Building Wealth Magazine

Now I am The Voice
I will lead, not follow
I will create, not destroy
I will believe, not doubt
I am a force for good
I am a force for God
I am a leader
Defy the odds
Set a new standard
Step up!
Step up!
Step up!

From the man who has created permanent change in the lives of millions, Tony Robbins.

The Debt Snowball is not a new strategy but it has gained a great deal of popularity in recent years as the main debt reduction tool used by syndicated radio host Dave Ramsey. The concept is simple although there are three basic variations.

In the first you take all of your debts and list them in order from highest interest rate to lowest. The advantage to this method is you deduce the debt that cost the most first and over the long run you save the most money.

The second option suggest you list all of your unsecured debt from lowest balance to highest. The benefit of this method is you have a psychological victory of seeing the total number for creditors drop like flies. This method is the best for someone who needs to see results more quickly to sustain the discipline and finish the plan.

The third option is to list the debts in order of which causes you the most stress. If a relative or friend lent you money and you need to get that monkey off your back this may be the option for you. Read the rest of this entry »

Donald’s Do’s and Dont’s

In Donald Trump’s 2004 book, How to Get Rich*, he dedicates an entire section to the secrets of negotiation. I think you’ll be amazed to know how much the dealings of a multi-billionaire relate to business at any level.Here are some of the tips he shares for successful negotiation:

Consider What the Other Side Wants.
If you remain too focused on what you want, you’ll miss which concessions you can make that might satisfy the other side.

Be Reasonable and Flexible.
Unless you are never going to be negotiating again, it will hurt you in the long run if you show an unwillingness to bend. The word will Read the rest of this entry »

Focus On Strengths Rather Than Weaknesses

Our culture teaches us to focus on our weaknesses and then improve upon them. While practice is critical to improvement in some areas, author Benson Smith of the Gallup Organization believes it is more important to focus on your strengths. By turning your strengths into super-strengths, your valuable time can be spent in areas where you feel more comfortable.Over the course of 40 years, the Gallup Organization studied 250,000 sales representatives and 25,000 managers. The results were published in the best-selling book, Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Sales People Develop Winning Careers.*

According to Smith, “You do learn from your failures, but you learn an awful lot more from your successes.” For the same reason, we use the phrase, “Keep your eye on the ball,” rather than “Keep your eye on Read the rest of this entry »

It’s staggering when you think about the cost of living, especially if you’re a renter and not a home owner. If you are currently paying $1,000 a month for rented housing, then over the next three years, your property management company will effectively have reaped $36,000 of your hard earned cash! You’re paying their mortgage when you could be building equity in your own property. What if I don’t have the money to buy a home right now?There are many loan programs available that offer low and no down payment options. Some programs permit gift money as a down payment, and often sellers are willing to make a contribution to your purchase if they want to sell the home quickly.

There are many loan programs available that offer low and no down payment options. Some programs permit gift money as a down payment, and often sellers are willing to make a contribution to your purchase if they want to sell the home quickly.There are many benefits of home ownership to consider, most of all, tax deductions. Let’s take a look at how advantageous this can be as a homeowner:

How much is tax deductible?

Read the rest of this entry »

A good credit score translates into lower interest rates for home-shopping borrowers. In a mortgage lender’s eyes, the higher your score is, the less risk you are, and the more likely it is you will pay off your debt. For this reason, borrowers with lower scores usually end up paying higher interest rates on their loans.

If this is you, don’t panic. There are a number of things you can do to adjust your credit score to receive a favorable review from the underwriter. Here are a few suggestions:

Should I pay off all my past due balances and charge-offs?

This is usually a good idea, but you only need to worry about the past due balances and charge-offs that have occurred in the last two years. Items more than two years old have little effect on your current credit score. In fact, if you Read the rest of this entry »

This video mirrors some of the data points from our seminars. As I watched this I was shredding the 4 credit card offers I received in the mail today and thought. You don’t have to be religious to see the evils of credit card debt. The fact that 60% of Americans think it is OKay to pay 10 - 20% or more on everything they purchase should be followed by a collective forehead smack! It doesn’t matter what messenger you listen to or the technique you enact, your primary focus if you find yourself enslaved by your creditors is to break free. Click Here for a copy of the booklet Managing Your Finances.