Wisdom of Rich Dad

Right now, the stock market news is all about soaring energy prices. And this may part of what could undo corn ethanol.

Earlier this year, corn ethanol looked to be in a sweet position. The government offers huge subsidies to the Big Ag companies (like Archers-Daniels-Midland Co.) who produce corn for ethanol. Additionally, rising oil prices were making alternatives (like corn ethanol) more desirable. Politicians were out there stumping on increased support for ethanol so that we could break ties to foreign oil.

Now, however, as things are liable to do on the stock market, things have changed. Corn ethanol is no longer looking profitable. Indeed, ethanol producers are seeing their profit margins shrink as two, rather large, new factors are introduced:

• Price of natural gas.
• Flooding in the Midwest.

Back in January, it was unforeseen that all energy prices would be surging to the levels that they are at now. And natural gas plays a big role in the production of corn ethanol. With natural gas prices following oil prices ever higher, it is costing more to produce corn ethanol.

The flooding in the Midwest isn’t helping, either. Corn that was meant to be turned into ethanol is being washed away, and in some cases the land it was growing on is being ruined by the things that floodwaters bring (toxins from chemicals and pesticides, excessive animal waste, debris, etc.).

What once looked like a promising investment is now starting look rather bleak. Indeed, this might herald the end of corn ethanol as an alternative to gas for cars. Which means that other fuel sources will have to be found. On the other hand, though, some might see it as an opportunity to get in while the prices are low and hope that Congress steps in save the budding ethanol industry. It’s been known to happen with increasing frequency.

In all my financial interactions -  be it planning for clients, training, teaching or writing, people have come to me with some problem which they think is unique.

In all the financial problems, I am able to find a pattern. Believe it or not, people more often than not choose the problem by their behavior. It is easy for me to find a pattern and say, “Well you choose your problem, did you not?“

Your financial problems would have been caused by some (or all) of the following financial behavior:

1. Not planning: The single biggest problem for most people is that they just do not plan their finances. Even if they are not happy about the results of what they have done so far, they do not change the way things are done.
2. Overspending: Many people with not very high incomes have very high ambitions. Most of this problem is because the salesmen in most shops do not tell you the price of a product, they only tell you the EMI – so anything from a plasma TV to a luxury home on the outskirts of the city are made to look cheap!
3. Not talking finance at home: Children are kept away from the finance topics at the dining table. Finance is perhaps the second most taboo topic at home! So many children grow up without knowing how much of sacrifice their parents have gone through to educate them.
4. Parents spending on education and marriage: There are just too many kids out there who believe that they need to worry about savings, investment and life insurance only at the age of 32 plus. This means your father, father-in-law or a bank loan has funded your education and marriage. Kids should take on financial responsibility at a much younger age than what is happening currently.
5. Marriage between financially incompatible people: Most marriages under stress are actually under financial stress. Either the husband or the wife is from a rich background and the other partner cannot understand or cope with the spending pattern. It is necessary  Read the rest of this entry »

Whitney UK and Rich Dad Education, a provider of educational programmes in property investment and financial well-being, have drawn up their own POSITIVE advice relating to the current mortgage market.

The advice is:

P lan ahead for the longer term. Try not to sell your home or investment properties unless you absolutely have to. Even if house price dips are making you fearful, historically in the UK, house prices will and do double every 10 years. So the only time you will potentially lose money is when you sell a property prematurely.

O ptions – speak to recommended brokers or lenders to look at your options. The mortgage product market is unlikely to dry up altogether – what you will find though is that only the major lenders will still be offering buy to let products for a short period, but perhaps with lower LTV built in, together with higher short-term interest rates and front end fees.

S supply and demand – understand that economic activity is cyclic and will change over time. The UK Government has said that we will need at least 200,000 new housing units until 2016 and we aren’t keeping up with this target. As demand continues to outstrip supply prices should remain strong. (Source: Whitney Development’s Wealth Club Newsletter: April 2008 Edition).

I nterest rates – economists are predicting that there will be at least two more rate cuts by the end of this year and that even fixed rates may also come down over time.

T ightening of credit? What this refers to is largely the availability of credit and mortgages in the domestic residential sector. For investors, different criteria applies so step on the investor ladder with a credible source of education from Whitney UK and Rich Dad Education.

I nformed. Keep yourself informed of how market changes affect you in real, not perceived terms.

V ictim mentality. Avoid this by finding solutions for your problems. With every perceived problem comes a viable solution. Don’t forget that as consumers we keep the banks and credit card companies in business! If one lender can’t help you, there is one out there who can and will.

E mployment levels are at record highs and stand at fractionally under 30 million people. Unemployment stands at approximately 1.6 million.

Most people out there always talk, or worry about how much money they make.  They compare salaries for jobs.  They get second jobs to supplement their income.  They leave jobs to go make more elsewhere.  Everything they do in life is based on the final end of year income.  How much did that W2 or 1040 claim you made for the year?

Well, I’ve learned that this is the absolute worst way to judge your financial situation.  In fact, it doesn’t matter how much you make.  Your financial situation has very little to do with your income.

It has everything to do, though, with your expenses, or what I like to call your ‘outcome’.

Expenses are the key to getting rich. As Robert Kiyosaki said in his book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, the definition of wealth is how many days you can live without working.  In order to live everyday without working, you must have more passive income than expenses.  Passive income is defined as income you gain without having to do any physical work (i.e. collecting rent checks, music royalties, stock dividends, etc.).

In our education system, they teach us to do well, go to college, and get a prominent job with a great salary.  However, let’s look at some of the jobs.  Most doctors go to school for umpteenth years, and then get out and have to build their practice.  They make nice incomes, but they also usually have very high expenses due to student loans and the cost of their education.

A doctor may make over $200,000 / year.  But add in a family, education bills, insurance cost, taxes, natural debt, and everyday expenses, and your ‘Outcome’ is maybe about $50,000/year.  Now let’s take a cop. A cop does not have to go to school for that long, if at all.  He makes a salary of somewhere b/t $60 -$100k (at least in NJ). That sounds like a lot less than the doctor, but it’s not.

The cop has very little, if any, expenses.  Being a cop, he gets a lot of ‘privileges’ and connections in the town.  He spends very little money on anything except everyday expenses.  He also only works 4 days/week, so he has 3 days to do something else to supplement his income.  At the end of the year, he probably had the same ‘outcome’, if not better, as the debt-ridden doctor.

Now, not every doctor is left with student loans.  Not every cop is debt free.  It is not necessarily the job I am criticizing.  I am speaking about the thought process this country teaches in its education Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the best-selling Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, shares tips for getting ahead in business.

1. Find equal opportunities. Don’t be a victim of the survival-of-the-fittest technique. Make yourself marketable.
2. Get a life-changing business education. Feed your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual needs. No, this doesn’t necessarily mean sitting in a college classroom. Get an education from life.
3. Latch onto friends who will pull you up, not push you down. Protect yourself from negative influences.
4. Find value in your network. The more people you can meet in business, the better.
5. Develop your most important business skill. Communicate, communicate and communicate.
6. Be a leader. Influence others by being a great teacher.
7. Don’t work just for money. Work to build wealth, not money. Invest.
8. Live your dreams. First of all, make sure you have dreams. Then make them a reality. You can be a successful businessperson and still make your dreams come true.

~ www.alwyncosgrove.com