With all the turmoil and uncertainty in the markets these days, its more important than ever to be increasing your financial education for creating wealth, and specifically with regards to Gold Investing and Silver Investing.

Gold and Silver Bullion

Gold Investing & Silver Investing

As you are no doubt aware, the prices of gold and silver are continuing to climb higher and higher regardless of the rhetoric coming from Congress, the White House or the press.  As I type this, gold is at an all-time high of $1293.5 and silver as well at $21.20.

The biggest reason these asset prices continue rising higher is the weakness in the US dollar.  We can’t continue to create trillions and trillions of dollars with an already staggering $9 trillion deficit.  Treasury bills are producing no returns, the stock market is full of uncertainty including the housing market so what is someone to do with their hard earned income?

Investing in Gold could be just the place!  With one of the greatest bull markets in history – a 10 year orderly sustained upward climb – gold continues to out perform virtually all other asset classes and has continually done so for the last 10 years.

Does that mean the gold and silver markets have reached their tops?  Is it too late to begin gold investing or silver investing for that matter?  No one knows for sure, but when you realize that most people are still unaware of this current market trend and its strong fundamentals, the fast that hysteria hasn’t hit yet, you be the judge.  Yes, you are starting to see the commercials and ads go up but the media makes almost no mention of even silver investing (could that be due to the fact that they don’t receive a commission for recommending you buy gold or silver like they do stocks or mutual funds?  Hmmm…)

One of the more well-known financial news networks CNBC has only recently begun to address or even acknowledge gold’s undeniable performance over the last decade.  Alan Greenspan too has commented that gold is the canary in the gold mine, signaling a warning that the dollar or economy is in trouble and people need to be paying close attention!  (Side note: Greenspan was the original gold bug until all the power of being the Fed chairman went to his head – maybe all those bubbles were created to get the price of gold to rise?…)

So why would you want to be investing in Gold?

Gold is the ultimate insurance.  With the big inflation/deflation debate going on, regardless of the outcome – or even if we enter stagflation or especially if we enter a hyper-inflationary environment – gold investing/silver investing will allow you to preserve your wealth where you might otherwise lose it (or most of it).

With the costs for gold investing and silver investing rising over the past decade, some people have gotten involved to make money trading the precious metal.  The important thing is to treat gold like savings.  Park your money in gold and forget about it, keeping an eye on the overall market of course because it’s real money – not like the US dollar which is simply currency, backed only by the faith of the world in the US government’s ability to manage it’s own affairs… that’s a topic for another time!

In addition, you can’t hit a button and just print gold like you can dollars or any other currency not backed by a real tangible asset (like gold or silver).  Gold has and always retain its value because it’s a rare commodity and there is a true cost and work involved to bring it to market (among many other reasons).  Just as concerning, our foreign trading partners are all abandoning the dollar; even Bangladesh of all places just bought 10 million ounces of gold from the international monetary fund (to increase their gold investing holdings to 13 million – quite a large increase!).  That’s really saying something when even a country like Bangladesh doesn’t trust the US dollar!

Another reason for gold investing or silver investing (ue, American Eagles, Krugerrands or bullion): tax advantages.  The maximum rate for income tax on gold investing profits is 28%; compare that to 35% for regular earned income (always consult a qualified tax professional for your particular situation).

So how or what can people do with their IRA money to take advantage of all this?  By investing in gold through a gold IRA (with an IRS-approved custodian) who will store your gold in a depository. (Note: do not try to be your own custodian through an LLC or otherwise; doing so will blow your IRA completely and will add lots of penalties and fees on top of that if you try to touch or handle your own gold and silver yourself.  It is a specifically prohibited transaction; you need an outside custodian.  The IRS is really going after LLC’s that are managed by the beneficiaries of the LLC so just follow the rules and you’ll get lots of tax benefits; you must understand the rules!)

There are two kinds of IRAs:

1. (Traditional) IRA: where you get a deduction when you put money into the IRA; you are taxed at ordinary income rates when money is pulled out (tax deferred)
2. ROTH IRA: where you don’t get a deduction when you put money in but your money (assets) grows tax free forever (different countries have similar programs)
   1. For example: if the price of the metal goes way up, you get to realize that entire per ounce profit when you sell with no tax liability.

Also, with regards to American Eagles for example (outside of an IRA), if you use them as actual coins like money (as opposed to selling them on the market).

For example, if buying $1200 worth of goods with that coin (or whatever coin is worth at that time), you actually have no tax liability when using that coin even if you purchased the coin for several hundred dollars less than you’re now essentially cashing it in for (only works with American Eagles).

One more benefit: some states also have no sales tax on precious metals (currently AZ for example).

So to increase your financial education with regards to gold investing and silver investing, here’s what you need to do:

Talk to experts – gold and silver coin/bullion dealers who have been in business investing in gold and investing in silver during both the bull and bear markets (so at least 10 years in the business) because virtually anyone can get into business selling precious metals (just need a business license) – so do your homework!

Next, check out the local markups/premiums around your area.  Premiums will vary per dealer above the spot price (price quoted in financial publications and on exchanges).  The best way to buy to get the best value is to buy directly from the futures market (in bulk basically) but of course you need to be buying quite a bit at a time; the best way to begin is probably at your local coin shop; if nothing else begin your education there (that information while free is priceless!).

So when is it time to sell?  Here’s how to tell: watch for the idiots.  Idiots always come in to the market late – that’s the time to get out!  When your grocery-bagger starts telling you about silver investing, you know it’s time to get out!  Learn what the masses are doing and do the opposite!

To preserve your wealth, you need to save gold and silver – not money (or more specifically not currency, ie, US Dollars).  Inflation and other measures coming may drastically drain or wipe out any accumulated wealth or assets you may have if held in US dollars.  Precious metals run on a 20 year cycle typically (this cycle started around 2000) and runs against the equities cycle (historically opposite).

In 1980 the DOW was at 800 and gold was at 800 (1:1 relationship); since then the DOW has risen to 14,700; now the DOW is around 10,500 and gold near 1300 (8:1 relationship); when or at what level will it come back in line to that 1:1 relationship?  At 3500?  5000?  Richard Russell predicts $3500 Gold & a 3500 DOW.  (He’s been in the business for 50 years and promotes the Dow theory letter)

But again, these are just predictions, no one knows for sure. Gold investing and silver investing could be very profitable because the metal prices should go up, could go up… but no one knows for sure.  So be careful with using any leverage in this market (not recommended at all) and don’t bet the house so-to-speak.

For more information about gold investing and silver investing and increasing your financial education, fill out the form at the top right of the page to get the latest updates and resources for creating wealth

Hans Schoff
Entrepreneur – Purveyor of HansSchoff.com
Connect with me on facebook

PS> If you got anything valuable or worthwhile out of this article, keep your money (better yet put it in gold or silver   All I ask is that you please let me know what you think about it below in the comment area and share it via facebook (or just hit the like button) or twitter for anyone you think who may benefit from this important information.  People are not getting the right information out there so I’m doing what I can to share what I know to help others get prepared.  Believe me people will appreciate you thinking of them.  Let’s get the word out!  Thanks!

Originally posted 2010-09-24 03:20:54.

Original post can be found here: "Gold Investing, Silver Investing And The Importance of Financial Education

Brand New Facebook Page: Creating Wealth For Dummies

Just wanted to send out a quick post to let you know about a new facebook page I’ve put a lot of time and energy into creating called “Creating Wealth For Dummies.”

I wanted to have a centralized facebook presence where I could share my content and interact with everyone on the topic of creating wealth and felt that this title would get people’s attention and let the skeptics know that creating wealth and achieving financial independence – living the American Dream – is available for anyone who wants it!

Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments section below (or drop me a line on the page, you’ll be one of the first!).  If you can click LIKE while you’re there as well, that will help get the word out to others so they too can benefit and join in the conversation about creating wealth!

JUST RELEASED: “The Dummy’s Guide to Creating Wealth Now“

Also, from all the comments and feedback I’ve received on my blog posts and articles over the past many months, I’ve put together a quick 4-step plan for creating wealth.  Nothing too detailed where it would take you a week to go through it, just a straightforward, boiled down, meat and potatoes kind of thing about how to get from where you are to financially free – “The Dummy’s Guide to Creating Wealth Now“.

I designed it with the average person in mind, so no matter what level of success or failure you’ve experienced in life, no matter how much money you’ve made (or lost), no matter how much debt you’re in, this 7-page guide will take you through the basics and teach you what you need to know to become financially free.  I’ve linked to a few other resources within the 7-pages (other articles, for example) in case you’d like to explore a particular part of the guide a little deeper.

Lastly, the report is free, my way of saying thanks for interacting and stopping by and my hope is it will enable you to finally achieve your dreams of financial independence and free you from the burdens of debt, the lack of control, the pain of endless bills, and the stress of not knowing what may lie ahead…  If this guide can help free you from all that, then it’s a smashing success!

I’ve also decided to give away two other powerful resources to help you along the journey, resources that I have found tremendously useful – priceless, in fact:

• A FREE copy of Napolean Hill’s best-selling “Think & Grow Rich” – the ebook version – as well as
• A FREE copy of another great and powerful classic “The Science of Getting Rich” ebook
• PLUS over $800 in Wealth Creation Tools and Resources to really help you along your journey to becoming financially free

Let me know what you think of the facebook page and the 4-step guide!  Any feedback is greatly appreciated.  And if there’s any way I can help you along your journey, you know where to find me.  Thanks and enjoy!

Follow these links now:

—–> Creating Wealth For Dummies (facebook fanpage), or

—–> The Dummy’s Guide to Creating Wealth Now (The 4 Step Plan)

Originally posted 2011-06-23 10:11:02.

Original post can be found here: "NEW – Creating Wealth For Dummies Facebook Page, Plus Free Wealth Resources

What is Home Based Income – and more importantly will it help you in your goal for creating wealth, for reaching financial freedom?

More and more today you hear of people telecommuting (or working away from the office via telephone or internet), video conferencing (basically talking over the internet via live video, allowing them to meet face to face without having to travel) and having the flexibility to be able to spend a day or two a week being able to work from home.  Usually, the majority of these situations refers to an employment situation, where the company is able to increase productivity, efficiency or reduce their expenses by incorporating one or several of these types of situations.

This, however, is not the type of home based income I’m referring to.  In particular, working for someone else is not a great strategy for creating wealth (the tax code among other things are NOT in your favor as an employee – see my article on Creating Wealth – The Type Of Income You’re Making May Be Costing You The Most).

The type of Home Based Income I’m referring to for creating wealth is income from a residual income business that you build from home, as in a business that can produce passive income (income you no longer have to work for).  This kind of business is not like that of a traditional brick and mortar type business where you need to have a retail shop or kiosk, though nor are we talking about some kind of “lemonade stand” business either.

A residual income business where you can create home based income does not set you back hundreds of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars to setup to be able to turn a profit; on the contrary, you could get your home based income business setup and operational the same day you complete the application and in many cases may even be able to turn a profit that same day.

So as you can see, there are many advantages for creating wealth via a residual income business, such as the low cost of entry just mentioned, the ability to set your own schedule, determine how much you want to make and who you want to work with, no employees, and virtually no overhead (a marketing website for example – nothing compared to traditional business overhead!) among other things.  It’s no wonder so many people today are choosing home based income as a way for creating wealth, either as a primary income source or as a secondary supplemental income source.  In 2006 alone, over $100 billion in revenue was accounted for from such home based businesses.  It is definitely big business!

Is A Residual Income Business and Home Based Income Right For Everyone?

No. It definitely is NOT for everyone.

First of all, success in a residual income business is not guaranteed; You will be paid what your worth, or rather for the value that bring to the market. If you are not coachable and teachable and willing to learn the system – if you insist on trying to reinvent the wheel so-to-speak – you will likely fail.  Just like with a McDonald’s franchise, there is a certain way of doing things that produces results.  Are there other ways that also work?  Perhaps; just remember Thomas Edison had to find nearly 2,000 ways that would NOT light a light bulb before he could find the one way that would work.  Wouldn’t you rather follow a proven path that works for success now?

Secondly, a home based business does take work to create success. No one can fire you which is both a blessing and a curse.  If you are a self-starter and self-motivated to go after your dreams and goals, then the sky is the limit, no income ceiling or cap here.  On the other hand if you need your boss yelling at you or threatening to fire you for you to take action, you will struggle with a residual income business as you essentially become your own boss.  Certain activities done consistently can yield huge results.  These actions do not necessarily need to be taken at a certain time or even at the same time each day, but do need to be taken a regular basis to achieve the kind of results that will enable you to become financially free.

Lastly, a residual income business is a business and while the cost of entry may be low, it is all the more important to be prepared to spend some money along the way to grow your business, be it education and training to learn new skills, tools or systems or other technology to help you leverage your time and efforts, marketing expenses, etc.  Depending on your business or professional background, you may need to spend more or less, and for those willing to simply put in more time, you may be able to operate from a shoe-string budget.  The most important thing is to remember to treat your residual income business like a million dollar business and it will then pay you accordingly in time, helping you in creating wealth and achieving financial freedom.

What are my thoughts on creating wealth with a home based income business?

In my opinion though, the absolute BEST option today for most people today looking to get ahead – whether that’s to pay off some bills, get out of debt, create a secondary or retirement income – or for those looking at creating wealth and becoming financially free, is creating home based income through a residual income business.

Most people, due to their prior commitments start part-time, just working it around their schedule until their home based income begins to exceed the income of their primary job or business.  And when you’re making more money from your part-time business than your full-time occupation provides, you know you’re doing something right…

Learn more about the home based income business structure, the specific advantages and disadvantages of each and whether a residual income business is the solution you’ve been searching for – just click the following link to view this powerful and educational video I created now: Creating Wealth Video (be ready to take some notes!)

Originally posted 2011-06-14 07:50:49.

Original post can be found here: "Home Based Income – A Viable Way For Creating Wealth?

Creating Wealth Secrets – It’s Not How Much You MAKE; It’s How Much You KEEP That’s Important

It’s no secret that most people today live paycheck to paycheck, meaning they consume their entire paycheck within the month with nothing left over at the end of the month.  There are perhaps many reasons for this; many in this category may cite the fact that it’s due to their LACK of income that forces them to live paycheck to paycheck.

While it is true that simply having an extra $500 or $1500 a month may be enough technically to be able to allow many of these same people to no longer have to live paycheck to paycheck, the odds are that without increasing their financial education and improving their financial intelligence, they would most likely still be living paycheck to paycheck even with the extra money each month.

The fact of the matter is that “not enough money” is generally NOT the real underlying problem.  (That’s just great marketing on TV and in magazines that has convinced you that you just need access to more money – so you can spend more of course, which most people of course do.  Great advertising, right?)

Not enough money is the symptom (it’s what you feel, but it’s not the SOURCE of this financial pain); the cause is due to a lack of financial discipline, from a lack of financial education that results in having a low financial IQ that creates this perpetual problem that left uninterrupted will leave a person poor.  It’s not the dollar amount.

Creating Wealth Secrets – What do I mean Financial Discipline?

As I’ve written in previous posts on creating wealth, becoming financially free occurs once your passive income (from a residual income business or properly managed rental income property, for example) exceeds your monthly expenses.  In order for that to happen you must know exactly how much PASSIVE INCOME you’re creating each month AS WELL AS the amount of your monthly expenses.  That requires tracking your income and expenses, which most people just don’t do.  (How many people do you know who simply use their bank balance as an indicator for how well they’re doing?)

Another creating wealth discipline most people know about but just don’t do is paying themselves first and consistently every month (or from every paycheck, etc).  Everyone knows they should set aside and SAVE 10% of their income each month and yet as simple a concept as this is, hardly anyone does it.  Do yourself a favor and grab the book “The Richest Man In Babylon” now – it will change your life if you apply the principles in that book alone.  Simple yet very profound.  Again, the importance of financial education.  (I discuss this topic further in my article 1st Steps in Creating Wealth – Begin By Paying Yourself First)

Also, certain expenses can be deducted against your taxable income, lowering the amount you pay in taxes thereby increasing the amount of money you have to reinvest into your residual income business or other asset to again increase your passive income to get you that much closer to creating wealth.  Such tax planning – like spending money wisely in the right areas – can help you reach your goal of financial independence that much faster (as long as earning income from a residual income business for example; no tax planning advantages for those only earning income as an employee – see my article on Creating Wealth – The Type Of Income You’re Making May Be Costing You The Most for more info).

As I’m sure you’ve seen or heard before, money has both the power to make you rich as well as poor.  Money after all is just an idea, a tool.  More money will simply amplify your current financial situation, good or bad.  More money is not the solution.  Financial education – learning the difference between assets and liabilities, good debt and bad debt, etc – is the remedy which will help you understand and better use the tool of money so you can keep more of your money which will allow you to move towards creating wealth.

Originally posted 2011-06-28 08:00:35.

Original post can be found here: "Creating Wealth Secrets – More Money Is NOT The Solution, This Is

This is going to be a little different.  If you’re a frequent visitor to my blog, first of all thank you – I appreciate you; but I’ve been looking over some of my prior blog posts and realizing that I haven’t really shared very much about my life and I want to change that.  I think you’ll benefit from a closer look into who I am and what I’m doing on a day to day basis.  I’ll still share my prior experiences and knowledge I’ve acquired over the years on creating wealth and related topics, but I’ll also share more personal things with you about my life, since this a blog (and not just an article directory, lol).

You see, over the last few years – and last 12 months especially – my focus has shifted some or should I say has been “realigned” on the bigger picture, to encompass what’s really important in life.  No doubt, continuing wealth creation is still at the top of that list, but there’s more to it than just money and finances, and I want to make sure that is clear: wealth is nothing if you’re not able to enjoy the benefits of it; wealth is bigger than just money and finances, as you’ll read below.

Some of my early, costly mistakes…

I had spent much of my early years in business focused on just making money and creating wealth.  I went to extremes because, I was young and maybe a little nieve, but I wanted to be rich so bad.  Growing up in Northern California in a very affluent part of town (our neighbors were all doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc), I saw the affluent lifestyle my neighbors and their kids were able to live.

Now of course, at the time I thought they were wealthy because I just saw the cars they drove, the houses they lived in and all the gadgets and stuff they had that we couldn’t afford.  Now, of course, I know that they were more than likely in debt to their eyeballs like most Americans who may “think” they are living the American Dream because they have some of the “nice stuff” (but they’re buying it out from “earned” income which makes them have to keep working, as opposed to having assets pay for those liabilities or doodads for them, which is of course what the wealthy do…).

But what I did at one point in my life to try to get ahead was literally cut out all my friends (and even some family) who weren’t on the same page as me (which was most people), thinking it would help me get ahead faster, that by giving them the cold shoulder and ignoring them I would be better off?

For the record, that was a stupid idea and only made life more difficult.

Not everyone’s going to get behind you in everything you do, especially in the beginning… especically if you’re young… and especially if you’re challenging everything in life they’ve come to know or believe is true… and especially if you don’t (yet) have the results to prove to them otherwise.

It’s a battle.  Maybe you don’t go to them for feedback on your great business ideas, but you don’t cut them out of your life altogether.  Just keep your personal stuff separate from your business stuff; or at least don’t force it down their throats because they’re going to be around for a while and relationships are important.  You can give them an opportunity to take a look at what you’re doing, but never chase anyone.

I feel the same way about using facebook.  I don’t like to blatantly spam my friends and family’s facebook newsfeed with stuff they haven’t expressed any interest in.  I’ve gone down that road in the past – which probably you have done as well – and you’re forever known as that “guy” (or girl as the case may be) and people will just start to ignore everything you post about or prejudge any links you share or worse, block you altogether.

 Instead, I may make reference to something I’m doing indirectly – a business I’m involved with or whatever – in order to peak their curiosity to leave it up to them to look into it further if they are at all interested instead so that’s it their choice, going through my sites or videos on their own without me even knowing (until they opt into something that is, and then they have clearly expressed an interest and my auto-responder takes over from there and I actually have a sincere “prospect” versus a “suspect”).

“People hate to be sold, but they love to buy” – so let them come to you and buy, don’t go to them and sell.

But back on topic, I had always believed that as long as I was creating wealth, where I had more money coming in passively each month than was going out, the rest would figure itself out.  And while that’s mostly true – money problems can create all sorts of havok in your life, on your relationships, on your confidence, on your health, on your emotions, on your spirit, on a psychological level – that assumption is based on all other outside factors remaining the same…

But here’s what I I hadn’t really been conscious of initially because I had been so focused on just acquiring new assets, creating additional streams of income, and growing my businesses: markets cycle, economies boom AND bust, empires expand and contract: the world changes and goes on; you can’t expect things to remain the same, and when push comes to shove, the unexpected can occur!

Yes, for most of my life – the 80s (what I can remember of them), the 90s, 2000′s – life and living, especially in the US had only gotten easier and more convenient… (I go into more detail on this in my introduction to HansSchoff.com 2.0 page)

In 2001, when 9/11 took place, I was shocked like everyone else.  I was young and living in San Diego at the time and other than the days and weeks of uncertainty that followed about what this potentially might mean (once all the fear had subsided), I like most people went back to my daily life, thinking and working as I had before.  It didn’t seem real I guess at the time.  

In 2007-2008 when the markets crashed, I was somewhat prepared for those events (which is why I moved to Northern Alabama prior to it all taking place – read my story to learn more about that) so I wasn’t as affected as much as many others.  Even though a lot of wealth was lost by many people, I viewed it as mainly a cyclical financial event, not as a sign to look at the bigger picture, to look beyond finances, to realize what else was changing…

Then finally last year on April 27th, I got my awakening…

Sure there was the potential for an economic collapse or a dollar collapse or for a stock market crash but I still don’t think I had really internalized the real impact this could have beyond finances.  It took a massive number of supercell tornadoes to sweep across Alabama and the South East to really get my attention.  It wasn’t the devastating death toll numbers or incredible amount of damage the storms did, even though they completely wiped out some towns.  It wasn’t the threat of personal injury or death from the storms themselves.  It was the aftermath…

As bad as the storms were, as much damage and tragic loss of life as there was, the city of Huntsville for the most part was undamaged (it seemed to hit all the outskirts and everywhere else but Huntsville proper).

However, power was out as 95 huge power pylons carrying 500KW high-voltage lines through Northern Alabama were completely destroyed by the storms; the nuclear power plant wasn’t operating properly either as a result of the storms and consequently the entire northern part of the state of Alabama had no power.

This meant:

• no refrigeration so lots of food went bad and everyone stormed the grocery storms and emptied the shelves (if they had cash),
• no way to get money out of the bank (even ATMs need power and no one could process credit cards),
• no air conditioning (luckily it wasn’t real warm yet), no fuel (pumps didn’t work),
• and the water system would only operate for a few days before it’s generators went out and the water could become contaminated;
• the hospital too only could survive on generator power for a few days, if that.
• Initial projections to get the power gird back up was 2-3 weeks or something.

Pretty dire, right?

Luckily we had a Camry Hybrid (40 MPG) and just happened to have plenty of gas in the tank so we took off to stay with my cousin in Tennessee as they had power and TV and internet access and we could better monitor things and stay plugged in from there (doing business online definitely has its advantages!  All of Huntsville was shut down during the power outage and there was a curfew in effect to prevent looting as well.  …And some people did get shot trying to rob businesses, pretty crazy times!)

So that woke me up. 

(Side note: this is also the time I realized how unprepared people were, even in the South for tornadoes and severe weather and shortly thereafter launched HuntsvilleTornadoShelters.com as one other way to help others “prepare”)

I realized how unprepared I was for something that turned out to only be 5 days of no power (somehow they repaired the grid enough to be able to reroute power from another direction and got power to a majority of the city within 5 days, quite amazing considering the damage to the infrastructure).

You can have all the wealth in the world, you might be making $100,000 a month or more in passive income; however, if you’re too aggressive in your investment strategy or if you just fail to keep enough cash and/or precious metals nearby (or other items you can barter, worst case) so you can access it should you need it, what good is that money if you can’t get access to it?

Am I saying you need $100,000 stuffed in your mattress for armagedon?  No.

But would it be wise to have some cash on hand to pay for food, medical supplies, water, fuel, other supplies in case something unexpected were to occur and interrupt our perfection-based lives?  Yes.

Because things happen.

It doesn’t have to be a 100-year storm, a terrorist attack or a Mayan calendar prediction.  It’s a known fact that we are pushing the limits of our aging infrastructure and when you do that it’s only a matter of time before you begin to get service interruptions, shortages and failures.

We’re running out of precious resources in the world like oil, rare earth minerals, agricultural land suitable for growing food (not to mention nourishing food, for that matter), clean water, etc.    Technology is great, when it works, and that helps but to continue to live in the way we have with virtually no interruptions for this long is quite a miracle in itself when you realize all the components and variables involved in each of these systems (let alone all of them).

So there you have a glimpse into my “evolved” way of thinking.  Once you realize that what we have today may not be here tomorrow, or at least in the same way we expect it today, you realize you need to step back and take stock of what’s important in life.

For me, I like having the technology, products and services that make my life easier, simpler, more efficient, more convenient and the like.  I don’t want to have to depend on an aging, resource-lacking infrastructure to remain 100% on-line for me to be able to continue to enjoy these things as I do today.

Does that mean I should go live in a cave and prepare for the end of the world?  Again, no!  That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid.

When the power goes out due to a local power outage (like what happens all the time in California in the summer for example), I still want to be able to keep my food cold, turn on the light, run the water and drive to whatever destination I need to – I don’t want to have to put my life on hold while they fix the problem and get the system back up.  I don’t want my life interrupted simply because I didn’t have the foresight to look ahead and realize these things could happen and that I could have taken measures to ensure I was not affected.

Again, I’m not talking about having a full year of food storage or a huge solar panel array to supply all my electrical needs (although it would be nice to have a full solar array some day, although a bit impractical currently).  It’s far more likely that various systems will go down or suffer shortages here and there – maybe some all at once – but only temporarily, maybe for a few days or a week.  Having enough food to comfortably get by “uninterrupted” (more or less) is my plan, having enough fuel to run a generator to keep the lights and computer on, having a few cases of drinking water to not have to worry about contamination during a power outage, etc – those simple things to keep life going smooth…

This is my new definition of “true” wealth:

 ”Living a lifestyle afforded to you by your assets (which continue to grow and compound) while actually being able to live that lifestyle at all hours of the day and from day to day – not only when all systems are running at optimal levels but all the time”

A new goal to work towards, a new all-encompassing challenge that anyone and everyone can work towards, regardless of your level of wealth (or debt even).  Ultimately, you could become totally self-sufficient and completely independent from the systems, but in that case you might as well find your own island and setup shop there.  I’m just saying think a little bigger than you did previously, take inventory of your current situation and present dependencies and prepare for the things that could make the biggest difference with the simplest of preparations to allowing you to live with as little interruptions to your lifestyle as possible going forward.

Regardless of the inevitable changes to come, let’s plan on thriving, not merely surviving!

- Hans Schoff
Making the “SHIFT”

PS> For more ideas on creating wealth as well as simple preparations you can make to ensure you’re able to enjoy the benefits of that wealth, be sure to fill out the form at the top of the page and let me know your thoughts in the comment section below (and share and tweet this post with anyone and everyone you think will benefit from it).  Thanks, I appreciate you!

Originally posted 2012-07-04 14:15:36.

Original post can be found here: "It’s Time To Get Real – Are You Prepared?

The Dream of Having and Creating Wealth

When I was much younger, I had lots of dreams and desires of creating wealth, of things I wanted to do, places I wanted to go, toys and houses and cars I’d like to own.  Whenever I’d pass by a nice looking BMW for instance, a large decadent mansion, or see a photo of an exotic beach somewhere, I would begin envisioning what it would be like someday when that was part of MY reality…

Growing up, I had no idea what career I would have or how I would make enough money in order to have those fun and exciting things in my life, but nor did it matter.

All that mattered was the vision of creating wealth. I wasn’t focusing on any particular profession or job – the way of life, the freedom, the excitement, the lifestyle, creating wealth – that’s what I was after!

All I knew was that if other people could have these things – people from the same country, people with the same access to opportunities and information available to them as is available to me, people with two arms and two legs and one head – if these people were able to live this way then surely I too could someday do the same, right?

Have you ever felt that way?

Have you ever wanted more out of life than you currently had?  Have you seen what others have been able to do and thought, “You know, I can achieve that level of success… I deserve to have more fun, more excitement, more money, more freedom in my life, more…”

Is that greed?

No.  That’s ambition, desire.  That’s a good thing!  It’s what makes the world go round.  If no one wanted anything, there would be no trade, no industry, no technology, no development and we’d all still be roaming the earth scrounging around for food to eat just so we could keep alive (assuming people would at least want to live!). Who wants to live in a world like that?  Isn’t there enough negativity in the world already as it is?

…But dreamers can be just as detrimental for society if all they’re doing all day is dreaming and not taking action toward their dreams.  But those dreamers who do take action toward their dreams and follow their desires in pursuit of something better, those are people we call courageous and inspirational - they are our leaders and our heroes…

Welcome to 2012 – Creating Wealth in the Information Age

But the world today is much different than it was just years ago.  In the industrial age, all one needed to do was go to school, get good grades to get into a good college so you could get a good high-paying job and then you retire after 40 years and live out the rest of your life in luxury without having to work another day of your life.  That was living the dream, if you could just get to retirement age, you would finally make it!

Unfortunately today we live in the information age, with high unemployment, an ever increasing cost of living (food, gasoline, energy, insurance, taxes, etc), a falling dollar, a bankrupt social security system with declining retirement and health benefits…  Most people are finding out that their good grades and education just isn’t enough anymore to ensure all their needs will be met during their working years, not to mention their desired retirement years!

Even those lucky enough to hold on to a job through to retirement age are no longer able to rely on the government or their employer to take care of them into their golden years, even though money was taken out of their paycheck during their working years to supposedly ensure they would be able to retire and live comfortably!  You’ve seen peoples’ 401(k)’s completely wiped out in the recent stock market crash which proves in this era the stock market doesn’t always go up (and nor do housing prices for that matter, either!).

I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.

The real question is, what is the solution for creating wealth?

Wherever you may be in this process – whether you have a high-paying job, a temporary position or if you’re looking to retire but don’t know how you can – today you must first take responsibility for your situation and realize that YOU must be in control of your finances because no one else cares about you and your family’s financial needs other than YOU.

Unfortunately today, that is a sad but sobering fact!  You know what your future will look like if you continue to rely on your employer or the government to take care of your needs, especially in retirement – just look around or turn on the news!

In this changing world, in the information age, you must take steps to be able to wean yourself off the government’s or your employer’s teet so-to-speak.  You must realize that the only solution to being able to not only survive in this climate but also to thrive is by YOU creating wealth and being in control of your income – NOT your employer, and NOT the government…

——–> To learn more about creating wealth and what you can do to get in control of your income today so you can have the free time, the extra money and the freedom to live life on your terms, follow this link now: Choose Financial Freedom

Originally posted 2011-05-17 01:17:51.

Original post can be found here: "Is It Too Late For YOU For Creating Wealth?

Let’s put aside the idea of creating wealth for a minute.  First of all, why do people work in the first place?

In order to be able to provide food, shelter, transportation, maybe a few comforts if nothing else for themselves and their family, right – and so that someday they hopefully won’t have to work any longer and can live off “the fruit of their labor” in retirement?

That’s the idea right?

What Retirement May Look Like For Many Today In The Information Age

Yet more and more people are finally beginning to realize that although that’s what they may WANT, job security today is an oxymoron, and for most people the definition of retirement is also changing.  Go into any Walmart today and you’ll see some people in their 80′s and even older still working part time – was that part of their financial plan? That’s not being harsh, that’s the truth.  No one works at Walmart in their golden years at low wages just because they want to…

Then there are others where “retirement” now means to them having to drastically cut back their expenses and watch every penny or even having to rely on their kids to take care of them should they not want or be able to continue working.

Still for others it may mean having to go broke, liquidating everything you have to pay for nursing home care so you can hope to maybe someday qualify for Medicare (happened to my grandma).

Then there are those whose retirement plans consist of hoping and preying for a miracle – maybe a government bailout, maybe winning the lottery – and just continue to live day by day, paycheck to paycheck hoping their luck will simply change and things will take care of themselves on their own.

Having been educated on the old 40/40/40 industrial age retirement and benefits plan, I think most people are in still in denial that there’s a crucial problem because that’s the only plan they know, that’s the only plan they thought there was!  So they continue to think about it, desperately trying to hold onto it, trying to salvage whatever they can of this outdated financial plan and so-called retirement strategy that they haven’t taken the time to see where they’re currently headed, the path they’re still traveling down.

It’s like paddling one direction along a river and not noticing that the current begins to get stronger and stronger.  The sound of the water begins to get louder and louder behind you until you finally look up and realize the current is pulling you quickly downstream in the opposite direction you are paddling, closer and closer to the beginning of the waterfall, ready to consume you. You may be headed toward certain peril but it’s not too late to change course, abandon ship altogether if necessary and get to shore (solid ground, ie, foundation) before you go over the edge and potentially lose everything.

So what is your financial plan going forward and for the future if there is no government or social security income, no pension from an employer, or enough income from your 401(k) or other speculations, er, I mean investments – what is your plan for creating wealth?

Do you have a plan other than hoping and praying for the best?

Hoping and praying…

• that things will just turn around all on their own?
• That millions of jobs will somehow just magically appear,
• that the huge trillion dollar deficits will just go away,
• that other countries will just forgive us our debt,
• that they’ll find the $100+ trillion dollars needed to replenish the social security trust fund,
• that house prices will return to their overinflated levels,
• that silver, gold, oil along with food and energy prices will go down instead of up?

Or are you using this information, these forming trends, to reassess your situation to make better plans, to obtain the necessary education, to learn the necessary skills, to take the necessary action to ensure a secure, a comfortable, or a rich “retirement” period for you?

Maybe that entails picking up a few books on investing to learn what to do with your money, rather than just turning it over to the old stock broker or mutual fund company (how’s that worked out for you with the stock market at the same levels now as it was at over ten years ago?).

Perhaps that means moving to another city or state to decrease your tax burden or where opportunity for success is more prevalent.

Maybe it means spending some time to develop or enhance some skill-set you know will give you a competitive advantage (like mastering marketing with facebook or building twitter lists).

It could even mean starting your own part-time business around your existing schedule to get in control of your income, and to create leveraged passive cash flow…

The choice today for creating wealth is yours…

Choosing to do nothing, choosing NOT to make any changes or to not even look up to see where you’re headed IS a choice. What will be your choice?

(By the way, you can decide to choose a new path, a new financial plan whenever you choose. Creating Wealth – Financial Freedom – begins with a choice…)

Originally posted 2011-06-08 08:24:04.

Original post can be found here: "Creating Wealth – What Does Retirement Look Like To You?

When things were booming, when everything was going so well, many thought their speculation/gambling/borrowing ideas were creating wealth.  Any small problems or worries seemed insignificant, they’d all go away in time right?

Especially in regards to finances – stocks and home values always go up, right?  That may have been the assumption many had a few years ago during the great housing boom.  People were going out and buying things – a lot of the time on credit – without thinking about if they could afford it or not; they thought they were living the American dream.  When the bills came in, no problem, they just borrowed money out of their home, treating it like at ATM machine, kicking the can down the road, thinking mistakenly that they really were wealthy.

Then the illusion of the American dream turned into the American nightmare.  The debt finally caught up with a lot of people, no longer able to kick the debt down the road by obtaining another credit card or borrow against their home, having to actually make payments on their accumulated consumer (bad) debt, having to now make real payments on their homes (the teaser rates on their option arms also reset to the actual rate or cost of borrowing that money) and find a real solution to their self-inflicted problems if they ever wanted to get involved in truly creating wealth and live the REAL American Dream (which is not living off consumer credit, but is instead achieving financial independence and actually being able to afford and pay for those luxuries!).

Now I’m not judging or coming down hard on these people.  This in fact was the majority of people across the country who got caught up in the “good times” in some form or fashion, not aware of the fast approaching repercussions.

So if your Objective is Creating Wealth, what now?

If you’re someone who has just realized something needs to change or if you’ve known for some time now that something needs to change so you can start creating wealth but you don’t know how or where to start, what can you do?

Creating Wealth step 1:

When you’ve gotten yourself into a hole, the first rule of holes is: STOP digging!

You first need to assess where you’re at, how much debt do you owe, what are the terms, payment amounts, etc, and compile that along with your income and monthly expenses.  You need all that information together in one place so you can see where you are.  It should be pretty easy to see where you’re headed if you continue doing what got you into this position in the first place (digging yourself into a hole, the opposite of creating wealth).  But if you’ve never even taken a look, you may not have ever realized.  Realization and awareness of the spending problem is the first real step.

Creating Wealth Step 2:

Once you can see where the problem lies, ie, you spend more than you make, you need to put together a plan of how to remedy the situation.  In most cases, this actually is easier than most people think.  The hardest part is coming to terms with it.  You may feel that the problem is that you simply do not make enough money, however, you have to be realistic and conservative with your current situation otherwise you’re simply putting more pressure on yourself than you need to.

Compounding is real, and while it’s great when it’s creating wealth and working for you, it can be an absolute nightmare if it starts working against you!  It’s a very powerful force of nature!  If you don’t cut back your expenses to within your means, the interest, penalties and fees will mount up so fast and compound on top of each other that within a matter of months you can find yourself stuck, unable to escape.

That’s what we want to avoid.  The future is bright, opportunities are everywhere.  Turn off the news, cut out all negativity in your life because it’s sure not helping!  Just getting your finances under control is a super confidence booster.

Not only that, once you’re in control of your finances and living beneath your means, it gives you a chance to catch your breath.  You realize that the sky isn’t falling, and on top of that, I’m going to show you a way to start having money become attracted to you.  This technique for creating wealth is so powerful, and whether its just a psychological phenomenon or what I don’t know, but it literally turns the tide of your finances and you will find yourself somehow beginning to attract money instead of repelling it.

Pay Yourself First

But it starts with reigning in your expenses.  One of the first principles of wealth creation you need to understand is paying yourself first.  This isn’t just some cute catch phrase, this is fundamental.  You must change your programming, change your habits, change the way you do things, change your relationship with money.  It is crucial.

If you ever want to become wealthy or rich, you must think and act like they do.  You must pay yourself first.  Set aside 10% of your income every time you get paid without thinking about it.  Take it out of your paycheck and put it aside, somewhere where you won’t be able to spend it.  Or convert it into precious metals like gold investing or silver investing.  That makes it that much harder to spend because you have to convert it first.

Paying yourself first is putting that money aside, being responsible with your money, investing into yourself, into your future.  By doing this, you will be released from the grasp that money has over you, the fear of losing it will melt away and you are creating wealth.  You will have power over money – and that is truly powerful.  You will realize that you can live and survive on 90% of what you were living off before; not only that but you’ll feel better knowing each pay check is now helping to build your future instead of just going to pay bills or for entertainment or whatever and each month your wealth can grow. 

(I highly recommend you get a copy of “The Richest Man in Babylon” for some truly powerful financial education that in itself can help you establish the true power behind this principle and the incredible wealth it has created for those with enough financial discipline to apply it consistently).

If all you can do is pay yourself first each month, set aside 10% of all income that comes your way, you will change your life dramatically!  Do not take the power of this fundamental principle for creating wealth for granted!

To learn more about creating wealth, read the next article in this series: Creating Wealth – 3 Business Building Ways To Take Control And Get Ahead In These Uncertain Financial Times

Originally posted 2010-10-07 06:17:49.

Original post can be found here: "1st Steps in Creating Wealth – Pay Yourself First

Creating wealth is not just about making money (see my previous post: You Don’t Have To Be A Millionaire To Be Wealthy). Creating wealth requires one to examine their own financial statement to understand the relationship between their assets and liabilities, their income and expenses.

Primarily, creating wealth is achieved by developing more passive or residual income (income that you no longer have to work or be present for to receive it) than you have expenses.  So while most people are focused almost exclusively on increasing their passive income it’s also important to examine your expenses which could shortcut or speed up the time frame for you to become financially free.

This is best illustrated with Robert Kiyosaki’s Cash Flow 101 game (which I highly recommend if you’ve never played it or even heard of it before.  Essentially, the next best way to learn something apart from actually doing it is through simulation, ie, games.  This is one of the most effective ways to learn something, ie, learn the money patterns, attitudes, skills, and beliefs necessary for creating wealth, since most of us were never taught about these things.  Books are great, audios too, and of course seminars – but simulating real life through games is much, much more effective.  This game is so important and powerful that best selling author Robert Kiyosaki wrote 3+ best selling books – Rich Dad, Poor Dad; Cashflow Quadrant; RichDad’s Guide to Investing – specifically with the purpose to help people understand the importance of this game he spent years creating and perfecting….).

In the game Cash Flow 101 (you can purchase the board game now like I did over ten years ago when I was 20 to begin my creating wealth journey or sign up for my newsletter in the upper right corner of this page under the video to get free access to try it out and play the full-version game online), you are a rat in the “rat race” of life trying to somehow get ahead and break out of the rat race and into the “fast track” – where you finally get to live out your dreams and goals.  You get to play the game by stepping into someone else’s shoes so-to-speak – you might be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a policeman, a business owner, an airline pilot, etc.  You not only receive their pay and any accumulated assets (most people don’t really own any assets though), but you also have to pay for their expenses, and carry their debt load.

You play the game like most people live their life: by running around the rat race month after month (dice-roll after dice-roll), chasing a paycheck to pay your bills and manage your debt and you have to choose how you want to react to opportunities that may get you ahead or put you further behind. 

The only way out of the rat race however is to create enough passive income to exceed your expenses – that’s how you escape the rat race (both in the game and in real life) and move up to the “fast track” – the world of the wealthy.

Now going back, there are two ways to get out of rat race, either by increasing passive income or decreasing expenses.  For most people, it may be much faster and easier to simply pay down debt and/or lower their expenses rather than accumulating or developing assets that produce passive income.  However, the problem with this approach alone is that you cannot get out of the rat race by only cutting expenses – you also need to create passive income from either real estate investments, gas or oil wells, a dividend-paying stock portfolio, a residual income business, interest from notes, etc., because realistically you can only cut your expenses so far.

A good illustration is to take your annual amount of expenses and multiply that by 20 to get a figure of how much money you would need to have invested in order to have enough money coming in passively to pay for all your expenses without you having to work, with a net return on your money of 5% (as a side note, make sure to take into consideration taxes and inflation, etc when calculating your net return).

For example: $100,000/yr in expenses requires $2,000,000 invested producing a net annual return of 5% ($100,000). However, if you cut your expenses in half to $50,000, a 5% net return would only require an investment of $1,000,000, meaning you only need a one -million dollar cash-producing asset, and not two million dollars worth. But of course you can only cut expenses so low, but it’s important to understand what role they play in the process of creating wealth. (Keep in mind you will need an investment that will yield a much higher gross return – as inflation and taxes are likely to increase – to achieve a net return of 5%)

So really the key to creating wealth – both in the game Cash Flow 101 and in real life – is to not only create passive or residual income but to also reduce your expenses to reduce the amount of residual income you need in order to become financially free and infinitely wealthy (remember, wealth is measured in time, as in the number of months forward you can live without having to go back to work – see Creating wealth 101 article). This way you are working smarter to reach your goals faster by spending less of your time, energy and resources.

How can you both increase your passive income and reduce your expenses simultaneously?

There is one investment vehicle where you can both increase your passive income while also decreasing your expenses to help you arrive at your goal for creating wealth that much faster.

You can learn more about this investment vehicle instantly by simply entering your details in the form below:

Originally posted 2011-03-22 07:00:05.

Original post can be found here: "How to Expedite the Creating Wealth Process

What are the money making secrets for creating wealth?

Let’s get straight to the point: You are here because you’re looking for answers – a better way, a different path – something that will help take you from where you are NOW to where you want to be.

Perhaps you’ve come to the conclusion that what you’re currently doing isn’t going to get you there or that just isn’t enough.

Maybe you want to be able to enjoy your retirement instead of having to work through it (article: Is it Too Late for you for Creating Wealth?).

Perhaps you have a good income but have no time to enjoy it or spend with your family.  Whatever the case, you’ve come to the right place.

I’m sure by now you’ve realized that linear income – income you have to work for (like from a JOB or small business) – is NOT going to make you financially independent or wealthy – no matter HOW MUCH you earn.

By now hopefully you’re aware that the ONLY way to create lasting wealth, the only path to true financial freedom requires PASSIVE income – income you receive month after month whether you work or not, from work you did previously.  Creating more of this type of passive or residual income than you have expenses is the KEY to creating wealth and reaching financial freedom.

Money Making Secrets – Here’s the real question:

What can you start doing today that will not only put more money in your pocket each month but in a matter of months enable you to walk away from whatever it is you HAVE to do now (just to get by or pay the bills)? How can you develop THAT kind of passive income?…

• …so you can finally afford to live the lifestyle you’ve always wanted for you and your family – the life that you deserve!
• …so you can have the time freedom to do whatever you want, with whoever you want, wherever you want – and without having to worry about the cost!
• To live in the house of your dreams, to drive the cars and have the toys and luxuries you thought only other people could afford…
• To give more money to your favorite church or charity than other people make in an entire year…

It is possible for you too once you understand the money making secrets for creating wealth via passive income.

To learn these SECRETS for creating passive income - so you can begin working towards your financial freedom and be able to finally live the American dream – simply put your information in the form on the next page for INSTANT ACCESS to the money making secrets you need on the next page.  I’ll even give you a free copy of my step-by-step blueprint: “The Dummy’s Guide to Creating Wealth” just to help get you there even quicker.

So go ahead and fill out the form on the next page by clicking on the following link: Creating Wealth.  I’ll be waiting there to share with you the MONEY MAKING SECRETS for creating passive income…

Originally posted 2011-07-19 07:02:06.

Original post can be found here: "Money Making Secrets For Creating Wealth