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Why Affiliate Marketing doesn’t work.

Owning an online business is really no different than owning any other business. Without customers it is impossible to generate a cash flow. Think about it, a Physician without patients will not be able to buy the car they desire and live in the the house of their dreams

Owning an online business is no different. Without customers the business will fail. I have also watched this happen with freinds and family who signed up with the latest MLM craze. Without a marketing plan that will attract the potential buyer, the business will struggle to gain traction and grow. Honestly, if you are shy or scared to tlak with people there is a good chance that you are in for an uphill battle to gain customers. ANd, without customers, the businees is doomed. This is why ONLINE Businesses fail.

GUESS WHAT, This doesn’t mean that you should not look into the Affilate Marketing business. The freedom alone makes this field higly desirable. AND, with a little knowledge at the beginning your chances of SUCCESS grow dramatically.

I want to invite you to investigate this business for yourself. Even if this business is not for you, the time and investment will provide you with valuable information.

For Anyone Who Wants To Start A Profitable Online Business But Doesn’t Know Where To Begin

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Housing, budget deficits and your future

Depending on who is approving your new home purchase or refinance, your housing debt to income ratio can range from a 28% to over 50% of your total income. The thing to remember is that the debt to income ratio is calculated on Before Tax Income. That figure does not take into consideration your Federal or State Income Tax Rate, Your Cost of Insurance or Your Contributions into Your Retirement Plan.

This illustration shows the Debt-to-Income ratio for an average, middle class family.

Basic DTI Calc

As you can see based on these figures this family is well within the range for being approved based on income alone. But lets look deeper into the possibilities this family could be facing after signing the mortgage and loan documents.

 

If they are in an average tax bracket with average benefits the take home pay for this family could be

 $3240 per month. After the First Mortgage payment is paid they would have $1740 per month. Which means they are spending over 45% of their take home pay in mortgage payments alone.

What if they are like this couple from Florida that wrote the following on Edmunds.com? Thank you! We took delivery of our 2013 Odyssey EX-L, black with truffle leather (no nav. or rear ent.), from Crown Honda in Pinellas Park, Florida, last Saturday. We walked out paying only our first month’s lease payment: $408.88/mo, 36 months, 12,000 miles/year. Total we’ll be paying over entire lease is $14,719.68! Residual value $19,030 (give or take). I think we came out good on this deal! Their $1740 a month is now $1331 and they sill have to purchase insurance and fuel for the vehicle. With gas prices in the $3.50-$4.00 a gallon price range the average full tank of gas costs around $48.00. If that is the price per week this vehicle will add $211.00 a month to the budget.

Not mentioning utilities for the house, groceries, entertainment and emergencies that can pop up as a homeowner, I think you can see that budget deficits can be controlled in our own homes. I keep hearing people talk about the US Debt, the economy and other factors that honestly we personally have no direct control over. What if we start with us?

It seems easy to justify spending $50 for an evening meal when we don’t feel like cooking. What about the price of a night out? What about that insurance deductible due after a minor fender bender?

Thoughts? I’d love to hear them.

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Compared to what?

Just because things are called the same doesn’t mean they are the same.  It depends on the rules or the game as to whether they are the same.

Look at the following scenario with a little more information. The game of golf keeps score a lot differently than the game of basketball. Though in both sports, a final score of 70 can be considered a good thing. It may not be enough win in the game.  The score is equal in both games. However the accounting and scoring of the points is dramatically different.

The same is true with the ROTH IRA. Yes, the ROTH IRA is a retirement strategy. But there are a variety of plans that fall under the heading of ROTH IRA. The structure and rules for scoring can separate greatly and still be considered a ROTH IRA under the IRS Guidelines. In the same way that golf and basketball are both sports, the similarities between the 2 sports is evident once we start to understand all the rules and nuances of the games.

Don’t assume that your ROTH IRA will give you an adequate return until you understand the rule of the plan and compare them with others available. What happens when the stock market goes sideways? Will a 10% gain continue to sustain and grow your money? Maybe.  But what if the market changes negatively?  What if if goes up 10% this year, Down 10% next year and follows that pattern over a 10 yr period. If the loss can never be more than 0% on your ROTH IRA plan, you will be money ahead.

Thank you for reading and sharing.

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Net Disposable Income and Residual Income. What’s the difference?

Investopedia defines Disposable Income as:

The amount of money that households have available for spending and saving after income taxes have been accounted for. Disposable personal income is often monitored as one of the many key economic indicators used to gauge the overall state of the economy.
So your disposable income is the amount of money you have on your paycheck. I have a question for you. Does your take home pay (disposable income) cover everything you need to pay for? Things like food, housing, entertainment, clothing? Do you need more money?

How much money are you generating that can be added to your disposable income? How much money are you making with your residual income?

What? Residual income? What is residual income?

Well, Residual income (also called passive, or recurring income) is income that continues to be generated after the initial effort has been expended. Compare this to what most people focus on earning: linear income, which is “one-shot” compensation or payment in the form of a fee, wage, commission or salary.

In his article titled What is Residual Income and Why Do You Want it? Craig Dewe says that Residual income comes from building an asset that continues to pay you after the work has been done. What about building your own fortune?

As Jim Rohn was famous for saying:

“I’m working full-time on my job and part time on my fortune. But it won’t be long before I’m working full-time on my fortune. Can you imagine what my life will look like?

Thank you,

#LivePowerfully

 

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What to consider for your 401k

It is always a good thing to save money for the future. You will never be able to predict exactly when you will need to use it and I can tell you it is never a good thing to need money and not have  any set back when a need arises.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when saving for the future.

* Tax Deferred Accounts (401k, Fixed Annuity) should not be the first place to save for the future.

* Pay yourself first and put that money in a safe but liquid account for easy access.

* Establish a few accounts that offer a range of flexibility of earnings, safety and liquidity.

* Don’t over deposit into the 401k.

* Do take advantage of the maximum deposit your employer places into your 401k.

* Alternative Investments are not bad

* Alternative Investments are not All Good.

* Hire a coach that only has Your Interests in mind. Use your coach as a mediator when looking at new plans. Remember, Agents are Salespeople and Most Advisers are too.

* Understand Completely how your money will be used to cover FEES and Taxes.

To recap, never go alone when it comes to you money and you future and Always employ the time of a person who understands the maze of financial options available, understands your goals completely and works with you to insure that you have the Best plan to acheive your dreams.

 

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Retirement pitfalls to avoid

The reason that many Americans tend to struggle financial during retirement is because it has been an accepted idea that low wage earners will struggle to live financially secure, most Americans have never taken the time to calculate how much money they will need to save for retirement and most people fail to see the importance of contributing to their employers’ retirement plans even though they will spend nearly 20 years in retirement. (U.S. DOL n.d.)

The way to change the mindset that high wages are the highest priority is to, at an early age; emphasize the importance of spending money on items that are needs instead of wants. People who prioritize on needs such as food, housing and health develop the skill of controlled spending as opposed to those that buy on a whim or spending money frivolously. People that have adopted this foundational mind set have a healthy finance life and reap huge dividends later in life. As a former financial consultant I witnessed this first hand hand. A retired school teacher was struggling to deal with a loss in her investment account after the 2008 market drop. She lost over $250,000 at the age of 84 years old and was concerned about going broke. The irony of the situation was that she had over $800,000 in the same account after the loss. She had no bills other than food, utilities, medical and transportation. When I assured her that things were fine I asked her what she did to save the kind of money she had. She told me that she never increased her lifestyle after getting her teaching job and in fact took every raise and added it to her retirement account. She lived her live like she only earned a meager income, adjusted her budget and income to cover inflation and worked like money didn’t matter. She retired with $2,000,000 in her account.  Putting money away for retirement is a habit we can all live with. Remember…Saving Matters!

  • How much money is needed should be calculated. While working it is important to maintain a budget and stick to it. Budgeting that includes reasonable live expenses such as room; board and food are the first places to start. By selecting a home that costs no more than 30% of the take home pay, a person can then look at the remaining 66% for items such as food, clothing, saving and more. In 1901 households spend an average of 23.3% on housing according to the Bureau of Labor statistics. (Bureau of Labor Statistics: 1901)

A good rule of thumb is to choose a home that is not so large that is costs more for utilities and upkeep than necessary. There is no logical reason for a single person to live in a home with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathroom and potentially more than 1000 square feet. In fact, a person living alone in this type of home is spending money for luxuries as opposed to needs.

When we looked at the housing costs being no more than 33% of take home pay, it is important to be contributing to your employers retirement account before your take home pay is calculated. By putting the maximum amount of money possible in the retirement plan a person insures that they have funds started that will be there in later years. The example earlier illustrates this fact.

The reason that many Americans tend to struggle financially during retirement is because it has been an accepted idea that low wage earners will struggle to live financially secure, most Americans have never taken the time to calculate how much money they will need to save for retirement and most people fail to see the importance of contributing to their employers’ retirement plans even though they will spend nearly 20 years in retirement. The teacher did all of the right things. She established the mindset that living a lifestyle she could afford with her first job was sufficient. She prioritized what were needs as opposed to wants, did not live beyond her means, set back the money she received on every raise, adjusted her budget to account for changes in the cost of living and retired with a large fortune.

Reference:

U.S. Dept of Labor (N.D.) http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/10_ways_to_prepare.html

Bureau of Labor (1901) http://www.bls.gov/opub/uscs/1901.pdf

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Don’t focus on the raise, focus on cash flow management

So many working Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Stress, relationship and health issues are partially caused financial worries and pressures. What is the common practice that most people do when they get an increase of pay?

If you are like most successful people your answer is a simple one. Put the increase back and save it for a rainy day.  Others may also answer that is is prudent to add the increase to debt in order to lower the amount owed and potentially decrease the lending costs of interest.

Guess what. Either answer is a smart one. Paying yourself first is always a great idea. This creates a pool of money that is available when the cash flow decreases or an emergency comes up.

Lowering debt makes great sense in the long run. By paying extra on the smallest balance to get it to zero is not only good for the budget. It feels great for the ego. After the smallest balance is gone, take the amount that was being paid on the smaller account and add it to the next smallest account. Dave Ramsey refers to this as the Debt Snowball. I consider this a great method to win in the cash flow game.

At the end of the day financial success shouldn’t be measured by the money we make but rather the money we keep. And we get to keep more of our money by controlling our cash flow. And when we are in control of cash flow we have the freedom to make sound financial decisions.

What a concept.