The past two weeks I have been traveling throughout Europe with Robert and Kim Kiyosaki and Ken McElroy. We have been to Warsaw, Poland, Tallin, Estonia, Prague, Stuttgart and London. Along the way we have met fabulous people and enjoyed wonderful experiences, including a foot massage on the banks of the river in Prague and an event with 3,000 energetic people in London.

This has been a time of tremendous enjoyment and growth for me. Robert, Kim and Ken are terrific people. We had a lot of fun together. None of us will ever forget this trip. I want to specially thank Robert and Kim for inviting me to join them for this memorable journey. It has already changed my life.

We have now separated. Kim is in France touring wineries and chateaux on a bicycle with some of her girl friends. Robert is in South Africa hunting pigs with some of his buddies. Ken is in St. Petersburg Russia doing a seminar with Blair Singer. And I am in New York staying the the fabulous Michelangelo hotel in the heart of the theater district.

The most important lesson I have learned on this trip is about environment and resources. I have been thinking that I am not satisfied with being a millionaire or a "successful" speaker and business owner. I want to be a billionaire.

My reason for wanting to be a billionaire is freedom. Freedom to spend my time doing creative work. Freedom to spend my time motivating others. Freedom that comes from being the best I can be. And I believe I will be a better person as a billionaire than as a millionaire.

I am developing a plan for becoming a billionaire that I will share with you over the next few weeks. Then, we can both follow my progress as I become a billionaire. Hopefully, this will motivate you as well so you can become the best you can be. My single goal in life is to help others make the most out of their short and critically important time on this earth. I have to begin with myself.

So please join me on my journey. Let's see where it takes us.

Warmest regards,

Tom

A while back I was invited to attend a Mastermind Group. One of the members of that group was George Miller. George is a speaker and promoter and sells information on how to buy real estate out of probate. George is a great salesman and a great guy.

During the course of the day, George spent some time describing to us the two weeks he had spent with a group of billionaires. Why he was invited, I don't know. I'm not even sure he knows. It was, of course, life changing for him. Heck, it was life changing for me just to hear him describe it.

I thought then and have since realized to an even greater extent that I want to be a billionaire. Not so much for the money as for the freedom to do only those things that I want to do. And to think like a billionaire. What George said at that meeting about billionaires really came down to one thing. The difference between a millionaire and a billionaire is how they use their resources.

Resources like time, money, people, energy, and thought. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to explain my thoughts on how best to use these resources. This will help me focus better on who I use the resources and perhaps will help you as well. Even if you don't want to become a billionaire, wouldn't it be nice to think like one? Maybe you'll only reach $100 million or even $10 million. Always better to shoot for the stars and become the best we can be.

Warmest regards,

Tom

One of my new favorite clients, Linda, asks the following question:

Q: Hi Tom, When investing w/Reef Gas & Oil outside an IRA as a general partner is additional asset protection necessary? (LLC) Can the tax benefits still be realized?

A: In order to receive the tax benefits in the first two years of investment in an oil and gas development program such as that offered by Reef, you must invest individually and not through an LLC or other entity. The developer, such as Reef, should carry sufficient liability insurance to cover any liabilities that occur. Of course, we have seen what is happening in the Gulf with BP and no amount of insurance can cover that type of catastrophe.

So, you are left with the decision to be someone exposed to a huge catastrophe that is unlikely to occur (BP is really the first of its kind) and get the up-front tax deduction or invest through an LLC and have the losses treated as passive losses that can only be used against passive income.

Thanks, Linda, for the excellent question. Since the Rich Dad Gold vs. Dollar seminar, this has been a popular topic. I am a big fan of oil and gas investing and have been doing this myself for many many years. Be sure to do your due diligence and remember that you really can lose all of your investment when you invest in oil and gas - even a development program where the reserves are proven.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Lillian asks the following question about IRA’s:

Q: How can I save the most taxes for next April when I cash out part of my IRA? It is not a Roth, it's a mutual fund type that increases and decreases depending on the market. I am also thinking about converting some of it into a self-directed IRA.

A: Since this is a regular IRA, the amount you cash out will be subject to tax at your ordinary income rates. In addition, you will be subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty unless you are at least 591/2 in the year you make the withdrawal.

You can avoid the 10% penalty by converting the IRA to a Roth IRA and then waiting 5 years to withdraw the principal. The only other way to effectively offset the tax is to invest the proceeds from the withdrawn funds into an oil and gas development project, where you will receive a deduction of up to 70% of the investment in the first year. Be sure you do your due diligence on any investment of this type and recognize that oil and gas investments can be risky.

There is no tax when you convert to a self-directed IRA. Be sure to do a trustee-to-trustee rollover, where you never get the money, but it goes directly from the old trustee (custodian) to the new trustee without going through your personal bank account.

Warmest regards,

Tom

When we were in London a couple of weeks ago, we announced a seminar called “The Velocity of Money.” Ken McElroy and I are the instructors and creators of this seminar. The seminar was scheduled to be held the following week.

Dave, one of the attendees at the Rich Dad seminar, asks the following question about the Velocity of Money seminar:

Q: I attended last weekend's Richdad Congress in London, but unable to attend Velocity of Money this weekend, so I signed up for Wealth Strategies. What did I miss in the Velocity of Money sessions and how can I catch up here in England?

A: Good news for you, Dave. We had so many requests to do the seminar at a later date that we postponed it until September. It will now be held on September 17-19 in London. Send us your information at cs@provisionwealth.com and we will get you registered.

Nothing can replace the information we will teach at this seminar. We will discuss simple ways to increase the speed at which you create wealth. By the end of the three days, you will have a completely different mindset about how to create wealth. You will also have your own personal wealth strategy ready to go.

So don’t miss this great event. When you use the Velocity of Money to build wealth, your “financial freedom is closer than you think.”

Warmest regards,

Tom

I often tell my students to focus on one single asset class for building their wealth. Many students focus on paper assets, such as option trading, or real estate. Some, like Brian, want to focus on business. Business is perhaps the most difficult asset class and yet, it is clearly the one with the most potential and the fastest way to build wealth (and my personal favorite). Brian asks the following questions about building his businesses.

Q: I want to build multiple businesses and either grow them myself or earn a royalty from inventions. I assume that building scalelable businesses from stratch is the best way to achieve my cash flow goal of $14,000,000 per year or $280,000,000 in net worth. However, what should I do with my businesses to achieve that amount of cashflow? Would it be most feasible to licence out my businesses, sell them privately, or would I need to do an IPO? Do you think I have time to focus on another asset class, or should I just remain focused on one given growth asset to achieve my cashflow goal and just take the excessive cash and invest in high leveraged real estate as well as build controlling interests in established small to midsized growth companies? How do companies compensate their controlling shareholders if they aren't paying out dividends?

A: I agree that building scaleable businesses are the best way to achieve your aggressive cash flow goals. Business has the most leverage of any of the asset classes and the best tax benefits for velocity. In order to achieve high cash flow, you must first, achieve maximum tax reduction (since taxes are the biggest drain on business cash flow) and then you must achieve maximum velocity of the cash flow.

I suggest you begin with a business and tax strategy. You need a plan to build your business and keep your cash flow moving while continually lowering your taxes. This plan will include the answers to whether you license out your business ideas, franchise them, or do an IPO. It will also address the quesiton of how to compensate your shareholders and what to do with the excess cash flow.

For more information on developing a tax and business strategy, visit our website at http://www.ProVisionWealth.com or contact Gennifer at my office at 866.467.5809 and she can set up an appointment for you with one of our business and wealth strategists.

Warmest regards,

Tom