Which of These 4 Wealth Building Strategies Are You Missing?

The economy has been in a recess recently. Large companies are downsizing and reducing their employment rates. Many people are forced to sell their homes, find second jobs, and live a diminished lifestyle.

How about you? Are you suffering any of the symptoms above? If you are, then it’s time to take your personal finance into your own hands.

The truth is, you have always been personally responsible for your personal finance matters. Maybe most of you avoid taking charge of your own wealth and welfare, and as a result become overwhelmed when the economy takes a turn for the rough.

You complain and you blame, but nothing changes.

You could have avoided a lot of pain. If only you had created a solid wealth building strategy early in your life or career, you would be in a much more favorable financial position.

Do you have good wealth building strategies? It’s always a good time to start now! Having a strategy is important if you want to secure wealth for yourself and your family.

Here are four of the most important, simple to apply wealth building strategies that work for everyone:

Start making a budget

Making a budget to record your income and spending is the most basic strategy you can do.

Many people spend their money almost randomly, without any thought about how much they actually spend. This kind of random behavior is why they always run out of money at the end of the month.

To avoid not knowing where your hard earned money has gone, start writing down the income sources you have. Next to that list, create a list of all the expenses that you make routinely each month.

From this list, sum up your income and expenses then subtract your income with your expenses. Your aim is to have a positive number, which means your income is bigger than your expense. If you have a negative number, then go through your expenses list and find out what expense you can reduce or even cut out completely.

Save the extra money you have

When you have a positive number, it means you have extra money at the end of the month.

What do you do with this extra money? Some people might be tempted to spend it, but you know better right? Of course you save this extra money and put it in savings account!

Saving your money over time increases your value. If previously you always spent more than you earned, now you can start to build a small savings account. The main benefit of this simple act is that you also start to increase your self confidence and self esteem.

No matter how much money you can save, even if it is only a small amount, you must save it. Don’t be tempted to use it for unnecessary purchases. The more money you can save, the faster you can move on to the most profitable wealth building strategy.

Create control over your debt

Personally, I have always lived debt free. My motto is “If you can’t afford it in cash, it means you can’t afford it” (except for buying a house, a car, and school tuition).

Many people though do live with debt. This is the kind of debt that makes them unable to sleep at night. The most common random strategy to pay off their debt is to borrow money – make even more debt!

This is a terrible negative circle that make people miserable. To avoid this, you must control your debt. The aim of controlling your debt is to start reducing your debt amount slowly until you are free from debt or at least have only a small debt to pay.

You can control your debt by paying off your smaller debts. This will give you a sense of accomplishment and encouragement to start paying off your bigger debts.

If the debt is big enough, paying it off could take a very long time. That’s alright, the most important thing is to be patient and persevere. By staying consistent, you will start to develop the habit of good money practices.

Plus, being patient and diligent is an important character for the most important of these four wealth building strategies.

Wisely invest the money you save

This is the part of the strategy that most people don’t even get to in their entire lives. Only a small number of people have the luxury to invest money to increase their wealth.

However, being able to invest is not a luxury at all. It simply means that you are starting to reap the rewards of patiently making a budget, steadily saving money, and reducing your debt.

Investing your money is very important to create more wealth for your present and your future. The purpose of investing is to leverage your money to create more money, without active participation from your part.

There are many investment options that you can choose, including mutual funds, bonds and obligations, or more active investments such as property investing or investing in private businesses.

The most important thing is to make sure you educate yourself about these options. Many people make the mistake of going the popular route, only to have their hard earned money disappear due to ignorance. By educating yourself, you ensure you make only the best investment decisions for yourself.

Once you start to receive the results of your investment, repeat the process! Revise your budget, increase your savings, reduce your debt even more, and diversify your investments. These are the positive wealth building strategies that are sure to create more wealth for you over time.

Learn how to apply wealth building strategies with more buildi

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It is Not What You Make, But How Much You Keep – Wealth Building 101

Are you tired of working long hours, and sacrificing to have nothing to show for it? If you do not have a plan for your money, someone else will. Wealth building is not a fast process. In order to have and keep wealth you must understand the process of building wealth. Wealth is the value of assets, either physical or intellectual, that can be passed on through your generations. I was at the barbershop, Fair Deal’s, on E Berry in the late 80′s. One of the barbers said to a customer, “you have been working for 25 years, and you have nothing to show for it, but a broken up old body.” The customer laughed as he walked out the door. I knew him through the neighborhood, and knew over the last 25 years he had bought 10 homes and numerous vacant lots all over the city. No one knew he had accumulated wealth until after he died. The biggest tragedy was he never taught his four children the process of wealth building. The children sold it all upon his death. Sound familiar? This is why wealth is intellectual as well as physical. We all know or have heard of stories such as this. This is why I am creating THE BLUE PRINT to Wealth Building. Not just African American families, but other Americans as well, have a history of wealth building through business and land ownership, and intellectual capital. It is time for it to become a way of life again, through sharing ideas and sharing resources and taking action on our dreams. Living it every day out loud.

BLUE PRINT of Wealth Building: Phase 1

• HAVE A PASSION THAT IS WORTH YOUR BEST EFFORTS

Have no fear when it comes to realizing your dreams. Whatever you dream is, it can become reality faster than you think. Once you come to grips with the fact that it is your dream, and not anyone else’s (i.e.: your dream killers) it will come faster. 1) Decide to do it, 2) Plan how to get there, 3) Take Action on your plan, 4) Stay Focused. You may say I make it sound too easy. It is not! You have to believe in you, and give it your best efforts every day. LIVE IT through YOUR everyday life; not by watching others live your dreams.
• IDENTIFY WHAT HANDS ARE CATCHING YOUR MONEY BEFORE IT HITS YOUR POCKETS

In order for you to build physical wealth you have to know who or what is taking it away. Some of the hands we can’t avoid such as cost of food, the mortgage, taxes, and health care costs. You have at least three hands reaching at your money. Identify the hands and prioritize them according to your dream.
Hand 1- Wealth Building – The money that goes into investing in your dream. Investing in your saving accounts, retirement plan, real estate, higher education, or small business.
Hand 2- Responsibilities – Anything that can go on your credit report if not paid. Children do not go on your credit, but they are a privilege and a responsibility. Mortgages, rent, car payments, cell phone bills, child support are responsibilities you must pay.
Hand 3- Wants – Are the icing on the cake. The vacations, the cars, and clothes are great. Life is short, so live it and enjoy it. But do not make your wants your number priority. There is nothing like a well-dressed, but broke person.
• INVEST INTO WHAT YOU UNDERSTAND AND WHAT YOU CAN COMMIT TO

Do your research on any investment you put your money in to. Investments are more than stocks and mutual funds. Going back to school is an investment. The background research you do will make you more confident of your choices. Believe me any person making an investment presentation will be ready for you and your questions.
The best investments are the ones you understand. Consider these tips as rules of thumb before investing your money.
Know how the investment makes money
Know how you make money
Know your exit strategy (cost, time restraints)
Know how much it will cost you
Know the history of performance, lawsuits, etc.
Know your decision to commit to this for the full time frame required to see growth
In the following weeks I will continue adding to the BLUE PRINT of Wealth Building. This approach may or may not work for you. Explore your options and start the dialogue of wealth building. You may be amazed of what will happen once you make it a priority.

Market Blurb

One of the most common questions I hear is: “what do you think about the market?” “Or what is a good investment now?” Here is your answer:

Like a perfectionist that is never satisfied, when presented with some of the best fundamental data in years, the market chooses to find faults and be picky. Not that there aren’t a number of things to be critical of, including the situation in Greece, lack of job growth, high budget deficits, and slowing loan growth in China. These are all reminders that risks to the economy and earnings still exist. Expect volatility, much like what has been experienced already this year. Volatility will continue as the economy and markets transition from a stimulus-driven recovery to an environment of self-sustaining growth.

Also, there are two very different ways of considering risk: opportunity or danger. Some would argue the latter is far more likely than the former at these levels in the market and at this stage of the market recovery. With a little patience, the commitment to a well thought out investment plan and a willingness to follow Warren Buffet’s sage advice “be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy,” could result in turning the tone of this market pullback from danger to opportunity.

Live Your Dream!

JDG

Jamie D. Grant

Managing Principal Jamie D. Grant Wealth Management Group

The JDG Wealth Management Group utilizes the tools of Envision Wealth to provide sound financial guidance to our clients and their families.

Envision Wealth is our holistic approach to providing unbiased, research driven financial guidance. The process combines goal setting, client data collection, research, development of a personalized financial plan, evaluation of the process once implemented, and client education and events. JDG Wealth Management Group believes life comes with challenges and opportunities: marriage, raising a family, buying a home, college, retirement, serving as care-giver to a loved one. These are all a part of life’s journey. Through the use of Envision Wealth, JDG Wealth Management Group help you meet the opportunities and challenges of your life, through focusing on your growth. We believe your growth matters; growth of your financial vision, financial knowledge and confidence, assets, family legacy, and your financial independence

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