Yell0BrickRd

A Method To Kick Start Your Investment Property Portfolio

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 09:56:00 +0000

Fresh from a seminar explaining how to use lease options, I am now preparing to purchase my first property. I have discovered that it’s a whole different ballgame in terms of dealing with the fear of investing, especially since this is what I have been working up to in terms of the kind of income I want. Firstly I had to determine my strategy, because there are different things that you can do with property which include HMO’s, single lets etc. [take a look at the property section of Yell0brickrd for more info]

Lease options are not something that I want to continue to do to form the bulk of my investment property portfolio. This is simply because I want to be able to hold onto property that I pick up for the long term, so in the long run, the idea is to have all of these properties in my name or, more likely, under a company, without ever having to sell them.

As a start however, this is an excellent way to begin to have some investments without needing a massive amount of capital. I have set aside £800 for solicitor’s fees and I will be keeping you up to date with the progress of that.

Over the coming months and years I will continue to improve my credit rating so that I can have more property investment opportunities available to me.

The strategy

The strategy for my portfolio for my first bunch of investments is to purchase properties with a least 4 bedrooms by utilising lease options. I will then rent these out on a multi-let basis and charge a competitive rental. The price I charge will include things such as Cable TV etc.

The important thing to remember is to buy in areas where the number of people renting is quite high. It is also a good idea to purchase in area that are close to businesses, transport links, hospitals etc. If you hate fixing toilets, I’ve learnt that this is nothing to fear if you simply take out insurance for your investment property!

The risks of adopting a HMO strategy is higher than a ‘single-let’ because you have to advertise for different tenants to occupy different rooms; The cash-flow however, is much higher. In addition, when a room becomes vacant there is a better chance that you will at least be able to cover the mortgage payments.

The First Step

The first step in my first investment property journey is to use the method of advertising. I contacted some local papers which cover various different boroughs. My advertisement is short, sweet and straight to the point. It begins with a headline grabber and highlights various benefits in bullet points which the person will get if they contact me. I finally end it all with a strong call to action! [CALL NOW]

I’m also fully aware of the fact that it will take a while to really start getting calls coming through from people who want to sell their property. Therefore the idea is to leave this advertisements up for a few months or so.

I hope this has been helpful in generating ideas for how you can get started with your first investment!

5 Ways To Turn Ambition Into Results

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:10:00 +0000

Ambition isn’t really a valuable commodity at all. Have you stopped to ask yourself how you are different? Why will you be the one to achieve your ambitions rather than the person next to you?

There are many people who have ideas on how to make a lot of money, but knowing how to turn ambition into results is the key. Here are 5 keys that can help

Play HARD

I’ve realised that all the people I admire have said they initially worked MUCH harder than the average bear! Once the riches came in they were able to work a lot less than the average person because they worked to build a continual income and have been rewarded with more freedom. They always stress however that this only came after the hard work to reach that stage in the first place.

Would you be willing to wake up at 5am every morning if that is what it required??? This is one such measure of your tenacity to really go the extra mile in your journey to achieve results. I have realised that building wealth requires masses of discipline and mental tenacity to keep playing until I reach my destination!

2. Commit for the long term

One source that I read said that any new endeavour should come with a commitment to work solidly for at least one year! This put to rest the idea of working solidly for 3 or 6 months only to see no results and call it quits. Any major goal will always require a solid effort over the long term as you learn and adapt before real results will begin to flow in!

3. Go to school

In a HUGE majority of cases, I have found that education is very important for success. Whether via seminars or books for example, education will improve your knowledge of finance, business or personal development where you are weak and as a result improve your ability to attract success via the application of that knowledge! Check out the book review section on this site for some ideas!

4. Networking

Networking is mandatory to success. It is important to surround yourself with the kind of people who are striving toward the similar goals of their own in the areas you are passionate about in order to have people to bounce your ideas and thoughts off of. It also kills two birds with one stone as you are learning whilst improving that quality of your associations.

5. Set Deadlines and DEMAND progress

It is important to break goals down into mini deadlines, so that you know you are definitely making progress. This ensures that you are continually improving and you are actually moving in the direction of you goal rather than remaining stationery.

The simplest way to achieve this is to break down goals into mini-goals with deadlines attached to them. A goal for the month for example may be broke down into weekly mini goals that ensures that you can see progress. It is very easy to ignore this and work hard for months only to realise you are seeing progress.

I would love to know what I have missed, what other things have you discovered on your journey that increases the chances of success, let me know below!

How To Protect Your House Against The Big Bad Wolf!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:51:00 +0000

What do you do when the big bad wolf comes blowing? If he doesn’t try to get you one way, he’ll get you another. Whether it’s via the loss of your job, an unexpected financial setback in the family or via a reduction in interest rates or an increase in inflation, these are all things that can have an impact in your finances.

One of the aims in life is to reach a stage where you are financially secure; rock solid. In my opinion this involves building a financial house of bricks, solid against the financial weathers of life.

This post will attempt to explain how that can be accomplished

Savings

The first port of call in a real emergency such as the loss of a job for example is your savings. So with that being said, it’s good to aim for about 3 – 6 months worth of living expenses, so that if the man turns around tomorrow and points the finger, you can still keep up to date with your monthly payments. A solid bank account with a decent interest rate won’t hurt, but the increase in your cash shouldn’t be the main concern here.

Beat Inflation with commodities

Inflation causes the general cost of goods to rise. In these inflationary periods the value of cash diminishes whilst the value of commodities rise. For this reason you can protect yourself against the wolf by having some in your arsenal. Remember that it’s equally as important to know when to get out.

Health and Home Insurance

Health insurance is also another essential requirement to remain fully protected, just in case. This keeps your financial base rock solid should the worst happen, which may require costly medical care. Home insurance should be taken out for the same reason.

Pension Plan

I have heard a lot of debate over whether pension plans are worth investing in. In my opinion it is worth having as another string in your bow. A solid financial plan should include pension contributions so that when you retire funds are available to help you out. My personal favourite however is continual investment into a passive income vehicle such as the purchase of investment homes, something that I am currently studying about.

Life insurance

Maybe a little grim, but life insurance is another form of the wolf that can come blowing. You should be adequately insured to ensure that your family can afford the costs that would rise should the worst happen.

Beat Taxes With Investments

Taxes should be countered with investment vehicles that soften the blow such as a business, or . When you consider that amount of money that is lost to taxes, it’s easy to see why this could be a major dent to wealth creation or even to building a solid financial wall.

So there you have it, these are a few ideas for how you can protect yourself against the big bad wolf by protecting yourself against major financial setbacks. Is there anything I have missed, what do you think? Let me know below!

Demystifying The Financial Statement Relationship

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:41:00 +0000

This is the final post in the financial statement series, where I will explain how all of the various financial statements link together, to help you to use them to analyse companies/investments and their real worth. Before reading this you may want to check out the other posts in this series to help your understanding of the financial statements relationship.

1. Income Statement

2. Cashflow Statement

3. Balance Sheet

4. Retained Earnings Statement

Income statement [Links to Balance sheet]

The income statement and the figures it represents all the way down to the net income comes from the Balance Sheet.

With reference to the net income, the amount that isn’t paid out via dividends to shareholders is kept as retained earnings, which is an entry under the shareholders equity portion of the Balance Sheet. Obviously the balance sheet will move accordingly to make sure that the asset and liability sections still balance out.

Cashflow statement [links to the Income Statement]

The net income is the main entry under operating activities within the Cashflow Statement, and this figure comes directly from the Income Statement.

Adjustments can be made to the operating income by making allowances for thing that may not have been included such as depreciation or the sale of an investment. Any dividend that is paid out will also be captured on the Cashflow Statement in the financing section.

Balance sheet [links to the Income Statement]

The Balance Sheet is linked to the Income Statement in terms of its retained earnings. Any changes in investments etc will also be captured here.

Footnotes are usually found on the bottom of financial statements which can highlight additional information but by analysing all three statements and understanding how they all link together a deeper understanding can be gleaned.

Ps – if this series helped you, don’t forget to share the information with others by using the buttons below!

Creating An Effective Things To Do List

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:49:00 +0000

Have you ever felt like a busy fool? We’ve all had that experience; working extremely hard and seeing no real results for it. The other day at dinner a few friends of mine brought up the subject of productivity, expressing their frustration at the lack of results they were seeing. We started talking about a phrase that Brian Tracy refers to a lot: ‘Spinning your wheels’.

My particular problem was my dislike of regimented activity. I preferred to know what I needed to do in my head and work from that. I realized very quickly however that working from a list was the best way to boost your productivity.

Work from a list

If this is a something you are not currently doing, try doing this right away. Working from a list increases your level of focus and reduces frustration. Writing things down is like emptying your cup so that you have space to fill it with new content.

Prioritize Tasks

Prioritizing your to do list puts a rocket launcher behind your productivity. Most people instinctively know what the most important task on their list is, but generally speaking, the most difficult and unpleasant tasks are the ones that have the most significant impact on your overall results.

Don’t Forget Your Monthly Goals

To Do Lists are great BUT make sure your monthly goals have already been set. This is imperative. Using the Steven Covey method, these sometimes appear in the ‘important but not urgent’ quadrant. Making sure these are included in your day to day to do lists will provide maximum productivity.

Don’t trust your memory

Even if your memory is better than most, write things down! Doing this increases the chances of the information being acted upon drastically. Our minds can sometimes fail us, but information captured cannot!

Carry a journal

This one requires discipline, but you’ll soon be addicted to doing it and will never forget an idea again. As you use the above methods, more ideas will flow into your head. Be sure you always carry something to capture them before another task gets in your way and you idea is lost forever!

It might seem like a lot of work to do these things, but the results are MASSIVE!

How about you, what ideas have you discovered in the area of productivity to help with increasing it to its maximum potential? Is there anything you would add to this list? Let me know below!!

Ps...Sign up for free updates from Yell0brickrd by Email today!!

Drive - Daniel Pink [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:32:00 +0000

I recently finished reading Drive by Daniel Pink, which offers a thought provoking view on the inner workings of human drivers and how to get the best out of people within the workforce.

Pink’s book explains that under motivation 3.0, employees within a company achieve staggering results and their desire to improve is cultivated. Under the old model of motivation 2.0, employees are still provided with rewards for conformity and in the long run, their motivation stifled.

One example given is Google, who provided their employees with 1 day a week to work on anything they pleased. During this ’20 percent time’ products such as Gmail were founded!

Stay Motivated

What I found fascinating about this book is the subject of ‘motivation 3.0’, from a perspective on achieving your own happiness in life. The argument reads that the best way to achieve real success in finance, career and life in general is to have the kind of drive that comes from within; the desire to achieve mastery by enjoying slow and steady improvement rather than motivation from an extrinsic factor.

Anybody striving to push toward mastery and become more satisfied or any business owner aiming to derive more genuine motivation out of their employees needs to read this book. The ideas presented may be challenging but Pink makes a powerful case backed with many examples that will convince you to try it out. Pick up your copy today!

How To Be Successful

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Sun, 22 May 2011 13:55:00 +0000

Aside from achieving your financial goals, what is the best way to achieve general success? I discovered this video and felt compelled to share it with you as a way to translate drive into effective results. I think that in addition to achieving financial success, it is great to learning how to be successful in life as well!

My biggest learns from this video are the facts that if you are having fun, serving others first and are persistent, the financial rewards usually follow automatically. Enjoy!

How To Become A Millionaire With £200

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Sat, 14 May 2011 17:19:00 +0000

We all have aspirations of becoming millionaires, but most of us resign to it only being a pipe dream or something that will become a reality if we win the lottery. Talk of investments and building businesses bore most people to tears. They are simply hardworking individuals who want nothing more than to become significantly richer over a long period of time so that they can be comfortable when they retire.

Well, what if I told you that becoming a millionaire is no big deal at all and that you could do it by sticking to a very boring formula that requires close to zero effort and very little cash?

Read on….

According to Motley Fool, the stock market has returned an average of about 11% a year over the long term. This means that a £100 investment over the course of 1 year would increase to £111. Compound interest would also come into play, which simply means that in the second year [with another £100 investment] you would gain interest on £111 + £100 and so on.

Just £200 a month will get you there

How many would agree that if they stretched they could save £200 a month with an average job? Most people could. There are many ways to become a millionaire, but the easiest way is to utilize the method that follows.

Thanks to compound interest and a long term conservative plan, a small sacrifice of £200 a month would get you there. All that is needed to make this come to life is an index tracker. Using this allows you to put in as little or as much as you like on a monthly basis, whilst the money is divided automatically against a variety of companies in the stock market it tracks [An example is the S&P 500 or the FTSE for example] You could also ask for the dividends that they payout to be reinvested back into the tracker, which would boost your earnings even more.

The hard-worker will typically stay in the workforce for about 40+ years. So if a worker started this plan at 21 and invested £200 a month, by the age of 60 [with an average 11% interest] their investments would be worth £1,329,474! Not a figure to be sniffed at!

It’s simple to do

Finding out about index trackers is pretty easy work. A search on Google for index trackers would bring up some names of companies that provide the facility. With a little education on how it works and some due diligence on the various fees that are applied, in no time at all you would be ready to take advantage of this lovely opportunity.

Some say life begins at 50. By using this formula, it truly could do! Another excellent source of information around the subject of wealth creating comes from Barbara Friedberg. She has an excellent take on the subject and I have always believed it is best to study various ideas to increase your overall knowledge. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts below!

Budgeting, How Do You See It?

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Tue, 10 May 2011 22:25:00 +0000

Imagine budgeting was a girl, what would she look like? The first thought is that she would be old plain and boring, kind of like the picture you see.

My job is to convince you that budgeting is actually very sexy and that it can sure make you RICH! In fact, fail to master budgeting and resign to remain poor, no matter your monthly income level!

Using the theory of Parkinson’s Law, our expenses will ALWAYS rise to meet our income level. If that’s true, the real key to success is learning how to consistently break Parkinson’s Law. What is the best thing to help in that endeavor?? Your budget!

Most people think learning how to budget and sticking to it means living frugally and denying yourself the finer things in life. That’s why we think budget as a girl might be old, plain and boring, but it all depends on your paradigm; the way you look at and use it.

The reason a budget is actually beautiful is because it’s really about diligently dispersing your income in a clever way, using it to place some of your money in vehicles that will slowly increase your income and lifestyle.

Ask yourself this, what use is a high income or passive income when you still find yourself broke in the middle of every month?!

Having a high normal or passive income without a budget is like having a Ferrari and not knowing how

to drive it properly. You would never be able to use it to its full potential or appreciate the wonderful emotions it can provide. Eventually you’ll probably crash it into a wall.

Be patient and persistent and look at it differently. When the money starts rolling in, staying and increasing, you will realize just how glamorous she really is. It’s the very thing you want by your side to almost single-handedly give you all the glorious emotions you want as your income perpetually increases.

Take a look at that picture again. Budgeting is sexy…keep her around, and she will help you keep more of that cash around in return!

Should You Put Up Your Business For Sale?

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Thu, 05 May 2011 20:50:00 +0000

The idea of diligently working hard and then putting up your business for sale is what it’s all about. If you’ve done your job well, you’ve increased the value of your company and you can sell it.

That is exactly what my plan was for my business [check business section for diary entries] if I was lucky enough to build it to that stage. When I spoke to my friend about my grandiose plans for the future he suggested that I would have to think about it very carefully though. Here’s why:

Cash Cow

If you’ve been successful in building a brilliant business, it will no doubt have become a cash cow for you, producing a nice regular income. Selling the business is a lot like refurbishing a house and selling it. You generate a nice wad of cash from the increased value, but that’s it. Those serious about wealth accumulation would much rather have the regular income rather than a wad of cash and the loss of their cash cow. Using the Stephen Covey analogy, you’ll be getting rid of the Golden goose that lays the eggs!

Emotion

After putting so much sweat and tears into building the business, would you be able to part with your creation and accept it being sold to someone else? Sure you would make sure you sold it to someone competent to push the business forward, but what if you checked in 6 months later to see things radically altered, values changed, or perhaps the business not being as profitable as it once was?

How would you deal with the void selling your business would create? Something that filled your heart and mind day and night for years; gone and no longer in your control! It may be a relief, but what would you do next. How would you fill the massive emptiness that would no doubt be present?

What would you do with the money?

If you did decide to cash in, what would you do with the money? Let’s say it made you a millionaire, a whole bunch of new issues would crop up, how would you use the money? How much would you save; Where would you invest? How would you reinvest it to generate regular income once again? How would you shelter it from the taxman?

Family

By keeping the business, you could possibly provide an income for close family members and have this help to look after them for generations. Without it, something great that was built wouldn’t benefit them at all because it will be gone!

Building A Business The Right Way

If after analyzing these questions you are still convinced to put up your business for sale, and perhaps even if not, you may want to take a look at this excellent book, particularly if you are at the beginning of your business building journey.

I’m keen to know, what are your thoughts on building a business and how would you deal with the questions posed? If you did sell how would you reinvest to increase your income and your wealth? Let me know below!

The Financial Journey [1st Update]

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:55:00 +0000

I started my journey with a dream of travelling the journey to reach yell0brickrd, 30 000 a month coming in each month. So how far along am I at the moment? Let’s take a look in some greater detail.

Debts

So my debts are still sky high but they are definitely coming down slowly. I have been throwing bits and pieces of cash at my debts so far, but i will become more aggressive to clear it quicker. Improving my rating is vital for business and property investments I will be embarking upon soon so the quicker i achieve it the better.

Savings

Because I have creaming off 10% of my salary each month, I have been successful in becoming more secure as the months go by. This is something I will continue to do and will always hold this in cash.

Commodities

Some may see commodities as an investment, but I view it as more of a savings plan. So far, I have been investing money in silver. I will also be investing in Gold and rice very soon.

Property

As you can see, the property section of this blog is relatively empty. This is because I still haven’t managed to get my first property on the map yet. I plan to buy at least one investment property before the year is out and of course I will be keeping you updated as to what I am learning in this area along the way.

Business

My business is still in the process of being built. This is an exciting challenge that I am relishing, stay tuned to the business action to learn all about my ups and downs and my key learning’s along the road.

Bad points

What I can see here is that I still have a lot of work to do in the area of taking more action. It looks like the fear of making mistakes in the area of investment property for example has held me back a little. A recent post I read that dealt with the area of too much analysis and not enough action really kicked me into gear. The remainder of the year therefore should see a hell of a lot more progress!!

Closing

My income is very far off my destination (most of which is also from a job). So there is a huge amount of work to be done, but I will get there and keep you updated on what I’m learning and how I’m achieving my goals!

Dont forget to sign up for free updates via email

Defaulted Debt - To Pay Or Not To Pay?

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 21:37:00 +0000

Part of my journey to yell0brickrd involves my desire to improve my credit rating so I can negotiate better terms on money I will be borrowing for property and business deals in the future.

We are all familiar with the idea that a bad credit rating affects your ability to secure credit for large purchases. Even if you are able to find your way around that, there is little room for negotiation on the massive interest rates that they will charge as a result of the risk level that they deem you carry.

This post however is more of a question post. I have been clearing a backlog of current debt i.e. the last 2-3 months, but now I am looking at debts which I have owed for years which show up on my report as ‘Defaulted Debt’.

What is the school of thinking here? Certain people say that clearing this debt will improve my credit rating as it shows I have paid. Other people however claim that a satisfied defaulted debt is viewed exactly the same as a plain defaulted debt.

The other unclear area is what follows after you have paid. Some say there is no guarantee that companies will adjust your file accordingly and that you have to negotiate to make sure it happens. Is this true?

So here are the main questions that I am seeking answers to

How does a credit score change, if at all, from a part or full payment of a defaulted debt?
If a debt is due to fall off a file, is it still worth paying?
Is it true that there is no guarantee a cleared default debt will be corrected on my report as ‘satisfied’

If anybody has any answers to any of these questions I would appreciate hearing them below! And as I increase my knowledge I will write another post clarifying these questions.

Work For Free To Get Rich!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 01:02:00 +0000

Learn To Work Harder On Yourself Than You Do On Your Job

One trick for success is learning how to work for free. In fact in most cases I ended up spending money for no immediate reward. Working for free requires a mental change and a conscious sacrifice, and most of the people I had associated myself with couldn’t get why I would spend so much time after the 9-5 working on things which wouldn’t immediately provide an income.

Recently I reviewed ‘Unfair advantage’. The chapter on the law of compensation provided a lot of motivation for me to keep making an effort every day. Every small effort acts like a crucial deposit, which always eventually pays off.

So far, I have still been working in my pharma job whilst working my way up to a level of passive income that will help me to reach yell0brickrd. It has been a slow process because I decided to simultaneously eliminate bad debt whilst investing in my knowledge in order to take action.

I am preparing to take larger steps and so after stretching my paycheque this month, I will be making a lump payment to a debt, which will take me one step closer to being bad debt free.

Why work For Free?

To qualify for results means taking small steps everyday. Without it, there are no success building blocks available as a foundation, which means that success steers clear.

I remember Brian Tracy once saying, ‘In the final analysis, no one really cares.’ I found this to be the real reason why I should work for free, because noone was coming to save me from being broke!

Free Work?

Another activity which can pay huge dividends is actually carrying out free work. With some creativity and wisdom, taking an opportunity to work for a company for what you can learn is an excellent win-win situation; they get free labour in exchange for providing knowledge. This investment of time can be invaluable!

Working for free teaches you to be creative. By forgoing a salary you can acquire knowledge and find more creative and rewarding ways to generate income!

I hope this helps readers who are trying to reach their own yell0brickrd, whatever the figure may be. I think Richard St John said it best when he explained in his video that success is a continual process. The activities required are usually the ones that pay no initial income: persistence, knowledge, networking etc

For your achievement

Losing My Virginity - Richard Branson [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:07:00 +0000

WOW, what a book! ‘Losing My Virginity’ by Richard Branson is brilliant and takes you through all the emotions that make a good book good. Far from a boring collection of stories about his wealth and his business profits etc, this book is written in true story form and is just such a page-turner in the way that it keeps you hooked. He starts from his childhood, detailing some of the things his parents made him do as well as the lessons they taught him about how to approach life.

Sprinkled on these inspirational and often humorous stories is greater detail of his later ventures and all of the ups and downs that came along with it. The launch of the Virgin mail order company; the record store and label, and how he survived seemingly inevitable failure and Virgin Atlantic and his colossal battle with British Airways. Other businesses are also spoken about in slightly less detail such as Virgin Trains and Virgin Galactic.

Reading this book will inspire you to take greater action in any area of life. It will teach you about the importance of reinvention, having a group of talented people working with you, adopting an empowering philosophy, reinvestment for profit and above all, taking risks and having fun!

Reading this book shows you the true enormity of what he has achieved and the colourful life he has led, both from a business and personal point of view. There are one or two sections where the book lulls in its ability to keep you hooked, but this is only written in the interest of analysing good and bad, it is so insignificant in the wider context.

His commitment to making the world a better place is also made very clear. He explains his passion for searching for alternative energy sources we can use to reduce oil dependence and his determination to assist in solving some of the greater challenges of the world such as poverty, war and illness.

This is a truly great read from a man who has accomplished so much. Pick up your copy today.

Steve Jobs - An Inspirational Talk

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:05:00 +0000

Ok guys, so I haven’t posted any videos on yell0brickrd for a while because I couldn’t really find anything that moved me enough to be able to share with you. Then I remembered something I first saw on TED about 8 months ago and felt compelled to post it.

It’s a long watch, but it is an extremely inspirational talk from founder of Pixar and Apple, Steve Jobs. Seriously, just watch it. You’ll be glad you did! Enjoy

The Pixar Philosophy For Creative Thinking

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 16:32:00 +0000

Who else LOVES Pixar?! Both from a film-making and business point of view, they are amazing. They have become hugely successful by capturing the minds of children and adults all over the globe. I think it’s fair to say they are more than a little creative. Who else would love a track record that reads like this:-

Aside from their business success, I love their creativity, which is one of the most important skills for success. So I thought I would look for some information about how Pixar think and see what I could learn. After all, if creativity is important for success, who better to get some ideas from than Pixar.

Teamwork

At Pixar, everybody is encouraged to bring creative ideas to the table. Pixar say that a film is a collection of thousands of different ideas. Every idea is looked at and although it may not be used it is still appreciated! From this point of view, asking those around us and bringing a team of people together fosters more creativity for ideas of solution in money/investment/business problems.

Continual Change

Pixar believe in change to foster magic. Constantly bringing in new technology and new people with fresh outlooks paves the way for magical novel ideas to burst through. With that being said, in trying to increase our ability to be creative we might consider attending different seminars, reading different books etc to generate fresh and novel ideas for approaching our problems.

Talent

Pixar recognises that one of the reasons for their success and continued innovation comes from recruiting highly talented people. Of course doing so when money is low may be difficult, but being creative with how we can attract them will bring them to us in order to utilize their talent to achieve results. They also mention that the process of finding these people is not easy. We need to exercise patience when trying to find somebody with the skills we require to help us with our dilemmas.

I would love to know what other ideas you guys have for being creative in order to achieve higher goals and solve pressing problems, or any books or programs you have used to help you. Let me know below! Dont forget to sign up for FREE updates via email!

When to STOP Buying Silver

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:37:00 +0000

Silver has been all the rage for many years now. Gold is great as a hedge, but silver has been a shining beacon because it’s still undervalued. In his post ‘Why Should I Buy Silver Now', Hameed highlights these points in depth and encourages us to get involved to benefit from the bull run that is likely to last for a while yet, and I agree. If that isn't enough to convince you, you could even seek out an experts opinion

So obviously nothing can really go wrong and we should all dive in right?

Wrong!

Gold and Silver are fantastic, but not understanding some of the reasons why its doing well will quickly turn your profits into losses!

So, when should you NOT buy silver?

Read on…

Whilst silver can be traded, most people use it to 1. Protect the value of their hard earned cash and 2. Increase the value of their hard earned cash. With this in mind, understanding some reasons why silver rises and falls helps to maintain and increase the value of your cash. Since money is ‘currency’ [motion/flow], we must always be looking for places to move it to. Here are just a couple of things you can look out for so that you can sell silver and get you money moving again at the right time!

When QE stops taking place

The fancy word for the abbreviation QE is Quantitative easing. We’ve all heard the news, where governments make the decision to print more money in order to try and solve a problem that is caused by the same money their printing!?!?

This decreases how much our paper cash is worth whilst the value of Real money [Gold/Silver] skyrockets. When the governments STOP printing money however, its time to start considering whether you should cash in a chunk of your precious metals investment and temporarily stop buying them.

When interest rates start to rise

Right now, interest rates are very low. This is great for property investors, because they can secure loans at cheaper rates and benefit from the increased monthly profit it brings. This is also excellent for metals, because they thrive when interest rates are low.

BUT, when that interest rate starts creeping up, its time to start converting some of those metals into cash!

If I convert to cash, what should I do with it

2 ideas of what to do with your converted commodities come to mind:-

1. To protect the value of your cash, one option may be to put the cash into an account that offers a decent interest rate and grows tax free. They may lock you in for a year or so, but at least the money increases and the tax man can’t get his grubby hands on it!

2. Depending on how much money you have invested, why not use some of this cash to put a deposit on an investment property? This definitely increases wealth, with money in coming in every single month. When the pendulum swings again, a portion of your paper money can then be thrown back into commodities.

It doesn’t seem likely that the printing of money will stop soon, but at least we know what to do to outsmart them in all cases and continue to increase our wealth! And for those who want to get a brief primer on getting started, find out how to get started in buying silver

I’d love to know your thoughts, are there any other strategies you use to maintain and increase the value of your cash? Let me know below. Dont forget to sign up to FREE updates via email!

6 Skills For Success That Get You Airborne

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:48:00 +0000

The other day I got thinking about my current financial station. It’s not where I need to be but its certainly better than where I was. I began to wonder to myself, what are the 6 KEY skills for success that I need to give me wings. Here is what I came up with.

1.STUBBORNNESS

Used in the right way, I find this idea incredibly powerful. They say never give up, some say be persistent or remain optimistic. I love those, but I love the idea of being stubborn in the face of adversity much better. It’s a strong mental choice in the mind that says it doesn’t matter what challenges come up on the journey to wealth, I’m standing right here because my beliefs are deeply entrenched like an old fashioned parent!

2.DISCIPLINE

This is the most difficult thing you could ever imagine!! You know what needs to be done but you feel exhausted, dejected, you want to relax, take more of a break than you need, socialize, or think things are not coming together so you should quit. Building your levels of self-discipline leads to success and provides the freedom that comes with more choice.

3.CREATIVITY

I try to remember to summon up creativity as much as possible. It’s like a magic tool. Brian Tracy often says that the more you use creativity, the stronger it becomes. It’s getting to the point where you actually love the idea of problems coming your way; seeing it as a chance to increase your creativity ratio. Using it is what gets most people from the back of the line to the very front! I don’t think success is possible without it!

4.PATIENCE

This is one I’m still working on. Even if you acquire skill number [5], it can sometimes make you even more impatient. Patience comes from knowing that the discipline [2] you put in to stay focused will definitely pay off.

5.DEEP RELAXED KNOWING

I think this is when you reach that stage where you know that you have what it takes to make it and you no longer have to convince yourself. Once that cross that level it sinks in and you become so relaxed, because you know that all the hard work will begin to yield fruit as long as you remain patient [3]. Reaching this stage allows the success to come your way without coming up against any barriers.

6.INCREASE KNOWLEDGE…TAKE ACTION

Reading keeps the mind brimming with new ideas, new techniques and methods of solving challenges, ahead of the competition. It can become an addiction that leads to no action however. So ACTION is something that is very important. Acquire some good knowledge and immediately take action! Its funny, when you fail your knowledge increases and when your knowledge increase and you take action, you will begin to achieve success!

What other skills for success did I miss? What do you importance do you think id needed? Leave your thoughts below!

Built To Sell - John Warrillow [Preview]

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:50:00 +0000

This is a post about John Warrillow’s book ‘Built To Sell’. As part of my journey to build my business in order to provide a service, whilst getting closer to yell0brickrd [30k a month], I realised that I need to make sure that I create something that I can put on auto-pilot and that can thrive without me being there after the hard work is put in.

Many people aspire to do this but never quite get there. Even I thought it may be premature, I realised that I have been working on an exit strategy before I’ve begun. This is something that investors are very interested in when considering lending money to your business.

With that being said, in addition to networking with like minded people, I decided to find out an experts opinion on the subject. John Warrillow is a successful entrepreneur who has built and sold companies.

The Story

According to him only 1 in 100 businesses with aspirations to sell actually realise their dream. His new book ‘Built to Sell’ intends to increase the chances of that successfully happening for you. It is now available for pre-order on Amazon and thought I would give you a heads up.

The book is written in story form and follow a character named Alex [smile] struggling to sell his company. This is because the business cannot operate without him. He turns to Ted, a business owner and family friend who lays out a plan to help him. It focuses around creating a business that is; Teachable, Valuable and Repeatable.

I also follow John’s blog where he writes interesting topics to do with business. Watch out for part 2 of this post where I will give a comprehensive review on my thoughts about the book. Pre-order your copy today!

Breaking Down The Retained Earnings Statement

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:16:00 +0000

This is part 4 of the financial statement series. The full series is Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Now we’ve reached the Retained Earnings Statement. In Part 3 of this series, I spoke about the balance sheet and the formula which was ‘assets = liabilities + shareholders equity’. Let’s take a look at how the retained earnings statement works and break it down in greater detail.

The statement of retained earnings can also be referred to as ‘statement of shareholders equity’ or ‘equity statement’. It records the amount of money [equity] that the owners have in the business at the beginning and end of the period being looked at. It also includes the earning or losses during that period.

A very simple example would look this way:-

Retained Earnings = 1000 +

Net Income = 500 -

Dividends = 200

Equals [Retained Earnings] = 1300

Why is the retained earnings statement important?

It is important to pay close attention to the statement of retained earnings because of how it can affect the business. Once you have reached the stage where you want to sell your business for example, the amount of shareholders equity available in the business can act as the foundation for how much you decide to ask for, or how much they are willing to pay. Also when seeking investment in order to grow, the amount of equity it has will determine whether the money is ultimately given to you or not.

One of the reasons for this is because it can act as a barometer for the amount of money available to pay down any debts the company has or to reinvest into the business. The calculation for this would look something like:-

Initial Retained earnings [+/-] net income – dividends = retained earnings

The net income figure displayed on the retained earnings statement is brought in from the income statement. Similarly, the ending balance recorded on the sheet is brought in from the statement of shareholders equity section on the balance sheet.

We now begin to get an idea of how the different sections of the financial statement link. In the final instalment of the financial statement series, I will provide details on what I have discovered with regards to how all of the financial statements link together.

In the meantime, for further reading, I recommend you check out this highly comprehensive document on reading financial statements.

If you enjoyed this post, why not give it a Facebook like and write a comment!

Unfair Advantage - Robert Kiyosaki [Review] Pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 14:45:00 +0000

This is the full review of Unfair advantage. When I began reading this book I felt that is was slightly slow on the jump off, with many ideas repeated from his previous works and so I didn’t believe that I was going to get much out of it as a result. Ideas such as your home [residence] not being an asset are ideals that Kiyosaki fans are all familiar with as

well as the idea of saving money in a traditional bank being old and obsolete etc. As the book continues however, it becomes a lot more meaty in terms of giving information about various types of investments and how they work e.g. [stocks and how to reduce risk by increasing control]

What is new about the style of the book is the fact that Robert calls upon the experience of his advisors and uses their expertise and own words to answer certain questions which involve various areas of finance such as taxes and stocks, for example. These questions appear to be the answers to those that he has been asked most frequently. After he has provided a short answer, he provides greater detail to elaborate.

The structure of the book covers five main areas and why he believes that increasing your knowledge in these subjects gives you an ‘unfair advantage’ against the competition. They are Knowledge, Taxes, Debt, Risk and Compensation. Some of the key lessons which may have been mentioned briefly in his works were emphasized with greater force in this book; ideas such as the fact that holding commodities such as gold and silver simply because they appear to be going up in value is like investing in a ticking timebomb. It may be correct that this is happening in the market, but education is needed in order to know when to invest and also when to get out.

So how does Robert recommend you get rich; by enjoying the finer things of life as a result of investing your money in the right column. He also stresses the importance of increasing your education by doing things such as reading books and attending seminars. I also LOVE his information on how learning compounds in chapter 5.

In closing, if you are a fan of Robert Kiyosaki’s previous work, the beginning of the book may not offer much in the way of new information, as you continue on however, some important lessons are touched upon and stressed as mandatory things you can do to increase you wealth. The new style is also quite refreshing and a break away from his old style. Whilst I don’t think this work is as important as ‘Increase Your Financial IQ’ or ‘Cashflow Quadrant’ it is still a very good book that gives you a few things to think about, and ideas and information are definitely the spice of life. Pick up your copy here.

Richard Branson On Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:54:00 +0000

Its video time again. This week whilst surfing around on youtube I came across this video from the businessman we all know and whom I respect very highly not only for his accomplishments but for his dedication in giving back, Sir Richard Branson. In this interview he talks mainly on leadership and I thought he mentioned a few key ideas that we could take away. Don’t forget to leave your opinions on this video below!

5 Movies On Business That Every Entrepreneur Must Watch

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:30:00 +0000

For those of you searching for brilliant movies on business that reflect the world of money and entrepreneurship, look no further than this list of 5 to whet your appetite

1 – Wall Street [Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Darryl Hannah]

Directed by Oliver Stone, this movie classic contains everything that makes for an exciting story about the inner workings of Wall Street. Bud Fox, a struggling stockbroker manages to secure a wealthy investor ‘Gekko’ as his client and is attracted to his wealth and success. As he is schooled in the high speed ways of the business world, his own success skyrockets. Before he knows it however, he is in too deep, in a bind with his morals and his initial desire for success, realizing that it may be more than he had bargained for.

2 – Boiler Room [Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long]

Seth Davis, successfully running a casino from his house, albeit illegally, is driven by the desire for more and decides to join the firm that appears to be making all of their employees fabulously wealthy. As he learns the art of closing deals he is sooon a rising a star. The dream is to come to a disappointing end for him however, when he realizes the true reason why all of these employees are becoming rich beyond their wildest dreams. This is another brilliant film when dealing with issues of money and sales. A great watch!

3 – Jerry Maguire [Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger]

Jerry Maguire is the story of a sports agent who, shaken by his morals, expresses them and is subsequently fired. This only strengthens his determination as he decides to go it alone and build his own company with only one client sticking with him. On the business side, this is an excellent story of persistence, determination and self belief.

4 – Social Network [Jesse Einberg, Justin Timberlake, Andrew Garfield]

This film is just a seriously excellent story about the site we all know, Facebook and how it became one of the most successful businesses of recent times. It follows the story of, now billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg, tracking his rapid ascent from college nerd to hugely successful business owner, along with some of the troubles he faced along the way. For those seeking inspiration, this one will have you finishing the film itching to get back to work on your business.

5 – Glengarry Glen Ross [Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Jack Lemmon, James Foley]

This is where the famous ‘ABC ‘ [Always Be Closing] idea was coined. This movie follows a group of salesman all aiming to hit their quota of sales or face the chop. What you are treated to is a wonderful cast who deliver a high intensity of desire, ambition and tension. This is excellent for those who need some ideas on selling and honing their skills. As we all know, selling is essential for business and even investing in terms of selling yourself to others.

There it is, pick up all the 5 movies on business mentioned in this list above and take some notes. This is truly some thought provoking inspirational stuff!

I would love to hear what you guys think, what other films have you watched that have been really good, leave a comment below!

If you liked this post, why not bookmark it at over at delicious?

Real Estate Riches - Dolf De Roos [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:10:00 +0000

For those wanting a simple to read, fun and insightful book on property/real estate, look no further than Real Estate Riches by Dolf De Roos. This book contains everything that you could possibly need to start investing in the ultimate income vehicle. The book makes a powerful case for investing in property and explains why the sheer leverage that you can get by getting banks to put up a huge percentage of the money makes it better than any other investment you can think of, and I personally agree.

All the main questions you would ask if you wanted to start is covered; questions such as, ‘How do I analyse whether it’s a good property’, ‘how many properties would I need to look at’, ‘how do I find the money’, ‘how do I write the adverts’ etc

Real Estate Riches is written in a very conversational tone which makes it enjoyable to go through. The book deals with questions that most people will no doubt worry about such as having to fix toilets or blocked drains and explains why that shouldn’t be a concern at all.

Perhaps the most beneficial thing written in this book is the information that shows you how to calculate yields, cash on cash and internal rates of return. All of these things give you a greater insight into analyzing deals. Finally, a primer is given on the fact that there are so many tax advantages not available in other vehicles and he explains why getting into debt is the best thing you can do to get rich!

Dolf De Roos does an excellent job of making you feel inspired to take action and achieve your goals and again, as a fundamental, would definitely be something I would recommend. Pick up your copy today.

Balance Sheets Made Simple

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Young) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:22:00 +0000

This is part 3 of the financial statement series. The individual parts are:

Basics Of The Financial Statement

Reading The Cashflow Statement

Understanding The Balance Sheet

Knowing How The Statement Of Retained Earings Works

How do you make reading a balance sheet nice and simple to understand? That is what I’ll be doing here. The balance sheet is another part of the financial statement which is wonderful for a business owner or investor because it allows them to very quickly assess the financial health of the company, which helps them to make their buying or investment decision. It can be very confusing but it’s really quite simple once you understand it. Let’s get stuck in!

What is a balance sheet?

The balance sheet simply shows you how a company is doing in terms of its finances at a particular point in time. It shows things such as how much debt the business is currently in, how much money the business has, the value of what the business owns etc.

The formula for a balance sheet is the following:-

Assets = Liabilities + Shareholders Equity

What on earth does that mean and how does it work? Read on

ASSETS

The assets of a company are the things they own which have value.

Current Assets – Anything that can be converted into cash within 1 year or less. You can list things like cash in the bank, money that should come in from customers [Accounts receivable], Products and materials in a company’s possession [Inventory] etc

Fixed Assets – Anything of value that will typically take more than 1 year to convert to cash. These include things such as the building the business is in, the computer equipment, any vehicles the company has, any furniture etc!

Long term assets – These are things which are more difficult to convert to cash such as goodwill, patents, stocks/bonds etc

An Example Of A Balance Sheet

LIABILIITIES

The liabilities of a company refer to anything the company owes to others. Most of the time, these are separated into 2 parts also

Current liabilities – These are things that are expected to be paid within a year or less. They include salaries due to be paid to employees [payroll], money owed to others [accounts payable],

Long Term liabilities – These are things that are due to be paid after a year or more. An example would be a 5 year loan a business may have borrowed.

SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY

This is the amount of money the business owners/investors have put into the company plus OR minus the companies earnings or losses since during that period.

How Does A Balance Sheet Balance?

SO

Why and how should all this stuff balance?? All of the figures must go in the right place so that when you add the liabilities and shareholders equity, it represents the asset figure.

Say I bought a £1000 bicycle. I borrowed £500 for it and used £500 of my own money for it. I am the owner and the people I borrowed money from are the investors. It would look like this

Assets – £1000

Liabilities – £500 [I owe £500 to my investors]

Shareholders Equity – £500 [This is the amount I invested in the bicycle]

The reason why a balance sheet must balance is that any transaction that takes place should register in two different places. This ensures that things remain consistent. If I were to sell the bike the asset account would decrease by £100 but the accounts receivable side [money coming into the business] would increase by 100. This is the reason why if the accounts don’t appear to balance then it is because an error has been made somewhere on the balance sheet.

Remember that the shareholders equity is the amount of money owners/investors have put into the company plus the earnings or losses during that time. With that in mind, it becomes too easy to understand how it is supposed to balance.

Check out information about how to read the Income Statement and the Cashflow Statement