In re: STEP 4 - TAKE ACTION
GET EDUCATED IN INVESTING:
1. Attend financial seminars and classes.
Just purchased a place at the Ed Burton Brisbane Seminar. You can find more information about the seminar I will attend @ http://www.tridentpress.com.au/webcontent70.htm

5. Continue to read, listen to tapes and videos, watch financial TV programs, and play CASHFLOW.

Whilst I havn't played CASHFLOW 101 in a little while.. I do play it. I'm aiming to decrease the amount of time it takes me to exit the rat race (and hence enter the fast track). I am still reading...

Currently concentrating between "Own Your Own Corporation" by Garrett Sutton (Rich Dad Advisor series) and "12 Simple Secrets of Happiness at Work" by Glenn Van Ekeren.

I have put Cashflow Quadrant on standby as well as "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie and "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. The current two books are more relevant to my current situation at the moment. I will re-sume Cashflow Quadrant when I am prepared to take some REAL action... ie search for good investment properties and trade stocks.

I have since received my special package for EmailCash GOLD members from Trident Press. "Build Your Wealth Today" was a VERY quick read for me as alot of what it talks about I already know thanks to "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" as well as "Cashflow Quadrant"... so I will give that book away to a friend in the future. Meanwhile, I'm a little stuck on "Investing to Win" as it is great for informing about investing in the right stocks however stock trading isn't really that interesting to me.. I like real estate/property more. Other books included in the package are: "How to Avoid Financial Disaster", "Going Out on Your Own" and "Scams and Frauds". I have given each of those books a "skim" by reading various parts of each... they each have value. Oh yes.. all of these books are author-ed by Lance Spicer.

My financial goal in re: Guam has been suspended for the time being and replaced with saving up enough $$ to go to Las Vegas for up to 6 nights in re: Dancer Wealth Training ( http://www.dancerwealth.com ). I felt that I would be better off doing this training and then going to Guam and elsewhere (ie F1 in Melbourne) so I can REALLY benefit rather than only partly benefit (due to not having the best skills).

I'm still aiming to save up to $10,000 to cover myself for 6 months worth of living expenses as well as $3,000 to incorporate myself. I'm hoping the Ed Burton seminar I attend will be able to help me out there.

In re: STEP 4 - TAKE ACTION
GET EDUCATED IN INVESTING:
1. Attend financial seminars and classes.
DONE! I attended the Dolf de Roos seminar: Creating Wealth through Real Estate in early November. :-)

5. Continue to read, listen to tapes and videos, watch financial TV programs, and play CASHFLOW.
CURRENTLY ... I have finished reading "Real Estate Riches" by Dolf de Roos. I am doing the "Get The Edge" (Anthony Robbins) CDs that I purchased awhile ago now and whilst I have yet to PLAY Cashflow .. at least I now have the board game :-)

GET EDUCATED IN BUSINESS:
4. Subscribe to business newspapers and magazines.
Due to changes that happened over at Womens Money magazine this year.. I won't be able to subscribe until its next issue which won't be due out (according to the website) until Feb 2004! At least I have my back issues I ordered of it. I am reading them for the time being...
I'm still "saving up" for the two-year subscription to BRW.


As for my accountant, I'm sticking with my current accountant at PKF. I'm realising that I am indeed getting "my money's worth" from PKF. I don't have to worry about changing my ABN description as I am willing to subscribe to these magazines (without tax deductibility) whilst I save the $$ so I can create a company (incorporate myself) which I will use to invest in real estate and run my businesses through. :-)

Since I have enough put away to pay off my Gunns Investment.. I now have $1000 to put into increasing my passive income (whether via knowledge or other ways).
My current financial goals are along the lines of:
* Save up enough $$ for 6 months worth of living expenses (rent, electricity, phone, internet access, food and $12.50 per week savings).. currently aiming for $10,000.
* Save up enough $$ for airfare and some spending money (before my first pay) in re: Guam (or wherever I will end up spending some time overseas stripping).. currently aiming for $2,500.
* Save up $3,000 so I can incorporate myself.

Whilst also spending money on books that will help me increase my financial literacy. I'm awaiting a shipment of books from Trident Press - a special package of books they put together especially for EmailCash GOLD members (which I am one)! :-)
________________________________________________________________________
COMING SOON: Since I have now finished Real Estate Riches by Dolf de Roos ... I will post some of my favourite passages from his book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED !
ALSO COMING SOON: Notes and Quotes from the "Get The Edge" program developed by Anthony Robbins

STEP 4 - TAKE ACTION
Originally posted: Tue Sep 16, 2003

[These entries were originally posted to my Yahoo Group - I'm transferring the original messages from my Yahoo Group to this BLOG.]


STEP 4 - TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED IN INVESTING:
Once again, I recommend you become proficient as a level 4 investor before trying to become a level 5 or 6 investor. Start small and continue your education.
Each week do at least two of the following:

1. Attend financial seminars and classes.

2. Look for real estate "for sale" signs in your area. Call on three or four per week and ask the sales person to tell you about the property. Ask questions like:
... is it an investment properly?
If it is:
... is it rented? What is the current rent? What is the vacancy rate? What are the average rents in that area? What are the maintenance costs? Is there deferred maintenance? Will the owner finance? What type of financing terms are available?

Practice calculating the monthly cash flow statement for each property and then go over it with the agent for the property to see what you forgot.
** Each property is a unique business system and should be viewed as an individual business system. **

3. Meet with several stockbrokers and listen to the companies they recommend for stock buys. Then research these companies at the library or over the internet. Call the companies and ask for their annual reports.

4. Subscribe to investment newsletters and study them.

5. Continue to read, listen to tapes and videos, watch financial TV programs, and play CASHFLOW.


GET EDUCATED IN BUSINESS:

1. Meet with several business brokers to see what existing businesses are for sale in your area. It is amazing the terminology you can learn by justing asking questions and listening.

2. Attend a newtork marketing seminar to learn about its business system. (I recommend researching at least three different network marketing companies)

3. Attend business opportunity convention or trade expos in your area to see what franchises or business systems are available.

4. Subscribe to business newspapers and magazines.


Eeek! That's alot to do with the limited amount of time that I have available to me.. I'm still on the actions I'm doing in regards to Step 3! The only action I was about to do (this month or next month) out of Step 4 is the "Get Educated In Business" option 4: Subscribe to business newspapers and magazines.

I am definately going to subscribe to BRW for 2 years along with Women's Money (when the next issue is released). At the moment, I'm also purchasing the back issues of 2 and 3 of Women's Money as they looked like they would have something interesting in them as well. BRW is definately on the top of my "to subscribe" list. I'm also going to invest in purchasing some of the books by Lance Spicer I mentioned in my extra diary entry.
First things first... I'm going to get a new accountant. I'm definately dissatisfied with PKF because I do not feel I'm getting my money's worth with them especially since I'm not a top money earner at Players. I can't guarantee myself $400 or even $300 or more shifts at the moment... it is very up and down. The only shift that I can guarantee myself $300 or more is Saturday. Regardless, I want a new accountant and will arrange an appointment with the PKF recommended guy. Once I'm happy with my new accountant (who won't charge such high rates)... I will go ahead and approach my new accountant about how I should go about changing my ABN description.
What I mean is.. I want to change "the purpose of my ABN". This is only because I want to be able to start claiming subscriptions to BRW (and the like) plus buying "wealth creation" type of books as tax deductions because they are self-education expenses related to my business. At the moment, due to my ABN's current description.. I can't.
Step 4 is going to have to wait a little while... I'm quite happy to be on Step 3 for now.

In re: Step 3 actions
Originally posted: Tue Sep 2, 2003

[These entries were originally posted to my Yahoo Group - I'm transferring the original messages from my Yahoo Group to this BLOG.]


In re: Step 3 actions.... I've decided I will subscribe to a magazine called "Women's Money" [ http://www.womensmoney.com.au/ ].
It is well presented and very new (the issue I got was Issue 4) so I'm getting in "on the ground floor" in regards to it just like I did with Wcraft magazine. Besides, their Issue 4 was pretty relevant and full of great tips, advice, etc. Its articles were written in a language I could understand whereas Personal Investor [ http://www.personalinvestor.com.au/ ] had articles written in jargon and since I'm new to the "I" side of the quadrant ... it wasn't really written for people like myself. I might check out BRW (Business Review Weekly) [ http://www.brw.com.au ] since I want to become familiar with the "B" side of the quadrant... It's motto is "inside business". Well.. it's a given that I'm going to subscribe to Women's Money which has 4 issues per year for $23.95 ... what isn't a given yet is whether or not I will subscribe to BRW and/or take up the Personal Investor plus Shares "Hot Offer".

I'll check out BRW and see if it's worth subscribing to today.

.... Well it looks like that my magazines of choice will be BRW and Women's Money however I'll wait until the next issue for both of them to subscribe. :-)
BRW did surprise me... I understood it unlike Personal Investor magazines. Definately going to look at working more in the "B" quadrant :-)

STEP 3: "Know the difference between Risk and Risky"
Originally posted: Mon Aug 25, 2003

[These entries were originally posted to my Yahoo Group - I'm transferring the original messages from my Yahoo Group to this BLOG.]

STEP 3: "Know the difference between Risk and Risky"

1) Define risk in your own words.
-- (A) -- Is relying on a paycheck risky to you?
Yes.. no such thing as "job security" anymore. Even Centrelink (aka "The Dole") payments might be cut back in the future due to the increase on the demand for pensions from the Government due to the aging population.

-- (B) -- Is having debt to pay each month risky to you?
Having BAD debit is risky. Bad debit is money that goes out of your pocket and doesn't come back. Good debt is in re: loans you have in re: businesses and real estate you own.. these businesses and real estate properties you won puts money INTO your pocket.

-- (C) -- Is owning an asset that generates cash flow into your pocket each month risky to you?
No !

-- (D) -- Is spending time to learn about finanicial education risky to you?
Definately not.. it has only improved my life and given me a sense of direction. It helps me deal with my work as an Exotic Dancer easier because I know I will be better off in the end due to the amount of money it has allowed me to earn (and hence use to create wealth).

-- (E) -- Is spending time learning about different types of investments risky to you?
No.. it can only help me in re: my wealth creation. In spending time learning about the different types of investments I will also learn which types are more for me and hence use more than others. Some people love real estate and do well with that.. others love business and do well with that.. and others still are great on the stock market and do well with that.. and so on and so forth :-D


2) Commit 5 hours of your time each week to do one or more of the following:
--> Read the business page of your newspaper and The Wall Street Journal (In Australia, Australian Financial Review)
--> Listen to the financial news on television or radio
--> Listen to eduactional cassettes on investing and financial education
--> Read financial magazines and newsletters
--> Play "CASHFLOW" the game

MY ACTION: I find it easier to read magazines and newsletters so this will be the main one I will do, if I don't do anything else. I will even subscribe to a few of them so it will be easier for me to do this task instead of having to visit the library where I might NOT get the latest edition (etc). I would love to play "Cashflow" the game however I have first to buy it. Whilst I know someone with the board game.. I won't be able to play it with them all the time. Hmm... I guess I could also do "read the business page of your newspaper" which is the Gold Coast Bulletin, The Australian and Courier Mail.. instead of "The Wall Street Journal" I'll probably be better off with "The Financial Review" newspaper.

My main action in regards to Step 3 #2 is "Read financial magazines and newsletters" as I will subscribe to a few of them in September.

___________________________________________
This has been easy so far... however I skipped ahead to read some of the other "TAKE ACTION" parts of the other chapters and I can see that this journey is going to become even harder soon. I'm not going to stop because the future "TAKE ACTION" parts of each step are going to become personally harder to do... I'm just saying that things are definately going to change by the end of this year. 2004 is going to be "2000 and more" whereas 2003 will be "2000 and me".

My main action I'm currently doing is STEP 2 "Take Control of Your Cash Flow". The step I'm about to take is from STEP 3: "Know the difference between Risk and Risky" which is to devote 5 hours min. per week to reading "financial magazines and newsletters" (which means I will subscribe to a few of them to make this easier) as well as (hopefully) "read the business page of your newspaper" :-)

STEP 2 "Take Control of Your Cash Flow"
Originally posted: Mon Aug 25, 2003

[These entries were originally posted to my Yahoo Group - I'm transferring the original messages from my Yahoo Group to this BLOG.]



STEP 2 "Take Control of Your Cash Flow"
1) Review your financial statements from the previous chapter.
{Refer to index.blog?entry_id=150507 }

2) Determine which quadrant from the CASHFLOW Quadrant you receive your income from today:
Mixture of S and E quadrants... I'm not an employee of Players but I receive most of my income from my work @ Players. I feel like an employee except I'm contracted to them instead.

3) Determine which quadrant you want to receive the bulk of your income from in five years.
Mixture of B and I quadrants. I want to own a few properties (I quadrant) as well as a few businesses.

4) Begin your Cashflow Management Plan:

-- (A) -- Pay Yourself First. Put aside a set percentage from each paycheck or each payment you receive from other sources. Deposit that money into an investment savings account. Once your money goes into the account, NEVER take it out, until you are ready to invest it.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have just started managing your cash flow.

MY ACTION: $12.50 per week is put aside into a savings account with ING Direct for this exact purpose. 50% of my income from work (Players) goes to my Gunns Investment, 35% TAX, 15% donation "tax" (5% donated to a Gold Coast charity, 5% dontated to a charity in re: animal rights, issues, etc and 5% donated to a charity in re: the environment). I've only started the "donation tax" recently before I would put the majority of my money into Gunns. *Note: I "pay myself first" until a bill is due. I don't pay my bills THEN pay myself... I pay myself and then pay my bills. This actually works amazingly well and is quite easy to do.

-- (B) -- Focus on reducing your personal debt.

I really only need to pay my Gunns investment loan off before I then go onto Step 6 (as I have no other out-standing debts: credit, retail, car, etc).

STEP 6... Now that you are completely debt-free, take the monthly amount you were paying on your last debt (Gunns loan re-payment is $993 per month), and put that money towards investments. Build your asset column.

As you can see.. I'm already on the right track. :-D After I have enough $$ aside for my Gunns investment.. I will put $993 each month (min.) aside into my account I already have with ING in re: 7 month's worth of compulsory expenses covered... that's just 7 payments of $993 I need to make to reach over the amount I require. After that is covered, I will then put the $993 per month towards investments so my plan is as such:

1. Put enough money aside to pay off my Gunns investment (approx. $7000 to go..)
2. Have enough $$ in a savings account to cover 6 months worth of compulsory living expenses (rent, phone, electricity, internet access)
3. Step 6 - Start to build my asset column :-D

1) YOUR FIRST STEP continued....
Originally posted: Mon Aug 25, 2003

[These entries were originally posted to my Yahoo Group - I'm transferring the original messages from my Yahoo Group to this BLOG.]


STEP 1 continued......

C) Use your 5-year goals to develop your income statement and balance sheet 5 years from today.

Since I'm not overly familiar with the Income Statement and Balance Sheet... I will leave this task until later. I'm also not really sure how I would fill it out exactly. All I know is 5 years from this year (2003) I want to have more passive income than expenses and salary (active/direct income). I would like to own a few businesses (hence develop a cash flow and passive income) which will allow me to own at least 2 investment properties, which will be giving me rental income (more passive income). That is why the actual amounts are a little unclear to me as I'm not really ready, as yet, to delve into it... I still have to pay off my Gunns investment.

In re: my Gunns investment.. unfortunately, August has been an expensive and not such a high earning month for me so I've only be able to really save up the amount I need and a little bit more unlike last month. September I'm hoping will be a better month for me as by the end of the month I will have my tax back as well as the GST I will get from the Gunns Investment. The sooner I can have enough money put aside to pay my Gunns investment off as well as $7000 to cover 6 months worth of living expenses (if I ever take time off I will have the $$ to cover my compulsory expenses such as rent, phone, etc).... the sooner I can put funds aside to start on my plan of wealth creation. :-D

1) YOUR FIRST STEP and 2) SET FINANCIAL GOALS
Originally posted: Fri Aug 15, 2003
The 7 Steps to Finding Your Financial Fast Track.. Baby steps first... I'll complete these 7 Steps as best as I can.

Page 201
1) YOUR FIRST STEP:
Fill out your own personal financial statement. ..... In order to get where you want to go you need to know where you are.
This is the first step to take control of your life and spend more time minding your own business.

As per the sample CASHFLOW 101 (game) Income Statement and Balance Sheet on page 202.

PROFESSION: Exotic Dancer
PLAYER: Trinity
"Goal: To get out of the Rat Race and onto the Fast Track by building up your Passive Income to be greater than your Total Expenses"
AUDITOR: ??? -- Whoever wants to be my Auditor

INCOME STATEMENT
Updated Nov. 28 2003

All the figures I have included are approximations and not the real amounts. I gave you approximations just so you can get an idea of what my Income Statement and Balance Sheet will look like right now.
As you can see, my only real Liability is my Gunns Investment. I have been smart in the past and resisted getting a credit card... I made sure I bought my moped out-right... I don't have any retail debt plus I pay rent so I don't have a mortgage (I'm helping to pay someone else's mortgage instead.. I know). Since I have a one-person (not a two-person) moped motorcycle, the rego is incredibly cheap so is the petrol and servicing costs. $2 per week petrol and maintanence is $100 every 3 months (or thereabouts). I just hope I filled out the Income Statement and Balance Sheet in the correct manner - if I didn't.. please tell me! BTW.. my "pay cheque" of approx. $900 per month... that is easily sucked dry thru the expenses associated with living and being an exotic dancer (make-up, costumes, etc).

2) SET FINANCIAL GOALS
Set a long term financial goal for where you want to be in 5 years and a smaller, short-term financial goal for where you want to be in 12 months. (The smaller financial goal is a stepping stone along the way to your 5-year goal.) Set goals that are realistic and attainable.

A) Within the next twelve months:
1. I want to decrease my debt by $10,900.00 **
2. I want to increase my cash flow from my assets, or passive income, (passive income is income you earn without working for it) to $3,000 per month.
** I will have decreased my Gunns Investment debt in 12 months time as I opt-ed for the 12 months interest free option... In other words, for the next 11 months (I've already paid off one month) I'm paying it off with no interest. It is $993 per month to pay off.. easy since I can easily earn that within a month. I've already got 4 month's worth saved up to use to pay it off. My main focus, at the moment, is to put money aside (savings) so I can easily pay this off and then start to build up my asset column (buying businesses and then investment real estate).

B) My 5-year financial goals are:
1) Increase my cash flow from my assets to $4,000 per month ($1,000 per week). 2) Have these investment vehicles in my asset column: Businesses and Real Estate (main focus) and stocks (minor focus).

C) Use your 5-year goals to develop your income statement and balance sheet 5 years from today.
I'll do this (part c) when I have more time to really think about what I would like it to look like..

Feel free to share with me if you have done this section of Cashflow Quadrant and your own journey. :-D

"Dream big, think long term, underachieve on a daily basis and take baby steps..." from Cashflow Quadrant. Read the book to find out what is meant by "underachieve on a daily basis"... you'll agree with the philosophy. ;-D

Posted by wpsg at 4:29 PM EADT

Updated: Friday, 28 November 2003 11:47 AM EADT

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