A lot of people think mass hysteria is images on the News of milling crowds, swarming like ants, looking mad and crazy and doing bizarre things.
They never find themselves in the middle of a huge crowd and so they think they are safe from the kind of irrational behaviour that crowds are famous for. People in crowds seem to revert to some kind of primitive behaviour.
When you think of crowd behaviour, you tend to think of Germans going crazy at Hitler’s rallies, and the insanity that followed. You thinks of riots and anarchy. Rock concerts with girls fainting and trying to get onto the stage.
You do not think that, sitting at home with your family watching TV, then driving to work and going about the normal daily routines in your life, you are part of any mass hysteria.
Okay, so you may not be throwing rocks or screaming hysterically. But chances are, you are acting just as irrationally as if you were in a crowd. This is because you ARE in a crowd.
If you are watching News channels along with millions of others, you’re in a crowd.
If you’re exposed to any mass media that means you’re part of a mass and prone to acting accordingly.
If you’re using “free” financial planning from the blue chip life insurance companies to plan for your future the way 99% of people are; if you’re investing in property the way 99% of people do; or running a business the way 99% of people do; then you’re showing crowd behaviour.
And the crowd is not successful.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Woman and Wealth Creation
Many people who are still in the conventional work system, employed by companies, now see their careers as important ways to express their individuality and to make their mark on the world.
This is another attitude towards work that has been nurtured by employers and their industrial psychologists.
Of course, many other people work simply because they have to ... though by following wealth creation principles, more and more of them are planning to become independent of a job, with all the uncertainty that goes with it.
Woman and the marketplace.
Interestingly enough, the rise of women in the marketplace has had a big effect too.
Fewer workers believe that hard work pays off now, for example, or that hard work is really a virtue.
One of the main differences is that women are less accepting of long hours as a necessary aspect of work, because women still run the home and do most of the work of bringing up children.
They know that life’s most important work happens outside official working hours.
So they don’t “buy” the values that a predominantly male workforce did.
Women make up about half of the workforce now. So their requirements are starting to have an effect.
A recent study showed that many women would rather have more time off than more money, so they can do those jobs that really matter, like keeping the family healthy, happy and together.
Strangely enough, not many women sign up for my courses.
Yet, with their deeper understanding of the importance of real wealth versus money, and the greater incentives for them to become financially independent so they can spend more time with their children, I’d say they have even more to gain than men.
Perhaps at the moment they are just too busy to be able to think.
Some of them describe each day of their lives as a race that they have to run, without a break.
The question then – What can I do to help woman become Wealth Creators?
Your answers will be appreciated.
This is another attitude towards work that has been nurtured by employers and their industrial psychologists.
Of course, many other people work simply because they have to ... though by following wealth creation principles, more and more of them are planning to become independent of a job, with all the uncertainty that goes with it.
Woman and the marketplace.
Interestingly enough, the rise of women in the marketplace has had a big effect too.
Fewer workers believe that hard work pays off now, for example, or that hard work is really a virtue.
One of the main differences is that women are less accepting of long hours as a necessary aspect of work, because women still run the home and do most of the work of bringing up children.
They know that life’s most important work happens outside official working hours.
So they don’t “buy” the values that a predominantly male workforce did.
Women make up about half of the workforce now. So their requirements are starting to have an effect.
A recent study showed that many women would rather have more time off than more money, so they can do those jobs that really matter, like keeping the family healthy, happy and together.
Strangely enough, not many women sign up for my courses.
Yet, with their deeper understanding of the importance of real wealth versus money, and the greater incentives for them to become financially independent so they can spend more time with their children, I’d say they have even more to gain than men.
Perhaps at the moment they are just too busy to be able to think.
Some of them describe each day of their lives as a race that they have to run, without a break.
The question then – What can I do to help woman become Wealth Creators?
Your answers will be appreciated.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
What is an investor?
An investor who cannot repeat his or her success is not a true investor in the wealth creation sense of the word.
The way I see it, is consistently successful investments do not happen by accident. So anyone who has made some successful investments through luck is not an investor in the wealth creation sense of the word. Why not? Because a Wealth Creator must be able to take his or her system and apply it over and over again successfully.
This rules out people who depend on luck because at some point, their luck will turn. Sometimes they do not even know that they are relying on luck and are baffled when things do not work out as they did before. But confusion is good! I see confusion as a call to dig deeper and understand. If you have had this experience, my recommendation is that you don’t give up – carry on finding out why things went the way they did, and search for systems that protect you next time.
As you can see, I place great store on systems. Proven systems (like Property Pro, the Formula for Riches™, and Retire Quickly) are the reason why I say anyone can create wealth, by finding a system that works, and then applying it without breaking the rules.
In this way it can be seen that consistent success (wealth creation) is the result of an investor’s timely, organized and faithful application of specific strategies, techniques, attitudes and formulae pertaining to the specific investment arena.
I invest in three types of investments: myself, business and property.
My first and most important investment: myself
Over the last twenty five years I have invested more in myself than in any of the other classes of investment. The reason is simply that no other class of investment can outperform this type of investment.
There is really a lot to this thought and I suggest you reread this last paragraph. And then I recommend that you approach investing in yourself with the same passion that you put into your other plans and businesses.
Also note that investing in yourself means not just paying for a course that can accelerate your progress; it means also putting in the homework afterwards so that the theory is transformed into practical, applicable knowledge. In this way you make your new knowledge true knowledge – because you can apply it.
You haven’t really made it yours until then.
This approach has helped me get so much more out of the courses I have attended than most people ever do.
The way I see it, is consistently successful investments do not happen by accident. So anyone who has made some successful investments through luck is not an investor in the wealth creation sense of the word. Why not? Because a Wealth Creator must be able to take his or her system and apply it over and over again successfully.
This rules out people who depend on luck because at some point, their luck will turn. Sometimes they do not even know that they are relying on luck and are baffled when things do not work out as they did before. But confusion is good! I see confusion as a call to dig deeper and understand. If you have had this experience, my recommendation is that you don’t give up – carry on finding out why things went the way they did, and search for systems that protect you next time.
As you can see, I place great store on systems. Proven systems (like Property Pro, the Formula for Riches™, and Retire Quickly) are the reason why I say anyone can create wealth, by finding a system that works, and then applying it without breaking the rules.
In this way it can be seen that consistent success (wealth creation) is the result of an investor’s timely, organized and faithful application of specific strategies, techniques, attitudes and formulae pertaining to the specific investment arena.
I invest in three types of investments: myself, business and property.
My first and most important investment: myself
Over the last twenty five years I have invested more in myself than in any of the other classes of investment. The reason is simply that no other class of investment can outperform this type of investment.
There is really a lot to this thought and I suggest you reread this last paragraph. And then I recommend that you approach investing in yourself with the same passion that you put into your other plans and businesses.
Also note that investing in yourself means not just paying for a course that can accelerate your progress; it means also putting in the homework afterwards so that the theory is transformed into practical, applicable knowledge. In this way you make your new knowledge true knowledge – because you can apply it.
You haven’t really made it yours until then.
This approach has helped me get so much more out of the courses I have attended than most people ever do.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Capital growth? Or income? Which is the winner when it comes to property investments?
Of the two ways to make money in property investing, i.e. capital growth (your property increases in value) and income (positive cash flow, when your investment income is higher than your expenses) – which is the best?
In my opinion, both are valuable and can occur independently of each other.
You can have a positive income return and no or even negative capital appreciation, or you can have no capital appreciation and no positive income either. You can have a negative income return with positive capital appreciation, or capital appreciation and positive income too!
So here are the possibilities …
income + capital -
income - capital -
income - capital +
income + capital +
Let’s look at + capital appreciation and - income
You can go for capital appreciation without positive income returns – in this situation you are using what we call negative gearing, which means you’re prepared to accept less income than your expenses, and make up the difference out of your pocket.
Why would you do this?
You’d do this if you had the expectation of the market continuing to rise so that you could sell and recoup your losses as well as make some profit; or alternatively If you expected rentals to increase and gradually overtake your monthly bond amount and other costs.
This has been the situation for most investors (but not most Wealth
Creators!) for a few years since capital growth shot up, beginning in 2002. But it’s risky – you are assuming two big things:
Risk x 2
1. you’re assuming your capital growth will be so quick and so big that it will more than cover your out of pocket expenses; and
2. you will be able to afford to subsidize this investment, even if interest rates go up.
In my property workshops (now on DVD) I teach my students not to guess about the future but to do two sets of calculations using my unique Property Pro Program - one based on the average scenario, and the other based on the worst case scenario.
This is because, contrary to what is popularly believed, Wealth Creators do not take risks … they minimize risks to the point where they are so small they are no threat at all.
I’m concerned to see the way people talk about “investments” when sometimes, even by the developer’s own calculations, you will not get a positive cashflow in the first 12 or 13 years! Take care of yourself, don’t believe everything you hear, and most of all, do the calculations!
In my opinion, both are valuable and can occur independently of each other.
You can have a positive income return and no or even negative capital appreciation, or you can have no capital appreciation and no positive income either. You can have a negative income return with positive capital appreciation, or capital appreciation and positive income too!
So here are the possibilities …
income + capital -
income - capital -
income - capital +
income + capital +
Let’s look at + capital appreciation and - income
You can go for capital appreciation without positive income returns – in this situation you are using what we call negative gearing, which means you’re prepared to accept less income than your expenses, and make up the difference out of your pocket.
Why would you do this?
You’d do this if you had the expectation of the market continuing to rise so that you could sell and recoup your losses as well as make some profit; or alternatively If you expected rentals to increase and gradually overtake your monthly bond amount and other costs.
This has been the situation for most investors (but not most Wealth
Creators!) for a few years since capital growth shot up, beginning in 2002. But it’s risky – you are assuming two big things:
Risk x 2
1. you’re assuming your capital growth will be so quick and so big that it will more than cover your out of pocket expenses; and
2. you will be able to afford to subsidize this investment, even if interest rates go up.
In my property workshops (now on DVD) I teach my students not to guess about the future but to do two sets of calculations using my unique Property Pro Program - one based on the average scenario, and the other based on the worst case scenario.
This is because, contrary to what is popularly believed, Wealth Creators do not take risks … they minimize risks to the point where they are so small they are no threat at all.
I’m concerned to see the way people talk about “investments” when sometimes, even by the developer’s own calculations, you will not get a positive cashflow in the first 12 or 13 years! Take care of yourself, don’t believe everything you hear, and most of all, do the calculations!
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