Enjoy!!

Happy Monday

            

For the last 30 years, hip-hop culture has played a major role in shaping my life.  I have actively participated in its original five elements (clothes, language, graffiti, music and dance) while admirably watching it grow into a world economic powerhouse.  Being that I grew up in New York City in the 70’s and 80’s and remember when hip-hop was “just a local thing us New York City kids did”, sometimes I can’t help to feel like a proud parent whose watched their kid grow from a new born infant to a respected citizen of the world.

One of the elements I believe hip-hop should be noted for is the evolution of the urban “hustle”. The “hustle” was mostly about doing what one could do to create a cash flow. Whether it was selling CDs on the street corner, or opening upa sneaker store, or creating and managing a local hip-hop group, this thing we now call hip-hop, helped form a nation of entrepreneurs and high ranking professionals.

The ideal of rebellion is deep rooted in hip-hop.  Breaking the rules and a “F**k the system” attitude is what propelled many Urban Americans into the higher education and economic status.  We were not supposed to win with the cards we were dealt.  Call it arrogance, defiant, or whatever. I call it American.  For middle class Americans who aspire to be rich, it’s imperative we adopt and embrace the mindset of “us against them” or “haters make me greater”.  This type of hip-hop ideal brews the type of independent, self-reliant mindset, which is the essential ingredient to becoming a self-made success story.

However, unlike the quote, “knowledge is power”, I always said, “Action is power”. Doing something generates more results than simply knowing something. See, the curse of today is the lack of action and the abundance of information. Knowledge today is more easily accessible than any other time in history.  It is the lack of authentic “hustle”, in combination of information that produces major results.  Is it hard? Of course. Nevertheless, the only other option is to be average…not for me and don’t think it’s for you either.

Since we are talking hip hop and hustle, I want to leave you with one of the greatest examples of hustle there is in hip hop today. His name is Jay Z.  Going beyond the scope of music, Jay-Z  has created and sold clothing lines, record labels and beer. He’s in the Guinness Book Of Records for the most entires at No. 1 on U.S. albums chart by a rapper. His “hustle” drove him to create a potential 11th number one album. Here’s a short promo of newest album “The Blueprint 3″

Have a Great Weekend!

!

            

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For millions of Americans struggling to cope with their financial activities, personal finance software such as Microsoft’s Quicken can be an easy and.

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Personal finance softwares can help individuals with their finances. There are many personal finance softwares available, not many free softwares. Pocketsmith offers several plans including a free plan. This personal finance software …

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The software maker has notified financial institutions that it plans to stop selling its long-running personal finance program, CNET News has learned. Read this blog post by Ina Fried on Beyond Binary.

Give Your Budget a Spring Cleaning | Personal Finance Software Reviews

Today is a particularly fun day. This morning we bought a new (new to us) car and are now debt free. Here’s how it all started: A little over six.

Keep on the look out for my review within the next few days.

            

According to the article,

“…[the firm]…coaches businesses on how to execute mass downsizings and often visits companies on the designated day to help coordinate a layoff. Then… [it]… speaks to the newly unemployed within 30 minutes of their dismissal and offers tips on how to begin a job search. …comforts those who cry and commiserates with those who vent. [It]… does this, sometimes, with 20 despondent people each day. It is a misery so numbingly constant that it no longer feels miserable.”

I have always been amazed how a capitalist system allows its clear minded, determined and open thinkers to form an income generating opportunity, even under the most gruesome circumstances. The article goes on the example…

“When Kate Wendleton began her outplacement business in 2000, she wanted to humanize the layoff process. She had worked as chief financial officer for another outplacement firm, which provided space for job seekers in a Manhattan office. There, the unemployed could sift through job listings on computers with little supervision and infrequent counseling. The format failed, Wendleton believes, because the job seekers were left alone to flounder, so she built the Five O’Clock Club on the concept of support. Every job seeker gets a certified personal coach. Every job-seeker attends regular group meetings and finds a sponsor, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous.

The firm’s founder, Kim Wendleton has taken the classic lemons to lemonade concept and used it fully to her advantage. What is truly inspirational and exciting is how she extracted all the negatives about the downsizing process and come up with solutions for both the business and ex-employee.

In the past  six months the company has brought in revenues of $3M. Currently the firm’s fee is $2000 per fired employee. Not only do they help the company with the firing process, they also automatically enroll the newly fired into their yearlong career-coaching program. According to their organization’s website, the average Five O’Clock Club member who receives coaching finds a new job in just 10 weeks, as opposed to 8 months for other professional job seekers.

Some may think $2000 per firing is costly to charge a company. However, by offering yearly career coaching and having the backing of an organization that has a history of shortening the unemployment period of other at large professionals rather softens the blow.

I think its refreshing to hear stories like this. I hope this story inspires you as it does me. Where there is a problem there is room for a profitable solution. Go find a problem to profit on.

Happy Monday

            

But like I always say, “what else is there to do?”

Paula Backed Out Of Idol Due To $alary Dispute!!! | Dirtywood …

The source adds that “Poor Paula has been having daily meltdowns over the negotiations and has been left feeling hurt and abandoned by her Idol colleagues.” We’ll miss you Paula. Just don’t hit the bottle, hun! …

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I found this post in May of this year. I bookmarked it because I thought it was interesting…

Hollywood 911: Learning from Celebrity Money Mistakes. 31 May 2009. Written by Carrie Addington. As turbulent economic times continue to influence our financial strategies, you can turn to financial experts such as CNN’s Clark Howard or …

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Celebrity News and Gossip. … Black Gossip, Celebrity Urban Entertainment, Hip Hop Hollywood News – JohnJohnSaidIt.com … Oprah Winfrey sued for all her money. Posted August 6, 2009 by JJSaidIt Staff …

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Diddy recently posted a video on his official YouTube page introducing his new group Dirty Money. The group, which consists of former Danity Kane member Dawn, a new singer named Kalenna and the Bad Boy head honcho himself, …

See you on Monday.

            

The email had a link to a YouTube video of Michael Jordan, who happens to be one of my heroes and one of the greatest basketball players to ever touch a basketball. Anyway, the video is shot at one of MJ’s adult basketball camps called Senior Flight School. It’s a basketball camp for adults over 35 years old that Jordan and a host of other Hall Of Fame coaches meet, greet, compete and teach with for about 3 days.

No,…these 35 year olds (more like 40 and over) are not ex-NBA players but rather middle age, close to arthritic, balding guys who have the extra money to carry out a life long dream: Meet, compete and network with Michael Jordan. Wow,…I am putting that on my “2010 Bucket List”.

After I watched the video, I started to recall reading an article about 2 years ago that talked about Michael Jordan , the world’s greatest basketball player getting beat by an old, no name, guy. It was like a big rumor. No one had seen the video. Until now…

In this video, you’ll see the “guy”, John Rogers Jr., founder and CEO of the nation’s largest, minority-run mutual funds, totally compete to beat Jordan.  At the end of the video, you’ll hear some funny commentary from world famous comedian Damon Wayans who was also at the camp.

Watching this video makes me think about creating, building and sustaining wealth from a Middle Class perspective. For us we will always have what seems like insurmountable financial obstacles that prohibits us and keeps us stagnated. But just like John Rogers, who lacked the skill, the athletic ability, and the experience, we first must get in the game and just compete to win. Everything else will work itself out.

Enjoy the video…make sure you leave your comments box.

www.erikcanady.com

            

Saturday I came across an article in the NY Times that hit “dead on” skill #3 of that post, The Principle Of Association.

Zhao Danyang, a Chinese businessman paid a whopping $2.1 million dollars to have lunch with Warren Buffet. According to Forbes Magazine, in 2008, Buffet worth $62 billion dethroned Bill Gates of Microsoft as the richest man in the world.

2.1 million dollars for a lunch seems pretty steep at first. But here’s what the Chinese businessman, says:
“This was a chance to get close to the world’s greatest stock picker…and to pick his brain about investing, the global financial crisis and philanthropy”, say Mr. Zhao.

But here’s the kicker. Mr. Zhao was clever enough to mention a day before the meeting he would offer Buffet a stock tip of his own: an upcoming retailer in China similar to Wal-Mart called WuMart.

Mr Zhao, with son and Warren Buffet at $2.1M Lunch Date

By the time Zhao returned to China, WuMart shares were worth 25% higher and his stock holdings in WuMart were worth $16M more.

I am not a mathematician but that’s 14 million in profits. Besides the money, think of the life long memories and priceless education acquired by his son by simply being in the presence of a financial icon.

The Principle of Association is a great skill to master especially when it comes to building wealth. Next time you are having lunch with your friend, think about how you guys could turn a Burger and Fries into money in the bank.

            

For me, my brain goes through a “life check list”.

a) Did I do what I set out to do?

B ) Are all my ducks lined up to leave my legacy intact?

As I read, and watch the recent reports of Michael Jackson, these are the top of mind questions that most are having…whose going to take care of the kids? What’s going to happen to Never Land? What about his Estate?

Who would think that “The King Of PoP” didn’t have his ducks in order? I hope it all works out for the benefit of his kids but also for the benefit of his legacy. I mean wouldn’t it be a shame to find out all he has accomplished would be rationed out to the highest bidder or opportunist (bless their soul)?

I am all for capitalizing on opportunities but some things should be protected. For example, I have a very good friend of mine from Gary, Indiana (Michael Jackson’s birth place), who informed me the house where Jackson was born and raised was sold to a “Group” in California. They plan to open it up to the public for a fee. (See Actual photo of Michael Jackson Birth Place in Gary, IN)

Michael Jackson's Birth Place

Perhaps the Jackson Family didn’t want the property. Perhaps they didn’t see the value of their humble home that links to their humble beginnings. But, make no mistake. This California “Group” will make a fortune in years to come.

This brings me to a lesson that we all struggle with that is a necessity for all whom aspire to be wealthy. Risk Management.

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you are familiar with the 10 Wealth Building Disciplines, which is the core of the blog’s purpose. Risk Management is one of the disciplines wealthy individuals use and master.

In the near future, I will be examining some of the risk management strategies we need to be looking into as aspiring wealthy individuals, but first a quiz.

Do you know the basic risk transfer or insurances we need to be using right now?

Go ahead and share your answers in the comment box. Be on the lookout for the blog post I mentioned in next few days…

            

 Judging by his international fame, he was something for all of his fans. But for me, and many Middle Americans, his journey is the true definition of the American Dream. Many don’t relate to his humble beginnings in Gary, Indiana, (a predominately African American community 25 miles outside of Chicago, Ill). But I do. For many African Americans who grew up in Urban America in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, the Jackson 5 story was our story. Not only did we listen, appreciate and dance to their music; we latched onto their dream and through our imagination we piggybacked towards success with them. When you watched Michael and the Jackson 5 sing, you imagined it was you. You dreamed that could be you one day…  See if you can remember the feeling as you watch this video…

 As they grew, we dreamed more. As Michael grew older to later pursue a solo career, our dreams became larger.  He made us dream and think of the impossible.

As we mourn the death of an Icon, we should be sad, but we also should examine the clues of obtaining success he left behind.   Looking at his life, it becomes clearer to me that no matter how unfavorable the odds for you to accomplish the impossible, the formula for success are will always prevail.  Here’s my formula for success….

Your Dream + Your Action (Tenacity +Perseverance) = Your Success

Share your thoughts about Michael Jackson. What are your favorites memories? Leave them in the comments area below.