It’s never too late to set yourself up for success if you’re willing to put the work in. You can learn how to build wealth at any age. Too many people are telling you if wealth isn’t passed down through the generations, you have no chance. That’s simply not true.
There are books like Everyday Millionaire and The Millionaire Next Door, that prove creating personal wealth is accomplished by people working average jobs. These people are not top income earners and are simply good at the principles we’re going to be covering.
Over 80% of millionaires are first generation. You can take the information they used to get there too.
You Can Learn How To Build Wealth At Any Age
I remember an economic teacher telling me one time that $100 per month can make me a millionaire. That simply blew my mind and got me on the track to investigating it further. If you’re in your 20s or know someone who is, make sure they know this is the best time and get them a link to this.
Here are some things to keep you on track depending on what stage you are in life.
Start Saving Money
Saving 15-20% of income in the 20s is tough because of all the things going on in life. First, of course, is to get a job. A steady paying job.
You can click to learn how to build a very profitable online business from John Crestani.
Be careful and don’t create too many strings that pull on your wallet. This is true, especially if you’re right out of college or trade school.
Get in the habit of living below your means. Don’t dream about fancy cars until you get your money saving and investing strategy underway. You’re learning about how to get your money saving strategy underway properly right now. It’s a discipline that includes knowledge and proper action steps over and over.
It’s simple yet hard to do because there are too many people and things distracting you from good intentions. It’s really easy to get derailed and the sad thing is most people never get back on track.
Invest In Yourself
You’re doing that now by reading this. Should you spend money going to night class to get a higher paying job? You know how much money it takes to live comfortably. The reason I’m bringing this up is to ensure you can save 15-20%. Make sure car loans aren’t keeping you from saving money.
Read books about building wealth. An outstanding example of a money mentor other than Guiding Cents is to tap into Dave Ramsey and listen to his podcasts. He’s helped me tremendously, and we know his principles are sound and proven. I would recommend nothing or anyone with whom I don’t have faith in.
How To Buy A Car
When buying a car put 20% down and only finance it for 3 years. It’s probably going to be used. Until you can get your savings where they need to be, the cost of that car or truck payment should not exceed 8% of your gross income.
It’s the 20-3-8 rule. Peg this to memory and apply it for the rest of your life.
The splendid news is that eventually most people will pay cash for their cars, breaking none of the savings rules you’re being taught right now.
Become Addicted To Watching Your Money Grow
Most of the time we hear the word addiction, we think of something negative. Fully embrace the feeling of joy when you save money. When you see that deposit going into your savings, whether a regular savings account or a modest investment fund, feel the joy of the increase.
Get into an employer match program if you can. Make sure it’s a fund or account you choose and not attached to the company you work for. In other words, if the company goes bankrupt, then it won’t hurt your account.
It’s ok to have an employee stock program, like I did with United Airlines before we went bankrupt in 2004.
But keep in mind it should be beside your regular savings account. In my case, a $130,000 ESOP (employee stock ownership program) turned into a $1,000 payout after the bankruptcy filing after the 9/11 attacks. That single event shook the entire airline industry. A very sad story.
Use The Law Of Compound Interest
Albert Einstein said that compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. He said, “Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.”
Use this Securities and Exchange Commission’s compound interest calculator from the official United States Government website to run some numbers.
If you use the average rate of return of the S&P 500 over the past several decades, you will get a good idea of the fantastic future gains for yourself. The S&P 500 Index originally began in 1926 as the “composite index” composed of only 90 stocks. According to historical records, the average annual return since its inception in 1926 is approximately 10%–11%.
How Can I Start To Build Wealth From Nothing?
A good rule of thumb is to always be saving a minimum of between 3-4% of your gross income annually. If you’re right out of college and in your early twenties, try to save $250 per month as a minimum. A little goes a long way.
8 Steps to Buying a Home
A little advanced preparation can simplify the home buying process so you can start your home buying journey feeling confident and without fear. While there is no “one-size fits all” approach to buying home, you will find that all home buyers have a few critical steps they need to take as a transition into home ownership.
To help you get started, here at Guiding Cents we have put together the following home buying checklist.
Step 1: Understanding what you can afford
Before buying a home, you’ll want to understand your financial situation so you can properly budget for your home. Take inventory of your finances, including income, debts, savings and your monthly expenditures to assess how much you can afford. Also consider your credit scores. Keep reading and we will discuss a bit about this further in this article.
Step 2: Down payments and PMI
Most people don’t realize that you have options with making the down payment on your home purchase. You’ll want to talk with your lender about what makes the most sense for you, but qualified borrowers can put down as little as 3%. Don’t fall for the common 20% down misconception. This will come into play when choosing a good lender, as you will read about shortly.
Already have a home and want a refinance that’s easy to get approved? Click Here.
Step 3: Assembling your real estate team
It’s important to have the right people close to your side when you’re ready to buy a home. Consider reaching out to a housing specialist, real estate agent, lender, and/or title company representative to help you achieve your homeownership goals.
Step 4: Finding the right home to live in or for a rental property
Be clear about your wants, needs, and what is unacceptable for you before getting started looking for your house. Work with your real estate team to find a home that will best suit your lifestyle and finances.
Step 5: Working with your lender to get a smooth closing
Your lender will play a critical part in helping you determine how much home you can afford besides securing you the best mortgage option for your needs. The lender will look at your credit scores and give you an idea of what type of loan is going to work for you. I was a Mortgage Consultant for many years and have helped many homebuyers do this. The home buying process is a breeze for you, the buyer, if you choose a good lender.
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Step 6: Making the offer and coming out ahead
Once you’ve found the right home, your real estate agent will submit an offer letter. Learn how to determine a fair price and negotiate within your budget.
Step 7: Inspection and appraisal are crucial
Before you start the closing process, your team will probably schedule a home inspection and appraisal. These are important steps as both will give you a better understanding of the condition and value of your home so you’re informed before they transfer the keys to you.
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Step 8: Closing your loan with no hitches
Once your loan gets approved, your lender will schedule the closing, which is the last step in purchasing a home. This can vary depending if the state you are purchasing the home is an attorney state or a title company state. During closing, you go to the mortgage signing for all documents, and they legally transfer the property to you.
As you can see, there are many variables in the home buying process. While there is no simple answer to what your home buying journey will look like, the more educated you are the more likely you’ll be able to streamline the process.
Charles Duhigg The Power Of Habit
Why we do what we do and how to change. In The Power of Habit chapters, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation.
Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.
Habits emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort.
The habit loop: The process with our brain is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.
Click HERE to get The Power Of Habit pdf download summary eBook.
Cue –Routine – Reward
Over time, this loop becomes more and more automatic. The cue and reward become intertwined until a powerful sense of anticipation and craving emerges. Eventually, a habit is born.
Habits never really disappear. They are encoded into the structures of our brain. If we learn to create new neurological routines that overpower those behaviors – if we take control of the habit loop – we can force those bad tendencies into the background. And once someone creates a new pattern, studies have demonstrated, going for a jog or ignoring the doughnuts becomes as automatic as any other habit.
Craving is what makes cues and rewards work. The craving is what powers the habit loop.
Habits create neurological cravings. As we associate cues with certain rewards, a subconscious craving emerges in our brain that starts the habit loop spinning. How to create a new habit: put together a cue, a routine and a reward, and then cultivate a craving that drives the loop.
A cue and a reward on their own aren’t enough for a new habit to last. Only when your brain starts expecting the reward – craving the endorphins or sense of accomplishment – will it become automatic to lace up your jogging shoes each morning. The cue, in addition to triggering a routine, must also trigger a craving for the reward to come.
Duhigg used a toothpaste example in the book from Claude Hopkins, the grandfather of modern advertising. Back in the early 1900’s Hopkins had the task of selling a new toothpaste called Pepsodent. Through his earlier ads he found they weren’t selling people on having beautiful teeth. Through much figuring, and wasted advertising spend, he realized he was actually selling a sensation. Once people craved that cool tingling – once they equated the fresh tingling of their mouths and gums with cleanliness, tooth brushing became a habit.
You can never truly extinguish bad habits. Rather, to change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine. That’s the rule; if you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit. Almost any behavior can be transformed if the cue and reward stay the same.
Alcoholics Anonymous succeeds because it helps alcoholics use the same cues, and get the same reward, but it shifts the routine. The program forces people to identify the cues and rewards that encourage their alcoholic habits, and then helps them find new behaviors. To change an old habit you must address an old craving. You have to keep the same cues and rewards as before, and feed the craving by inserting a new routine. AA forces people to create new routines for what to do each night instead of drinking.
Keystone Habits: Some habits have the power to start a chain reaction, changing other habits as they move through an organization. Some habits, in other words, matter more than others in remaking businesses and lives. These are Keystone Habits, and they can influence how people work, eat, play, live, spend, and communicate. Keystone habits start a process that, over time, transforms everything.
Keystone habits encourage change by creating structures that help other habits to flourish. Keystone habits transform us by creating cultures that make clear the values that, in the heat of a difficult decision or a moment of uncertainty, we might otherwise forget.
The Power Of Habit also covers social habits.
For an idea to grow beyond a community, it must become self-propelling. And the surest way to achieve that is to give people new habits that help them figure out where to go on their own. Movements don’t emerge because everyone suddenly decides to face the same direction at once. They rely on social patterns that begin as the habit of friendship, grow through the habits of communities, and are sustained by new habits that change participant’s sense of self.
Once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom to remake them. If you believe you can change—if you make it a habit—the change becomes real. This is the real power of habit: the insight that your habit is what you choose it to be. Once that choice occurs—and becomes automatic—it´s not only real, it starts to seem inevitable.
Experience The Power Of Habit audiobook.
Books like The Power Of Habit are important to being able to have more productive and happy lives. Give it a read or download The Power Of Habit pdf book summary for free and with no opt-in.
Credit Secrets Book
The Best Tricks And Secrets To Repair Your Credit And Improve Your Score. Change Your Financial Life. Manage Your Expenses And Money In A Simple And Effective Way In Times Of Crisis.
If you are trying to figure out your credit score and how to raise it you’ve came to the right page. Learning how your credit score is determined helps the entire process of building your credit. The FICO score from Fair Isaac Corporation is the credit score most lenders us. The FICO score ranges from 300 to 850. Poor credit affects not just what you want now, but also what you can have in years to come.
In this book you will learn what credit score is, how it’s determined, why you should care, and what to do if you find yourself with bad credit. What if someone steals your identity and what to do to fix it. The Importance of good credit score and your Financial Freedom. You will learn about the myth of paying it off.
This book will help you discover the core truths about credit and credit worthiness. You will discover the strategies needed to fix and repair your credit.
So many people do not understand credit and finance issues they deal with daily. This book starts with explaining what credit is and how a credit score is figured. The book then talks about how to make your credit score better or fix issues on it. Also discussed is how to make a budget and keep yourself on track financially. I think the information in this book is super useful and can help many people.
Having good credit, as Tony Risk alludes to, can even help you qualify for job opportunities that require decent credit and save thousands on insurance policies each year. It can even help you pay zero liability rental car insurance.
If you are serious about improving your credit it may be a good idea to look into furthering your education about the process and getting results by looking at credit repair companies. See a list of them HERE and begin raising your credit quickly.
Hard Money Lenders For Rental Properties
Probably one of the greatest resources a real estate investor can have is a great lender. Sometimes some deals don’t fit the criteria for traditional lenders. This doesn’t mean you can’t finance the property. It simply means you might need to look into alternative types of loans. You’re getting ready to learn how within a few minutes and be on your way to expanding your rental property portfolio.
What is a hard money loan?
A hard money loan is a type of real estate loan issued by a private lender for non-owner occupied property. Hard money loans are usually short term, between six and 36 months, and have a higher interest rate than traditional bank loans.
They base the approval of hard money loans on the value of the real estate more than the creditworthiness of the borrower. These loans provide an exceptionally fast approval time for you, the borrower. Hard money loans are often closed within two to four weeks.
What categories of real estate do hard money lenders finance?
Hard money lenders loan on any type of non-owner occupied real estate yet they are usually looking for situations with a fairly quick exit strategy so they know they’ll get paid by the end of the term of the loan.
How are hard money loans different from bank loans?
Mainly the difference between a hard money loan and a typical bank loan is the lender itself. Since they use these loans for non-owner occupied real estate, they aren’t regulated like consumer mortgages. This means hard money lenders can charge higher interest rates and fees and get away with terms that wouldn’t be allowed with traditional loans.
Even though the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) rarely apply to commercial mortgages, there are still regulations that traditional financial institutions have to follow. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC still regulates federally insured banks) and credit unions by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). Hard money lenders don’t have any regulations placed on them.
Great for fixer uppers and flip properties
Hard money loans are very common with properties bought for fixing and flipping. Many lenders will even finance the repairs on the property. These types of deals are ideal for the lender since flips are usually bought, fixed and sold within six months.
If the lender is also financing the repairs, they will estimate the cost of the repairs and issue draws as the borrower needs them to pay for the work being done. This ensures that the funds are being used for the repairs and limits the lender’s exposure since they’re only giving out portions at a time.
Hard money lenders even prefer to finance the repairs many times so they know the borrower will complete the project. If the borrower gets through the demolition and runs out of money, the value may become less than the purchase price. By financing the project, they don’t have to worry about the borrower not being able to finish the job because of a lack of funds.
Rentals
Hard money lenders will also provide short-term loans for residential real estate investment properties. The goal here is usually to refinance the property in 12 to 36 months to pay off the hard money loan.
Investors may turn to a hard money loan for a rental property if they need to close the deal quickly and don’t have the time to go to a bank. They may also need a private loan if the rental property needs repairs before a bank will finance the deal.
Multifamily
Similar to loans for rental properties, investors may need capital quickly to close on a multifamily property when there’s not enough time to go through the traditional lending process.
An investor may also buy a multifamily property with little to no tenants that needs a lot of repairs. This type of property would be hard to get financed with a bank, so they may seek a hard money loan. They can get the work done and lease the property before refinancing it with a long-term loan.
Commercial real estate
A common situation with commercial real estate is an investor having a tenant to lease space to but no property to put them in. The investor will find a vacant property that the tenant will lease out, but they have to purchase the property and get it ready for the tenant first.
A bank may not want to finance a vacant property intended for use as an investment if the borrower doesn’t have the assets to secure the loan. A hard money loan can be useful in this situation to get the deal done, do the tenant improvements, and get it leased. Once the tenant is in place and paying rent, a bank will be more willing to finance the real estate.
Our Rental Loans program provides long-term financing for single family residential properties, multi-family properties, commercial properties and portfolios. Rental property loans are essential to building long-term wealth through rental real estate. Our mission is to provide you with flexible, private real estate rental loans, allowing our clients to attain financial freedom through real estate investing.
Loan approval guidelines
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Hard money lenders don’t normally follow the same underwriting procedures as banks. They don’t pick apart the borrower’s finances like a bank does, in most cases. They are not usually as concerned with where the down payment funds came from. You may be surprised at the ease of approval for these type investor loans.
Credit
The lender will probably do a credit check, but unless the borrower has terrible credit, they will be approved. They mainly want to make sure the borrower hasn’t defaulted on several loans or isn’t drowning in debt.
Property value
The primary concern in the underwriting process is the value of the property and the market it’s in. Hard money loans are a higher risk for the lender, so they want to make sure they are going to get their money back if they have to foreclose.
There’s usually an appraisal to verify the property value, but the lender also wants to make sure that similar houses are selling in a reasonable amount of time in that market. They don’t want to be sitting on a house for several months waiting for it to sell.
Exit strategy
The lender has to consider the borrower’s exit strategy, since this is how they are going to pay off the loan. There is a balloon payment at the end of the short term, so they want to be confident that the borrower can pay it.
If the borrower is planning on flipping the property by renovating it and selling it at a profit, the lender knows they’ll get paid at the closing table once the borrower sells.
If the borrower intends to refinance the property by the end of the term, the lender will want to be confident that they will get financed.
Some hard money lenders also offer long-term financing on investment properties with five- or 10-year terms. They may do the refinancing in-house if the borrower meets the credit requirements.
The lender might also go into the loan intending to renew the hard money loan if the borrower can’t get refinanced in time. This isn’t a terrible situation for the lender because they will continue to get the high interest rate for another term.
Our private lenders specialize in providing rental property loans for investors looking for landlord loans, portfolio loans, and rental property loans.
We can get our clients rental real estate loans closed quickly because of a streamlined internal underwriting process, dedicated support staff, that emphasizes only the property level cash flow. Unlike conventional banks and hard money lenders, who underwrite borrowers personal finances. These rental property loans are tailored for real estate investors.
Click HERE TO APPLY FOR A LOAN PROGRAM THAT IS DESIGNED FOR INVESTORS NATIONWIDE SEEKING A SIMPLE FINANCING SOLUTION FOR PURCHASE OR REFINANCE, WITH THE FLEXIBILITY TO REMAIN IN THE LOAN FOR UP TO 30 YEARS AND CASH-OUT UP TO 80% OF LTV.
Fiber Fueled: Optimizing Microbiome To Lose Weight
Fiber Fueled: The Plant-Based Gut Health Program for Losing Weight, Restoring Your Health, and Optimizing Your Microbiome.
The benefits of restrictive diets like paleo and keto have been touted for more than a decade, but as renowned gastroenterologist Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, or “Dr. B”, illuminates in this groundbreaking book, the explosion of studies on the microbiome (now called the #1 organ in the body) makes it abundantly clear that elimination diets are in fact hazardous to our health. In fact, studies now show that gut health is the key to boosting our metabolism, balancing our hormones, and taming the inflammation that causes a host of diseases. The scientifically proven way to fuel our guts is with dietary fiber and this is exactly what Dr. B preaches with his patients while living it in his own life.
Author and acclaimed medical doctor: by Will Bulsiewicz, MD, MSCI is a huge advocate of patient education. He operates his own practice as well as being a Board-certified Gastroenterologist and Gut Health Expert serving Mount Pleasant and East Cooper South Carolina.
Dr. Bulsiewicz is possibly the smartest person on Gastroenterology and microbiome health you will ever meet.
Dr. Bulsiewicz is a walking encyclopedia. He’s a respected clinician and the recipient of numerous awards. At Northwestern, he received the highest award in his residency program (Rambach Award), was elected into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society, and was Chief Medical Resident. At UNC, he once again received the highest clinical award and was Chief Gastroenterology Fellow.
In the pages of the book Fiber Fueled there are over 600 references and thousands of studies. It is about gut health. This incredible work is an easy to read and understand resource that will overcome many problems within the human body and allows resetting of the metabolism. The Author Dr. B holds you by the hand and walks you down the path together. He meets you where you are and doesn’t care what your dietary background is right now.
See resources on his site: https://theplantfedgut.com/
Ever wonder what causes brain fog? It comes from a condition now being called leaky brain.
The formation of beta amyloid plaques infiltrate the brain and are not supposed to be there. Your body is designed with natural defense systems. The epithelial layer is one of four tissue types of the body. Your skin; the membranes of your reproductive, respiratory and digestive tracts; and the surfaces of your individual organs are all covered by an epithelial layer. Epithelial cells are avascular, meaning they don’t have a direct blood supply. In the gut the epithelial layer is supposed to prevent toxins from getting from the gut into our body in the form of toxins. When one of these protective layers break down we must repair it.
If we don’t the junctions of the cells break down and allow toxins to enter the brain. We need to repair these tight junctions of cells in order to defend ourselves.
Here is the YouTube video link where he conducted a synopsis of the ideas presented in this book with another medical doctor and recorded on the actual day of his book launch Fiber Fueled:
Fiber enhances gut microbiome and creates more short chain fatty acid.
It’s important to note that short-chain fatty acids are produced by the friendly bacteria in your gut. Short-chain fatty acids may also play an important role in health and disease. They may reduce the risk of inflammatory diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease and other conditions.
Conversely, intake of diets rich in long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) (>C16), the most common fatty acid (FA) type in Western diets, is associated with disturbances in glucose homeostasis and insulin action.
The most common metabolic disorders in our Western society (including obesity and insulin resistance) have arisen to a great extent from excess nutrient intake, especially in the form of fat. Ref: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3826680/
It’s important to note we’re not talking about one gold nugget that is a cure all. This book covers the chain reaction of how not protecting and repairing your gut microbiome leads to many other ailments. How to protect yourself from other illnesses and increase your immunity to an all time level.
70% of the human immune system lives in the gut and contains 500 million nerves. That’s five times more than the spinal cord. Dr. Bulsiewicz knows firsthand the power of fiber to dramatically transform our health. He was a former junk-food junkie believe it or not.
The good news is that our guts can be trained. Fiber-rich, real foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts, and legumes can begin working quickly to maintain your long-term health, help you tremendously with weight loss, and allow you to feel great and without brain fog from the inside out.
Fiber Fueled has a 28-day jumpstart program with menus. There are more than 65 recipes with essential advice on food sensitivities that many people know they have yet can’t pinpoint the exact ones. Fiber Fueled offers the blueprint to start increasing and infusing your gut for lifelong health today and for tomorrow. This book is a true lifechanger and you will see effects withing a week.
This book is a super enjoyable read and was written to be like that. Most medical doctors aren’t the greatest at writing. Even editors can tend to make medical information dull and boring. Not this book. I recommend you buy this book and read it today. Keep it in your library for the rest of your life because it is a true enlightening game changer.
Reading over one thousand papers as Dr. Bulsiewicz has done takes years and years. Take this wisdom, glean on it and teach it to your family and friends. Lets all make our planet a healthier and more thriving place to live.