What are you doing with your money?

Whatever work you are doing at the moment will be generating you a certain level of income. How much that is, is not important at the moment. What is important however, is what you do with it. Once you have generated your income it is important to know how and where it goes. Here’s a good question for you, “How much of your money do you get to keep?” At first glance you might think that is a silly question. “If it’s my money I get to keep it all don’t I?” “I can do what I like with my money can’t I?” Think about it for a moment though, how much of the money you have earned in the last 12 months have you still got. Probably not a lot, you have probably given most of it to other people. You probably pay a nice chunk of everything you earn to the tax man to start with, the local super market probably also gets a fair chunk, the power company, the phone company, the gas company may all take some, and how much do you distribute at the local shopping centre, for clothes or entertainment. If you’ve got children there will be other people you are giving your money to also. If you have kids you’ll know exactly what I am talking about ……right? I thought so.

You see, when you think about it, of all the money you have earned in the last year, you have probably kept very little if any of it for yourself.

So let me give you a very valuable key. “Pay your self a portion of everything you earn”. Don’t pay ALL of it to other people. That’s right, pay your self some and keep it, I suggest you do this before you start paying everybody else around. This is the key of accumulation
It’s your money after all so shouldn’t you have a higher priority claim to it than other people. Think very carefully about this and choose just how much of your money you are going to pay yourself. As a minimum guide I would suggest you pay yourself at least 10% of what you earn. There are no hard and fast rules, and how much you choose to pay yourself is up to you. You might choose more or you might choose less, but personally, I think 10% is a reasonable place to start.

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Discovering the secret to making your money go further

There are literally thousands of people offering advice on how to make more money or get more income but that is only one part of the key to success and in fact it is the least important part. Let me tell you why.

We have all heard stories of people who have won a lottery and become instant millionaires but within a few short years all their money has gone and they have nothing to show for it. Equally there are also stories of people who, with very low incomes, have managed to quietly over time build wealth for themselves and now have substantial property holdings and other assets.

“The secret to creating wealth is NOT how much income you have”.

You see the secret to creating wealth is not how much income you have. It’s what you do with the income you have. Now I’m not saying a high income isn’t helpful in creating wealth, off course it is, but it’s not the most important factor because the world is full of people with high incomes who still manage to spend all they earn and end up with very little or nothing to show for it.

The most important factor is ensuring that whatever money you have is managed wisely and a portion of it is invested to create wealth for you so that it will generate more income for you in the future. With the right knowledge and motivation, anybody can create wealth regardless of what your current income is today

“In this report I am going to give you three powerful keys”

In this report I am going to give you three powerful keys, which if you take them and use them, will open very important doors for you. People who achieve financial freedom and build wealth have all had to find and use these keys along their journey to open the doors for themselves.

Some people have obtained these keys when they were young and have used them all their lives. Today they don’t even consciously think about them; they use them automatically. Other people find them later in life and begin to use them then. Some people never find them and live their entire lives struggling to make ends meet. But there is one other group of people, and I think this is the saddest group of all. These people have the keys, they know they are there, and they even acknowledge how valuable they are, but for some reason they just never get around to using them. The priceless keys that can unlock the doors to financial freedom are just left sitting there, and never get used.


You have received this report as a free gift, but a word of warning, just because this information has been given to you freely; don’t think it is not important or valuable. In fact some of the most valuable things in life are given away freely.

Think about love for instance. True love is one of the most valuable things on earth but it cannot be bought or sold, it can only be freely given and freely received so don’t be fooled into thinking that value is only related to the monetary price tag.

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Getting the most out of your Money - Lesson 5

The risk of using debt

Today is the last lesson in our mini course “Getting the most out of your MONEY” and we are going to cover a topic which has troubled many people I have come across.

I have found that many people fear the things that they don’t understand. This is commonly known as ‘fear of the unknown’. How many times have you been subject to this? Think about the first time you did anything? How did it feel?

Do you remember the three keys which we gave you in the introductory report to this series? One of them was the key of action and many people fail to take action because they are gripped with fear.

The one way people overcome their lack of action is to be subject to a higher motivator and that is instant gratification. They fear debt but the desire to own capital is so strong they plunge into debt. Often the result is high levels of stress while going through the process of trying to pay it off.

The reality is that debt is a growing part of many people’s financial world but how debt and equity actually work is a mystery to most non financial people. They struggle trying to work out how much debt to take on because they have no real skill or framework to work it out with.
The risk of using debt is:
You have to pay interest
If you lose your job, you still have to pay interest
If you choose to take leave of absence for raising children, you still have to pay interest
Until the debt is paid in full you continue to have to pay interest.
If you fail to [pay the interest, the lender can sell your capital to recover the debt.
if you have a ‘forced sale’ of capital it usually get an unfavourable amount.
Debt lenders (Banks) do not care about your equity in a forced sale. They are only concerned to recover their debt.

Managing your finances on The Financial Fence® will allow you to determine the level of your debt to equity and also your ability to pay the interest. This approach means that you can understand how your money is working for you.

Taking on some debt will always allow you to accumulate capital more quickly but having the security of knowing how it all works together will avoid the risks above.

Thank you for working through this mini course.
The Financial Fence® is unique because it is a strategic planning, budgeting and reporting tool which shows exactly what happens to your hard earned income and what you are doing about building your financial wealth. It shows a picture of how ALL the pieces of your financial puzzle fit together.

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Getting the most out of your MONEY - Lesson 4

The principal of leverage

Before we get going I wanted to give you another tip on advisors which I have found keeps me out of trouble a lot.

It’s simple but for what it’s worth ; If you don’t understand the advice, don’t take it or implement it.

Now today we are looking at leverage. Remember yesterday we were looking at accumulating capital and making sure that it was the right type. So what’s the type which normally produces expenses? - Personal Capital
And what’s the type which normally produces income? - Investment Capital

The word debt sends shivers down many peoples spines because they, or someone they know, has had a bad experience with debt. But many times people have got into trouble with debt because they have not understood its nature or real purpose. They kind of know it helps them buy large items such as houses but are never quite sure how the money works. All it seems to them is that there is another big bill to pay every month.

Let me start with the basics around leverage because if you can grasp this you will be able to accumulate your Investment Capital much quicker without having to take on unnecessary risk and the stress which comes with it.

Leverage is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as:
The action of a lever or the mechanical advantage gained by it.
In financial terms the lever is the use of debt to supplement equity.
For example if you have $100 of equity and want to buy capital of $200 it is impossible. However if you use your equity ($100) and debt ($100) you can purchase the capital of $200.
Leverage is therefore known in simple terms as how much you lever up your equity with debt to allow you to make bigger investments in capital.

So how would this look on The Financial Fence®?

The posts of The Financial Fence® are where capital is accumulated. The posts are also made up of two parts which balance against each other. It is a simple equation which is
Total Capital (Personal Capital and Investment Capital)
EQUALS Funding (Debt and Equity)

So accumulating capital requires it to be funded by either debt or equity. Most people don’t have enough equity to buy the capital they want and therefore use debt to make up the difference.
Understanding leverage allows you to use different ways to fund your capital and make faster progress in building capital.
Tomorrow we will look at the risk of using debt in accumulating capital more quickly.

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Getting the most out of your MONEY - Lesson 3

In today’s lesson we are going to look at accumulating capital and why you would want to do that.

Before we start let me ask you a question;
Do you want to be financially free one day?

So what would that look like financially?
A simple answer might be; Pay off all my debt and have lots of money in the bank!

My question to this is ‘And then what?’

No one knows exactly how long they are going to live and therefore the only way to be financially free is to get enough sustainable income which can be produced without you having to work for it. This is often known as passive income.

So how would passive income be generated?

The only way to do this is to make money work for you rather than you working for money. This means accumulating capital which can produce income.

In The Financial Fence® there are two types of capital.
1. Personal Capital which includes Family homes, Motor vehicles, Boats, furniture etc. This type of capital usually creates expenses not income.

2. Investment Capital which includes rental properties, shares and superannuation. This type of capital usually produces income.

So which type of capital would you want to accumulate is you were hoping one day to be financially free?

It’s obvious but how many people thought that to be financially free all you had to do was pay off the family home and everything would work out. It doesn’t unless you are planning on a short life after stopping work. But accumulating capital is not as easy as it looks.
How many people pay cash for a rental property? How many people have lots of money left over each month that they can invest?
Not many so tomorrow we are going to learn about leverage and why it is a necessary tool to accumulating capital more quickly.

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Getting the most out of your MONEY - Lesson 2

Welcome to the second lesson from our mini course “Getting the most out of your MONEY”. Yesterday we showed you that it was necessary to be able to ask good questions in order to assess whether some one was a good advisor. Remember about the term WIIFM (What’s in it for me).

This is the reason why today we’re going to look at the need for taking responsibility for your financial information. Why it is important to take a personal interest in it.

I have heard business men go to their accountants and ask “Did I have a good year?” Now what do you think the accountant is going to say? He is going to paint the best picture he can so that he retains the account (WIIFM at work again!)

I have heard people ask their financial advisor “Is this a good plan for me? Am I doing OK?” What do you think the answer will be?

As long as you remain at the point of asking these types of questions, you will never be in charge of your financial destiny. You will be tossed around at the mercy of advisors who hold all the power, which can be very stressful when things don’t turn out the way you thought that they might.

Most financial advisors do not have a common communication methodology. I spoke to one the other day that has about six different charts to explain to people how their finances are going. SIX!! I would be bored out of my mind by about the third or fourth one and so would you. I showed this person The Financial Fence® and he immediately said that he could reduce everything onto this one chart which would make it easier to communicate with his client. That’s a bonus. Focus everything on one easy to understand chart and then the financial advisor can’t bamboozle you ever again.


How many places do you keep your financial information?
Do you keep any at all or rely on your accountant or financial planner?
Imagine if they were having an ‘off day’ and you just happened to be there for your quarterly or yearly visit!
You need to take responsibility for your finances. It’s one thing to get advice but a totally different manner to blindly follow someone who you see once a year.

The real reason for membership at www.wheresthemoneygone.com is to get you back in the driving seat and able to plan your own financial goals. Then you can ask more penetrating questions to advisors and keep a track of whether they have performed for you.

Tomorrow we are going to look at accumulating capital and why you would even think about doing that.

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Getting the most out of your Money - Lesson 1

Here is your first lesson from our mini course “Getting the most out of your MONEY”.

What I will share with you through this mini course will allow you to maximize the value of your current income and also let see how to plan financial goals which you know how to achieve.

There are just a few keys in life which , if you find them, will hepl you open the doors to financial success and freedom.

One of them is the key of wisdom. Making sure that you “seek advice from those competent to give it”

So how do you determine if someone is competent?

Look at their track record.
Do they walk the walk or just talk the walk?
Do they have demonstrated success in the specific area you are seeking advice from them? You wouldn’t take advice on bricklaying from a plumber and neither would you get your toilet fixed by a bricklayer!

However, before taking any advice you will need to gain enough education so that you can ask the right questions when interviewing potential advisors.

Remember that everyone is normally dialed into WIIFM (What’s in it for me) and therefore if you have no financial education you can easily become bamboozled by financial ‘mumbo jumbo’.
The first question I always like to ask financial advisors is ‘How are you getting paid from my business?” This will help me determine what WIIFM looks like for them and help me ask questions which are more slanted in my favour. In these situations knowledge is power and advisors forget that the language they use is not clearly understood. Terms like debt equity ratio, return on capital, and interest cover can be quite intimidating if you’ve never encountered them before.
Get your self educated so you can ask the right questions and also know if you are getting good answers. Where’s the Money Gone membership and using The Financial Fence® gives you a great framework from which you can ask intelligent questions more easily. You can get in the driving seat instead of often feeling as though you’re being carried along. You can get the peace of mind you’ve always longed for.

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What's the secret in building wealth

There are literally thousands of people offering advice on how to make more money or get more income but that is only one part of the key to success and in fact it is the least important part. Let me tell you why.

We have all heard stories of people who have won a lottery and become instant millionaires but within a few short years all their money has gone and they have nothing to show for it. Equally there are also stories of people who, with very low incomes, have managed to quietly over time build wealth for themselves and now have substantial property holdings and other assets.

You see the secret to creating wealth is not how much income you have. It’s what you do with the income you have. Now I’m not saying a high income isn’t helpful in creating wealth, off course it is, but it’s not the most important factor because the world is full of people with high incomes who still manage to spend all they earn and end up with very little or nothing to show for it.

The most important factor is ensuring that whatever money you have is managed wisely and a portion of it is invested to create wealth for you so that it will generate more income for you in the future. With the right knowledge and motivation, anybody can create wealth regardless of what your current income is today.

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Why would I want to use The Financial Fence®

The Financial Fence® is a simple elegant way of visually setting financial goals and allowing you to understand what to do to achieve them.

Imagine being able to confidently put in place the building blocks required to achieve financial wealth and prosperity before you went to a financial planner.

If that makes you feel good imagine the added bonus of being able to monitor your progress along the way to financial success using exactly the same tool. Yes that’s right! The Financial Fence® is not only a brilliant planning tool; it is also a simple monitoring tool as well. You can plan and monitor which means you can confidently move towards financial success with guaranteed peace of mind.

You will know exactly where you are on your financial journey. As situations change, you can upgrade your goals accordingly and then monitor your progress without having to refer to expensive professional advice.

Using The Financial Fence® will give you the following benefits:
1. Help you plan your financial goals
2. Help you monitor your own progress towards them
3. Give you a dynamic environment where you can alter your plans as situations change without having to enlist expensive professional advice.
4. Help you make the most of the income you have NOW.
5. Empower you with confidence when dealing with your own financial situation.
6. Avoid financial disaster by allowing you to know EXACTLY where you are on your financial journey.
7. Gives you peace of mind and prevents the stress caused by worrying if you are making it financially or if you might run out of money.

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I thought maybe I could invest more than I consume

In your lifetime you will most likely consume more than you invest. I think of investing simply as putting your hard earned income into something that will produce income in the future.

Have you ever heard of the person who made a little out of a lot?
They likely had a great job, lived a great life, but never seemed to have anything to show for it. In the end they had to keep working hard so that they could support their lifestyle.
Then there is a person who makes a lot out of a little. They never seemed to have a lot of income but what they did have they used wisely and in time ended up with a great lifestyle.

Many people waste as much money as they make. It’s not a matter of earning more income but using what they have earned more effectively.

This is the reason why we have our site Where's the Money Gone? It is the universal question of people who consume nearly everything they make in income. Every day they can't work out where their money has gone and they are often confused and frustrated by their apparent stupidity in not knowing where it's all gone.
Like the person who lost a million dollars and then realised they knew exactly where it had gone! They hadn't lost it but lost connection with it. It had simply run through their hands leaving them wondering what to do. Find out more about how to reach your financial goals, and plan for a much better future. Remember you will always need to consume something but if you are careful you can invest and consume the fruit of your investment rather than consuming your seed for planting and producing fruit in the future

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Why is money so important?

There are very few things that we can excape in our modern Western World and money is one of those things.
It has tremendous power but also can be a real hassle for people.
I think that one of the hardest things with money is not to feel a servant of it. We all want to have a reasonably successful life but in the end, many of the things that we point to as being successful, require money as the catalyst to make them happen.
I have often found that people would like to have the money to do what they want to; when they want to do it; and this is the definition of having a successful life.
This requires passive money or income which is sustainable over the long haul. Having been both an employee and now a business owner, I have found that as an employee it was actually very difficult to get myself into a position where I could be sustainable over the long haul. By this I mean, if I stopped working , where would the money come from? To become successful within the business required me to focus heavily on supporting the business and as a result I became so busy making money for the firm that I forgot to think about my own financial freedom. Much of the wealth that went through my hands during that time did not 'stick' and become sustainable capital for me into the future.
So today I believe that it is important to think not only about the business that you work for, but also for what you are trying to build outside that personally. The two businesses that i spent a total of 15 years working for, no longer exist today. All the many hours that I and many others put into them has not kept them alive. I wish that I had been a little more selfish and paid some more attention to building my own capital during that time. Remember that in the end you are likely to have a period where you no longer want to work and will need something to sustain you financially. Why not start to day and build a sustainable capital base that can sustain you and your family forever?

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What happens when you get to the end of a pay period?

Many people get to the end of a pay period, or a financial reporting period in business, having worked hard and earned a good income or sales, but still have very little money in the bank to show for. The universal question I get from frustrated people is “I just don’t know where the moneys gone”?

So our system Where's the Money Gone and The Financial Fence® provides the answer for people to this universal question. “Where’s the money gone”?

We have designed solutions that are suitable for use with individuals personal finances but that are also scaleable through small businesses and then right on up to large corporations. In fact we have clients at both ends of the spectrum using our methodology.

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Strategy – Easy to prepare…Hard to implement

I have often wondered why it is that many strategic documents sound really great and can be well founded yet in the end are never implemented quite in the way that was first envisaged.

So why is this?

Have you heard of the term expedient? Any one who has been involved in corporate life or in business life generally will know that there are times either in a month or at a particular time of year when certain things just have to be done. A good example of this would be getting the budget profit for a month OR making sure that you did not exceed the bank overdraft limit. During these times the last thing on your mind is implementing the strategy of the company. It’s simply to get a particular thing done irrespective of what the future holds. This is what I would call expedient behaviour. It’s behaviour which is for the here and now! Must do behaviour.

So why is it that expedient behaviour ever happens in the first place? Surely if strategic plans were implemented in the way they were supposed to, there would not be the need for any expedient behaviour. However I’m sure you are aware that forecasting and budgeting is never a perfect science and that there are circumstances that are outside a person’s control. No one can predict the future with absolute certainty which is why it can be quite difficult to manage and run a company.

Although I am aware of this, I think it is often a ‘cop out’ for a lack of understanding the financial implications of the strategic plan.
How many numbers were there on the last strategic plan that you saw. I have seen some without any numbers at all which is absurd but many strategic plans have only the very high level numbers on them which have not always been rigorously checked in detail and integrated into a sound financial plan.
Sometimes it can be as blatant as this: Get the accountant to work on some numbers which kind of support where you believe where you want to go and it will be OK. Unfortunately it is generally NOT OK.
Think about this for a minute. Who on the management team of a company understands how ALL the numbers work? In my experience many management teams full understand the profit and Loss Account because often their performance bonuses are determined on the profit performance. Sometimes they also have a few working capital targets to achieve but very rarely does the entire team actually understand how the numbers work. They leave that up to the ‘numbers person’ on the management team. However, the so called ‘numbers person’ is often closeted in the numbers and does not fully appreciate the intricacies of the strategy and therefore is unable to always connect the numbers to the strategy.

So what happens when things change?
The numbers will always demand to be attended to. That’s the very reason why expedient behaviour exists! If at the very beginning most of the management team does not clearly understand how ALL the numbers work then when things change, as they inevitably do, people will take actions which may or may not support the strategy. In the end, if there is a major disconnect, the numbers and the strategy become entirely disconnected and the management team become entirely expedient and never implement their strategy.

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Where the rubber hits the road

Money is something which touches everyone in some shape or other as they journey their way through life. It has an enormous capacity to assist in building God’s Kingdom here on earth as it is often the enabler which turns dreams into reality. Jesus knew that money because of its very nature can lead to self sufficiency, self promotion and a genuine lack of need for God.

Has my attitude to wealth creation changed?

What can I do to advance the Kingdom of God with the money that I have available?

Have I got a hold of my money or has my money got a hold of me?

The overall challenge for each of us is contained in two passages of scripture :

Mark 12: 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'

Matthew 6: 24 “You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

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Is it fun to be rich?

It is interesting to know that Jesus wants wealthy people to come into his Kingdom. In today’s English we would say that he even wants the people who are ‘filthy rich’. There is even a story in the bible about a man who was incredibly wealthy and Jesus wanted to invite him into his Kingdom.
However, God doesn’t need a person’s money but needs a person’s heart. His love affair with humanity means that above all he values being first in our lives and therefore he looks to the things which come before him in our lives. Money and wealth have a habit of puffing up a human being and therefore excluding God from our everyday lives.

Am I rich compared to any one else in the world? How can the learnings of the rich young ruler apply to me?

Jesus understood the struggle for rich people. His heart as usual went to understanding how difficult it is for a human to give up being self sufficient and surrender everything to God.

Mark 10 : 23 – 25 Jesus looked around at his disciples and said to them, "How hard it will be for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!" The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus went on to say, "My children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."

I find that it is more likely to be my own self that will separate me from God than anything else. So becoming a ‘self made man or woman’ will by definition exclude God from vast areas of your life. God wants to be involved in everything that we do and sometimes our wealth can get in the way particularly if we look to it as our security and sustenance and not towards God.

How much of a self made man or women am I? How easy is it for me to take credit for the success and cry to God when things go wrong?

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How to hold your wealth

In the bible Jesus had a abit of knowing exactly how to get the crux of a matter very quickly. When he met the rich young ruler he made the following statements.
Matthew 19 : 21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me."

Mark 10 :21 Jesus looked straight at him with love and said, "You need only one thing. Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me."

Luke 18 :22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "There is still one more thing you need to do. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me."

Jesus never questioned whether the man had done all the things that he claimed that he had. He went straight for the jugular which was how the man held his wealth.
Was it his form of security? Was he looking to his own earning capability and riches to sustain him in life? Could he give up everything of value to obtain something of even higher eternal value?

What would happen if God asked me to give all I had to the poor?

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Right perspective.

In the bible Jesus had a way of knowing exactly how and where to confront individuals with the issues in their lives. His role was to point people toward the Father and therefore when anything got in the way of that he found a way of bringing people to that realisation. As a result he told many parables as human beings can often find the answer to an issue in a story rather than being confronted with their own personal situation.

Luke 12: 17 – 20.
Then Jesus told them this parable: "There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops. He began to think to himself, 'I don't have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do? This is what I will do,' he told himself; 'I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods.
Then I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself !'
But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself ? ' "
And Jesus concluded, "This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight."

This passage of scripture challenges us to get a correct perspective of WHY we are accumulating wealth. The reason that ‘learning to give’ is a prerequisite to correct wealth creation is it gives perspective and an outward focus as more wealth is created.

Fergus McIntyre made this statement : “It’s not what God can bring TO you but what God can bring THROUGH you that counts.”

True wealth creation has a purpose beyond an individual as God can not fulfil his vision without the provision being made available through the channels of wealth creators.

Am I prepared to use my life to bring wealth to people other than myself? Would I be happy seeing others use my wealth to better themselves even if it meant I went without certain things?

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My Birthday

Today is my birthday and a chance to reflect what's happened in the last year.
It has been a great year of development. During the year I have developed the website www.wheresthemoneygone.com and also invented, developed and manufactured a board game called Where's the Money Gone?
In the year ahead it remains to be seen how many people value what we have produced as we take both of the products to market and allow people to experience the thrill of finding out that financial literacy is not as diffiicult as it seems. A solid analogy and picture, along with colours and a simple methodology can help most of the population become empowered in a whole new way.
I hope that people come on the journey with us to create a Where's the Money Gone community where people can share, learn, and discuss their money issues and track what they are doing in their financial world.
It amazes me how many people are a little bit insane when it comes to their finances as they do exactly the same thing with them week in week out , month in month out and just hope that things are going to change for the better.
Do yourself a favour. Do something different today. When was the last time you did something for the first time?
And a piece of advice. Never be afraid of making mistakes. People who make no mistakes ususally make nothing!

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Should we become wealthy?

The accumulation of wealth is not an inherently bad thing but along with it comes a number of temptations that are not faced by people who have remained living as urban “subsistence farmers.”

The most powerful temptation revolves around the belief that you are able to succeed and sustain yourself without the need for God. Why is it that a human being feels a whole lot better with $100 in his or her pocket than having nothing at all? Money has a certain way of telling a human being that they can get there by themselves.

We have all heard the term ‘a self made man’ which implies that we as human beings can work hard and get into a position where we have no need of any one else to succeed! With enough wealth we won’t even need God!

What is my attitude towards wealthy people?

What would I do if I suddenly inherited $500,000 from a distant relative?

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Income generation - a key to building wealth

In the bible the book of Proverbs exhorts us to concentrate first on income generation before we concentrate on spending. Many people are locked into a lifestyle which can only just be supported by their current income and seemingly have no way of moving forward. Change focus and put priority onto income generation and the way will open up before you.

The first financial step that many Australians take is to get a big mortgage and buy an expensive family home BEFORE getting their earning capacity well established. This often leads to a life of struggle as they ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ for much of their life whilst trying to buy bigger and better family homes.

Many Australians spend their lives working to pay off their family home and wonder why they never seem to build any wealth.

What proportion of my wealth is tied up in the family home? Have I started to think about building other investments as a means of increased earning capability?

Focus on building ‘your business’ whether this is a better career, an investment portfolio, or the development of a ‘hands on’ business and you will be securing your earning capability. Once your earning increases, you will find there is more money to go around even after giving on a regular basis!!

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Focus on increasing your income

Many people may never want to build a business but we all need to have some form of income generation and as a wise man said to me once: “It’s better to struggle when you are young.” He was referring to the fact that I wanted to leave university because I didn’t have enough money and thought I needed a job. Sometimes we can be in such a hurry to get things that we lose a whole of life time perspective.

Also it’s easy to settle into a job and stop learning. Steven Covey talks about the principle of Production (P) and Production Capability (PC) in his book ‘The seven habits of highly successful people’. He maintains that both are necessary in order to gain true perspective in development of many areas in life.

ANALOGY Using the Lawn Mower

Using the lawn mower to actually mow a lawn is like production (P). The task at hand is to get the lawns mowed and that’s what you do. However if the blades on the lawn mower are damaged or very blunt then it may take a lot longer to mow the lawns. Taking time to sharpen or replace the blades is like production capability (PC). If this is done on a regular basis, mowing the lawns will become faster and easier BUT it still requires time to do it. Regular repairs and maintenance will ensure the lawnmower doesn’t break down when you are in a hurry to get the lawns done.

Many people fail to work on their Production Capability when it comes to a business or career. While things are going well they just keep at it, working as hard as they can but never taking the time to learn, study and develop their capability. We could all do well to focus on our production capability because this is what will put us in the right place to ‘develop our business’ whether it is a business or just enhancing our earning capability.

How much time do I put into financial Production Capability (PC)? When was the last time I did some formal study or development of my career or business?

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Focus on Creating Income

Many people may never want to build a business but we all need to have some form of income generation and as a wise man said to me once: “It’s better to struggle when you are young.” He was referring to the fact that I wanted to leave university because I didn’t have enough money and thought I needed a job. Sometimes we can be in such a hurry to get things that we lose a whole of life time perspective.

Also it’s easy to settle into a job and stop learning. Steven Covey talks about the principle of Production (P) and Production Capability (PC) in his book ‘The seven habits of highly successful people’. He maintains that both are necessary in order to gain true perspective in development of many areas in life.

ANALOGY Using the Lawn Mower

Using the lawn mower to actually mow a lawn is like production (P). The task at hand is to get the lawns mowed and that’s what you do. However if the blades on the lawn mower are damaged or very blunt then it may take a lot longer to mow the lawns. Taking time to sharpen or replace the blades is like production capability (PC). If this is done on a regular basis, mowing the lawns will become faster and easier BUT it still requires time to do it. Regular repairs and maintenance will ensure the lawnmower doesn’t break down when you are in a hurry to get the lawns done.

Many people fail to work on their Production Capability when it comes to a business or career. While things are going well they just keep at it, working as hard as they can but never taking the time to learn, study and develop their capability. We could all do well to focus on our production capability because this is what will put us in the right place to ‘develop our business’ whether it is a business or just enhancing our earning capability.

How much time do I put into financial Production Capability (PC)? When was the last time I did some formal study or development of my career or business?

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What are the priorities

I always like to see what there is in the bible that I can learn from. I have found it a book which is full of wisdom particularly the book of Proverbs. Solomon is said to be the wisest man that ever lived.
Proverbs 24: 27
“Don't build your house and establish a home until your fields are ready, and you are sure that you can earn a living.” Good News Bible
“Develop your business first before building your house” New Living Translation

The question of priorities in wealth creation is paramount as we often do not have enough money to pay the never ending bills that seem to arrive in the mail as regularly as a dripping tap! The bible though is very clear in this passage of scripture and many people would benefit from working in the correct order on the right priorities.

Income generation will make more difference than cutting spending for most situations.

How often do I use the saying “I can’t afford it”? What am I focussing on when I use that saying?

What would happen if I changed to “How can I afford it”? What would I then be focussing on?

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Giving - a positive step to understanding money

Learning to give.
Many people spend much of their lives trying to hold on to their hard earned money. But I have found that no matter how hard you try and hold onto money ut seems to be able to slip through your fingers just when you weren't watching.
In the Good News Bible the word ‘give’ is mentioned on 1,110 occasions. The word is used in 37 out of 38 books in the Old Testament and 26 out of 28 books in the New Testament. The only books where the word is not mentioned are Obadiah, 2 Peter and 3 John. The whole foundation of Christianity is built on us receiving the free gift of eternal life. Church organisations are built on a paradigm of giving and receiving which means that a prerequisite for wealth creation is an ability to give.

“ People probably ask me more questions about tithes and offerings than about any other biblical subject. Sadly, the subject often comes up when I’m counselling with a couple who are hopelessly in debt.
I ask, Are you tithing?
They look at me like I have just thrown a box of snakes at their feet and respond, No , how can we tithe? We can’t even pay the bills!” Robert W Katz

Read Malachi 3: 6 - 10
This passage of scripture challenges us to get a correct order in how we deal with our finances. It is so easy to think that we need to sustain ourselves first but God asks us to think about Him first by learning to give to Him. As we learnt in the first study, if we spend all of our time worrying about ourselves then our perspective and outlook is incorrect. First step is to learn to give back to the source of all wealth creation rather than having a paradigm of ‘making sure I’m OK’ first.

Luke 6:38 “Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands---all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you."

How authentic is your desire to give rather than receive? Can you think of examples in your own life when you know that God has given to you financially?

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Should we build wealth?

We live in a consumer society that has led to a culture of spending more than you earn. A culture that has become dominated by instant gratification which has been greatly assisted by the misuse of debt.

If we spend everything that we earn and have nothing of financial value left we are not building wealth. The purchase of a family home requires us to invest rather than to consume everything that we earn. Unfortunately today many people who live from pay packet to pay packet could actually be called urban “subsistence farmers” as they consume everything that they earn and have no value left! They look back and wonder where all their money went.

What proportion of my income is accumulated rather than consumed?

What could I do to begin some form of wealth creation?

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An Analogy on Money

2. Money – simply an enabler
We often think of money as the answer to our daily needs BUT it is simply a commodity that we use to trade with and it has very little intrinsic value. It is produced and fed into the monetary systems by government agencies and banks so that businesses and individuals can trade with one another.

Scrooge McDuck is the only person that I’m aware of that actually loved money. The comic strips show him having a swim in it. Most of us relate to what money can buy or allow us to do and we therefore look to money to enable things to happen in our lives.

ANALOGY : Petrol in a motor car.
The primary purpose of a motor vehicle is to transport people or goods from place to place.
A motor car will not travel anywhere without petrol as the petrol gives the fuel to propel the car forward.
Without petrol, the car would not be able to fulfil its purpose and might look very nice but be useless as a means of transport.
Therefore the petrol is an enabler in the same way that money is an enabler to assist people to live their lives.

CORRECT USE
· Petrol must be put in the right place to get the desired result
Imagine putting petrol in the boot of a car. It would not assist the car to move forward and might even destroy the car if ignited by mistake. Often this is the same with money. Used in the wrong way it is disastrous and yet we need it to get ahead in our lives.

· It is interesting to note that the petrol has to be ignited to make the car move forward. A controlled explosion is required to get propulsion. Petrol ignited in the wrong way can cause immeasurable damage.

· Money can be ignited to get a bigger affect. This is seen in the well known phrase ‘You have to spend money to make money.’ Igniting it in the spend phase can mean a whole lot more propulsion forward financially BUT if it is spent on the wrong items or in a frivolous manner then it can result in no propulsion at all.

Do I spend money to make money or do I spend money to satisfy my needs?

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Whom do I serve when it comes to money?

“God has not called us to do what seems possible, reasonable or normally attainable; He has called us to do the impossible. He wants us to stretch beyond our ability, our faith, and our capacity to reason. He wants us to do more than we could ever imagine or dream.” Graham Cooke

Matthew 6: 24 “You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Money is a subject which is discussed on many occasions in the bible. In the Good News Bible the word is mentioned on 200 occasions. The word is used in 21 out of 38 books in the Old Testament and 14 out of 28 books in the New Testament. This represents a mention in 55% of the Old Testament books and 50% of the New Testament books.

When I think about money does it bring positive or negative thoughts into my mind?

If I’m honest who or what do I look to for my security? Do I want to rely on God but in reality rely on my pay packet to provide me the ability to live in this world?

1. Should we worry about providing for ourselves?
Read Matthew 6: 25 – 31.
This passage of scripture challenges us around the genuine concern we often have in providing responsibly for ourselves and those around us.

Language such as
· Do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes?
· Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?
· Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves.
· So do not start worrying: 'Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes?'

It would be easy to think that Jesus was simply being irresponsible by suggesting not to worry about looking after yourself. Mature individuals take responsibility for looking after themselves rather than looking to others to give them handouts all the time.
Jesus was not challenging being responsible at all but simply asking whether worrying would help.

How much time do I spend thinking about my daily and weekly needs and planning towards making that all happen?

Jesus knew that we have the capacity to worry about ourselves and our capacity to want to DO something about ‘getting ahead’ in life. Survival is one of a human’s strongest motivators and it is impossible to live in the world without sustaining one self in one form or another.
Jesus had a different perspective and gives an answer at the end of the chapter.

Matthew 6:33 - 34 ‘Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.’

What practical ways can I use to focus on the Kingdom of God rather than my current physical needs?

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Are you somewhat insane financially?

What is the common definition of insanity?
It's doing the SAME think and expecting DIFFERENT results.
Challenging thought isn't it?
Now think about what you do with your money on a weekly and monthly basis.
If you are on a wage or salary you'll most likely receive your income on the same day each month. So what do you do with it. Some of it will disappear easily in all the bills that you have. But how much of it do you do the same thing with. AND are you looking for a different financial world or just the same old one.
In my experience, many people are hoping to be better off financially in the future but keep doing the same thing, week in - week out; month in - month out. This just isn't gpoing to happen unless they start doing something DIFFERENT with their hard earned money. They are somewhat financially insane if they do the same thing and expect different results.
Go on, do something different today. Plan a better future. At least if you start doing different things you can expect a different result to the one you are experiencing today.
When was the last time you did something for the first time?

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Vision - the key to getting anywhere

The last two days Blogs have made me think again about vision because without vision you never ever get any where. Only vision of where you are going will keep you focused on the end goal. Everyday we get plenty of options to act for the present rather than acting for our future. Remember the all time classic ALICE IN WONDERLAND? In it there is the famous scene where Alice meets the Cheshire cat.
"Alice asked the Cheshire Cat
`Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
`I don't much care where--' said Alice.
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
`--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'"

The same thoughts have been expressed in a different way as follows:
If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there.

I have found that many people have no idea where they are going with their finances and therefore any road will work for them. The tragedy is that on all the roads there are people who would like to help you part with your money at an alarming rate. We all know that consumerism is driving our western world and there is the drive to spend rather than save. So if you don't have a vision for where you are going you will likely be caught up in the culture of spending more than you earn; using a bunch of credoit cards to fuel your spending and being left wondering why you seem to never have enough money to go round.

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