who can teach us?

[jaila]

i for one and very interested in learning how someone as broke as me can learn to invest and have money move for me. Who can teach us as a group in plain terms to get us started? Does anyone have any information so that we dont feel lost when it comes to such an important thing?

[That Damn jl]

i for one and very interested in learning how someone as broke as me can learn to invest and have money move for me. Who can teach us as a group in plain terms to get us started? Does anyone have any information so that we dont feel lost when it comes to such an important thing?

Now I ain't a guru, but I can give you some tips. Personally, I invest with Fidelity because I am able to invest no matter where I work (which is important for me because my husband is military). Always untilize direct deposits into your account with whomever you invest with...that way you won't miss the money. Look at investing like you look at a bill every month...it HAS to be paid. Whenever you get a raise at work, add that to the amount you invest every month. You would be shocked at how much that can add up and let's face it, you are already living off of the salary you had before the raise. Invest at least 75% of any bonus you get. Make sure you decide whether you are in it for long term or short term investment wise and always ride your investments out if it is long term unless you are losing so much money that you can't see straight. Also, buy things that are ONLY on sale and whatever the original amount was, put the difference into a Christmas account. This way you will have money come Christmas without having to borrow from your accounts.

[JBricks]

But do you track your cash?

I do.

And those of you who are serious should be using Quicken, MS Money or a similar program to keep track of your Bank Accounts, Credit Cards, loans and the like.

I created a cash account in MS Money that I use to track my cash spending.

Every time I take money out of the bank I record it as a transfer from the account I took the money out of, to the cash account - than, as I spend cash, I keep track of it in a little notebook and than record the transactions in MS Money later.

The reason I do this, is so that I have a more accurate picture of the money I spend on a regular basis. I can see that I spent $X on dining out, $Y on lunch at work, etc, etc.

Sometimes, just tracking your bank accounts won't give you full visibility into your spending, tracking your cash accounts will allow you to find more ways to save money - could be things as simple as buying a Six-Pack of bottled water and keeping them in the fridge at work vs. buying one from the machine every day.

Leads me to my next topic:

Financial Analysis - I'm not saying you need to be super good at the shit, I'm just saying that you need to keep an eye on where your money goes on a regular basis, so you can find ways to save money. Maybe you eat out one less time per month, take your lunch twice a week instead of always buying it, buy yogurt in the large 32 oz containers instead of the 8 oz ones (It's cheaper), etc - you just always need to be thinking of ways to save money.

If you read stories of average people with average incomes who built large amounts of wealth, you'll find that they spend their money very carefully.

You'd be surprised at how much wealth a person can generate by not doing anything special with their money, just keeping an eye on it and spending it wisely.

I have friends in the military who had enough money to buy a car cash and put a down payment on a house, others only had a few hundred dollars.

I know other people who became millionaires by leveraging their military earnings and benefits while they were in the service and after their enlistments were over.

Other niggas are just broke.

The thing that separates these two people isn't financial knowledge per se, the wealthier group simply took full advantage of all the resources they had at their disposal (Low interest VA loans, Military Credit Unions, etc), saved their money and were just careful with their money.

In other words, there are lot of obvious/common sense things people can do with their money, that they never do.

It could be shopping at the warehouse club, everyone knows it's cheaper, but there are people, going to the regular supermarket.

It could be signing up for the 401k at work

It could be just being a little cheap/frugal like myself.

If you read CNNfn's feature: "Millionaire in the Making" or "Tycoon in the Making" none of these people really did anything spectacular, they just do things millions of people can do, but don't.

In other words - don't be one of the people who squanders the opportunity to build wealth, there is plenty of financial knowledge out there, find it, use it and just do the right things.

Alright that was the basic stuff, let's go into something more complicated.

Do you have a "Wealth Plan"? As in, have you sat down, looked at your current income and figured out what you need to do to reach certain wealth levels?

I'm not saying you need to create something like a Wall St. financial Mgr., I'm just saying that you start setting goals for yourself and look for ways to save and build shit with what you have.

Maybe it means saving up for that first house, or saving up to buy a second one, investing in the market, etc. Make a plan, a lot of people have goals, but they don't have a plan.

Understanding Wealth Building, for you niggas that need a push.

I'm not talking about understanding what a P/E ratio is, or knowing how to manage your money, I'm talking about developing some critical analysis skills and learning about the bigger picture.

I say this because there is a lot of anecdotal wisdom floating around about how say, you can only build wealth via starting a business or real estate, that is only 1/2 true as it doesn't give you the full picture.

At the end of the day, there is no "set" way to build wealth, you simply build wealth by leveraging your income/assets for wealth building activities.

That's it.

The key is simply to pick the most ludcrative activities that are the best fit for your skills & situation.

That's it.

It may sound like I'm simplifying shit to be picky, but I'm not.

Real Estate:

The key isn't it to own real estate, it's to own Real Estate that gives you more wealth building potential than renting and then to follow through in order to make sure you benefit from that potential.

I have a real life example of this, I know a kat who went from renting an apartment to paying a mortgage that was TWICE his old rent + he has to pay homeowners association fees & property taxes.

Even after the tax deduction and adjusting for the principal portion of the mortgage, he was out more than twice what he used to pay for rent.

If the nigga had stayed in the apartment and invested the difference, OR had bought a house where the mortgage was near identical to his rent after the tax deduction, he would've been better off.

Businesses:

The key isn't to own a business, it's to own a business that gives you more wealth building potential than you would have from having a job/working for someone else. The theory is that owning a business gives you unlimited income potential as when you work for another nigga, you'll never earn more than the owner/CEO/etc.

Thing is - do YOU have more income & wealth building potential as an entrepreneur than you do as a slave? Better yet, what avenue gives you more potential at this particular point in your life?

Furthermore, do you have the resources to keep growing your business so your income potential is never limited? Or will your business always be a small operation?

There are a lot of folks who own businesses that make less than many of their customers do from their jobs, on top of that, they may not be able to get the full valuation of their business in a sale - and when you add it up, the benefit of the business as a wealth building tool is minimal.

A lot of them would be better off with jobs.

A lot of people who own Subway franchises find themselves in that situation, owning a franchise, putting in 80 hour weeks, making what they made from their jobs, and not having the funds to expand.....so they end up selling for less than the business is worth, to someone who CAN expand.

That's why I'd rather have a job that pays $100k than a business that pays the same, in the former position you could always start a small business that kicks in an extra $20k or so that you use just for investments.

I know a lot of people who do something similar.

The point of all of this, is that there is no clear cut "way" to build wealth - you simply need to weigh your options, crunch the numbers and pick the best option for you at that particular time.

Building wealth is about making smart decisions, don't assume that any one "muthafuckin type" of decision is always a smart one and know that even if it is a smart decision, there are things you have to in order to realize the full wealth potential.

I'll be back with more info on investing.

[That Damn jl]

But do you track your cash?



This is ME you are talking to Bricks....Do I track my money....you are funny! She asked for starter tips. And you are so right, money management begins with making smart decisions. Which is why I gave her examples of how to make smarter decisions. I think the biggest thing people need to learn to do is BUDGET! Budgeting is not the same as balancing your checkbook. Before every month I sit down and plan a budget for the upcoming month (I really do this too). I allot so much for food, so much for entertainment, so much for bills, so much for emergency stash and so much for savings (emergency money and savings are two different things and in the beginning you should put your savings in with your bills until you get used to the idea and you won't touch it). I stick to my budget. It isn't hard to do. Once you get good at budgeting, you will see how to move your money around to make it work for you and your family's needs. When I began, I found out that I needed more money for food than I did for entertainment so I increased my food budget and lowered my entertainment budget. And ALL food must come out of that budget...even that trip to McDonald's...for tracking purposes.

[jaila]

very good info...im printin this to help reshape my thinkin