My Reading Notes:
- You have to see the need to make dramatic changes.
- Few people have the courage to seek out change.
- It is a human nature to want it and want it now; it is also a sign of immaturity. Being willing to delay pleasure for greater result is a sign of maturity.
- The borrower is slave to the lender; and you change the spiritual dynamic of relationships when you loan loved one’s money.
- Co-signing = broken hearts and broken wallets.
- We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have in order to impress people we don’t like.
- You have to reach the point that what people think is not your primary motivator. Reaching the goal is the motivator.
- The average millionaire drives 2 years old car with no payments.
- You are not teaching your 16 yo child to spend responsibly when you give him a credit card.
- Repetition, volume, and longevity will twist and turn a myth,a lie, into a commonly accepted way of doing things.
- A budget is people telling their money where to go instead of wondering where it went.
- You have to tell money what to do or it leaves.
- Budget – setup a new budget every month. Spend every dollar on paper before the month begins. Income minus out go equals zero every month. Agree on the budget with your wife. Once the budget is agreed on and is in writing agree that you will never do anything with money that is not on that paper. If something comes up in the middle of the month that causes the budget to change call an emergency budget meeting. You can change the budget but: 1. both spouses agree on the change 2. You must still balance the budget so it still equal zero.
- Necessities first: 1. Basic Food 2. Shelter 3. Utilities 4. Clothing 5. Transportation
- Focused intensity is required to win!
- The key to winning any battle is to identify the enemy!
- With gazelle intensity, great focus, extreme sacrifice, selling things and working extra; we can clear all debt.
- Baby Step 3: Emergency fund covers 3-6 months of expenses.
- 78 of us will have a major unexpected event within next 10 years.
- Before you use emergency fund think about it, discuss it with your spouse and sleep on the decision.
- There is a sense of peace that surpasses all understanding, and until you have experienced if for yourself, you can’t even imagine its amazing power.
- When I speak of retirement, I think of security. Security means choices.
- Investing with the long term goal of security is not a theory to ponder every few years; it’s a necessity you must act on now.
- Baby Step 4: Invest 15% of your income in retirement. Invest 15% of before-tax gross income annually toward retirement. By getting started now, the magic of compound interest will work for you. When calculating your 15%, don’t include company matches in your plan. Don’t use your potential Social Security Benefits in your calculations.
- Growth-stock mutual funds are what I recommend investing in for the long term. I select mutual funds that have a good track record of winning for more than 5 years, preferably for more than 10 years. I spread my retirement investing evenly across 4 types of funds:
- Growth and Income Funds – 25% (Also called Large Cap or Blue Chip)
- Growth Funds – 25% (Also called Mid Cap or Equity Funds)
- International Funds – 25% (Also Foreign or Overseas funds)
- Aggressive Growth – 25% (Also called Small Cap ir Emerging Market funds)
- The reason you’re afraid of investing is because you don’t know what you’re getting into. Learn about investment!!
- Guidelines as to how to invest your 15% of the income:
- Always start where you have a match. When your company will give you free money, take it.
- After you have invested through the match, you should next fund Roth IRA’s
- Baby Step 4 is not “Get rich quick”. The investing you do systematically and consistently over time will make you wealthy.
- I tell everyone never to take more than a 15-year fixed-rate loan, and never have a payment of over 25% of your take-home pay. That is the most you should ever borrow.
- Wealth will make you more of what you are.