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Teaching you to embrace today while making yourself a millionaire!

I wish I would have understood how easy it is to become a millionaire by starting to save small amounts of money when I was younger...

I feel compelled to share the simple concepts you can apply today....

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25 May 2010

Secrets of Self - Made Millionaires

5 Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires

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Reader's Digest Magazine, on Fri Apr 30, 2010 12:04pm PDT
By Kristyn Kusek Lewis


They’re just like you. But with lots of money.When you think “millionaire,” what image comes to mind? For many of us, it’s a flashy Wall Street banker type who flies a private jet, collects cars and lives the kind of decadent lifestyle that would make Donald Trump proud. But many modern millionaires live in middle-class neighborhoods, work full-time and shop in discount stores like the rest of us. What motivates them isn’t material possessions but the choices that money can bring: “For the rich, it’s not about getting more stuff. It’s about having the freedom to make almost any decision you want,” says T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. Wealth means you can send your child to any school or quit a job you don’t like.According to the Spectrem Wealth Study, an annual survey of America’s wealthy, there are more people living the good life than ever before—the number of millionaires nearly doubled in the last decade. And the rich are getting richer. To make it onto the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, a mere billionaire no longer makes the cut. This year you needed a net worth of at least $1.3 billion.

istockphoto.comIf more people are getting richer than ever, why shouldn’t you be one of them? Here, five people who have at least a million dollars in liquid assets share the secrets that helped them get there.


PLUS: 13 Things Your Financial Adviser Won't Tell You

1. Set your sights on where you are going - Twenty years ago, Jeff Harris hardly seemed on the road to wealth. He was a college dropout who struggled to support his wife, DeAnn, and three kids, working as a grocery store clerk and at a junkyard where he melted scrap metal alongside convicts. “At times we were so broke that we washed our clothes in the bathtub because we couldn’t afford the Laundromat.” Now he’s a 49-year-old investment advisor and multimillionaire in York, South Carolina.There was one big reason Jeff pulled ahead of the pack: He always knew he’d be rich. The reality is that 80 percent of Americans worth at least $5 million grew up in middle-class or lesser households, just like Jeff.Wanting to be wealthy is a crucial first step. Says Eker, “The biggest obstacle to wealth is fear. People are afraid to think big, but if you think small, you’ll only achieve small things.”

PLUS: 17 Things Your Mother Wants You to Know

It all started for Jeff when he met a stockbroker at a Christmas party. “Talking to him, it felt like discovering fire,” he says. “I started reading books about investing during my breaks at the grocery store, and I began putting $25 a month in a mutual fund.” Next he taught a class at a local community college on investing. His students became his first clients, which led to his investment practice. “There were lots of struggles,” says Jeff, “but what got me through it was believing with all my heart that I would succeed.”

2. Educate yourself - When Steve Maxwell graduated from college, he had an engineering degree and a high-tech job—but he couldn’t balance his checkbook. “I took one finance class in college but dropped it to go on a ski trip,” says the 45-year-old father of three, who lives in Windsor, Colorado. “I actually had to go to my bank and ask them to teach me how to read my statement.”One of the biggest obstacles to making money is not understanding it: Thousands of us avoid investing because we just don’t get it. But to make money, you must be financially literate. “It bothered me that I didn’t understand this stuff,” says Steve, “so I read books and magazines about money management and investing, and I asked every financial whiz I knew to explain things to me.”

PLUS: 6 Moneymaking Tips

He and his wife started applying the lessons: They made a point to live below their means. They never bought on impulse, always negotiated better deals (on their cars, cable bills, furniture) and stayed in their home long after they could afford a more expensive one. They also put 20 percent of their annual salary into investments.Within ten years, they were millionaires, and people were coming to Steve for advice. “Someone would say, ‘I need to refinance my house—what should I do?’ A lot of times, I wouldn’t know the answer, but I’d go find it and learn something in the process,” he says.In 2003, Steve quit his job to become part owner of a company that holds personal finance seminars for employees of corporations like Wal-Mart. He also started going to real estate investment seminars, and it’s paid off: He now owns $30 million worth of investment properties, including apartment complexes, a shopping mall and a quarry.“I was an engineer who never thought this life was possible, but all it truly takes is a little self-education,” says Steve. “You can do anything once you understand the basics.”

PLUS: 17 French Restaurant Words You Need to Know

3. Passion pays off - In 1995, Jill Blashack Strahan and her husband were barely making ends meet. Like so many of us, Jill was eager to discover her purpose, so she splurged on a session with a life coach. “When I told her my goal was to make $30,000 a year, she said I was setting the bar too low. I needed to focus on my passion, not on the paycheck.”Jill, who lives with her son in Alexandria, Minnesota, owned a gift basket company and earned just $15,000 a year. She noticed when she let potential buyers taste the food items, the baskets sold like crazy. Jill thought, Why not sell the food directly to customers in a fun setting?

PLUS: 15 Foods You Should Never Buy Again

With $6,000 in savings, a bank loan and a friend’s investment, Jill started packaging gourmet foods in a backyard shed and selling them at taste-testing parties. It wasn’t easy. “I remember sitting outside one day, thinking we were three months behind on our house payment, I had two employees I couldn’t pay, and I ought to get a real job. But then I thought, No, this is your dream. Recommit and get to work.”She stuck with it, even after her husband died three years later. “I live by the law of abundance, meaning that even when there are challenges in life, I look for the win-win,” she says.

PLUS: 20 Secrets Your Waiter Won't Tell You

The positive attitude worked: Jill’s backyard company, Tastefully Simple, is now a direct-sales business, with $120 million in sales last year. And Jill was named one of the top 25 female business owners in North America by Fast Company magazine.According to research by Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind, over 80 percent of millionaires say they never would have been successful if their vocation wasn’t something they cared about.

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4. Grow your money - Most of us know the never-ending cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. “The fastest way to get out of that pattern is to make extra money for the specific purpose of reinvesting in yourself,” says Loral Langemeier, author of The Millionaire Maker. In other words, earmark some money for the sole purpose of investing it in a place where it will grow dramatically—like a business or real estate.There are endless ways to make extra money for investing—you just have to be willing to do the work. “Everyone has a marketable skill,” says Langemeier. “When I started out, I had a tutoring business, seeing clients in the morning before work and on my lunch break.”A little moonlighting cash really can grow into a million. Twenty-five years ago, Rick Sikorski dreamed of owning a personal training business. “I rented a tiny studio where I charged $15 an hour,” he says. When money started trickling in, he squirreled it away instead of spending it, putting it all back into the business. Rick’s 400-square-foot studio is now Fitness Together, a franchise based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with more than 360 locations worldwide. And he’s worth over $40 million.

PLUS: 10 Smart Money Moves to Make Now

When extra money rolls in, it’s easy to think, Now I can buy that new TV. But if you want to get rich, you need to pay yourself first, by putting money where it will work hard for you—whether that’s in your retirement fund, a side business or investments like real estate.

5. No guts, no glory - Last summer, Dave Lindahl footed the bill for 18 relatives at a fancy mansion in the Adirondacks. One night, his dad looked out at the scenery and joked, “I can’t believe we used to call you the black sheep!”At 29, Dave was broke, living in a small apartment near Boston and wondering what to do after ten years in a local rock band. “I looked around and thought, If I don’t do something, I’ll be stuck here forever.”He started a landscape company, buying his equipment on credit. When business literally froze over that winter, a banker friend asked if he’d like to renovate a foreclosed home. “I’m a terrible carpenter, but I needed the money, so I went to some free seminars at Home Depot and figured it out as I went,” he says.

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After a few more renovations, it occurred to him: Why not buy the homes and sell them for profit? He took a risk and bought his first property. Using the proceeds, he bought another, and another. Twelve years later, he owns apartment buildings, worth $143 million, in eight states.The Biggest Secret? Stop spending.Every millionaire we spoke to has one thing in common: Not a single one spends needlessly. Real estate investor Dave Lindahl drives a Ford Explorer and says his middle-class neighbors would be shocked to learn how much he’s worth. Fitness mogul Rick Sikorski can’t fathom why anyone would buy bottled water. Steve Maxwell, the finance teacher, looked at a $1.5 million home but decided to buy one for half the price because “a house with double the cost wouldn’t give me double the enjoyment.”

Stay tuned......

24 May 2010

Livn the Dream



There are many ways to create the opportunity to live your passion.

I realize we all need money to survive and we all want the best for ourselves and our families. But what is the best? More stuff.... Bigger houses.... Name brand everything.... Eating out...... The newest electronics?

What we all really want is...... to be connected to people we love...... feel good about our work - make a difference.......... Be healthy........ Be a part of the bigger picture by helping others, working to clean up the environment, finding a cure to a disease, helping animals etc.
So how do we close the gap from wanting everything NOW and shifting our thinking to How good do I feel because I have this vs doing that?

It takes a conscience decision everyday with every decision. Eventually, it will be second nature. But for the first few months - before every purchase you need to stop and think - "Why am I buying this, Do I really need it NOW, Is it going to sit in a pile with other things I have bought and didn't really need.

Look at your actions - is it easier to buy things for others verses spending time with them? When I talk with people and ask what is important to them - they always tell me stories of when they spent time with their parents, kids, siblings and friends, volunteering and the difference they made. I have never had the response I feel great because I have all the latest electronics, a new sports car or the biggest house on the block. Never makes the top 100 responses.
The blog I need motivation asks great questions.

Health is the top answers all the time - but what are you doing to stay healthy? Our lifestyles are killing us. Fast food, hormones in meats, pesticides sprayed on all our vegetables and preservatives in all the processed foods we eat are terrible for us. 40 years of eating like this and you will not have a fun and healthy retirement. (if you even make it to retirement)

It takes as long to go through a fast food drive thru as it does to go home and grill a piece of chicken and steam some vegetables. Stores like Trader Joes and Whole foods have made eating without preservatives pretty easy. Local grocery stores are also labeling foods and setting up sections to make it easier.

I often hear that it is more expensive to shop at the above stores or to eat healthy. This is possibly true depending on how you go about it. Ways to keep costs down are: plan your meals, watch for sales, use coupons, go to farmers markets and eat what is in season. If you cut out soda and junk food, the extra money will cover the cost of the additional cost of the healthier food as well.

The long term cost to you is your health - so if you even start with some of your meals - it is a benefit.

So to recap -

Before spending any money - THINK - Don't sleep walk thru purchases. Marketers have trained you do this. Take control back.

Are you really fulfilled with what you are doing with your time? Would you rather be spending time with people or causes you care about? Playing a game, going for a walk, cooking a meal together are great ways to reconnect.

Staying healthy - Huge issue. We have been convinced that fast and processed is better. Go simple. Be able to name all the ingredients in the foods you eat. The less in it the better. Get back to the basics of eating. It will add years to your life.'

Lastly, here is the money part - take inventory of where you are financially. List all your debts and assets. Look at how much you are spending on rent, cable, cell phones, food etc. Can you reduce spending anywhere. Seriously, can you live without 2000 TV channels or eating out everyday?

The next post will cover more on the shift in thinking with spending money.

Stay tuned......


19 May 2010

Living Your Passion


Hey Generation Millionaire -


I want to go back to my original mission. Live your life's passion, live a balanced life, give back to society, and live within your means.


Did you notice that the money goal is listed last? That is on purpose because if you follow the basic principles - money isn't the goal - it is the means.



  • Living to make money and get stuff is not rewarding - it is a grind.
  • Going to a job that drains you of your energy - is cheating you out of living your best life.

  • Only thinking of yourself and what you can get - robs you from the rewards of seeing someone else do well and having compassion. Also, it is true - energy comes back to you - so when you put out positive energy and help others - it seems like things start to go our way as well.

  • Money - is important - however, we need to recalibrate how we view it and what it means in our lives.

The next few posts are going to talk about each topic and how by recalibrating your views on money and living your passions will provide you the opportunity to live the life you want. I will suggest books, give tips, and yes, we will talk about the basic principles of money - back to the basics.


I have been busy redesigning my mission - I am adding programs for toddlers through retirement planning. Although your generation is my key focus - as you have to change now to hope for enough money in retirement - if we can influence younger kids now - our tribes grow and we can spend time enjoying life vs. managing it.


Stay tuned....


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