by: Donald Yates
Money is an Idea
“Money Talks,” they say, and certainly everyone talks about money. Money is so popular a subject because it represents a great many things to so many people – food, clothing, freedom, a home, care, etc.
Before money, people traded goods for someone else's goods or service. Now, people use money as a trading medium. It's simply a concept. As long as people have confidence in the system, then money will retain a certain value. You do one hours work in exchange for so much money. You in turn take that money and trade it for a product or service. A portion of that is called on to return back to the Government to do public works. The more you earn the more you return to expand the social infrastructure. And another plus is the more money you have the more people you can help; let me assure you, there is no virtue in being poor.
What is money anyway? Money in itself is worthless it's only worth is that which society places on it. People must believe and have faith in its purpose before they can accept it as tender. People are willing to trade good, services and labor for nothing more than an idea because the Government places a guarantee of value on it. Look what happened after the Civil War. Confederate money became worthless overnight. In short, money is to the individual exactly what he/she intends to do with it. Because money has no value in of itself, it is only as valuable as what it is exchanged for Money is only a representation of something else.
Why chase something that is worthless?
The fact is, money is the fuel that runs the world. Sound strong? Then why is there a need for a world bank? Why are third world countries in such despair? Why do people kill for money, and why do so many people risk everything just for the chance of having wealth? You don't have to look any further than the Internet as an example of how far people will go for money. Some of the most outlandish claims I have ever heard in my life are on the Internet. $30,000.00 in one week? Give me a break! Six figures in two months, maybe, if you have $50,000.00 to spend doing it. The reality is, if you are going to become wealthy, you have work for it. Dedicated hard work! No setting around on the beach, no playing on the yacht! No BS all work. Unless your rich Uncle leaves it to you or you hit the lottery, you have to work. I don't mean work at the local fast food place, I mean get down and devise a plan to make your time pay off big time. Wealth – for some it's only a dream and for others, it's a lifestyle.
There are no mysterious secrets or magical incantations for gaining wealth. There is no witchcraft or voodoo involved. In fact, it is quite the contrary. There is no evil in the gaining of wealth. Money is just a tool to be used at the discretion of its' holder. It's the love of money that gets people in trouble. When people put money first, they have made it their master.
Develop A “Life Plan”
Live the plan, stay the course and don't loose sight of your objective. Let's face it, how many years do you expect to be around, sixty, seventy eighty and beyond? Of course no one can rightfully say how long they will live but they can devise a plan to minimize risk and accentuate the productive years so they will take care of the nonproductive ones. The first half of life is caring for the business of making money, the second half the money takes care of you.
Let's say you go to work in some capacity at the age of twenty you can plan at what year you will leave the workplace and enter retirement. Retirement now days has a different meaning than a few years ago. Now it's called “active retirement” because retirees are found more and more on the golf course, traveling and perusing the arts than ever before. A retirement has become a new life style for the thousands who took the time to plan their life early on.
Keeping active retirement in mind, and assuming you want to be active, how much assists must you have and at what age to sustain you? You will have gotten used to a certain lifestyle at retirement, will you be able to maintain it? Say you set your retirement at fifty that give you thirty years to gather enough assets to keep you in comfort for to another thirty plus years. I have good friends in their late eighty's and a couple who are well into their nineties. If you're twenty now chances are with the advancements in medicines, you will live to be one hundred or beyond. So, you may have to accumulate enough to last for fifty years. Half of life working to pay for the other half, seems reasonable, and why not? Now days there are all kinds of financial planners who will be glad to assist you in your endeavor.
Another consideration is, what happens if you fall ill and require care or have large medical bills? Medical bills have been known to wipe out complete life assists leaving the ill person at the mercy of the state or relatives. How can you protect yourself against such a disaster? There are several ways, all starting at your earliest age possible. First is insurance. In today's world, medical insurance is a must. Life insurance is also recommended for any one who has a family. Take my word for it, you will be treated according to who you are and the value of your insurance policy. Sound harsh, it is, but it is the truth. In the United States the better your insurance the better is your chance of surviving a catastrophic illness. Your life depends on your ability to pay – it's that simple. The earlier you are able to purchase insurance the less it will cost.
Ok, Ok so much for piddling around, How do you get started? First things first and the first thing you have to do is evaluate where you are now. Most people have no idea where they stand. They might know how much they are bringing in every week and how much the rent is, but they don't have a clue as to how to live life. They're lost, why, because everyone around them is lost. They go to work every day and work their rears off, and don't get anywhere. They come home and are faced with payments up to their ears. They try to keep up with the neighborers and friends but it takes more than they make. They don't realize their friends and neighborers are doing the same thing. They're caught in a never ending cycle of paying the man for a lifestyle built on false dreams and illusions. They get sick way to often from the stress, they drink to escape and their relationships crumble from lack of commutation. The plod on year after year,. dissatisfied, dejected and ridden with the guilt of failure. It's no wonder so many mental disorders are beginning to emerge in today society. We want freedom but we don't know how to go about getting it.
No matter what is going on in your life, you can't make a plan until you have established a starting point, and it's just as important to know where the ending point is also. By the way, it is the responsibility of every mature adult to assist the very young in a workable life plan. Make it a game, here is Go, and how many places do you pass before you hit the finish line? Moms, Dads, set your kids down and talk to them of the importance of planning. You can be the factor that gives them a well prepared and enjoyable life experience. Show them how to engage life and love it. A high priority for young people is to prepare for and obtain a higher education. The education process is simply a preclude into a career. A career may be working for someone else or working for your self, it depends on which will best suite your needs.
Working for someone else has its benefits. Once you are off the clock your time is yours and you leave your work at the office. The problem is, there are limitations on how much you can make; money wise. You have to find the highest bidder for your time and determine if it is enough to fill your needs. Then you have to take some money earned and make it earn money. How about happiness, will you be happy working for xyz company? Happiness and fulfillment are important for a good life experience, it effects your relationships and health.. How about relationships, will xyz company provide you with the needed time to satisfy your personal relationships? For many people this is an ideal solution. Work for the man, paycheck in hand. What is the big drawback with this way of thinking? There are no guarantees! XYZ company may belly up after you have been there for twenty years. Then what? What happens if the company executives run off with the bankroll and skip town? Then what? See the pattern, you have no control over the situation, and therefore you don't have control over your life.
How about setting your own conditions by taking control and mapping your own destiny? Sound like a better plan? Not so fast! We're talking about self-employment and how to find self in employment? You either become a one person operation or an employer responsible for others. How do you become self-employed? First planning, second preparation, third activation. There are a number of avenues you can take. There are franchises, business opportunities, inheritance and self creations.
Franchises are tried and proven packages. A franchiser provides all the business expertise needed (marketing and advertising plans, management guidance, financing assistance, site location, administrative support and training) to expedite the business. This is valuable business information that would otherwise not be available to businesses starting from scratch. A franchise could be either a product or service where the franchiser owns the right to the name or trademark and leases or licenses that right to a franchisee. Example, Mc Donald, The UPS Store, Chem-Dry and thousands of others. This type of business in usually confined to a geography area and subject to the franchiser's rules and regulations.
Licenses or granting rights to the distribution of a product of service. This type of franchise provides a full range of services, including site selection, training, product supply, marketing plans, and even assistance in obtaining financing. Distributes are give exclusive rights to sell a product as long as certain conditions are met. They must withhold the integrity of the products company but are not liable for any mishaps directly linked to the product. They must maintain certain sales levels and provide material safety data sheets to the customer. A distributorship may be selling cars, airplanes, boats, chemicals, food, etc.
The there is being a Representative, or what's commonly called Repping. This is where a person is given the rights to represent a particular product or service. Reps usually are confined to a area in which they make sales and training calls. Reps are independent contractors and are paid on a commission plus expenses bases.
Business opportunities are turn key package businesses that allow the entrepreneur freedom to be creative. There is little difference between a franchise and a business opportunity. The biggest difference is, the business person does not have to purchase all his/her products from one supplier. Also, the business opportunely offer cannot include a business plain or define a market area. It also cannot define work hours, dress or sales strategy. The offer usually will strongly suggest procedure but it cannot demand it.
These are only a few package type business that are available. Most come with a hefty price, running into millions of dollars. Some can be had for only a few thousand but the more known he branding is, the more expensive the business offer will be.
An inherited business is one you take over from some one else. You have to be careful here, you might inherit someone else's bad reputation. If you take over Tony's Dinner, make sure you know how to cook. You will have to know how to service people, order supplies, do bookkeeping, local laws and regulations as well as know your responsibilities toward employees and government.
The entrepreneur is a creator. They look for and find niches to fill. They are the carpet cleaners, painters, plumbers, contractors and thousands of other ventures. They are the risk takers that can carve a empire out of making snuff or ice cream. They are the thinkers and doers that bring excitement into our everyday lives. Look back in time and it was entrepreneurs like Rupert Murdoch, Warren Buffet John Rockefeller, These and many other entrepreneurs were the captains of industry that shaped the American landscape to bring us the lifestyle we enjoy today. How about the thousands of men and women who brought us little things like, TV, radio, automobiles, airplanes, ice cream, electricity in the home and most of all indoor plumbing. Now we don't have to poop in the woods. Some failed but saw their dreams live on; like the Hoover vacuum. DOS for the computer propelled Bill Gates into being the richest man in the world, but it was originally developed by someone else and sold to Bill Gates for almost nothing. But it was Gates and his cohorts who took the product and convinced IBM to use DOS as an operation system for their computer, and the rest is history.
There must be more to come as we tackle the nitty-gritty of becoming successful.
