Financial Freedom Tips

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Many personal finance articles have been written on the issue of money.   Can’t say I have been moved to action by many.   First I’d like to say it is ok that you feel down about the current situation about your personal finances.   I give you permission to feel your feeling for the next 24 hours and then pull yourself by your boot straps and let’s what we can do.  

There exist many a definition, I want to share with you  my personal finance definition:

Financial freedom is not an event, it is a skill.

I bet right now with the current economic situation you are saying to yourself, “I just wish I could the lotto!”  Boy don’t we all and yet statistics and personal finance facts show that the majority of people who win the lottery, end up broke and worse off before their winnings! Imagine that.   You among the many seeking wealth, riches, fame few people realize that money isn’t the solution to their problems;  the way you think about money is the problem and the solution.  

I can almost see you going oh yeah, give me the money and I’ll show you change in mindset!

My favorite entrepreneur of all times, Henry Ford was once asked, “What if you lost everything you own?” He responded without missing a beat: “I’d have it all back and more within 5 years. “

Being a master of your own personal finance is not about what is in the bank; it’s about the ability to acquire the skill that will show you how to produce new streams of income and wealth based on your knowledge and experience.

So before we go any further on this issue let us tackle the real problem here that is impeding your personal finance for good!  Why you might ask?  Well without the mastery of these 5 steps, your desire for your goal for financial success and financial freedom is highly unlikely!  This is why big players in any industry have coaches, Oprah has a life coach, football players and basketball players have coaches and mentors.   Tiger woods after every bad game will go in for coaching and training.   Why?  Those who achieve great financial success do not go it alone.   They always have a team.   Those who achieve great poverty have the do it yourself mentality!

Why is it important to plan personal finances?

5 Steps That Will Guarantee You Become Master Your Personal Finances

1. How do you think about money? Say you come up with an idea to do something. Do you think that will never work?  Are you afraid to follow through?  Are you scared of loosing money or do you see every dollar spent as an investment?

2. How do you manage and invest your time?  The average man has at his disposal  6 discretionary hours.   This is time they can do whatever they want.   No work, no chores etc.   Many will watch T. V. , attend pricey sports events, spend money on meals at a restaurant and movies, see where I am going with this? Do you do personal finance budgeting?

3. How do you leverage the talents and life experiences you ALREADY POSSESS?
Most people see their experiences as failures.   They only talk of how they tried to do something as failed.   Thomas Edison failed more than I care to count, and yet he persisted to light the whole world. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas A. Edison

4. Do you have a mentor and/or coach with a proven personal finance curriculum? This is the true measure of your desire for financial freedom.   This is where you literally put your money where your mouth is, can’t afford a mentor you say?  Well what was the last book you read? Gossip magazines do not count as literature sorry ?!

5. What do you think is “risky,” and what do you think is “safe and secure”?  Most people never break into the realm of the 5% wealthy group who own 95% of  the worlds resources because they want to play it safe.   They want the money, the fame, the accolades but they feel they should not have to go through the process of creating this wealth.   No wonder the internet and other places are full of scams and get rich quick opportunities.   Remember this success does not  happen overnight, but one night success does happen.   Someone once said to me, it takes 3 years to be an overnight success!

Despite efforts by the federal government and commercial lenders to suggest that there is ample business funding, confusion seems to be increasing about small business loans and working capital loans. As a result, the actual availability of basic business finance services such as commercial real estate financing and business cash advance programs is not clear to many commercial borrowers.

It seems apparent that there have been many reports suggesting that normal commercial finance channels are either frozen or extremely sluggish. After reviewing other funding sources, it is possible to find more commercial loan financing options than such reports might suggest. Uncertainties in credit and financial markets have produced misleading and often conflicting information about commercial financing availability. For most business owners, it is probably not clear if business finance funding is realistically available to them or not.

In spite of some admittedly bad news, there continue to be to reliable funding sources for commercial real estate loans, working capital loans and especially for business cash advances. At the same time, the current negative economic conditions will prove to be difficult for most businesses. Commercial borrowers should expect that extra efforts will be required to successfully arrange commercial financing. An especially harsh reality for business financing is that many banks have discontinued all or most of their business lending activities, often with very little advance notice.

To use an example, commercial finance reports might not accurately reflect that some specialized kinds of commercial financing have been disproportionately disrupted. Commercial borrowers might be unnecessarily confused by reports that do not refer to all commercial loan situations but rather primarily apply to a very specialized form of business financing. To illustrate with a key example, commercial construction loans are currently in short supply by most accounts. Such specialized business loans are not as easily available as they were just a few months ago, and a more accurate accounting would reflect that the number of commercial lenders currently active in construction financing has shrunk dramatically. At the same time, most commercial real estate loans without new construction have not been as severely impacted as funding requests which do involve construction financing.

Several publications have reported that most new business financing requests are on hold or have simply been rejected due to recent financial market uncertainties, and this is another example of how business finance funding reports might confuse small business owners. While the sources for this information might have been honestly told by one or more lending institutions that they are in fact deferring new commercial loan funding, this does not mean that is the case for the entire country. If the discussion involved automobile sales, it would be comparable to concluding that nobody is selling cars anywhere after learning that several major dealers and two manufacturers announced that they were going out of business due to lack of adequate sales. Just because one or more banks fail or stop making business loans, it does not mean that there are not commercial loans available from other sources.

Because the banking industry has been involved in financial disruptions of epic proportions, commercial borrowers should maintain a cautious perspective in determining how to obtain and refinance small business loans. Many banks are sounding and acting like they have been through the equivalent of a train wreck. In such a natural disaster, it might not be prudent for business owners to seek the advice of banks which effectively caused the train to derail in the first place.

Despite reports about limited availability of business financing, some commercial lending activities such as business cash advance programs are actually as active as they have ever been. In the current commercial funding crisis, small business owners should seek a commercial loans expert for a realistic assessment and candid discussion about working capital loans and business finance programs.

If you are involved in currency trading, you are well aware of the fact that there are a lot of forex trading strategies for both long term and short term. Each and every day you seem to read more and more about how you need to be in it for the long haul in order to build your wealth. Now we are going to take a look at the opposite side of the coin and see if short term trading or forex scalping really does work. Here are some lessons learnt and forex tips.

Having been in the market for quite some time now, I am here to tell you that it is always possible to make nice profits on short term currency trades or forex scalping, but it is more difficult and risky especially if you are very new to forex trading or if you do not have the correct discipline to trade the forex financial market.

The problem you are going to be faced with when looking to make a short term profit is that the forex trading signals you are analyzing is less unreliable. One method many people like to use for forex scalping is by looking at the 1 and 5 minute charts thinking that they are spotting something, but it is more than likely just floating at random. This is definitely not the preferred forex trading strategy to use if you are looking for long term success and be a profitable currency trader.

Another challenge you are going to meet when developing forex trading strategies is that when you take a hit on your stop margin, you will eventually take one and you will eat up all the small profits that you made over the course of a day or week. One thing you are guaranteed to do is to add to your stress level, and not in a good way. You are going to be placing yourself in a position that you are under the gun the entire time, not paying attention for one minute could result in a huge hit to your bankroll.

Personally, I use 15 minutes chart and above to look for forex trading signals. But if you are inexperience in forex trading, it is not advisable to look at charts below 1 hour. There are just too many whipsaws that you may not be able to handle.

You need to understand that one good long term trade is just as effective as a group of good short term trades. A longer term trade using hourly or daily charts will allow you to see the trend better, and is a lot less stressful and more reliable.

Unlike forex scalping, you also do not need to be stalking your computer all day as you can place your stop order. You can let the trend develop while you go about your business. You will find yourself sleeping better and enjoying much more by following this philosophy.

If you are looking for a forex trading system that can make you consistent profits, you may want to get the free forex ebook that I have created for the good of all forex traders. Inside this forex trading guide, you will find tips, strategies, techniques and forex system reviews that will definitely aid in your path to successful trading.

The first thrill about starting a new enterprise is seeing the name of your creation on a business card. You want to hand them out to everyone you see — friends, family, the kid who bags your groceries. Soon after you’ve registered your trade name, the credit card offers start cluttering your mailbox. It’s flattering at first. You imagine going out to dinner, grabbing the check, and saying, “it’s okay, it’s on the company. ” So you fill out one or two “pre-approved” applications and, like your business card, can’t wait to use this little symbol of acknowledgement. A corporate card tells people you’ve arrived. You’re a legitimate business.

But it can also spell trouble.

The purpose of a business credit card is to have the convenience of charging legitimate business expenses. You avoid using a personal credit card and submitting receipts for reimbursement. You have the ability of making online and telephone purchases to expedite shipment. The revolving account helps you plan your cash flow. The statements provide a detailed accounting record.

Used wisely, a business credit card provides these important benefits and is essential to building your corporate credit profile. Demonstrating reasonable usage and maintaining a good payment history not only allows you to gain more credit, but also helps you negotiate better interest rates on loans, lines of credit, and other revolving accounts. In fact, using a credit card properly is better than paying cash because lenders want to see a credit profile with positive activity. One small business owner had been vigilant about paying cash for all his purchases to avoid having monthly bills. He had had some personal credit issues in the past and was determined to avoid a recurrence. He felt great about keeping his costs under control. When the owner applied for a business loan at the local bank, he was advised that the black marks on his profile were minor. The biggest problem was that he had no recent credit history. So, he got a credit card, budgeted a monthly allowance for the payment, and made small purchases to establish reports on his credit profile.

A business credit account is clearly valuable for a lot of functions. What it isn’t is a license to spend without regard to the consequences. Just because you’re not writing a check doesn’t mean you haven’t spent corporate cash. By following some basic guidelines, you can manage your corporate credit card account so you reap the rewards instead of paying the price.

* Get credit from your own bank. Once you establish a business banking relationship with a local financial institution, continue to grow that relationship by applying for your business credit card at the same place. The more business you do with this bank, the more they get to know you. The comfort level increases the likelihood that they will consider your request for funding when the time arises. Show loyalty to them and it will be repaid in kind.

* Read the fine print. Many credit card companies shout out low introductory rates. The key word here is “introductory. ” After the honeymoon period is over, the rate can shoot up above the interest you’re paying on your current card. There might be hidden fees that can rack up the bottom line on your monthly statement. Look for an annual fee, the first sign that this card is going to cost you money. If you have to pay for the privilege of having the card, chances are you don’t need it. There are various other features that you do want: overdraft protection, 24-hour customer service, and detailed account reports for your business. In the long run, these services are far more important business benefits than frequent flyer miles or discounts on rental cars that are often accompanied by numerous restrictions of their own.

* Find a card and stick with it. With all the offers of lower interest rates and appealing incentives, you might be tempted to switch your account from one issuer to another. Unless you are dissatisfied with your credit card company, stay put. Card hopping shows up on your credit profile and will likely be unimpressive to a prospective lender. Use your valuable time to manage your business instead of pitting one credit card company against another.

* Do not mix business with pleasure. A business credit card is intended for business purchases only. In the event of an IRS audit —†and they do occur via random selection — questionable expenses will raise suspicion.

* You don’t need a deck of cards. You shouldn’t require more than one or two major credit cards for your business. The more credit cards you accumulate, the higher your debt potential. You charge a hundred dollars at the office supply store, then charge computer equipment with another account, and maybe pay for gas, meals, and a nice little antique table for your conference room on your corporate bank card. There’s still room on each card, so you’re okay. But when the monthly bills come, the totals come as a surprise. You can only make a minimum payment so the finance charges will start to kick in. By keeping track of the expenses as you make them you won’t heap up a debt that puts a stranglehold on your accounts payables. Whenever you take that card out of your wallet, ask yourself if the purchase is necessary and valid for the company.

* A credit card is not a loan. The account should not be viewed as a source of funding when cash flow is tight. The interest rates and transaction fees are too high! Avoid taking advantage of the cash advance option. If you are resorting to borrowing from your credit card, chances are you’re not going to be able to pay the bill when it comes due.

* Limit the number of users. A company credit card is as much a demonstration of trust as it is a convenience for the user. The bookkeeping for multiple cards can be a nightmare, however. Before applying for a card, make sure you can get itemized reports for each card so your frustrated bookkeeper doesn’t have to chase down people to identify charges. To avoid excesses, specify to the employee how much and what type of charges will be acceptable. Review the monthly statements to verify that the cards are being use appropriately.

A business credit card is an essential tool to manage your finances and get the items you need on a timely basis. In order to take full advantage of the benefits, choose your credit card company wisely, making sure you understand the services and the limitations. Be clear about how the card will be used. Credit cards follow a basic law of physics: for every action (a purchase) there is an equal and opposite reaction (a bill). By getting proactive about the company credit card, you can keep your finances in balance, boost your credit profile, and enjoy a terrific convenience.