29 Tuesday Apr 2014
Posted in Basic Personal Finance
Reposted from The Root.com (Article By: Lynette Holloway)
After a short sabbatical, I am back to provide valuable financial information to help you and your family build wealth. Full lessons will resume on May 1st…just in time for my self-imposed Estate Planning Month. However, I just wanted to share a great article from you taken from The Room.com. Click the link below to enjoy!
Black CEO: Do More Than Save if You Want to Be Wealthy
11 Friday Apr 2014
Posted in Basic Personal Finance
As the dreaded April 15th tax deadline fast approaches, I am busy finishing up the tax season strong for my clients. In lieu of new posts until after tax d-day, I will repost great articles that I have come across on other sites.
Today’s article was taken from The Huffington Post. Click the link below to enjoy!
Last-Minute Tax Tips to Maximize Your Savings
10 Thursday Apr 2014
Posted in Basic Personal Finance
As the dreaded April 15th tax deadline fast approaches, I am busy finishing up the tax season strong for my clients. In lieu of new posts until after tax d-day, I will repost great articles that I have come across on other sites.
Today’s article was taken from The Huffington Post. Click the link below to enjoy!
Can Paying Your Taxes Late Affect Your Credit Score?
09 Wednesday Apr 2014
Posted in Basic Personal Finance
Since this is the week before the dreaded April 15th tax deadline, I will be busy finishing up the tax season strong for my clients. In lieu of new posts, this week, I will repost great articles that I have come across on other sites.
Today’s slide show was taken from Forbes.com. Click the link below to enjoy!
15 Ways To Invite An IRS Audit
08 Tuesday Apr 2014
Posted in Basic Personal Finance
Since this is the week before the dreaded April 15th tax deadline, I will be busy finishing up the tax season strong for my clients. In lieu of new posts, this week, I will repost great articles that I have come across on other sites.
Today’s article was taken from The Huffington Post. This is an excellent article! Click the link below to enjoy!
What You Should Know About 401(k) and IRA Changes in 2014
07 Monday Apr 2014
Posted in Basic Personal Finance
Since this is the week before the dreaded April 15th tax deadline, I will be busy finishing up the tax season strong for my clients. In lieu of new posts, this week, I will repost great articles that I have come across on other sites.
Today’s article was taken from The Huffington Post. This is an excellent article! Click the link below to enjoy!
40 Financial Things You Should Know by 40
06 Sunday Apr 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
Monday, March 31, 2014
Lesson #70 – Important Message: Deadline to enroll for coverage this year: March 31
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Lesson #71 – Building wealth – Step 1: Create/Develop Assets – Introducing Arbitrage: Learning to Manage Interest Rates
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Lesson #72 – Building wealth – Step 1: Create/Develop Assets – Mortgage Refinancing
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Lesson #73 – Building wealth – Step 1: Create/Develop Assets – The Buffett Way
Friday, April 4, 2014
Lesson #74 – Financial Freedom Friday for Kids
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Lesson #75 – Encouragement Saturday!
05 Saturday Apr 2014
Posted in Encouragement
Each Saturday, I will find ways to encourage you to reach your goals. Whether it is a video, an inspirational message, a poem, or whatever…I want to keep you focused on achieving your goals. Remember that you are the sun and you will provide the light for the people around you to believe. By embarking on this journey, you have already proven that you are a standout in the crowd, a leader. You have shown the desire and willingness to improve your life by implementing new strategies and lessons. I strongly believe that you will be the catalyst for a seismic shift in your family.
Today, our encouragement comes from Robert Frost and his indelible poem, The Road Not Taken. My adult life has not gone as planned. In fact, I can’t even explain how I ended up living in New York, nonetheless starting my business here. I am a planner and I thought that at the age of 40 my life would look much differently. I often see classmates and I thought that my life would look similar to their life at this juncture, but life has a way of unfolding mysteriously. It got me to thinking about a little poem that I learned in high school about two paths diverging. My life is a result of taking a different path.
About 12 years ago, I sat on the balcony with a friend and blurted out that I was moving. Just like that! I must have lost my mind because I had no idea where I would go or what I would do. However, I knew that prior turns that life had thrown my way meant that I was strong enough to make it through whatever winding paths that would meet me in the future. On that evening in 2002, I struck out on an unknown path, the road not taken by any of my friends. What would happen? Would I fail? Would I succeed? Would I regret it? So much uncertainty, but all that I could do was to put on my traveling shoes because I knew that it was time to hit the road. Today, I want you to release any fear that is preventing you from taken a different path. I cannot tell you how your adventure will turn out, but I can tell you from experience that it may be the best decision that you will ever make.
By Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Have a beautiful Saturday!
Action Step: Be encouraged and do not forget to Feed The Pig!
04 Friday Apr 2014
Posted in Kids' Money
(Photo Credit: ABC)
I couldn’t end the week without paying homage to a remarkable young man who just made his own bit of history. By now, everyone has heard of Mr. Kwasi Enin, a 17-year-old, first-generation American who applied and was accepted to all eight Ivy League Universities. This young man brought hope to the masses this week and he proved that in this country, the sky is the limit as long as you are willing to work hard. Now, I could use this entire blog post to just brag and celebrate Kwasi, but I want to use his story to fuel other young people in the effort to use his example to pave your way to financial freedom. You knew that I would bring it back to the dollars and cents, didn’t you? Well, that is exactly what we will do in today’s lesson.
Education:
“The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste” – UNCF
Everyone know the tagline for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). In an interview with the CBS Morning Show, Kwasi’s father spoke of his child as being a regular kid with no extraordinary ability. As a first-generation American, his parents came to this country to give their children a better opportunity, a chance to achieve the American dream. They realized that in America using your mind can be the key to a future of financial freedom. We want to teach this example to other kids.
Kwasi’s parents realized that education would be the key to unlock a fruitful future for their children. With that said, they set a high expectation that anything less than 95% was not good enough and their two kids bought into their philosophy. Academic achievement is the key.
So kids…take a page from Kwasi and write your own check to a successful future. Not only does Kwasi has his choice among the eight elite universities, his education will most likely be subsidized by the university that he chooses. That means a FREE education, which will save his parents money now and prevent him from taking on excessive student loans…that’s what I call a win-win situation.
So my advice to kids is to STUDY HARD and do not take your education for granted because it can be your ticket to the life that you want. Hey kid…it’s time to punch your ticket!
Resources:
| Term | Definition |
| Ivy League | A group of long-established colleges and universities in the eastern US having high academic and social prestige. It includes Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania. |
Action Step: Watch Kwasi and be inspired!
03 Thursday Apr 2014
Posted in Basic Personal Finance
Since I started this blog, my senses have been heightened to find any information to help the normal guy on main street succeed by teaching financial principles. It is very gratifying to be in such a receptive head space that I find inspiration from the unlikeliest of sources. Last night, I found inspiration on CNBC’s American Greed, a show that I have been watching faithfully for years. It is like soft porn to a seasoned CPA like me. Each episode tells the story of unwitting investors losing their hard-earned money to scoundrels and crooks. Last night was no exception. I watched in angst as several elderly people gave away their life savings to invest in a pipe dream. This lesson is to teach you how to spot an unscrupulous investment opportunity based on advice from the most famous investor of all time, Mr. Warren Buffett.
Education:
The Buffett Philosophy
I love Warren Buffett! There, I said it! No really…I love this down-to-earth, investing genius who teaches by living. In Lesson #26, I assigned a video of him speaking about his investment philosophy and how he makes money. Since American Greed shows no signs of airing its last episode, you would be wise to listen to sound advice for the legend himself.
Stay within your circle of confidence. “ – Warren Buffett
Resources:
Important term!s from this lesson:
| Term | Definition |
| Investment Philosopy | A set of guiding principles that inform and shape an individual’s investment decision-making process. |
Education and Action 