Go Ahead and Prove All the Naysayers Wrong!
I had the pleasure of being one of the speakers at the ETR Wealth Building Bootcamp this past October. I especially enjoyed spending time with so many motivated attendees who were clearly very serious about improving their lives. My presentation was “Keys to Building Wealth With a Small Business” —…
One Very Good Way to Make a Very Nice Living as a Retired Person
The following is an account of how my friend BM is going to be living one day soon. All of the numbers are real. All he has to do to realize his dream is convince himself to let his son and brother run his main business for him . .…
The Money Men, Part 2
In last week’s essay, I showed you how, if you find the right real estate deal at the right price, you can get the financing. Now, let’s take that discussion a step further. Today, let’s look at how you can do profitable deals even if you’re not a typical “qualified”…
Romance and Business: A Safe and Profitable Mix
Did you ever hear of popular author Leigh Greenwood? You might be surprised to find out that “she” is really a man named Harold Lowry. How about another wildly successful writer, Jennifer Wilde? Turns out “her” real name is Tom E. Huff. But what’s most interesting isn’t that these writers…
What You Can Learn About Marketing from the Vioxx Debacle
Merck, the company that sold the infamous painkiller Vioxx, will soon be fighting off thousands of class-action suits by Americans who feel they were harmed by the drug. Ever since the announcement that Vioxx could be linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, lawyers have been “trolling…
The Stocks That Show You the Money
Our continuing search for the “holy grail” of investing brings us face-to-face with dividend-paying stocks. I first ran into dividend-paying stocks quite unexpectedly, about a half-year ago, when I was informed by one of my mutual funds of a switch in strategy. Formerly a large-cap growth fund, it was now…
What My Speech Coach Taught Me About Success
I love writing ETR. And the larger its readership gets (420,000 now and counting), the better I like it. A growing audience means more income opportunities for the staff and a bigger theater to air my thoughts. Writing for a large group is exciting — but speaking to one fills…
The Money Men, Part I
“Find the deal . . . and you’ll find the money.” So said Eddie Popkin at the ETR Wealth Building Conference this past October. Eddie is a real estate lawyer and investor. With his partner, he has developed over $500 million worth of residential property using this approach. On my…
The Role of Bonds in Your Portfolio
If our search for the “holy grail” of investing were only about safety and simplicity, bonds would win hands down. Bonds are basically IOUs. Let’s say you purchase a 5-year bond for $10,000, its face value. The bond pays you a dividend of maybe 4% a year. At the end…
When Audacious Advertising Works Against You
An article in Inc. Magazine titled “Over the Edge” made the point that lots of businesses today, hoping to create a name for themselves or break into new markets, are relying on increasingly dramatic advertising campaigns. One example: a promotion for a hair-replacement product developed by Maverick Marketing that showed…
Buy Real Estate With Your IRA…and Retire Rich, Part 2
Last week, in Part 1 of this article, I emphasized the fact that not all IRAs are created equal. Most people have a stockbroker, mutual fund salesperson, or financial planner set one up for them — and then sit back and allow these people to steer their retirement ship. You…
Why I Don’t Care About Unemployment Rates
The unemployment rate in December 2004 was 5.4%, the newspaper tells me. Then it goes on to compare that to unemployment rates in prior Decembers. Who cares? I don’t. And neither should you. It doesn’t matter how many millions of people are out of work in America. Or, for that…