Category: Uncategorized

This goes out to all those savers out there. Nothing is wrong with saving but acquiring money does not stop there. I need for you to have a plan of action. One rule that you should always live by is to Never ever let money just sit. Always have your money working for you whether it be through a CD (which rates suck right now), a mutual fund, equity in a house, stocks,…etc. I think you get the point it is very useless  to have money in a regular banking or checking account unless you are about to pay a bill or purchase something hopefully needed.   Think of your money as your builders that are building a fort for you (your financial security nest egg). If you were to stop by and check up on your soldiers (builders of your fort) and see your soldiers standing around doing nothing you would have a fit and demand that they get to work because the fort must be built right? When you let money sit without working for you when you, you are allowing  your builders to just sit there and occupy space. When those builders leave there is nothing to replace them. Thus your money is gone when you spend it. If you have your builders, building a portion of your building (your financial nest egg) then at least when they go you have something to fall back on right? I hope you get my point.   I want to stress that when you do allow your money to work for you there are risks involved. There are also risks if you don’t allow your money to work for you as well. I would rather take the risk of some gains rather than letting it sit there and have little to no gains at all.   There are numerous vehicles to put your money in. The different vehicles that you can put your money in are broken down basically to what type of investor you are, your emotional IQ and what is your end goal with your money. When sitting and plotting about what you would like to do with your money always keep the end goal in mind. End goal meaning, why do I want to invest this money? how much am I trying to make?, what is this money for? And so on …   Emotions can make […]

Health before wealth is a great saying and rings true when it comes to yours. In the words of a wise old man saying“Get all your stuff done now while you’re young and have energy and good health to do it. Those same attributes such as drive, energy , and ambition may not be there for you to use in the future. Naturally it is important for an individual to take care of his or her body. Unhealthy behaviors such as Drinking, smoking, staying up late , not getting any exercise have an enormous effect on your health and finances for years to come. Case and point: Have you ever noticed a friend or any individual that you know take a lot of medication or go to the doctor or a chiropractor to get things done like surgery or physical therapy? I’m not against doing any of these things. My problem is when it gets to a point of dependency and it gets there because you are expecting to pay and things will be magically fixed. You cannot spend your way to a better body… It’s a simple problem solver. If you have been proactive about your health from the start you would more than likely not need to do any of the things I just mentioned, Thus saving you money. Eating poorly – That Dollar menu at McDonalds is cheap for a reason. No you are not getting over and no you are not saving. By saying this, I mean the ingredients that are in these dollar menu burgers, nuggets and whatever else has no nutritional value. You are only fulfilling your stomach and satisfying your taste buds. Your body in turn suffers a deficiency in nutrients due to this. This is a lesson I learned early on when I was in my early twenties while I was frequently eating out at fast food restaurants and wondering why I was not gaining any weight. Being overweight not only makes you feel bad but also looks bad. There is a saying “Look good, Dress good,Feel good, ”. Being overweight leads to decreased confidence and when you don’t feel good about yourself you more than likely won’t be able to make sharp mental decisions. This causes a snowball effect of being lazy and will impact efficiency and productivity. Spend money on a gym and healthier food and it can be tighter […]

What type of investor are you ?   There are a few types of investing styles when investing in stocks I would like to mention and highlight. Of course there are many more but I will share with you the ones that I am familiar with and have experienced. One can argue that there are many different styles of investing to their liking. When it all comes down to it, the way you invest is based upon your life’s situation. I want to highlight a few here just to babble a bit.   First of all I want to identify what investing styles are exactly. Investing style refers to your overall method of operation of how you plan to profit from what you invest in. Many folks just want to jump in to investing and with good reason. You want to make a profit, and how are you going to learn if you don’t have any? You have to start somewhere and gain experience right? Well when you start off if you can identify or stay conscience of what works for you this will help you in formulating your investment strategy and plan and will help you stay on track with what you want to invest in. When you keep your investing style in mind it will give you proper perspective when you start learning and gaining more experience, thus it will help you to navigate and overstand the many investment vehicles offered in the finance industry today.   Active investors-   Active investing requires a high tolerance for risk. If you are a person who is really passionate about investing and this is one of your main sources of income then this is a style you may want to adopt. When you actively invest you tend be concerned with the present market conditions and how you can profit from a confluence of factors. In other words you are seeking short term profits in a minimal time period.  To be an active investor you have to continuously monitor your investments and on top of that keep up with the market conditions, political influence news, etc. I tried doing this when I first started investing and was in for rude awakening when I had to do my taxes. When you actively invest like this not only do you have to keep up with all of the conditions I just listed but […]

What is a legacy? 1: a gift by will especially of money or other personal property :  bequest She left us alegacy of a million dollars. 2: something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past the legacy of the ancient philosophers The war left a legacy of pain and suffering.   When you grow up, get married and have children what type of legacy do you want to leave? First ask yourself do you care? And if so what matters?   I want to leave a legacy that will inspire & motivate all that I have encountered to constantly seek out being the best version of yourself as well as making your situation better around you. I think this pretty much sums it all up. I do want to leave property and cash to family etc…  With the statement I made before, if this goal is reached then all else will fall into place.   A legacy is a slow building process and sometimes it takes a life time to build one and maybe it won’t come to until you are dead and gone. But the important thing to remember is when making life altering decisions is to ask yourself how does this affect my legacy. This will keep it in proper perspective What does a legacy have to do with money you may ask? Well it has to do with some of the principles of wealth management. Some of these principles are; leading and starting off early, always align family and business interest around wealth, Hold yourself accountable, Diversify, and Cultivate future family leaders. When these principles are focused on and applied with regards to taxes of course then your legacy will be long lasting and solid. A legacy involves more than just money and possessions. Passing down a legacy involves passing down traditions as well as values. Memories, and lessons learned should not be left out. This statement rings loud and goes especially for Black Americans. Black Americans have a tradition and culture that should be passed down and practiced and it’s up to the older generation to be aware and make the next aware of this. If you choose to not pass on a legacy or ignore it that leaves other cultures and influences to take over leading you into the unknown. “All good men and women must take responsibility to create legacies that will take the next generation to a […]

Value and cost are two terms you should be fully aware of and should understand as pertaining to money as well as your life.   Value is how much usefulness or pleasure an individual gets from a commodity or service. For instance if you don’t have a dishwasher and you get one installed in your house. After you get the dishwasher the value resides in you not having to devote a significant amount of time to wash dishes. You now have a dishwasher that has brought an enormous amount of value to your home allowing you to do other things with the time you were spending washing dished to do something else.   Cost is how much you have to pay in order to make the goods. Inputs like land, labor, and capital for producing any product. For instance when you have a business and you sell something like t shirts. The cost of the t-shirts, printing, as well as transporting them is the cost. The value lies with the individual and the worth it created for them.   I explain these terms interchangeably because I want to make a case and point about value and cost when it comes to life. When you take a look at a star like Jay z you see the nice things that he has right? Well when you notice those things you are looking at the cost and you know it’s all expensive right? Well what folks actually want to look at is his value! This is where the term value creeps in. You want to make sure that what he does adds value to your life if you are to pay a price for it. When making decisions and living life we want to automatically assume that because a person has attained a certain amount of material things then they are successful. A lot of individuals do not look at what is actually cost to get to that value level. I try and equate cost and value to a lot of aspect in my life.  When I look at certain relationships with people I see that if I spend a lot of time with this person who is smart and is very proficient in their field that I am interested in then I assign a very high value to that individual. If the cost of being around that person is too high, […]

Home improvement projects can be quite an expensive venture, don’t you think? With modern bathroom tops going for over $10,000 and window replacement costs at crazy prices like $8000, it is not difficult to see why not. When overhauling your home, it is very easy to find yourself overspending, or unnecessarily spending. Many tend to shy away from upgrading the look of their homes due to such fears. The truth, however, is that you do not have to use so much money in order to come up with the best projects to improve your home’s value and functionality. Contrary to what many people think, home improvement projects do not have to be overly expensive. There are so many excellent projects that you could easily take part in, that will instantly bring an appeal to your home and make it more pleasant, yet at relatively affordable prices. Therefore, if you are looking for ways of improving and enhancing the appearance of your home without necessarily wiping clean your bank account, take a look at some of the projects below: Re-decorating the walls. Just like with lighting, a room can give an illusion of size and warmth just by the wall decorations. Maximize the use of your walls right from the floor to the ceiling as this will give the eye reason to move up and down. This will in turn give an illusion that the space is larger than it actually s. Simply DIY projects could be adding décor to the walls like a splash of fun colors or using wall paper on plain walls, adding open shelves or decorative objects on the walls. This will be sure to add drama and pop to the room with minimal effort and expense. If you are into art work, there are endless paintings, wall hangings, vintage frames and pictures that could dramatically enhance the appearance of the house instantly.  The ideas are endless. It’s all about finding what suits your taste best and going for it. Update the house’s lighting. It is true what they say, good modern lighting can instantly make a room appear warmer and even larger in some cases. You don’t need to over stretch your finances to achieve this. You could simply spray paint the current fixtures or interchange them within different rooms in the house. Alternatively, switch out all the old lighting fixtures that have been in your […]