that have been available for many generations. Learn more by visiting with a wealth architect today.

Some Investments Are Risky By Nature Confusion is very common among a lot of us today. Many people are feeling isolated and concerned about what the future holds. This is especially true with the Baby Boomer generation that has seen its financial...

A Simple Rule A little math can go a long way in preparing for your future. Each of us hopes to have a life of abundance where we are capable of taking care of our needs while providing for meaningful experiences. This means more than simply preparing for a comfortable retirement. It means having the ability to help family, friends, and worthwhile charities along the way. One of the ways that we go about accumulating wealth involves doubling our money. This is where it is essential to understand the Rule of 72. The Rule of 72 says that you take whatever interest rate you might be earning on your money and you divide that into the number 72. The answer will tell you how many years it would take to double your money. For instance, let’s say you were earning 8% interest. 72 divided by 8 is 9. This means that at an 8% interest rate, your money would double every 9 years. If you were earning 9%, your money would double every 8 years. And so on. The reciprocal of this equation is also true. If you look at how many years it takes to double your money, and divide that into 72, you’ll discover the compounded interest equivalent or appreciation rate required to double your money. The rule of 72 can be a handy tool in helping determine which investment strategies will help double your wealth. But there are other considerations that are crucial to understand. Inflation Versus Your Money When it comes to accumulating financial wealth, you need to know how much today’s dollars will buy down the road. This is essential to know because that’s when you’re going to need those dollars the most. Let’s say that your 65 years old and, with a bit of belt-tightening, you determine that you can live on an income of $3,000 per month. This is what you’ll be spending on gas, groceries, prescription medications, golf green fees, etc. Now, let’s say that inflation is averaging 5% a year. How much would you need 30 years down the road? Remember, life expectancy is still on the increase. So living into our 90s is a definite possibility. To learn how inflation would affect the purchasing power of your money in the next 30 years, you would divide 5% inflation into 72. The answer will show that the costs of living will double every 14.4 years. For simplicity’s sake we’ll round that to every 15 years. When we crunch the numbers, we find that the cost of living will have double twice during that 30-year period. That means that if you’re able to live on $3,000 a month now, you’ll need $6,000 a month to buy those same gas, groceries, prescriptions, and golf fees in another 15 years. By the time you hit age 95, the cost of living will have double once again, meaning you’ll need $12,000 a month to purchase the same things that would cost you $3,000 a month today. What if inflation were to jump to 10% like it did during the early 80s? You’d need that $12,000 a month in just 15 years to buy what you could for $3,000 today. The bottom line is that preparing for the future isn’t quite as simple as many people think. Without taking a good look at the effects of inflation and using the rule of 72, many people are caught off guard. It’s one thing to be surprised, it’s another to be stunned by reality when you discover, mid-retirement, that your money isn’t enough to last. This is a rude awakening that will happen to those who have kept their retirement savings in tax-deferred accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s. Taxes will eat up a big chunk of those savings and inflation will whittle down the purchasing power of each dollar unless you’ve planned ahead. What if, instead, your money was accumulating in a tax-free vehicle? What if your gains were tied to those things that inflate so times of inflation help you rather than hurt you? What if your money was indexed in such a way that you didn’t lose money when the market declined and you made money whenever the market grew?

Randomness Is Not Your Friend Would you rather have a life of predictability or a life of randomness? Let’s try a simple math exercise. Pick any number between one and ten. Now take that number and double it. Next add eight to that number. Now ...

The Type of PAIN We Should Avoid The first quarter of a year is a crucial time for many businesses and individuals. It’s a time for setting projections, establishing goals, and implementing strategies for the coming year. This is particularly true when it comes to reaching a higher level of success that will exceed that of the previous year. From the high level executive circles to front line employees, chances are that this is the time when everybody gets charged up in making changes to improve their bottom line. This is a time when many of these folks are feeling something called PAIN, which stands for Pushback Against Ideas that are New. It’s human nature to resist change and until we can help ourselves, this type of PAIN will keep us from the right kind of growth. A good way to determine if we’re pushing back against new ideas is to recognize when we’re doing the same things we’ve always done but are expecting different results. This is especially common in regards to people doing the same old things with their money and ending up losing it. They may encounter market volatility or find that they’re in a higher tax bracket at retirement than they expected. If they are unwilling to make some changes, they will find themselves in PAIN. Why are we so bound and determined to stay within the proverbial comfort zone of what we know? The answer is too often that we’re simply trying to take the path of least resistance. We become content to meander through life with the least amount of effort yet we’re surprised when our results don’t change. Meaningful growth only happens when we are willing to get out of the comfort zone and to push ourselves into new realms of success. When We Stretch We Grow Every challenging new experience is likely to bring butterflies to our stomachs. But we learn to tame them through practice and improvement. What started out as shaky can become our greatest strengths through persistence. One of the criteria to look for when considering whether to seize any new opportunity is whether it will cause us to stretch. We can learn to run toward the pain with anticipation because we understand that the magic happens when we get out of the comfort zone. This principle applies to everything in life. For example, consider what happens when we choose to learn a new language. At first it’s confusing and difficult and everything sounds like gibberish. But by stepping out of the comfort zone and persisting in our efforts, we soon learn to connect with others in a new and wonderful way. Getting past the comfort zone also applies to financial planning. Following the crowd is too often the path of least resistance. But we can break free and start adopting financial planning strategies that provide greater liquidity, safety, and rate of return. At first it’s common for people to pose a little resistance, after all, these strategies aren’t what they learned in their business or economics classes. But as they take the time to understand the principles and elements of prudent investing, they set in motion the actions that lead to abundant lives. But first, they must stop following the crowd. If you’ve been putting your retirement savings into IRAs or 401(k)s or sending extra principal money to your mortgage company, you’re still following the crowd. Continuing to follow the path of least resistance will likely lead to terrible disappointment. On the other hand, stepping out of the comfort zone and learning and living the proper strategies can position you to enjoy liquid assets safely earning a predictable rate of return. The discomfort is short-lived. The growth and gains are real. Learn more by visiting with a wealth architect today.

Being Stubborn is Costly In the New Testament Gospel of Matthew we find a series of simple but beautiful lessons known as the Beatitudes. Part of their beauty and simplicity is the fact that our own spiritual maturity determines just how deeply we...