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For over three hundred years, our personal needs have continued to show change. In the early days, our main needs were that of food, shelter, and clothing. To have these very basics was seen as a quality lifestyle.

As time went by and humans became more evolved, our needs also covered such things as insurance, healthcare, holidays and the list goes on. People sought to control their own lives and their destiny by creating their own future.

With this evolvement comes a need for changes in the mindset of corporations. What worked in the past may not work now as people continue to make their own rules and behaviours in the marketplace.

Take a look at Ebay, one of the fastest growing companies in the world. Ebay generates a method through which buyers and sellers can meet their own aims. This happens because they listen and support the ever changing needs of its users. In this way, they build relationships of trust and commitment within their community of users.

Ebay appears to have recognised the importance of relationships. Adversarial behaviour that is only designed for profit has no place in the modern marketplace. These tactics have been replaced by a support network where the behaviours of all concerned are in alignment with the payer. This alignment leads to more profits and wealth distribution.

So, knowing all of this, how do we create wealth in the modern century?

Firstly, it is vital to remain aware of the current trends in the stock market and in the economy in order to make timely investments. It is easy to find this information by reading the newspapers and other publications related to finance and investment strategies. The internet is also a wonderful source of this information. This information may help you to recognise a good investment opportunity that you may otherwise miss out on.

Of course, how you manage your current funds can also impact on your creation of wealth. Your spending habits may need changes made so that you are able to invest your current funds to earn dividends, thus making you wealthier over time.

In the current trend, assets are more evenly distributed. The consumer has become the source of value and our wealth and wellbeing has become of great importance to them. Their yearnings are what now drive the marketplace and therefore, the creation of wealth.

This can only be done when there is a bond of trust and commitment signifies a relationship between the vendor and the consumer and this leads to distributed assets. People and information are the important factors in achieving this relationship and leading us away from the old form of capitalism where the profits went to the managerial few to a new and fairer form of capitalism in the form of distributed assets.

Basically, if you want to create wealth and therefore, create your own future, you need to understand money and how it can work to earn money for you. You don’t need to have a fortune in order to make more money or to accumulate wealth.

What you do need is self discipline and consistency with your savings and your investments. This does not mean having to deny yourself of all of the creature comforts. Just adopt some simple measures to save money and become rich over a period of time. There are many get-rich-quick schemes around but sticking to the tried and true is more likely to get you the wealth you desire in the long term.

Learning how to use mind power, and learning specifically how to use mind power to attract wealth and abundance has been a major focus for most of my life. Along the way, I’ve learned that using mind power works most effectively when it is done with ease and grace. You don’t have to struggle to get exactly what you want in life. In fact, whenever you struggle, you push away that which you most desire.

Using mind power to change your life is more like a magic trick than anything else. You simply trick your mind into believing that you have what you want, and then your life miraculously changes to reflect your new belief. And just like a magic trick, it seems impossible until you learn the trick, and then you realize it is actually very simple.

Yes, I said very simple. The four steps which follow are designed for the complete beginner. You can start today, right now, to attract more prosperity in your life. Here are four ways to start immediately.

Four Simple Ways to Trick Your Mind Into Attracting Wealth

1. Show gratitude for any money which enters your life.

In order to attract money into your life, you must show gratitude for the money which is already in your life. Instead of bemoaning how little money you have, bask in gratitude at the many ways in which you are rich already. For example, if you earn over $2,182 per year you have more wealth than 85 per cent of the people on earth. And if you earn more than $25,400 a year you are in the top 10 per cent of wealthy people on this planet. When you focus on what you have rather than what you want, you realize that you ARE already rich. Give thanks often for all the riches in your life.

How to use this principle today:

The next time money enters your life, from any source whatsoever, instead of barely noticing what has happened and mentally beginning to spend it, use a few moments of time to give thanks to the universe for bringing this money into your life. Every time you receive a paycheck, every time someone gives you money for any reason, every time you find money, or get a great deal, or save money in some way, stop and appreciate the fact that money is flowing into your life. Doing this every time money comes to you will attract more and more money into your life.

2. Act as if you are rich.

This is the fundamental truth of all mind power work, that you must act as if what you want is already yours. So act as if you already have the money you wish to have. Ask yourself, if I was already rich, what would I do, how would I act, how would I feel, and then do, act, and feel in those ways.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you quit your job and move to the South Pacific like you would if you suddenly won the lottery, but you start small and with each success you build your way to greater and greater wealth. Eat a little bit better, dress a little bit nicer, go on slightly higher-end vacations, take a cab instead of the bus now and then, take that course you think you can’t afford, or do anything at all that you wish to do but believe you can’t because of a lack of money.

And when you do these things, bask in joy at your inner state of wealth, and know that this state will be reflected in your outer world. You’ll be amazed at how life provides for the things which bring you joy.

How to use this principle today:

The next time you are about to buy something, anything at all, purchase an item that is of slightly higher quality and price than you would usually buy. Even if something only costs a few dollars more than what is usual for you to spend, buy that item and thank the universe for providing for your new expanding lifestyle.

Even though it is a tiny step, you are beginning to teach your mind that you are expanding your limitations, and as you practice this you will begin to purchase more of the things you want in your life and the money will come to you to pay for them.

3. Be open to money-making opportunities.

One thing that all self-made millionaires agree on is that there are opportunities everywhere, if we are just open to seeing them. You can prove this for yourself by looking at your own life. There are probably many times in your past which you think back to and wonder what might have happened if you had taken an opportunity at just the right time. Whether it’s obvious things like career opportunities you let slip by, investment opportunities you didn’t belive in, or less obvious opportunities like an idea you once had that is now making someone else rich, or an industry you could have joined before it became saturated.

If you are like most people, when you think of your past opportunities, you believe that you once had a chance but that opportunity is now gone. The difference between rich and poor people is that rich people realize that new opportunities are always all around us, all the time. You simply need to keep a look out for the opportunities, keep and open mind, and be prepared to take advantage when the opportunity arrives.

I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage that luck occurs when opportunity meets preparation. Well, it couldn’t be more true. If you expect to find money-making opportunities in your life, and you prepare to take advantage of them when they come, you will be blessed with more incredible luck than you have ever experienced.

How to use this principle today:

Get out a little notebook and write down all the money-making ideas you can think of. It doesn’t matter how stupid or outrageous the idea might seem, write it down anyway.

This does two things. First, you realize that there are plenty of money-making opportunities around you right now, as there always have been and always will be. Secondly, this exercise will stimulate your mind to see money-making opportunities where it might have ignored them in the past, and will help you practice to see opportunities in the future.

If you keep adding ideas to your notebook consistently, one day you will see an incredibly opportunity on your list which is perfect for you. Then go for it!

4. Do something that makes you feel good.

This has got to be the easiest money-making advice I could ever give. Do something that makes you feel good. When you feel good, your energy rises, and when your energy rises, it attracts more of the things into your life which make you feel good.

Could life be any easier? Not really, but we are so caught up in the backwards thinking of everyone around us that we miss the obvious flow of energy. All you really need to attract more of the good things in your life, including more money, is to generate positive energy into the world. The states of happiness and joy literally rearrange the atoms of your world to bring you more happiness and joy. Of course, the reverse is true as well. So avoid fear, anger, depression, and spend your time feeling good about yourself and your life.

If this is difficult for you, just practice. Begin with some small thing which brings you happiness. It could be as simple as watching a sunset, renting your favorite movie of all time, taking someone you love out for dessert, or anything at all.

The secret is to do these things whole-heartedly, with all your attention focussed on the happiness vibrating from your soul out into the world. This simple act will bring you rich rewards.

How to use this principle today:

Don’t just read this article and think “that sounds good” and then go back to your life. Pick something to do which will bring you happiness and do it today. It doesn’t matter what it is or how small it seems. In fact, you don’t have to do anything at all. All that is important is feeling the positive emotions of happiness and joy emanating from your soul.

One simple way to generate positive emotion is to feel gratitude for something in your life. Just pick something in your life for which you are very grateful, and vibrate your gratitude towards it.

It’s Never Too Late If You Start Now

That should get you started. Four extremely simple actions you can take to begin to expand the prosperity you experience in your life. But don’t stop there. Never let fear or doubt enter your mind. There is nothing you need in order to succeed except the power of your own mind.

If you worry that you are not smart enough, not connected enough, not talented enough, not young enough or not old enough, you are simply creating limiting beliefs which will manifest in the outside world. All you really need to know is that the outside world is a reflection of the state of your inner mind. Know that you can make every day from this day forward a little more joyful and a little more abundant and then watch your life begin to change.

It’s an easy and gentle process, much like letting a plant grow. One day you will suddenly realize that all of your good thoughts have grown into the beautiful fruits of a happy and successful life.

It is not at all uncommon for those in retirement and near retirement to be concerned about the amount of cash distributions their investment portfolio is paying. Often, their objective is to be able to live off this cash and, thereby, keep their initial capital intact.

Typically, such investors understand they need to be concerned about the long term safety of their portfolio. But, at the same time they require some scope for capital growth to avoid the possibility that they will run out of money.

Therefore, they tend to go towards a balanced/growth type portfolio, allocating 40-50% to what they consider “defensive” assets and 50-60% to “growth” assets. Provided their asset allocation has been determined appropriately (see “The Asset Allocation Decision”), this sounds eminently sensible.

However, their focus on cash heavily influences the types of “defensive” and “growth” assets they choose. These choices may, in fact, totally undermine their asset allocation decision.

When selecting “defensive” assets, they are attracted to higher yielding alternatives than offered by government and high credit quality private issuers. They consider such investments as mortgage funds, hedge funds and various types of hybrids. These are designed to look like fixed interest investments but with varying doses of equity risk thrown in. More potential cash is the lure.

For their growth assets, they are attracted to high yielding, fully franked Australian shares – particularly, bank shares. And, at least until 2008, high yielding listed property trusts appeared to offer both high cash distributions and some prospect of capital growth.

Many financial planners, particularly those with links to stockbrokers, are only too happy to help their clients build these apparently “conservative”, cash rich portfolios.

More risk than meets the eye …

We believe that such portfolios are fundamentally flawed. They result in significantly more risk being taken than may be necessary or understood by their holders.

For a detailed view regarding of approach to investment, see “Foundations of Financial Economics”. However, in summary, the shortcomings include:

1. Maximisation of cash distributions is never likely to be an optimal objective for an investment portfolio. In most cases, the goal should be to maximise after-tax returns for the risk taken.

An investor should not care how returns come (i.e. as income or capital). In many cases, it may be preferable to sell assets (and even pay capital gains tax) to generate cash to live on, rather than hold inappropriate, high yielding assets;

2. We think the purpose of defensive assets is to reduce risk and portfolio volatility, rather than to enhance return. Defensive assets should be as safe as practically possible, implying very high credit quality and short maturity.

High yielding fixed interest products always mean higher risk, although it may not be apparent. They are most likely to let you down when markets are under stress. Just the time when you are relying on the defensive component of your portfolio to do its job;

3. If you need higher total returns, you should look for the growth component of your portfolio to provide them. Research has shown there is a structured way to take this “growth” risk (see “Risk and Return are related”).

A concentrated portfolio of bank shares and/or listed property trusts would not be expected to provide adequate return for the risk taken; and

4. A focus on cash returns is inconsistent with our view that you should diversify as broadly as possible to maximise after-tax returns for a given level of risk (see “Diversification is key”).

For example, it will bias share selection to high yielding, fully franked Australian bank shares in preference to, say, lower dividend paying resources stocks or international shares. The resulting bias adds to your portfolio risk (it is called concentration risk), but has no expected return.

Total return for risk is what counts …

An objective of maximising cash distributions from investments is an example of what we consider to be a breach of the decision making principle of “It’s about ends, not means” (see “Foundations of Decision Making”).

Usually, the appropriate aim is to ensure that there are sufficient financial returns to enable you to live the life you want. It really does not matter how the returns come i.e. as income (cash distributions) or capital growth.

What you need to be more concerned about is that the returns are adequate for the risk taken, the costs incurred and the taxes paid.