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How To Evaluate Investment Opportunities

Posted in: CONTROL, Financial Planning, Investments, Prosperity Economics, THINK|Tags: , , , , , , |By: Randy Whittle|No Comments

Invest in this, buy that stock, save your money here.

No matter where we turn, investment companies and financial institutions are trying to get our money. But instead of having your best interests in mind, they are there for one purpose and one purpose only – to make more money (using YOUR money). So the next time you see a pop-up ad on the Internet or a commercial on YouTube, ask yourself these questions about the opportunity:

  1. Who is the one at risk here?  Am I guaranteed not to lose money?
  2. Does the opportunity provide guarantees of future payment, rates of return and benefits?
  3. Does the investment offer me liquidity, use and control when I need it?
  4. Is the investment protected from my creditors or from a lawsuit?
  5. Is this opportunity growing tax-deferred (or tax-free)?
  6. When the investment is paid out, will it be distributed to me or my heirs tax-free?
  7. Are my payments into this investment tax deductible?
  8. If I become disabled, will someone else pay into the investment for me?

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, then the investment opportunity is golden. Do not pass it up.  Do it!

However, if you answered “no” to more than one or two of these questions, think again. Go directly to jail, do not pass go, and do not collect $200. Why? Because this opportunity has too many risks with too few rewards! There is a lot more to consider.

There is another way though. If you’d like to learn more, I’m happy to explain other options to you or to explain what opportunities I’ve run across that really are in your own best interest, not someone else’s. Just give me a call or send me an email. I’ll give you the honest truth, verification included. That’s just how I roll!

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Why Your Traditional Investments Really Aren’t

Posted in: Featured, Financial Planning, Prosperity Economics, Wealth Transfers|Tags: , , , , , , |By: Randy Whittle|No Comments

Do you feel like you are working hard to earn money for your future, only to have to pay it out in the form of taxes, investment fees and other commissions, fees and penalties? We call these “transfers of wealth,” and they are very common but are often unnecessary.

For example, one of the key principles of  economics is that, due to inflation, our money is never worth more now than it is today. That means that when you overpay your tax withholdings to the government in your paycheck, the government has the use of your money until April 15 when you file your tax return—a time frame as much as a year or longer. Receiving a tax refund may seem like a bonus or a savings account of sorts, but in actuality, when the government returns your money a year later, it is not paying you any interest for the privilege of keeping your money and, even worse, your money is actually worth less when you receive that check a year later.

Think of it this way:  You buy a sweater at the mall for $30, pay with a $100 bill, and the clerk tells you they will hold on to your $70 in change and send it to you next April. Would you accept waiting that long to get your change back? Certainly not! Yet that’s exactly what most Americans are doing with their tax withholdings—and even treat the refund like some kind of bonus! A better way is to reduce your tax deductions before they come out of your paycheck.

Everyday we’re faced with transfers of wealth, not only giving our money away to other people or institutions, but losing all control of it in the process. Why would we want to lose control of our money after working so hard to earn it and losing our ability to profit from it once it is transferred away?

Fortunately, there is a better way. Instead of losing control of our money, we can minimize wealth transfers, keeping our money for our own use rather than someone else’s. To get started, we want to recognize where those transfers exist and how they ultimately cost us more money, rather than earning it. Here is a list of common transfers of wealth:

  • Taxes — (“We’re here from the gov’t, and we’re here to help you!”)
  • Financial Planning — (The usual methods that incur Fees, Losses, etc.)
  • Disability — (You were healthy as a horse, then suddenly…)
  • Retirement Plans and Funds — (locked-out from use, higher taxes in the future?!)
  • Tax Refunds — (We just gave a free loan to the government!)
  • Credit Cards — (The banks’ most profitable product.)
  • Buying a Home — (the classic 15 vs 30 yr mortgage choice—longer is better!)
  • Life Insurance — (it may look cheaper…but is it really?)
  • Car Purchases — (Every 5 yrs, your entire life—that cost $2M. Recover that!)
  • Investments — (Oops…you didn’t expect to lose that money now, did you?)

By studying each of these transfers, we can learn how they are affecting us and our wealth. The truth is, even though these transfers may seem basic, and even inevitable, each creates a financial loss for us. These transfers have been set up intentionally to make money for the institution, not for us as consumers, but there is a better way. We can challenge common financial practices andasking who is actually profiting from these transfers of wealth.

One of the most complex transfers of wealth to understand is investments. Typically, we look at investments as vehicles that should help us earn more money on our savings, retirement, etc. This is the traditional way of thinking. However, if you’ve ever looked at an investment statement, you’ve seen the fees and you understand that rates of return, which are based on the past and not the future, are not guaranteed. The new thinking – which we call Prosperity Economics – takes a different approach. This thinking helps you find ways to hang onto more of your money to ensure a better financial future for you and your family. Prosperity Economics recognizes that a real investment is something that should be making you money, regardless of the whims of the marketplace. Common “Financial Planning” practitioners misuse the term—to them, an “investment” becomes a gamble instead of a guarantee.

Here’s how it works. Prosperity Economics strives to reduce transfers of wealth so that your money can grow regardless of the marketplace and other outside factors. This is referred to as growth internal savings. We can show you how to put your money in investments that are internally beneficial to you to accomplish three critical goals:

1.    You regain the control of your money.
2.    Your money begins making money for YOU, not for someone else.
3.    You decrease the risk of your investments.

This may seem impossible, but it is entirely doable. By questioning traditional financial and investment wisdom, you can regain control of your future and stop unnecessary transfers of wealth. Through Prosperity Economics, we can show you how you can minimize your transfers of money, and see your wealth grow as a result.  We give you the confidence of knowing that what you want to happen, will happen, not matter what  external factors may come into play.

Want to learn more? Contact us today to stop the unnecessary outflow of cash. We can show you how.


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The Path to Financial Prosperity Nobody’s Talking About

Posted in: Featured, Financial Planning, Investments, Prosperity Economics|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |By: Randy Whittle|2 Comments

Let’s face it—we’re dealing with the biggest state of economic turmoil that this nation has ever seen since The Great Depression.  The good news? Surveys show that people are reducing their debt and saving more.  Still, people aren’t changing the way they deal with their money. We’re still basing our future on rolling the dice, even though we are uncertain about where that future lies in regards to our economic prosperity. It’s time we explored other options and updated our view on how to increase wealth and prosperity, and how do to that in an accelerated way.

Believe it or not, there’s more that you can do with your money than just relying on your standard 401K, IRA or Mutual Fund, hoping that by the time you’ve reached retirement there’s enough money there to last you the rest of your years. But is that how you want to do this? Just throw some money at a volatile market, then cross your fingers and hope it all works out? Think of it like this—would you ever jump out of an airplane before knowing how to properly utilize that parachute and just hope that it opens at the right time to avoid speeding down to a certain death? Of course not! This is how we have to view our financial futures. It’s time to stop waiting for the government to bail us out, get educated, and make a change. That’s what Prosperity Economics is all about.

There are an immeasurable amount of risks and questions that many of us (and the conventional financial planners that advise us) fail to realize and ask when considering our financial future.

  • How will things like inflation and a changing demographic population affect my investments?
  • As Social Security gets paid out to more and more people, how do I know that there will be enough for me?
  • What happens in the event of a stock market crash? How long am I willing to wait to recover from such a drop, all while risking another drop?
  • As life expectancy continues to increase, will we have the money to pay for those extra years tacked on to our lives?
  • What happens in the event of death or disability?
  • How will increased taxes or changing tax laws affect my current—or future—financial plans?

Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t be!

Prosperity Economics looks to not only answer these questions, but to plan for them, winning the war against financial crisis by doing something different with your money and taking action. There’s no better time than now to become more financially aware, thinking about all possible scenarios to plan our future and actually enjoy it!

So how’s it done?

The first and simplest step to economic prosperity is educating yourself. Without an all-encompassing knowledge, it’s nearly impossible to do the proper planning in order to be confident in your financial security. This is achieved by following the Principles of Prosperity; 7 steps, outlined below, that guide you to wealth and prosperity.

  1. Own a Prosperity Mindset

    2. Put yourself in the position to solve the problems of your current financial plans, and have the faith and open mind to make a change and do something different.

  2. See It

    3. It’s important to look at every single financial decision that we make and assess whether they’re working for us or against us, and how we can make them work together to our greatest benefit.

  3. Measure

    4. With every financial decision comes cost and benefit. The way to come out on top is to minimize the cost while maximizing the benefit.

  4. Flow

    5. It’s not all about net worth. Get your cash flowing and your net worth will follow as a result.

  5. Control

    6. Ultimately, investing in a 401K or IRA causes us to relinquish our money to someone else, losing control as a result. It’s important to remain in control of your money not only so you can actually use it if you need it, but to seize opportunity when it presents itself!

  6. Move

    7. Money is meant to move not to, but through assets, thus accelerating the rate of wealth and prosperity.

  7. Multiply

Make one dollar do more than just one job. Instead, make that one dollar do the work of many dollars! It may seem paradoxical, but it really is possible for one dollar to be more than just one dollar.

Following these steps to economic prosperity will allow you to create the right income and savings plan that meets all of your needs. It’s all about  macroeconomic thinking, rather than microeconomic.

We work hard for our money- it’s time we made our money work hard for us!

 

To your prosperity!

Randy Signature

Randy Photo Randy Whittle
Clarity Wealth Solutions
Clarity@ClarityWealthSolutions.com
877-914-1637

 

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