Archive for July 9th, 2010

What is Your Financial Health?

Money, credit, and living…it seems that there are seasons in our lives where there is often more debt than income. This can create stress, anger, indecision, and sometimes poor decisions. If you find yourself in a situation where there is more debt than income, you may be headed for trouble. It is never too late to fix some of your challenges. However, time is NOT on your side. The more you do to attack the situation early on, the better for you in the long run. Take a look at the three stages of financial trouble, assess where you are and take ACTION NOW!

The checklist below will help you to take an unemotional look at where you are and where you are headed. Financial challenges are a major cause of stress, divorce, and heartache. Your situation, while unique to you, is not uncommon. Millions of Americans are one or two paychecks away from bankruptcy and the skyrocketing foreclosure rate is at its highest point since the great depression.

While these statistics might not shed any light on YOUR living needs for today, the following checklist and action steps might help to delay or even cure your financial woes. Remember, above all else, you cannot solve a permanent problem with a temporary solution. All financial struggles relate around three simple issues:

· Income (How much you earn or bring in)

· Expenses (What you spend and how you manage those expenditures)

· Credit (Your ability to borrow and REPAY your obligations)

INCOME
How much you earn is often viewed upon as a decision by an employer. You can ask for a raise, work more hours, but for most people, “the man” determines how much you earn, where you live, what kind of car you drive, and where you vacation (If at all). For many people, this is simply an accepted fact of life. For others with an entrepreneurial personality, they have more control over their income. If an entrepreneur wants to earn more money, they can do more work, roll out a new product, or otherwise try to affect the level of their income. They are called entrepreneurs because with this variable income stream comes risk. Employees normally don’t have the risk of wide swings of income, and with that security comes limitations on income. Sales professionals who work for companies also share the risk/reward curve of entrepreneurs and have a greater degree of control for their income. If you are an employee, you should continually ask yourself WHAT you can do to get a raise, promotion, or get more hours in to create more income for yourself. There are many books on this subject and it behooves most people to reflect and review their job and career at least on an annual basis. Taking control of your income can be frustrating, liberating, or downright exhilarating. The operative phrase is “taking control.” Without control, you will always be at the whim of the economy, the company or your boss.

EXPENSES
When it comes to expenses, studies have shown that most people do not have a formal or even an informal budget that they live by. Most Americans simply spend what they earn (or for many, they spend MORE than they earn!). The attached budget should be filled out by anyone who wants to get a handle on their expenses. By tracking ALL of your expenditures, you can find areas for savings. Many people use their budget skills as a hobby. Clipping coupons and shopping for bargains not only makes fiscal sense, but it can be fun, too! Use the budget process to understand your spending habits and take ACTION on what habits you can modify, replace, or cancel. Not knowing where you are is a fatal mistake most people make when trying to affect any change in their financial health. Just as it is impossible to plan a trip without a starting point, planning to create and stick to a budget is fruitless without an honest evaluation of where you are today.

CREDIT
The largest “double edged sword” on this list is your credit. For those people who have mastered their credit, they can live a bountiful life by paying off consumer debt and carefully employing asset-based debt. Knowing the difference and being judicious with both of these instruments can easily make or break a family fortune. Simply stated, consumer debt is any debt that used borrowed funds to purchase items that are expendable or depreciate in value. This includes food, rent, vacations, consumer goods, automobiles, utilities, etc. When a person borrows money for an asset that depreciates or disappears, depending on the rate they are being charged, end up paying 1.5 to 2.5 the value of the goods or services. Look at any financial statement on a car loan and you can easily see how that $20,000 vehicle cost you over $40,000 during the life of the loan. With items that are consumed, the price is infinitely higher. Cut back or eliminate all debt associated with consumables or any item that depreciates in value. From a pure mathematical point of view, it can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

PHASE I
“Financially I’m not feeling very well”
Symptoms

No savings Living paycheck to paycheck Using one credit card to pay off another one Credit scores have dropped recently Large unexpected expense arose

PHASE II
“Financially I’m very ill”
Symptoms

I’m late with a rent or mortgage payment more than 30 days I have recently had service (phone, utilities, other) turned off temporarily All my credit sources are tapped out (credit cards at maximum) Credit scores are so low, I cannot establish new credit lines Large lapses in income

PHASE III
“My finances are on life support”
Symptoms

Notice of default or behind on payments 3 months or longer Feelings of hopelessness Thoughts of drastic solutions (lottery, arson, etc.) Illogical denial of the situation

Treatment & Cures
Save some amount of money each month. Start with $10 and lock it away. Do this every month and develop a HABIT of saving some amount of money. While the amount may not affect your situation immediately, the habit can. Next year increase that amount by $10 more dollars and before you know it, you will have a savings account worth thousands of dollars.

When living paycheck to paycheck, people find the strategies of savings and budgeting extremely difficult. By developing the savings habit, you will be forced to give up $10 of expenditures. The choice of that sacrifice will be yours. It could be 2 packs of cigarettes, a lunch or taking a walk once a week instead of driving a car. The effect will be small, financially, but the habit of reducing your expenditures will become one of control. Your first few months may be painful, but eventually, you will embrace the habit and use it as a force to grow your financial intelligence. Earning a raise, maneuvering for a promotion or getting new training for a new position will also help to set you up for an increase in pay, of course. However, most Americans spend every increase they get, so be sure to develop the budget, start the savings plan, and manage the expenses before and during your journey to increasing your income.

Paying off credit card debt should be a crucial goal for everyone. When that debt is associated with consumables or depreciating assets, the objective should be to:

Restructure high-interest debt to low-interest debt Pay off that debt entirely Use a debit card OR develop the habit of paying off your cards EVERY month If you are unable to develop either habit in #3, you should lock away your cards and use them only for emergencies

Understanding and improving your credit scores takes time, patience and perseverance. Prompt payment is a sure way to keep your scores high and your ability to borrow healthy. If you think you will have to be late with any payments, the best time to notify the creditors is BEFORE you are late. Often times, creditors can defer payments for you. But, they almost never do this after the fact. Open communication and responsible, honest communication is the key to success.

Improving your scores can be done over time. Visit the following sites and get a FREE credit report from each of the three agencies; www.experian.com, www.transunion.com and www.equifax.com. Get help from your banker, accountant, or other trusted advisor to understand and interpret what is on there. The key to improving your scores is to get the bad information off of your report. Check for inaccuracies, old data, and wrong addresses. Identity theft is rampant nowadays and reviewing your history is important. You can dispute any bad or negative information to the bureaus. The fair credit reporting act states that a creditor must respond to your inquiry and prove the information is valid within 30 days. A clever trick often used by consumers is to dispute EVERY piece of bad information the day after Thanksgiving. Since the 30 day period between Thanksgiving and Christmas has many people taking time off, and the postal service often slows, many negative items on reports get deleted simply because the creditors can’t respond in a timely fashion.

When it comes to the psychology of financial trouble and foreclosure the devastation can be tremendous. A majority of divorces occur because of financial issues and the tension caused by these woes spill over into nearly all areas of life. Most experienced business owners will tell you that life is not about the ups and downs, but how you manage the frequency and pace of change. It is never a matter of “if” a challenge will show up…it will. All that matters is the attitude and plan you have in order to cope with those issues. Ask anyone who has recovered from cancer about financial stress and they’ll tell you, “I thought I had problems when I lost my house, but when I recovered from a major illness, my perspective changed and nothing else seemed as important anymore.” Indeed, money comes and goes. Fortunes are made, squandered, and created again. Your situation may be bad and it may get worse. The fact remains that as long as you have your health, you can ALWAYS recover financially. Over 70% of self-made millionaires in this country have been broke at least once in their life. Their ability to recover and THRIVE in the face of adversity is the ammunition they use to win the financial battles in their life. The book, “How to stop worrying and start living” by Dale Carnegie has been credited with changing and pacifying the anxiety of millions of people.

In summary, prevention is the best cure for any illness (financial or physical). Below are the steps you need to take to prevent, treat, and cure your financial illness forever.

Start a savings program TODAY. It doesn’t matter how much. Start with any amount and stick to it. Increase it each year and NEVER touch the account. Create a plan to increase your income. Train for a better job, become invaluable at work, work more hours, start a part-time business, and continually strive to earn more. You are worth more than you are paid by most employers-it is up to you to become difficult to replace. Budget your household. Use the household budgetizer to understand WHERE you are and where all that money goes. You cannot plan a trip to financial prosperity if you don’t know where you are today. Cut back on unnecessary expenses. Use the budgetizer as a game! Have fun saving money and use your financial goals of savings to help you in other areas of your life (health, environment, etc.) Be proactive in your communication. Don’t let bills slip by without contacting your creditors. It doesn’t guarantee they will be any more pleasant, but you’ll feel better knowing you were professional, responsible, and polite. Ask for help if you need it. Restructure bad debt. Transfer balances of high interest cards to low interest cards. Start and stick to a plan of reducing and eliminating all consumer debt forever. Monitor and improve your credit scores. Contact the bureaus and initiate a credit repair program right away. Read about success. Every month read a story of someone overcoming adversity. It will not only inspire you, but you may get an idea that you can use to make lemonades out of the lemons in your life!

Doug took a 22 year career as an investor, developer, author, speaker and radio personality to build his fortune and experience. He now writes part time and is developing the largest private island resort in the Western Caribbean.

Bali Travel Offers Adventure, Wonder And History

The world is chockfull of destinations that are all worthy of consideration when itâ??s time to make holiday plans. There are not many places, however, that can compare to a particular island in the Indonesian archipelago. Bali travel melds adventure, history and wonder into a single experience that is virtually certain to create memories to last a lifetime.

Located only a few hours away from Australia by plane, this unusual destination packs a great deal of fun into 5,632 square kilometers. Here holidaymakers will find weather that is perfect practically year round. With warm tropical temperatures ranging between 20 and 33 degrees Celsius no matter the time of year, visitors to Bali are often surprised to find sunny days dominate even in the thick of the rainy season.

When Bali travel is under consideration, potential holidaymakers will find these reasons tend to draw travellers from all over the world like moths to a flame:

* The outdoor splendour â?? Bali is famous for its breathtaking geography. The island is surrounded by warm turquoise waters that lap at white sandy beaches. From quiet lagoons just right for swimming and snorkeling to more â??activeâ? beaches that call to surfers and adventure sports lovers, the waters here are ideal for year round fun. Whilst the beaches are certainly a draw, they are not the only outdoor wonder that awaits those planning Bali travel. This island is also famous for its lush tropical forests, active volcanoes, tiered rice paddies and incredible lakes and waterfalls.
* The history â?? Bali has a history that dates back thousands of years. Evidence of its most early inhabitants can be found in a variety of sites all over the island. From the temples in the Mount Agung complex to the wonderment of the Tanah Lot, visitors here will learn much about the peoples and cultures that have touched Bali throughout the ages. With its strong ties to the Hindu religion, holidaymakers will discover that many of the islandâ??s most splendid outdoor attractions have also served as places connected deeply to religion through the ages.
* The culture â?? Balinese culture is known for its distinct arts, form of dance and cuisine. Those who plan Bali travel will find themselves arriving on a island that is known the world over for its welcoming hospitality and unique traditions.
* The adventures â?? Bali is one of the few places in the world where people can get up close and personal with gray monkeys, elephants and a variety of other tropical creatures all on a single vacation. If fauna doesnâ??t appeal, those on Bali tours will find that plenty of other adventures await. Bali tours can unlock adventures that are found nowhere else in the world. From Odyssey Submarine trips that take holidaymakers into the depths that surround the island to a trip to the 11th century Elephant Cave, there is no shortage of opportunities to do and see things that cannot be experienced anywhere else.

When an experience like nothing else is desired, Bali travel will deliver. Combining adventure, wonder and history, this legendary island offers holidaymakers an opportunity to explore paradise on earth.

Relax and enjoy the sunset in Santorini of Greece

Hot sunny days and the warm Aegean Sea entice thousands of holidaymakers to the Greek islands every year.  This area is the birthplace of Western civilization and almost everywhere you go there is evidence of the rich, and often violent, past.

Santorini, part of the Cyclades group of islands, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Greece. 

Home to an outpost of Minoans in ancient times, the island has been occupied by a variety of powers as civilisations rose and fell over time.  3,600 years ago a giant volcanic eruption, ten times as large as that at Krakatoa, radically transformed the geography of the island.  It created a huge lagoon, approximately 12 kilometres long by 7 kilometres wide, which is connected to the sea in two places.  The water in the centre of the lagoon is nearly 400 metres deep.  This depth, coupled with the shelter offered by the surrounding islands, made the lagoon an ideal harbour for everyone from ancient Phoenicians to modern holidaymakers on yachting holidays.

If you are planning a sailing holiday in the area I recommend a few days ashore on Santorini.  For one thing, watching the sunset from a boat can be magical, but watching it while relaxing with a drink, sitting in the cliff top terrace of a Santorini hotel, is an experience you will never forget.  Light shimmers and dances across the Aegean.  The sky turns oranges.  You gaze down 1,000 feet to the harbour where luxury yachts appear no bigger than toys.  The world seems at peace, and the stresses of modern living float away.

Recommendations from friends are always good, but if you are being the trailblazer then the Internet is packed with information to help you choose which Santorini luxury hotel is right for you.  From budget to luxurious, from homely to sophisticated, or from romantic honeymoon spot to family-friendly fun there are lots of Santorini luxury hotels geared to your taste.  Go on.  People have been visiting Santorini for thousands of years.  Try it for yourself to find out why.

Vision is More Important Than Know-how for Successful Goal Achievement

At the dawn of the new millennium, the then Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was faced with a dilemma. In less than two decades his country would exhaust its primary source of income – oil. He needed a solution and he needed it fast.

He decided to convert Dubai into the world’s number one luxury tourist destination and triple the inflow of tourists from 5 million per annum to a whopping 15 million. This was not a totally pie-in-the-sky idea. The Crown Prince had built the world famous and only 7-star hotel the Burj Al Arab as well as top class golf and race courses – all pretty remarkable especially considering that half a century earlier it had been a modest trading town built on a creek.

It helped that Dubai is graced with great weather virtually all year round and long stretches of soft sandy beaches adorn its coastline. The only problem was that the coastline was originally only 72km long – certainly not sufficient to cater for the huge influx of tourists that the Crown Prince envisioned.

But herein was the key to his vision. We are often encouraged to think big. Sheikh Mohammed doesn’t think big. He thinks in MEGA proportions. His plan was to create a paradise island off the coast of Dubai in the shape of a palm tree. This man-made island would increase the coastline by 56km.

Nothing of this size or shape had ever been done before and, to add to the challenge, so that the island blended in with its surroundings, he wanted the island to be constructed entirely of natural materials – sand and rock. Robert Berger, Project Manager from 2000-2004 said,

“When I first heard of this project I didn’t believe it could be done. It’s incredible.” He added, “If God wanted an island to be built in the shape of a palm tree he would have built one.”

I smiled when I heard that because if you believe that God or your equivalent thereof, exists in each and every one of us, maybe that exactly what God was doing.

A project of this scale needed the world’s best engineers. Some of these were to be found in Holland where Dutch engineers have increased Holland’s land mass through land reclamation by 35%.

Sheikh Mohammed stipulated that the palm island was to be made only of the buffeting waves, particularly those generated during the intense winter storms when winds could gush up 56km per h and waves could be as much as 2m high, the island needed to be protected by a breakwater. Also, while some scientists and politicians, for that matter, were still debating whether Global Warming actually was a true phenomenon, the researchers on this project were factoring into their equations the extent by which water levels would rise as a result of Global Warming. Nothing could be left to chance, once built the island needed to stay in place.

Fortuitously, the Arabian Gulf was the ideal location for this proposed structure. It is too shallow for the formation of the huge waves that could engulf and swallow the island. The researchers calculated that the breakwater would need to be at least 3m above the waves and about 12km long.

If you thought the stakes were already high, they were about to get even higher. The developers wanted work to start on The Palm Jumeriah before all the research had been completed. Although years of research and baseline studies had been conducted this was still a risky undertaking. There were so many variables to this project and unknown variables at that.

If the researchers were wrong the island could be literally swept away but the developers were working to an incredibly tight schedule. They had to create an island out of nothing, install its complete infrastructure (gas, electricity, water, roads, etc.) plus build luxury villas, shops and hotels all by 2006. Roger Berger said,

“This maybe is the only place in the world where something like this can be done. To have the vision and the courage to carry it through.”

Work on Phase 1 of the project started August 2001 and then something happened that shook the world to its foundations – 9/11.

This was one of those unknown parameters that no one could have prepared for. People did not want to travel period far less travel to the Middle East and suddenly the idea of building a luxury tourist destination in Dubai seemed almost preposterous. Dubai itself ground to a halt as fear and panic rippled through the world like the shock waves of an earthquake.

Amidst it all, one man in particular was calm and resolute. I guess logic dictated that confidence would eventually be restored and if confidence didn’t win the day, defiance would. Sheikh Mohammed wanted to be ready when that time came plus the developers had already invested millions of dollars into this project. The project would continue. It was a bold and wise move.

Another challenge came from the need to build the breakwater and the island simultaneously. If the breakwater was completed before the island it would cut off access to the site. On the other hand, if the island pushed ahead of the breakwater then it would be exposed to the elements.

Teamwork here was not just desirable, it was absolutely crucial. The breakwater team and the island team had to work together in total synchronicity and, given the scale and complexity of the project plus the daily changing parameters of this project to say that this was not an easy undertaking was an understatement.

And did I mention that nothing like this had ever been done before? The engineers were all of impeccable pedigree having worked on some of the world’s largest and most complex projects such as Hong Kong’s acclaimed Chek Lap Kok airport designed by British architect, Sir Norman Foster, but the palm island project eclipsed them all. To create The Palm Jumeirah state-of-the-art technology was needed.

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) or, to be more precise, Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) were used to measure whether the island with its 17 fronds was taking shape as it should. The world’s first privately-owned high resolution satellite, Ikonos, was used in this exercise. The satellite orbits the earth 14 times a day and is responsible for the great images which helped the engineers to ensure that the sand placement was measured to an accuracy of 1cm and help capture the imagination of people around the globe.

In fact, people were so excited about this project that its capacity doubled from 60 to 120 thousand. Despite all the challenges, The Palm Jumeirah has risen spectacularly out of the sea it is a triumph to modern engineering, visionary leadership, great team work and razor-sharp decision-making.

Some of you may be thinking, “The developers of this project had loads of money and so it was easy for them to conceptualise and create a project of this magnitude.” If you are, you’re be missing the point. You see anyone can think in MEGA terms, anyone can have MEGA dreams.

I was reading a story about John Maclean who was left paralysed after a road accident when he was just 22 years old – one minute an athletic young man and the next fighting for his life.

When he first started his rehabilitation he swam two strokes and was so exhausted he had to be hauled out of the therapy pool and taken back to his room. He was asleep before his head could hit the pillow. For John Maclean doing those two strokes was a huge achievement but nothing compared to the goal he set himself – to swim the English Channel.

This was something that had never been done before by a wheelchair athlete and it is an endurance feat that even relatively few able-bodied individuals attempt. To have any chance of achieving this goal day by day he had to stretch himself, push past his fatigue and develop new neuromuscular pathways to coax his body to acquiesce to his stubborn will. He too built up a phenomenal team around him – individuals who bought into his vision.

And so it was, in 1998 and less than two weeks after his first attempt, John Maclean finally achieved his goal and completing the gruelling Channel swim in 12 hours and 55 minutes. This is just one of his many awesome sporting achievements.

So don’t be afraid to dream big, really BIG. If you hold on to your vision and each day push yourself a little further than you’ve gone before, all the while continually adjusting to your heightened awareness and new conditions, you too can achieve MEGA goals.

Your results, unlike The Palm Jumeirah, may not be visible from space but a new star might just be visible from land.

Cathedral Pines

Camping at Cathedral Pines was great! Couldn’t have asked for better weather!