Tom's Blog

I have often thought over the past couple of years about the difference between being rich and being wealthy. Is there a difference? If so, what is it? And how do we become wealthy?

It seems to me that there is a big difference between being rich and being wealthy. When I think about someone who is rich, I think about someone with a lot of money. And I typically think about someone who is quite showy with their money. They drive fancy cars and live in a fancy house. They wear fancy clothes and eat at fancy restaurants.

Rich people come into their money in a number of ways. They may inherit it. They may win the lottery. They may earn it in a few short years as a professional ball player or entertainer. Or they may invent a new mousetrap that is worth millions of dollars. Or they may simply earn it over many years as a professional or a business owner.

But doesn't this also describe a wealthy person? Is there really a difference? I believe there is a major difference between rich and wealthy. The difference is in duration. How long does the money last? Will it be gone once the person's earning power is gone? Will it be passed on to future generations?

The difference between a wealthy person and someone who is simply rich is that a wealthy person has sustainable wealth. In other words, a wealthy person will always be wealthy, whereas someone who is merely rich will only be so for a short period of time until the money is gone.

Think about people in history who everyone would consider wealthy, and you can begin to see what I mean. The Rockefellers, Carnegies, and Campbells are all wealthy families. Their wealth has lasted multiple generations. Why is this? What makes them so different from the lottery winner or professional athlete who has money for a short time and then it's gone?

The difference between rich and wealthy is very simple. It's knowledge. Wealthy people know how to make money. Rich people only have money. Once you know how to make money, you can build sustainable wealth. The money never stops coming. If you have a reversal of fortune, it's not a big deal. You just make it back.

Think about Donald Trump. Several years ago, Mr. Trump was deeply in debt. But, oddly, he didn't change his spending habits and didn't go away. Why not? Because Donald Trump understands how to make money. He is a wealthy individual.

There are many examples in history of wealthy people who obtained their wealth through knowledge and valued knowledge more than money. The most obvious one perhaps was King Soloman, king of all of the Israelites. He was extraordinarily wealthy. And he was extraordinarily wise. When he first became king, the prophet came to him and asked what he would ask of God. Solomon asked for wisdom. And throughout Solomon's writings, he lists wisdom and knowledge as the two most important gifts to ask of God. Wisdom and knowledge are what created Solomon's great wealth.

Wisdom and knowledge can create great wealth for anyone who desires it. Last week, a vendor of ours came to me and asked what he could do to create wealth. My immediate response was to learn everything he could about wealth. Once he had the knowledge, then he could begin formulating a strategy and work with a coach to build the wealth. But the knowledge needs to come first. Otherwise, if we do happen to get rich, the money is not likely to last.

I am most grateful to my mother who instilled in me and my siblings an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. This is the greated gift (other than life itself) that my mother gave me. It's this thirst for knowledge that drives me to teach others about wealth and how to attain it. Our new website, www.provisionwealth.com, has tremendous resources and information about wealth. Particularly important to us is WealthStrategyU. Our goal for WSU is to become a major repository for wealth knowledge. Please let us know what you think about this resource and how we can continually improve it.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Even though I am not an investment advisor and never hold myself out as one, clients continue to ask me what to do to prepare for retirement. Should I max out my 401(k) contribution? Should I do an IRA? Should I put more in my profit sharing plan or pension plan?

Contrary to popular belief, none of these are wise investments. Why? Among other reasons, they all involve putting money into an investment vehicle over which they have little control as to investment and timing and most people end up choosing Mutual Funds as their investment within these plans. In fact, putting your money into the Lottery would be a better investment.

Really? The Lottery as an investment vehicle? Sound crazy? Gamble my retirement funds away in a government-sponsored game of chance where I have little chance of winning? Where millions of other people are putting in money in hopes of winning the big one? Where most of the money goes to someone else and the chances are strong that I will lose part or all of my money?

Wait a minute - are we talking now about the Lottery or about Mutual Funds? Hmm, a government sponsored program where I have little chance of winning. Sounds like a lot like Mutual Fund investment in a 401(k) or IRA. After all, what are my chances of retiring on Mutual Fund investments? Not very high, actually.

A couple of years ago, I was listening to a financial program on the radio on my way into work. The interviewer was asking the representative of a large Mutual Fund about the performance of the Fund. The Rep responded that the Mutual Fund had risen in value by an average of 20% per year for the prior two years. But when the interviewer asked about the average return to the average investor in the Fund, the Rep responded that the average investor had actually lost 2% per year. Why? Because of the timing of going in and out of the market. Compare this to the Lottery, where everyone knows the exact chances of winning and the exact amount that could be won!

But what about the great tax advantages of putting my money into a 401(k) or an IRA? Yeah, right! Get a tax deduction when you are young and in a relatively low tax bracket so you can pay taxes on the money you take out when you are retired and in a higher tax bracket? Yeah, that's a good deal. Or, consider the difference in tax rates on capital gains and dividends if you are not in a 401(k) or IRA versus the ordinary income tax rates on the earnings when you pull them out of your 401(k) or IRA.

So now you are thinking that you should just invest in Mutual Funds outside your 401(k) or IRA? Wrong again. Mutual Funds result in capital gains taxes when the Fund Managers trade them even though you don't see the money! You have to pay taxes even though the Fund may actually have gone down in value! And what about the lost opportunity cost of that money that you are now paying in taxes that you could have put into other investments? At least with the Lottery, you know the exact amount of taxes you can expect to pay if you win and you only have to pay taxes if you do win.

Yes, you say, but the Lottery is gambling and I have no control over whether I win or lose. You are right. The Lottery is gambling. But so is a Mutual Fund. You have no control over the stock market and neither does the Fund Manager. The market goes down, so does your Fund. At least you recognize that you are gambling when you play the Lottery. You don't have the government, financial institutions and your employer telling you that the Lottery is a good investment. And your employer doesn't go so far as to match the amount you put into the Lottery like it might with your 401(k). Nobody is lying to you about the Lottery being gambling, but those in positions of authority are lying to you about the chances of success in a Mutual Fund!

But surely, you say, there is a better chance of making money in a Mutual Fund than there is in the Lottery? Hardly. There may be less of a chance of losing all of the money you put into a Mutual Fund than there is losing all of the money you put into the Lottery. But you are never going to win big in a Mutual Fund. In fact, Mutual Funds are designed to minimize your returns by creating a "balanced portfolio." If they could minimize your risk of the market itself, this might be okay. But the problem is that nobody can minimize the risk of the market without sophisticated hedge strategies that are not typically used in Mutual Funds. At least with the Lottery, you have a chance of winning big. And you can sleep at night, because you aren't wondering if the chances of winning are going down overnight because of something that happens in Tokyo.

You say you don't like the idea that most of your Lottery gamblings are going to support government programs? Where do you think most of the earnings from your Mutual Fund are going? No, not to support government programs, but rather to support your investment advisor's and the Mutual Fund manager's retirement? You take all of the risk, you put in all of the capital, but most of the earnings from the Mutual Fund go to the Fund manager and your investment advisor. At least with the Lottery, the funds are going to worthy causes, such as the Arts.

Of course, I would never advise a client to rely on the Lottery for their retirement. But neither would I advise them to rely on Mutual Fund investments. For my dollar, the Lottery is a lot more fun and at least I know I'm gambling. But if you want to retire, look at other investments and work with someone who is willing to put in the time to help you retire soon and retire rich. Financial freedom is available to those who are willing to work and learn about it, but not likely for those who want to rely on such risky investment strategies as Mutual Funds.

For more information about how to obtain your financial freedom fast, visit our website at www.ProVisionWealth.com.

First, I want to thank all those who commented on my recent entry, "Why the Lottery is a Better Investment than Mutual Funds." This entry is a follow up to several of those commentators, many of whom were asking the question, "If mutual funds are not a good risk, what is."

To those who were concerned about Yahoo plagerizing me, I appreciate your concern but suggest you re-read Robert Kiyosaki's introduction to the article where he states that he was having a conversation with me about mutual funds and this article is what I said. Indeed, Robert and I did have that conversation. I memorialized it in my blog and gave him full rights to publish it on Yahoo or anywhere else he would like to publish it.

With that cleared up, let me clear up one more possible misconception. While the article was meant to be tongue in cheek (I would never suggest anybody buy lottery tickets), I do have a fundamental problem with "typical" mutual fund investing. Most people who invest in mutual funds subscribe to the ridiculous notion that is promoted by many financial planners and financial advisors that you should put you money into the stock market, hold it for a long time, and pray that the market and the mutual fund goes up. There are others who make the even bigger mistake of getting in and out of mutual funds without a consistant, well-thought out strategy of what type of mutual fund, when to buy the mutual fund and when to sell the mutual fund.

One of our commentators suggested that they have consistently received 15% on their mutual funds. That's amazing and I sincerely congratulate that individual. I have never known anyone to do that well consistently in mutual funds and I suspect the reason for the return being that high and that consistent is that this individual spends a lot of time learning about mutual funds, the stock market, trends in the stock market and economic conditions generally.

But I would add that a 15% return is not great!!! This same comentator suggests that his mutual funds have outperformed most real estate. I would answer that he is probably correct on an absolute basis, meaning that most real estate does not appreciate at 15% per year consistently. In fact, average appreciation in real estate in the U.S. over the past 90 years is around 7%. THE FALLACY IN THIS ANALYSIS IS THAT IT IGNORES THE LEVERAGE OF REAL ESTATE.

Most real estate investment is highly leveraged. And the best type of investment real estate provides positive cash flow as well as tax benefits, principal reduction and appreciation. But let's just focus on appreciation for now. Suppose that we acquired "average" real estate and made an average return of 7% on that real estate. If we leveraged that real estate by letting the bank put in 90% of the money, then our true return is 70%.

Let me give you a simple example. Suppose you buy a single family home for $200,000 and rent it for the amount of your expenses, including your debt service. There are many parts of the country where this is possible even now. I personally own several of these properties. Let's also suppose that you put 10% down, or $20,000. At 7% appreciation, that house will be worth almost $400,000 in 10 years. That's a $200,000 return on a $20,000 investment in 10 years. If you put the same amount into a mutual fund and it returned 15% a year for 10 years, your return would be about $61,000. The difference of $139,000 is simply because of leverage.

The fact is, leverage is also available in the stock market. In the stock market, leverage is obtained through options. Many people hear the word, option, and they immediately think "risk." But a good option strategy does not have to be risky. In fact, a good option trader will tell you that a strong option strategy is much LESS RISKY than a "buy, hold and pray" strategy of holding stocks or mutual funds for a long time.

The other opportunity for substantial leverage is business. In business, you not only get to leverage the bank's money and investors' money, you get to leverage your time, technology, contacts and knowledge.

The key to all investing, of course, is knowledge. Learn all you can about investing and the principles of compounding, leverage, and velocity. Then, develop a wise strategy and implement that strategy with a good team and a strong wealth coach. (For more about leverage and velocity, I would refer you to my company's website, www.ProVisionWealth.com, and the free webinar that is available on leverage and velocity.)

If you think that mutual funds may be too slow and too risky for you and would prefer to build a solid wealth strategy that can accelerate your wealth creation, contact ProVision at cs@ProVisionWealth.com and find out that your financial freedom is closer than you think.

Multiple Streams of Income has become the catch phrase of the new century. This can be a terrific idea, since it means that we are receiving income from multiple sources and should mean that if one stream dies, then we will still be okay financially.

So the question arises, how do you create multiple streams of income and still focus on one or two asset classes for my investing? After all, if you are not focused, how can you possibily achieve success since your time and effort will be scattered such that you in effect become a "jack of all trades and master of none?"

Let me respond by referring to a trio of famous wealthy individuals - Donald Trump, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. Each of these men become rich and famous by becoming a master in one type of investing. For Mr. Trump, it was commercial real estate development. For Mr. Buffet, it was fundamental investing and for Mr. Gates it was computer software. So clearly, these three were very FOCUSED on one asset type and that is how they became wealthy.

But did their focus really keep them from also having multiple streams of income? Not at all. Donald Trump has income from multiple real estate projects. Warren Buffet has income from multiple corporations in which he has invested. And Bill Gates receives income from a wide variety of software products.

The key is that each of these people specialized in one investment or asset type and created multiple streams of income within their chosen specialty.

The problem I see with many investors is that they misunderstand the concept of multiple streams of income and think this means they have to be in multiple types of business and investments. I honestly do not know any really successful investors who have spread themselves thin throughout a number of different types of assets. I'm sure they are out there, but they are rare. Far more common are the wealthy individuals and families (e.g., Hilton, Campbell, Rockefeller) who have developed multiple streams of income within a single asset class.

Always remember to maintain your focus. With focus, knowledge, wisdom and protection, you can become as wealthy as you desire.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Wendy from our Financial Freedom Now teleseminar (link to sales page) asks the following questions:

What is the best way to get started when you don't have a lot of income to work with/invest??

Should I borrow/get a loan to be able to invest and get started?

This is another question that ultimately needs to be handled by your own personal wealth coach. However, I may be able to provide a few insights.

First, remember that financial capital is only one form of capital. There is also time capital and intellectual capital. I find when I am coaching, that people who are successful in accumulating great amounts of wealth have employed all three of these types of capital. But what if you don't have much money and you are working full time so you don't have much time capital either?

That's where you really need to take advantage of your intellectual capital. In my article on WSU on Financial, Time and Intellectual Capital (link), I use the example of Bill Marriott, chairman of the Marriott Corporation of hotel and hospitality fame. When I lived in Washington, D.C., it was my great privilege to meet Mr. Marriott on several occasions and even to work with him on some church-related matters. At the time, Mr. Marriott, besides being chairman of one of the largest corporations in the world, was also responsible for the spiritual well-being of a few thousand members of the LDS Church.

I often wondered how he found time to do both of these seemingly monumental tasks. I learned that Bill was a master of leveraging time and intellectual capital. He was not only using his own time and considerable intellect, but solicited help from hundreds and thousands of others. He had mastered the ability to leverage other people's intellectual capital to help him build his wealth. What I also learned was that he had a passion for helping others achieve their financial success. At one time, he went so far as to tell all of the LDS bishops in the area that he would be willing to employ any member who was without a job. He would find a place for them in one of his companies. I have always remembered this and believe this desire to help others as one of the reasons for his considerable business success.

By employing others, he helped them, but he also received the benefit of leveraging their time and their intellectual capital. Now, I do not believe that is the reason he made the offer to employ any unemployed member. I firmly believe he made this offer for completely unselfish reasons. But we can learn from this great example. We help others when we employ their intellectual and time capital and at the same time help ourselves.

So, whether or not you should borrow to get started is a matter to discuss with your wealth coach, as that answer is different for every individual. But don't forget your other capital - time and intellect. And don't forget the capital of your team members. Many people have built fortunes with little or no financial capital, through their own and others' intellectual and time capital.

Warmest regards,

Tom

I am frequently asked about specific investments. For example, recently, I received the following questions from one of our teleseminar participants.

I have $200,000 coming as soon as my investment property sells, what would be the best way to reeinvest? If I do a 1031 exchange, should I try and buy several properties or just a single property?

I have $300,000 which is currently invested in Dodge&Cox funds; $60000 in an international fund and $240,000 in a balanced fund. Is there a better strategy to invest without more risk?

The answer to these and all other investment questions is the same - It depends. It depends on your personal wealth strategy. What investment characteristics are most important to you? Is a high rate of return more important than the level of risk? And what are your investment criteria? Do you have a particular loan to value that you are trying to maintain in your real estate investing? Do you have a price range you are trying to meet? What cash flow level is important to you?

The magic of creating a personal wealth strategy is that you can answer all of your own investment questions simply by referring to your strategy. You have determined what types of assets you will invest in. You have determined the investment characteristics that are important to you. Most of all, you have set specific criteria to meet in order to make an investment.

Most investment mistakes come from not following a well thought out wealth strategy. I know several people right now who are struggling with their financial situation. Why? When I look at what they have done, it is clear that they did their investing without a clear strategy. Or, they had a strategy and deviated from it.

So be sure to create and follow your personal wealth strategy. If you need help, take a look at the ProVision teleseminar, Proven Strategies for Financial Freedom Now (http://ProVisionWealth.com/seminars), where we show you how to create your own personal wealth strategy. Then, get a wealth coach to help you implement your strategy. For more on strategic wealth coaching, go to http://www.provisionwealth.com/strategic_wealth_coaching.asp or email us at cs@provisionwealth.com.

Warmest regards,

Tom

I get a lot of questions from seminar participants about building a wealth team. For example, Anita from our Financial Freedom Now teleseminar recently asked the following:

Is there a particular on-line brokerage firm that you recommend?

Do you recommend using any particular stock advisory newsletter?

These seem like simple enough questions. But without knowing Anita's personal wealth strategy, I would be remiss in making a recommendation. Why? Because it will depend on how Anita wants to invest. Assuming she wants to invest in the stock market, how does she want to invest? Does she want to invest in mutual funds or other funds or does she intend to trade in options? These questions should be answered as part of a well-conceived wealth strategy.

I would submit that these are the perfect questions for a strategic wealth coach. Your coach knows and hopefully even helped devise your wealth strategy. They should be able to either give you a specific recommendation or help you find the best answer for you. For more on building a wealth team, see my article at WSU on wealth teams. (link to article)

Warmest regards,

Tom

Janet, one of our participants in our Financial Freedom Now teleseminar, asks the following excellent question:

How does your philosophy of spending 20% of
your time planning before taking action mesh with
Harv's mantra of "ready, fire, aim" (ie, take action
then adjust as necessary).

I'm sure Janet is referring to T. Harv Eker, one of my favorite authors and speakers. On our part, I frequently suggest that you should have your wealth strategy in place before you begin investing. While these seem to be conflicting points of view, I think they work very well together. It's all a matter of timing.

When Harv suggests that you need to take action and then adjust as necessary, he is likely referring to making an actual investment. But remember that making the actual investment should still come after we have our wealth strategy in place. Let's take an example of someone who has chosen single family home rentals as her asset category.

Suppose that her real estate finder discovers an opportunity to acquire a property that may or may not fit within her investment criteria. She wants to check out the investment before committing herself to it to make sure it really does fit her criteria. The simple way to do this is to go ahead and put a contract on the property. Just make sure that there is a window of opportunity to get out of the contract. Typically, any real estate deal has a due diligence period. This is the time to find out if the property fits within your investment criteria. If it doesn't you have the opportunity of making a counter offer or withdrawing from the deal.

In this case, you have fired before aiming. You have tied up the property (taken action) and still have time to make sure it fits within your strategy. Of course, this is just one example. But the key is to still be sure as you can that any investment fits your criteria before closing on the deal.

I totally agree with Harv's mantra of ready, fire, aim. Far to many people spend all of their time researching deals and never act. With the right contract, you can tie up a deal and then do the research.

Warmest regards,

Tom

It's Monday morning and I'm in the elevator on my way up to my office from the parking garage. Another person gets on the elevator at the same time. Trying to be polite and friendly, I ask him how he is doing. His response is, "Ugh, it's Monday."

Is this you? Do you dread Monday's? Do you live for the weekend? If so, I truly feel sorry for you. Wouldn't you rather get up on Monday morning and be able to say to yourself, "Hooray, another Monday and another week of doing what I love to do?"

This is our real mission at ProVision. To teach people how they can change an "Ugh, it's Monday" into a "Hooray, it's Monday!" The secret? Doing during the week what you love to do. And here's another secret. If you do what you love to do, you will make more money!!!

So how do you figure out what you love to do and how to make money from it? That's the secret we share with all of our Strategic Wealth Coaching clients. We show them how to discover what type of investments they would enjoy doing and then work with them to get them doing it successfully. Whether it's a business, real estate or the stock market, there is a type of investing that is right for you.

So hang in there, all of you "Ugh, it's Monday"'s. There's hope for you. I'll write more on this subject in articles that can be found in our Wealth Strategy U section of our website at http://www.ProVisionWealth.com. The articles are all free and full of useful ideas to help you become wealthy and happy.

Warmest regards,

Tom

In our cd, "What Your Financial Planner Will Never Tell You," my partner, Ann Mathis, and I discuss the idea of the velocity of money. The example we use is real estate. The natural question that I am frequently asked is whether you can create velocity in business.

The answer is a resounding YES!!! In fact, it is much easier to create velocity in a business than in real estate and money can move much quicker. Let me give you the example I shared with the folks at Buck Rizvi's Supplement Millions seminar last month.

Suppose you use your money to buy or create a business. You likely will leverage your investment either through a loan from the bank or family members or with a carryback from the seller of the business. Let's say that you are successful building that business in the first couple of years and now you have some good cash flow from it. What do you do with your cash flow?

This is where velocity comes into play for the business owner. You can either let the money sit in the bank, spend the money on a fancy sports car, or reinvest the money. One way to create velocity is to reinvest the money in the business by opening another location. Another way is to reinvest the money into the business either to build the business or to create additional intellectual property. Any of these investments can create velocity in your business.

So don't start spending all of the money you earn from the business once you start creating good cash flow. Reinvest it either in the business, in real estate or in paper assets. By doing so, you can create amazing velocity and seriously add to your wealth.

By the way, there are also tax benefits to reinvesting your money in your business. For more about business tax benefits, visit http://www.ProVisionWealth/wealthu

Warmest regards,

Tom

Yesterday I had the opportunity to volunteer at Deseret Industries in Mesa, Arizona. Deseret Industries, or DI as it is frequently called, is similar to Goodwill Industries and is a despository for used clothing, furniture, appliances and other household goods. All of the employees at DI are disadvantaged and most are handicapped. One of the missions of DI is to provide gainful employment for difficult to employ people.

My assignment was to work with Scott loading the compacting bin. Scott is a full-time employee who is simply down on his luck, recently divorced and trying to get back on his feet. He is taking classes on the Internet for a degree in Business Management. He probably should be in sales, as he is a very warm and genuine person who loves to communicate.

Our job was to sort clothes. Jeans and men's clothing (both very popular to store customers) were set aside. The remainder of the clothes were tossed into a bin that compacted them into large rectangles (similar, I suppose, to baling hay). The compacted clothes are then sent to needy people throughout the world. All in all, a wonderful organization that serves the community and the world in many ways.

While Scott and I were talking, he asked me whether I thought everyone has the potential to be successful. I answered with a very quick and very clear "YES." So long as they are motivated, I believe that everyone can be successful.

When I speak to a prospect for our Strategic Wealth Coaching program, the one question I always have to get a clear answer to is the extent of the person's motivation to become wealthy. I sincerely believe that ANYONE, regardless of resources, can become wealthy applying the principles of leverage, velocity and tax planning. The three keys to wealth are KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM and PROTECTION. You have to learn how to become wealthy, learn how to apply your knowledge (i.e., wisdom) and learn how to protect the wealth you accumulate.

I can also guarantee that anyone without a clear and firm commitment to becoming wealthy WILL NEVER BECOME WEALTHY. They may come into money, either through inheritance, gambling or otherwise, but they will never be able to retain the money and build it into lasting wealth.

My money is on Scott and others like him who are dedicated to their personal success and are willing to put in the time and effort to become financially free. Just imagine Scott, who is single, has three children from his previous marriage to support, is working full time and is taking classes on line. As long as he stays the course, Scott will find the success he is seeking. And so will you.

If you want help with your financial knowledge, wisdom and protection, contact us at cs@ProVisionWealth.com or visit us at http://ProVisionWealth.com.

Warmest regards,

Tom

One of my favorite activities is to attend the Rich Dad http://www.richdad.com staff meeting. I really appreciate Robert allowing me to come. He has a way of opening my mind to new ideas that I cannot really describe. He is definitely on the cutting edge of whatever he does and constantly is thinking of new ideas.

One of the ideas Robert presented yesterday was about how important it is that we feel productive. This idea may not be cutting edge in the traditional sense of the term, but it a very important concept for business owners and investors like myself to think about. Everyone in the organization needs to be and feel productive.

Productivity does not just mean you are busy. It means that you are busy doing something that you are good at and you are being successful at what you do. The first question I asked myself on my drive back to the office was whether each of my employees was productive. This is a fairly challenging question that all business owners should ask themselves every day.

People who are not productive simply are not happy. They don't feel like their life is fulfilling or that they are contributing to the organization. And, in fact, they probably are not contributing to the level that the should and could.

Some of the business owners reading this may feel like I used to, i.e., how can anyone not be or feel productive? Can't they generate their own productivity? After all, entrepreneurs by definition are idea generators and never lack for productive work. Sometimes, however, we feel like everyone else should be just like us.

In my experience, there are relatively few people are idea generators. And most of these people own their own business and/or are working diligently to create their own wealth. As employers, we have to help our employees see our vision and give them direction so that they can be productive all of the time. Not an easy task.

Productivity is also a question that every investor should ask him/her self. Is your investment strategy productive? Do you feel productive with your investment strategy? Are you making the progress you want to make? Is your chosen asset type (paper, business, real estate) something you are good at? If you are not good at it, is it at least something you enjoy doing and are you doing something to get better at it? Finally, do you have someone helping you evaluate your investment strategies whose sole interest is in your success (i.e., they have no personal/financial interest in what investments you choose)?

Just a few thoughts provoked by the master mind of Robert Kiyosaki.

Warmest regards,

Tom

The other day I was doing some wealth training with our ProVision employees. We were talking about Internal Controls. One of our employees mentioned that it seemed like Internal Controls were not just about preventing embezzlement and theft, but about all negative actions, including mistakes with a portfolio. I totally agreed with this comment and we started to discuss what an investor needs to do to prevent simple mistakes in their real estate portfolio.

I suggested that values need to be monitored on a regular basis so that real estate that has gone up in value beyond its "true" value can be sold. What is a property's "true" value? Under my definition, a propertie's true value is any value at which we would buy the property ourselves. So, if the property has appreciated to such an extent that we would not purchase it ourselves, then we should sell it. Let me give you an example.

Suppose you have a single-family home that you purchased for $200,000. The property has appreciated over the years to $400,000. Let's say also that your investment criteria include a requirement that any property you purchase must produce positive cash flow. When you purchased the property for $200,000, the property had strong positive cash flow. But if you paid $400,000 for this property, it would now have significantly negative cash flow. In other words, rents have not kept pace with appreciation.

But, you might say, you paid $200,000 for this property so it still has strong positive cash flow. Wrong! If you own property that is worth $400,000, it's cost to you is about $370,000 ($400,000 less selling commissions and other closing costs). This is because you could have $370,000 to use on other, positively cash flowing properties, if you sold the house. Another way to look at this is to determine whether this house would positively cash flow if you borrowed out the appreciation. If it does, then you should keep it under your criteria. If not, you should sell it.

Most people make the mistake of believing that if they have positive cash flow from their property, then they should hold onto it forever. This is a mistake and ignores the enormous benefits of Velocity of Money. For a simple demonstration of the Velocity of Money, go to our website at http://www.ProVisionWealth.com/wealthcd and download our free cd entitled, "What Your Financial Planner Will Never Tell You."

So don't forget to monitor the value of the properties in your portfolio so you can maximize your investment returns. If you need a source for more properties that positively cash flow, visit our recommended resource, Spectrum Investment Group, at http://www.spectruminvestmentsolutions.com.

Warmest regards,

Tom

The WSJ wealth blog (http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2007/ ) recently featured an article about Wealth Fatigue Syndrome. This problem occurs when people spend more and more money on "things" and find that they get bored with their things and need more things.

Unfortunately, this problem is not limited to the wealthy. It's a problem for everybody. If your focus is on things and not people, you will always be bored and will constantly be searching for bigger and bigger thrills. For the wealthy, that may simply mean that they trade in one toy for another. For the rest of the world, this can mean catastrophe, as people get more and more into debt in order to try to satisfy this need for things.

The good news is that there is a tried and true remedy for this syndrome. The remedy? Service. Serving other people and focusing on how to help other people, whether it be our family members, church group, or favorite charity, is the key to happiness and fulfillment. And, it doesn't cost anything but our time and effort.

The other day, I had the great privilege of working on a Habitat for Humanity (http://www.habitat.org) housing project in Guadalupe, Arizona. Guadalupe is a predominently Hispanic neighborhood and historically has been a very low-income area. Habitat for Humanity is building 4 homes in Guadalupe now for needy families.

At the house I was working on, there were over 25 volunteers from various walks of life. All had come to dedicate their time and energy to helping this family build their home. And all were very happy to be there.

Serving others is the great privilege and joy of this life. The more we are focused on helping others, the smaller our own problems become. So, get out of the Wealthy Fatigue Syndrome that often comes during the holiday season and go out and help someone. You will be happier and so will they.

Warmest regards,

Tom

This is a question I get frequently from clients. They want to know when to change their position in an investment, i.e., when to buy more or when to sell. At ProVision, we are not investment advisors, so we don't give specific investment advice. However, as accountants, we are experts at monitoring and managing finances.

Let me share a few thoughts with you on this matter. First, put the proper reporting in place. Reports should do more than just give you raw data. They should also give you information about the status of your investments as compared to a few different standards. They should compare your results to your target. They should also compare your current results to historical results. And, ideally, they should compare your results to the average results of your industry or your region.

For example, let's say you are invested in the stock market. It would be nice if your investment report didn't just give you the current value of your stock. It should also compare your current value compared to your expected value. And your return on investment compared to your target return on investment. Plus, your report should compare your current value to the value a year ago, a month ago and/or a quarter ago. Your report should also compare your return on investment to the average stock portfolio return on investment with your criteria. Your investment advisor or trading house should be able to provide this information to you. If they aren't, then you should ask them to do this or you should consider finding a new investment partner.

Real estate can be monitored the same way. You should have a report that tells you where you are compared to where you have been historically, both with cash flow and with appreciation. Your report should also compare your current value and return on investment to your expected value and return on investment. And, your report should tell you how you are doing compared to the rest of the market in the areas in which you are investing.

There is one ratio that I rarely find tracked at all in real estate - cap rates. See my blog tomorrow for more on this.

Until then, remember that financial freedom is closer than you think. Visit the ProVision website to learn more at www.ProVisionWealth.com.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Some of you know that a couple of years ago I lost a serious amount of weight. I went from 212 lbs to 172 lbs. It's never an easy task to lose 40 pounds, but especially not when you are in your late 40's. Yes, it took a lot of will and determination, but it took one more thing - Accountability. I had to be accountable to someone. I chose my son, who was also trying to lose some weight.

At the time, I vowed that I would never gain the weight back and would continue to work on this until I reached my ideal weight according to my doctor - 165 lbs. Well, I stopped being accountable to my son and here I am two years later with what can best be described as "weight creep." My weight is creeping back up. I'm at 177 lbs. as of this morning. But I am determined not to let this get out of hand. So, I am going to be accountable to someone.

This time I am going to be accountable to you, my readers. It's a very scary thing to be accountable. You don't know for sure whether you will be successful. And failing in a public forum such as this blog could be disastrous. But when you really want to be successful. When it's more important to you than any possible embarrassment. That's when you want to be truly accountable.

So, I'm going to be accountable to you. I will share my progress every Monday morning. Of course, I will be measuring my weight on a daily basis. And I don't expect it will go down every day. There are variations such as water retention and muscle growth that can make it go up. But I do expect weekly weight loss.

Along with accounting for my weight to you and measuring it, I need a goal to go along with it. You might think that a specific weight, 165 lbs, might be the goal. But I have found that I need a goal that is more rewarding than just this one number. In this case, I have two goals beyond the weight that require the weight loss to accomplish. The first is a size 32 waist. I have always wanted to fit into a size 32 since I first started putting on weight.

The second goal is to complete an olympic length triathlon in less than 2 1/2 hours. I did my first olympic triathlon this past October and completed it just under 3 hours. So, I have a 1/2 hour to trim off. Since my run was horrible, most of this will come from a reduction of my running time and the rest will have to come from my bike time. My swim time was pretty good and realistically I can probably only shave off a few minutes on my swim time.

I am counting on you, my readers, to hold me to these now very public goals. Let me know what you think and hold me accountable for my results.

You may be wondering what all of this has to do with business and wealth. After all, this is a business and wealth blog, not a health and fitness blog. Stay tuned tomorrow for more. For now, ask yourself this question - ARE YOU ACCOUNTABLE?

Warmest regards,

Tom

Yesterday, I opened myself up to the world and committed to being accountable for my weight to you. Today, I answer the question of what being accountable for my weight has to do with you and your wealth.

The answer is quite simple. In order to achieve ANY goal, you must be accountable. The question is - to whom? Are you going to be accountable to your spouse? To your children? To a friend? Ultimately, of course, we need to be accountable to ourself and to God. Unfortunately, these two are the people we lie to most easily. We lie to ourselves every time we spend money on some doodad that we don't really need or even want that much. And we lie to God constantly - whenever we do something we know isn't right.

When it comes to wealth, may I suggest you be accountable to your wealth coach? And who better for a wealth coach than someone who actually knows something about being accountable for wealth - your accountant? What? Be accountable to my accountant? At once, this seems odd and obvious at the same time.

After all, your accountant is the expert at accountability. The problem for most people is that we spend lots of money on our accountant at tax time and we never use the information our accountant produces for anything productive. That's right - tax returns are not productive. Of course, with the right accountant, properly prepared tax returns can reduce your chance of being audited by the IRS and can even reduce your tax bill. But the fact of preparing a tax return is not productive in and of itself.

But the information that goes into the tax return is valuable information and with the right reporting, you could use this information to measure the results of your income and wealth creation and to be accountable for your financial actions.

Stay tuned for more on how to measure your financial activity and how to use your accountant as a wealth coach so you can be accountable and, as a result, successful in achieving your wealth and income goals.

Warmest regards,

Tom

P.S. - Someone asked me yesterday for the target date of my weight loss. My goal is to be 165 lbs on May 3, 2008, the date of my next triathlon.

So it's been a week since I started my diet. Thanks for all of your positive comments to me and encouragement so far. I am happy to report that after one week, I am down almost 2 pounds. That means I have accomplished 15% of my goal in just the first week. And I owe much of it to the accountability factor.

Everyone who has ever been on a diet knows how easy it is to begin a diet and how hard it is to stick to it. Accountability is all about sticking to it. Because I am accountable to you, I think twice before eating a cookie or piece of chocolate. Not easy at any time, but especially difficult during the holiday season when we are bombarded with great food and treats.

I found two other effects of being accountable to you. First, I found that I did not put off my work outs. Knowing that this morning I would have to account to you, I made sure that I got in my work outs last week. Second, I was careful to weigh myself every morning. I did miss one morning, but 6 out of 7 is pretty good. By weighing myself I received a report each day of my progress. I also found out just how bad I am over the weekend. I was showing more weight loss on Saturday morning than I did this morning. (Weekends have always been a problem for me - too much proximity to the kitchen on weekends.)

Later this week I will talk more about reporting and its effects on our wealth. Just like my report from the scale, the proper report on our finances can keep us moving and can tell us a lot about when we are doing well and what activities help us or hinder us in our progress.

SPECIAL ALERT! - Tonight I am doing a FREE teleseminar on 5 Simple Steps to Permanent Tax Savings. I encourage all of you to register at http://www.provisionwealth.com/seminars. I am confident that you will find this to be very educational. While you are at it check out our new Tax Strategy product that is being offered for a very limited time (10 days ONLY) at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products. Our Accelerated Winter Course for the School of Tax Strategy is a wonderful opportunity for you to learn how to create your own personal tax strategy and create thousands of dollars of permanent tax savings. So, join us this evening for the FREE teleseminar and REGISTER NOW for our Accelerated Winter Course.

Warmest regards,

Tom

I continue to get many comments about my weight tracking and goals. Peggy, a friend of my friend, Lois Tiedemann, recommends a tracking device put out by NuSkin using a GoWear armband that measures your calorie burn throughout the day. Michael sent me a comment (see comments under my entry "Are You Accountable) asking about my specific goals. I agree with Michael that specific, measureable goals are essential.

I mentioned a few of them previously, but here are a few more. My next triathlon is set for May 3rd in Rocky Point, Mexico. That is the date for my weight loss goal (down to 165 lbs) and my waist goal (32"). I also have a goal to cut my time to under 2 1/2 hours from just under 3 hours. Most of this will come from the run, as I did not train for the run on my previous triathlon and was hobbled by swollen tendons in my heals.

Michael also asked what products he can buy from me. What a great question!!! Please go to http://www.provisionwealth.com/products. We have a terrific product, our Accelerated Winter Course for creating your own personal tax strategy, that is only available until tomorrow. So act now, and get this amazing course that gives you the power to dramatically lower your income taxes.

Now for the report. Despite going on a business trip this past weekend, I am down to 173 lbs. I'm pretty happy with that, given that I went to two family holiday parties and twice ate at my favorite burger joint, Crown Burger. (If you ever get to Salt Lake City, you really have to go to Crown Burger and try their specialty burger, called the Crown Burger.)

Keeping accountable to all of you and having specific, measureable goals has been great to keep me on track for my weight loss. But how many of us have specific, measureable goals for our wealth? Do you have a goal for your wealth? Do you have a goal for your income? Do you have a goal for your cash flow? Do you have a goal for your tax liability? Tomorrow, I will explore these goals more. For now, just remember that "Financial Freedom is Closer Than You Think" but you have to have goals and accountability to reach your financial freedom.

Warmest regards,

Tom

It's December 31, 2007. The last day of the year and the eve of the new year. Time for some serious goal setting.

My wife reminded me yesterday that I haven't always liked goals. Maybe some of you are the same. I didn't like goals because I felt they constrained me. As many of you know, being the youngest child, I hate being constrained. Personal freedom is my most cherished possession. So, why do I like goals now? Simply because they cause you to focus and focus brings results.

The most difficult part of goal setting for me is prioritizing my goals and making few enough of them to have a reasonable chance of success for all of them. I have had the most success using the system that I learned from my friend, Jayne Johnson. I attended Jayne's goal setting course a few years ago and the results have been significant. I attribute my successful completion of an Olympic Triathlon to Jayne's methods, because it was in her class that I realized that this was a top-5 goal of mine. I believe Jayne has a class coming up (she is doing it with my friend, Blair Singer) and I highly recommend it. You can learn more at http://www.salesdogs.com/pages/workshops/goals_workshop.html.

I recommend that you focus on your top 5 goals, whether they are personal, spiritual, financial or family goals. Most importantly, don't wait to set these goals. Make sure they are measureable and attainable. Be sure to set up a reporting system and an accountability system for them such as my weight goal. (By the way, I'm just under 173 lbs - a bit on a plateau but I'm pretty happy given all of the goodies around this time of the year.)

Tomorrow, I will share my top five goals for 2008. I'm going through Jayne's methodology tonight with my wife and sons while we have some fun playing games and watching movies together. No reason goal setting can't be fun. And doing it with people you care about and who impact your success is important.

Have a Happy New Year everyone!!! Talk to you tomorrow. Be safe in your New Year's revelry.

Warmest regards,

Tom

So just how committed are you to achieving your goals? Will you do whatever it takes to accomplish them? What if you have a hiccup in your plans and take a step backwards - will you quit or keep going?

These questions apply equally to any goal we set. I find a great similarity between goals we set for our physical fitness and goals we set for our wealth. I set a goal to get my weight down from 175lbs. to 165lbs. by May of this year. I started out well, losing 2 pounds in the first two weeks. Then, I stalled for a week or two and this past week I actually gained 2 pounds back. So what now? Do I quit because I had a bad week or do I redouble my efforts and keep after my goal? The real question is just how committed am I to losing those extra pounds?

The same questions apply to our wealth goals. Everyone wants to be wealthy, just like everyone wants to be thin. But are we really willing to commit to being wealthy the way we have to commit to being thin? What kind of commitment does it take to achieve wealth?

I have several clients who I feel are truly committed to becoming wealthy. We meet together twice a month to hold them accountable and to give them new tasks to perform to keep them on the fast track to wealth. We help them create budgets for spending and budgets for investing. I know they are committed because they never fail to do what we ask them to do, they never miss our meetings and they pay us a lot of money to help them become wealthy.

Whenever I talk to a prospective client, the primary qualifying question I ask is how committed they are to becoming wealthy. My experience is that anyone can become wealthy who is committed to it. But that commitment doesn't come easy. Just like it's not easy to pass up on that donut or cookie or piece of chocolate (my personal weakness), it's not easy to pass on buying that new cd, dvd, television or iphone. It takes dedication, commitment and perseverance.

And if you fall one day, just pick yourself up and re-dedicate yourself the next day. That's what I have to do this week. I'm going out of town Wednesday, and I always have a tougher time regulating my calories when I am away from home. It's really going to take commitment. I am committed to my weight loss goal. Are you committed to your wealth goal? If you are not committed, YOU CANNOT AND WILL NOT REACH YOUR GOAL.

So commit today to your wealth goal. Set your goals, your interim targets, and devise your investment strategy. Then get a wealth coach to keep you on track and give you the right advise. For more information about our wealth coaching, go to http://www.provisionwealth.com or call us at 1.866.467.5809.

Warmest regards,

Tom

What do you do when you have setbacks? Do you give up? Do you keep going? Do you buckle down and work even harder? Do you change tactics?

My weight is not coming down at all. But every day I weigh myself and I think about my goals frequently throughout the day. I have come to two conclusions. First, I need to have, as Chet Holmes would say, "pigheaded determination." Second, I need to change tactics.

Actually, I really need to add something to my life. That something is a coach. In this case, it may be a personal trainer or it may be a triathlon coach. Let me know if any of you know a good triathlon coach in Tempe, Arizona.

What do I hope to gain from a coach? A coach should not only make me accountable, but should also have the knowledge and experience to teach me how to train and how to eat in order to accomplish my goals.

The same is true when you are building wealth. A few people can do it on their own. They can read self help books or take a course and then build their own wealth. But, like losing weight, this doesn't work for most of us. Most of us new a personal trainer. We need someone who can keep us focused and give us advice on our spending habits, investing and wealth building.

Do you have a wealth coach? Is it time for you to stop messing around with self help guides? Most of you realize that ProVision http://www.provisionwealth.comsells self help materials. Why? Because many people want to take the baby step of going through some self help materials before accepting the long-term commitment of hiring a ProVision wealth coach. But once you have the confidence in us that we can train you, hold you accountable and keep you focused, you will want to hire us as your personal wealth coach.

Come see us today at http://www.provisionwealth.com or call us toll free at 1-866-467-5809 and see what a personal wealth coach could do for you.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Friday morning, as usual, I got up and weighed myself first thing. The scale read 171 lbs. Good news, right? This meant I was 4 lbs closer to my target of 165. I had a pretty good weekend (eating wise) and Monday morning was anxious to weigh myself so I could report to all of you how much weight I had lost. The scale showed 175lbs. So, either I gained 4 lbs over the weekend (possible, but not likely, even if I were retaining fluids) or the scale was wrong on Friday, Monday or both. Today's weight was 174lbs.

What can we learn from this? The obvious thing to learn is that I might want to try another scale to check the reliability of my scale. (Of course, I might also be retaining water.) So, I'm going to begin weighing myself at the gym and at home a couple of times a week to see if my scale is reliable.

I find the same thing happens in business and investing. We may think we are making progress, but it could be that we simply have a scale that is giving us incorrect information. This is why good accounting and good reporting is so important.

Tonight at 7:00p.m. I am speaking in San Diego at The Learning Annex (http://www.thelearningannex.com. The topic is Wealth Strategies and how to get your wealth on the fast track to financial freedom. The event is free to the public. It's not too late, so come join us if you are in the area. I am also speaking in Los Angeles on the same topic on Thursday evening.

One of the most important things I will be talking about is getting a handle on where you are and where you are going. You must have an accurate picture of where you want to go, both in terms of your dream as well as in terms of what it will take to reach your dream (i.e., net worth and passive income). Equally important is knowing where you are now. That's why our website has a tool for analyzing your wealth goals, http://www.ProVisionWealth.com/wealth_evaluator.asp and we offer software in our home study course, Financial Freedom Now! that allows you to create a current income statement and balance sheet. (Go to http://www.ProVisionWealth.com/products.

How good are your metrics? Are you sure you are using the right scale? If not, check out our Wealth Evaluator and Financial Freedom Now! course to find out if you are on the right track.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Last week, I spoke twice for The Learning Annex in Southern California. In San Diego, 98 were registered for the seminar and 11 showed up. In Los Angeles, 198 were registered and 35 showed up. So only 46 out of almost 300 registered actually came to the seminar. Of those 46, 30% purchased our Financial Freedom Now! online course. So what does this say?

There could be many different reasons why so few of those registered showed up and purchased our course. But there is only one result that matters. And that's the number of people who are going to change their life financially. Congratulations to those who made the decision to take control of their financial future!!!

It's not easy to do this. Wealth does not come easy. It takes commitment, dedication and hard work. The good news is that there is no limit to the number of people who can become wealthy. There is no limit to the amount of wealth available in this world. Wealth is a commodity that can expand forever.

So why don't more people take advantage of the opportunity to learn how to become wealthy and then to apply this knowledge to actually do it? Is it a lack of optimism or a lack of willingness to work? I know that attending a 2-hour course on a weekday is something that is not easy to do after a long day at work. But WEALTH IS NOT EASY! It's possible for everyone, but it is not easy. So, for those who are looking for a fast buck, you can stop reading this blog right now. It's not going to happen! You have to study, you have to apply what you study and you have to stay with it.

But remember the good news! Financial freedom is available to all. And, as we say at ProVision, it's "closer than you think!" But you must take that first step. Spending a few hundred dollars to learn how to permanently lower your taxes or to learn how to create your own personal wealth strategy (http://www.ProVisionWealth.com/products) is just the first step. Then, you need to apply this knowledge and take control of your wealth.

To those who attended the seminars last week, welcome to ProVision! I promise you that if you will continue to learn and apply the strategies we talked about, you can have your financial freedom in a few short years. Please let me know how you are doing and how we can help.

Warmest regards,

Tom

The other day at church, one of my friends asked me how my business was doing in this down economy. She was a little shocked when I said it was doing great and, in fact, I was making tons of money in real estate right now.

The problem with the media is that when prices go down, they are all gloom and doom. Serious investors know that you make more money in a down market than in an up market. Two years ago, there were no good buys at all in Arizona. Now, there are hundreds of good buys. And, because people are not buying homes, they are renting and rents are going up.

The reason a lot of investors are in trouble is that they are not really investors - they are speculators. That is, they bet their entire farm on appreciation. Robert Kiyosaki, of Rich Dad fame, and I were talking about this yesterday. Good real estate investment requires 4 income streams: appreciation, cash flow, tax benefits and amortization of principal. Most of the "investors" who are in trouble did not follow this rule and relying solely on the appreciation. That is a very risky play and, quite frankly, they got what they deserved. (This is the reason I don't invest in raw land - all speculation - no other income.)

If you are not investing now, shame on you. This is the best time to invest in real estate since the early 1990's. Personally, I can't buy real estate fast enough right now.

Food for thought.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Corey listened to our teleseminar with Doug Lodmell and asks the following question:

Q: Tom, Thanks for the great information on Asset protection. It seems the more I read though the more confused I become. In the Rich Dad series Garrett Sutton talks about Nevada and Wyoming LLC's and Nevada Asset Protection trusts being great for asset protection. Douglas Lodmell listed these as poor when it comes to asset protection in his teleseminar. I guess the question is who is correct or are they both correct and I am misunderstanding the presentation?

A: As Doug pointed out in his teleseminar last week, there are several levels of asset protection. Doug showed a scale of poor, good, better and best types of asset protection. I don't think there is any question that the offshore asset protection Doug advises is the ultimate in asset protection. But that doesn't mean that you don't want to do at least some of the other pieces as well. As Doug suggested, most of your investments and business interests you want to be held in an LLC. This is what Garrett is talking about. This is good asset protection and is the minimum anyone should do.

The next level beyond LLC's would be a domestic asset protection trust (DAPT). I don't believe Doug addressed these during his presentation. Here is how the DAPT works. In most states, a self-settled trust (i.e., one in which the person who puts the assets into the trust is also the beneficiary) does not protect you against lawsuits. However, a few states have enacted DAPT statutes that do protect you in a self-settled trust. Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada and Utah are a few of the states with these laws in place.

So why go to the trouble and expense of an offshore asset protection trust when you can just form a DAPT? There are two reasons I can think of. First, these trusts have not been tested in the courts. So, we don't really know what will happen when they are tested. More importantly, however, is the situation where you don't live in one of these states or your assets are located in a state other than the state in which your trust was formed. When you are sued, which state's law is going to apply? If I were a plaintiff, I would sue in the state where the property is owned if it is not a DAPT state. Will a court in a state without the DAPT statute protect you? This is a big unknown.

What we do know is that offshore APT's have been tested for over 20 years and have proven to work. Hopefully there will come a day when all of the states have DAPT statutes and we don't have to go offshore. In the meantime, though, if you want maximum asset protection, especially if you own property or live in a non-DAPT state, you should consider an offshore APT as suggested by Douglass Lodmell.

Let me know if you have any other questions about this. Hope it helps.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Corey mentioned the other day that he was confused about the different advice given by different attorneys, including Doug Lodmell and Garrett Sutton. He also told me that he was a bit confused about where to form entities, as he had heard both good and bad about Nevada LLC's.

Different opinions from different advisors is always a concern. That is precisely why, at ProVision, we recommend a solid, informed Wealth Coach (http://www.provisionwealth.com/strategic_wealth_coaching.asp) to explain the differences and how to decide which advisor to follow.

Nowhere is this more true than in the case of asset protection. I have been told by some attorneys, including Garrett, that they really like Nevada LLC's for the privacy they provide. I have had other attorneys tell me they don't like Nevada because of the cost, the current focus of the IRS on Nevada companies or because of the legal system in Nevada. I'm not saying that one is right and one is wrong. What I am saying is that each person's situation is different and you need a good wealth coach to help you identify which option is best for you and to work with the attorneys to make a good decision.

By the way, Garrett saw my blog and got back to me right away with his comment (see below under "Comments" to the previous blog entry. I understand Garrett's position. It certainly is more expensive to use an offshort APT than a domestic APT. The question is simply the level of protection you want. Some people are fine relying on their umbrella insurance policy with no LLC's at all. Others want the protection of LLC's. But some people want the most protection possible and I have not seen anything that is better than the offshore APT. And the way Doug sets these up, the APT does not go offshore until there is a triggering event. So, Garrett and Doug are both correct - it just depends on where you are and what level of asset protection you desire.

Warmest regards,

Tom

At ProVision (http://www.ProVisionWealth.com), we focus our clients on their wealth strategy. With regular coaching, our clients have excellent success. But what happens when you have a setback? How do you keep going and what do you do?

One of our great clients, we will call her Alice, recently had a serious setback when her husband contracted cancer. This was a huge setback for them, both financially, due to the cost of insurance and the cost of treatments, and more especially due to the amount of time and energy these treatments consume. How do you overcome a setback like this?

I had a considerably smaller setback recently when, in the midst of my training for my triathlon in May (and desired weightloss to go with it), I injured my foot for the third time in a year. I had to stay off it completely for about a month and now have a boot to wear for another 6 weeks. How do you overcome the setback?

The most important thing to do is to stay focused on your goals and keep moving toward them. A setback is just temporary and as long as we stay focused, we can still accomplish our goals. For Alice, she simply will have to concentrate what time and energy she has on her business and investments and focus even more intently during the few hours a week she can devote to them. For me, I have to maintain even better focus on nutrition, since I won't be able to run until a week or two before my triathlon. (Fortunately, the doctor has given me the go ahead to swim and bike - no excuses there.)

So, whether you have a major setback like a loved one with cancer, or a minor setback like a foot injury - stay focused. Lack of focus is the single biggest deterrent to creating massive amounts of wealth.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Yesterday, my son, Sam, closed on his first home. Sam is a senior in high school and will attend the university next year. Several months ago, after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, he asked me if he could get started in real estate. He especially wanted his own house where he could live and his buddies could rent rooms from him to help pay the mortgage.

Little did Sam realize that I had started planning for this years ago. I arranged my business structure in such a way that Sam is an owner in my business and shows income from my business on his tax returns. Not only has this saved significant income taxes for me, it has enabled Sam to begin his real estate investing at a very young age. His older brother, Max, is also an owner of this new house. Max has been investing in real estate now for several years (and has an excellent credit score).

With the help of my Arizona real estate agent, Brian Matlock, we found a nice little house that is convenient to the University (and to our house so Sam can bring his laundry home or can come for a good meal). Between Sam and Max, they were able to purchase the house and get a great rate on their financing. And, we bought the house at more than $30,000 under market value.

So start planning now with your children. It's never too early to get them in the game. For more information on this topic, go to Wealth Strategy U on our website at http://www.provisionwealth.com/wealthu.

Warmest regards,

Tom

One of the better books about the current state of the economy that I have read lately is Charles Morris' book, The Trillion Dollar Meltdown. Morris gives a history of the U.S. economy from Kennedy through today to explain why we are in for a bigger hit to the economy than most people are expecting.

I found his discussion to be direct and to the point. He adds a perspective to the effects of tax reductions and government intervention that I have not found anywhere else. It's critical for everyone who relies on the U.S. economy to understand it and where it might be headed. Morris adds a very well thought out perspective to this discussion that is well worth your read.

While most people see the state of economy as something to fear, I see it as a wonderful opportunity. Wealth people make most of their money in a down market. This is the time to buy, not the time to sell. If you have a strong knowledge of the financial, real estate and business markets and have developed a solid strategy for long-term wealth, you should be excited about the current state of the economy.

So get knowledge and develop your strategy now. For more on developing a wealth strategy, go to ProVision's Wealth Strategy U at http://www.provisionwealth.com/wealthu or download our introduction to Wealth Strategy called "Financial Freedom Now! Home Study Kit" at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products.

Don't let this economy pass you buy. We may not see another opportunity like this in our lifetime.

Yours for financial freedom now.

Tom Wheelwright

The great question of the world is, "How do I find happiness?" Some people seem to think happiness comes from material possessions. Others seem to think it comes from fame. Still others believe it comes from love and family. While there can be very happy moments from any of these and particularly from love and family, true and lasting happiness can only come from gratitude.

Gratitude cures a multitude of ills. When I was a missionary in Paris, I spent several months in the suburbs south of Paris. This has never been a very well-to-do part of the city. Interestingly, I found both very happy and very miserable people there. Those who were miserable tended to blame others for their misfortunes and were angry at the world for not giving them more.

On the other hand, there were several people I met who were extraordinarily happy, though they had very little. These people were very thankful for what they did have. They were thankful for their family, their friends, their health. They did not complain. They were at peace.

How is it that I found two such completely oppositite attitudes int he same place among people in the exact same circumstances?

It became clear to me that the difference between the two groups related primarily to their attitude about life. On the one hand, there were those who were angry at life and felt they had been cheated. On the other hand were those who were grateful for what they did have.

I have found this situation over and over in my life. People who are truly happy tend also to be those who are the most thankful for their blessings, regardless of their current station in life. Those who were unhappy were jealous our upset because they didn't have something they wanted.

I notice this in my own life as well. When I focus on how much I have been given, I am less worried about what I don't have. I also tend to focus more on how I can help others. And helping others is where true peace and contentment are derived.

What does this have to do with wealth? Everything! Wealth includes not only monetary success, but also spiritual, emotional and physical success. And we tnd to be so much more successful in these areas when we are grateful. Interestingly, I also find that my financial wealth grows as well when I am most grateful. When I can get ouside of myself and focus on helping others, giving back, is when the money seems to flow.

So don't be afraid to say a prayer of thanksgiving from time to time or to tell your spouse or your children how much you appreciate them. It will have a tremendous impact on your life.

Thank you for letting me share with you.

Warmest regards,

Tom

For those of you keeping track, last weekend was my triathlon in Rocky Point, Mexico. My goal was to improve my time by 30 minutes. A pretty aggressive goal. Most of this was to come from the run portion. My good news to report is that I did trim substantial time off my run (about 20 minutes), despite my lack of run training. While not meeting my goal, it went a long way towards my goal and I hope to get the additional 10 minutes off my run by my next triathlon. I attribute most of my run success to the socks that I got from http://myfootguy.com. These are amazing socks that provide tremendous ankle and foot support. My gimpy ankle was just fine after the 10k run. Amazing!

The bad news is that my swim and bike were slow this time. I'm not sure why, but I am sure that I need to pick up my training and I need to get a coach. I believe a coach will not only help me set goals and be accountable, but will give me advice on how to better train and how to race better.

I think I was a little worried that I might run out of gas on the run if I pushed the swim or the bike too hard. This goes to the mental part of racing. I simply don't know enough about my body and what to expect (how I should be feeling during each part of the race). A coach would be extremely helpful in this regard and I found one while mingling with the other triathletes in Rocky Point.

Of course, wealth building is very similar to triathlon training. We have to set goals, be accountable, and continue to focus on what we are trying to accomplish. We also need a coach. You have heard me say it before, but I'm saying it again anyway. A wealth coach should help you with the mental aspects of wealth as well as giving you advice, providing accountability, and helping you set goals.

I am pretty anxious to get started with my triathlon coach. I suggest you get started with your wealth coach. Find out more about wealth coaching on the ProVision website at http://www.provisionwealth.com/wealthstrategies.asp.

Warmest regards,

Tom

In Tuesday's USA Today, there was an article on the front page of the Money section with this title. The article quoated several financial advisory firms as saying that they are now recommending that people have enough money on hand to replace 126% of the pay in retirement instead of the "traditional" 70-90% because of rising medical costs.

Of course, this begs the question of why you would want to merely replace your current income and force yourself to maintain your current lifestyle in retirement instead of improving your lifestyle in retirement. I have not met anyone who has ever told me that there goal for retirement is to "get by." When you retire, you want to improve your standard of living, not maintain or decrease it.

The article goes on to say that only 19% of employees are on track to meet their retirement "needs" (there's that word again - needs). About 67% of workers are expected to have less than 80% of their proposed needs. So people are not even meeting the minimum. The financial advisors in the article suggest that people need to save more so they can meet their retirement needs.

What's wrong with this picture? It's not simply that people are not planning for their retirement. It's that they are not being successful with their investments!!! Why not? My experience is that a) they are listening to the wrong people; b) they are investing in the wrong assets; and c) they have no strategy for building lasting wealth.

With a decent wealth strategy, a good wealth coach, and sustained effort, EVERYONE should be able to retire the way they want to and in a much shorter time than these financial advisors would suggest. Please, if you haven't already, go to the ProVision website to read more about Wealth Strategy. For those of you who are serious about building long-term wealth, download our Financial Freedom Now! home study kit at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products.

Whatever you do, take action now!!! The most important investment you will ever make is in your financial education. Financial Freedom comes to those who understand how to make money and give their wealth building a focused, sustained effort with a strong financial team.

Warmest regards,

Tom

I was sitting in church the other day and the speaker was talking about budgeting and otherwise watching what you spend so you don't get into financial difficulty. He was suggesting that we can never be truly financially free unless we have control over our spending habits.

This started me thinking about the relationship between spending habits and eating habits. As many of you know, a few years ago I reduced my weight by over 20%. I had tried losing weight before, but had never been totally successful. I love to work out and had always figured that if I worked out enough (i.e., used enough calories), then I could pretty much eat what I wanted. After all, this theory worked well in high school when I was on the swim team. The problem, of course, is that unless you are working out 8-10 hours a day, you can never work out enough to overcome bad eating habits.

So, this last time, I followed the WeightWatchers program and changed my eating habits. I started eating less, including less fat, while increasing my fiber intake and making sure I was getting lots of protein. The result was pretty dramatic. In six months, I lost over 40 pounds. But what has been even more dramatic is that I have kept the weight off for over 2 years. Statistically, only 3% of the population has ever lost 20% of their body weight and kept it off for more than 2 years.

So what made this time different? Simply, I finally got the message that good exercise habits cannot compensate for poor eating habits.

What does this have to do with building wealth? There is a direct corollary between eating habits and spending habits. Just as you cannot exercise enough to overcome poor eating habits, so you can never make enough money to overcome poor spending habits? Want proof? Just ask M.C. Hammer, Scottie Pippin or dozens of other celebrities who have made millions and spent every penny of it.

So, while our goal is to create enough wealth to live our ultimate lifestyle and while we always want to focus on our wants, not just our needs, we still need to learn to manage our spending. We need to set aside funds every month to go into our wealth building. We need to set aside funds every month to donate to good causes. The rest we can spend. But spend wisely, whether you are in your wealth building years or whether you have achieved your ultimate lifestyle. For more on building wealth and achieving your ultimate lifestyle, visit our School of Wealth Strategy, coming soon to http://www.provisionwealth.com.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Do you know people who make lots of money from their job or their business but never seem to have any money? Or maybe they have money now, but they don't have any assets other than their home, their cars and their boat?

I keep running into this situation and I always come to the same conclusion. Making lots of money has nothing to do with wealth. Nor does it seem to have much to do with financial knowledge or wisdom.

Just this week, I was talking to a new client who runs a very successful business. He makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, but has more liabilities than he has assets. The reason seems to be that while he has made incredible efforts to make his business successful, he has never devoted the time or energy to learn how to make his investing successful. This is not a criticism of this client. It is a part of our society. We are taught to work hard at our job or our business and to turn our finances over to some financial advisor who may or may not know what he or she is doing.

In addition, this client was given some poor advice regarding his taxes, so he is in deep doodoo (yes, that's a technical term) with the IRS. Now, he has to work even harder to pay back taxes that with proper planning may not have been owed at all. Again, our society teaches us that taxes are too difficult so we need to "hand them over" to some tax advisor who probably only knows a little more than his client. In reality, you cannot "hand over" your taxes to a tax advisor. You have to learn enough of the rules to know when to go to your tax advisor for advice. He or she cannot be with you every minute of the day.

The answer for all of these high-income, low-wealth people is the same. It takes knowledge to be financially (and tax) free. That's why, at ProVision, we have created a brand new course to teach investors of all income levels how to create permanent wealth. I'm off to Minnesota today to introduce this product to a group of Internet marketers. You can get this education too, by enrolling in our School of Wealth Strategy, coming soon to our website at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products.

Remember - Financial Freedom is Closer than you Think - but only if you have the knowledge to obtain it.

Warmest regards,

Tom

I'm speaking to a group of about 600 people at T. Harv Eker's Extreme Wealth yesterday about how to create their own personal wealth strategy and I'm sure many of them were wondering if this really works to speed up the growth of a person's wealth. After all, I showed them how you could turn a 5% appreciation on an investment into a 60% return just by using the concepts of leverage, velocity and tax savings.

Sounds too good to be true, right? While it may sound too good to be true, the numbers speak for themselves. I give a demonstration of this on our free cd download at http://www.provisionwealth.com/wealthcd.

The truth is that very few people will ever reach their financial dreams unless that have a wealth strategy and a proven system for building and implementing that strategy. My partner, Ann, and I have been using our system for over 6 years and it has proven to do three things:

1. Increase our returns on our investments by 2-3 times
2. Reduce our risk
3. Allow us to control our investments while spending very little time on them

If you don't have a wealth strategy or you think your strategy could use some improvements, call us at 866.467.5809. Our mission is to bring financial freedom to the world. That's why I am traveling all over the world (Las Vegas today, Canada in two weeks and Australia in November).

Remember that financial freedom is closer than you think! You just need a good strategy.

Warmest regards,

Tom

It's common for us to look at a new year and think about what we would like to change and what we would like to accomplish in the New Year. Those things we want to change we call resolutions and those we want to accomplish we call goals.

It wasnt' many years ago that I was adamant against setting goals and making resolutions. My reasoning was that I had an idea of what I wanted to do and that was enough. Writing things down just made my life more restrictive and set me up to fail. Does anybody else out there think this way?

These days I have done an about face. My wife kind of chuckles at this, remembering just how strongly I felt against making goals. What changed? I learned the Hawthorne effect from my friend, Robert Kiyosaki. The Hawthorne Effect states that what we measure improves and what we measure and report improves exponentially. So, writing down our goals and resolutions and then reporting on them goes a long way to helping us accomplish those goals and make the changes we need in our life.

So, if you don't mind, I'm going to share 3 of my goals for 2009 with you and each month I will report my progress. I apologize for getting a little personal here, but it helps me and hopefully will help you in your goals. I encourage you to do the same, i.e., to write down your goals and then measure and report to someone on a regular basis.

Goal #1: Build my house in Park City, Utah. As some of you know, this has been an ongoing project for several years now. The holdup for the past six months has been the Deer Mountain HOA. The Board rejected my plans because they thought the house was too big based on an arbitrary change to the rules that they made last year. So, the first step in achieving this goal is to get my plans approved, either by changing the Board's mind (working on this through a petition) or changing the plans to fit within the new guidelines.

Goal #2: Size 32 pants. I'm not that far off - I'm in a size 34, but that extra 2 inches would make a big difference in how I look and feel. First step goes to one of my resolutions - work out 5 days a week. I have been working out 3-4 but I have let my travel interfere with this.

Goal #3: Complete an Olympic triathlon in less that 2 hours and 45 minutes. My previous best is just under 3 hours. Next step is to work with my naturopath to strengthen my ankle muscles to I can start running again. This will help a lot with my travel as well, so I can run when I am away from home. (I have found it extremely difficult to find a pool to swim in when I travel.)

Now that I have measured and reported my current status of these goals, I will ask you to hold me accountable. And feel free to share any of your goals with the rest of us. We would be happy to be a part of your measurement and reporting process.

You may wonder why I share health and vacation home goals in a blog about wealth. But isn't wealth just a way to improve our life and obtain financial freedom? Health produces it's own freedoms. Even a smaller pant size increases your freedom as you are free to shop for nicer clothes that look and feel better.

And the ProVision Team is all about freedom; especially your financial freedom. Join us at http://ProVisionWealth.com and sign up for WealthStrategyU to start on your path to Financial Freedom. And let us know how we can help. We have a full team of Tax and Wealth Strategists at your disposal. You can contact us at cs@provisionwealth.com or call us at 866.467.5809.

Remember that your financial freedom is closer than you think.

Happy New Year!

Tom

Once you have your goals in place, it's time to form a strategy. Begin by determining where you are today in relation to your goals. Now you know the gap that has to be filled. But how to close that gap?

With a plan (strategy). Formulate a plan for achieving each goal. Let's take mine, for instance. I need a plan for each goal. So, with my three goals, I need three plans; one to build my house, one to get to a size 32 pant and one to reduce my triathlon time.

Tomorrow I will show you how to build that plan.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Once you have your goals in place, it's time to form a strategy. Begin by determining where you are today in relation to your goals. Now you know the gap that has to be filled. But how to close that gap?

With a plan (strategy). Formulate a plan for achieving each goal. Let's take mine, for instance. I need a plan for each goal. So, with my three goals, I need three plans; one to build my house, one to get to a size 32 pant and one to reduce my triathlon time.

Tomorrow I will show you how to build that plan.

Warmest regards,

Tom

So let's discuss how to build a strategy. Once you know what you want to accomplish and your current situation, you are ready to create your plan. The next step is to figure out what has to happen right before you succeed. That's right, don't think about the next thing you have to do. Think backwards from the result you want to achieve.

So let's take my goal of building my house in Park City. What has to happen right before I have my first housewarming party to celebrate the completion of the house. Every time we set a goal, we should set up a celebration for accomplishing the goal. In this case, it will be a grand housewarming party. For my goal of a size 32 waist, the celebration will be, of course, shopping for new clothes. For my goal of a 2:45 triathlon, my celebration will be a nice dinner at my favorite restaurant, Ruth's Chris.

Planning on celebrating brings a lot of joy to the plan. Let's say you want to lose weight. That's a very difficult challenge and not one that most of us look forward to. So the celebration is critical to keep us motivated. My housewarming party will include my family and my close friends and what could be better than a house full of the people you love?

Tomorrow we will talk about how to look at the step before the celebration and the step before that until we get to where we are now. In the meantime, if you would like more information on tax or wealth strategies, visit our website at http://www.provisionwealth.com/wealthstrategyu.

We will talk again tomorrow. Until then, remember that your financial freedom is closer than you think.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Saturday we discussed the celebration that you are planning for the completion of your goal. Today, as promised, we will discuss how to go about creating the strategy to accomplish your goal. Remember, we talked about starting at the end and then working backwards? The reason for this is simply because for most of us it's easier than starting at the beginning. After all, we pretty well know the end result and working backwards is just one step at a time examining what has to happen immediately before the accomplishment of the next step.

Let's take my house, for example. What has to happen immediately before we are ready for our celebration? We need to decorate the house. This includes hanging or placing any art work or any other decorations that we want in the house. Just before that comes the furnishing of the house, including beds, sofa's, and the pillows or bedding that go along with it. Are you starting to get the picture?

The great thing about this approach is that you can be as detailed or as general as you like. Some of you will want to go into great detail about each step right from the beginning, such as what the decorations are going to be and who will hang the pictures. Others will want to get a broad picture first and then get into more detail as the project progresses. Just remember for those of you in the latter category, that you will eventually need to get into the detail, including the budget for your decorations, furnishings, etc., so you may want to think about it earlier than just before you do it.

Another benefit of this approach is that it allows you to visualize the process based on the successful completion of each step. Any time we can visualize the results of a portion of the process, we are more motivated to complete that portion of the process.

You can do this with any goal and you can start general and then go back and do the details for each part of the process. Once you have this done, you have a great map for completing your goals. You can then add a timeline for each step and add the people and the budget for each step. You Quick Starts (see www.Kolbe.com) may initially resist this process. Just remember that you can do the general part of it, which you will enjoy doing, and then have your assistant or someone else who is more of a follow through create and carry out the details. This gives you a map, allows you to still visualize the success, and provides guidance for those who will carry out the details.

For more on creating a wealth strategy, subscribe to our free WealthStrategyU at http://www.provisionwealth.com/wealthstrategyu or sign up for our monthly coaching at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products.

Have fun creating the strategies to reach your 2009 goals. We will talk more about specific wealth strategies another time.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Here is another question from one of my Aussie friends, Anita:

Q: Dear Tom, I need to be financially self-sufficient in 2 years so that I can retire and live a fulfilling life style. My husband and I currently have Real Estate to the value of approx. AUS$1,700,000. $650,000 of that is our family home. $920,000 is owed to the bank, monthly interest is $6,000 and rental income is $3,500/m. Credit card debt is $60,000 some of which is at 20%(Yeah I can hear you gasping) I have now been pre-approved for a further loan of $460,000 @ 7.14%. Question: How best can I use this money on the 30% strategy you talked about when you came to Australia? This loan must repay itself and more.(My preference is for Real Estate.) Extra Question: How can I get a goal plan worked out such as the example of the woman which you demonstrated. P.S. Will your tax tutorials be relevant to Australia, what is an IRA?

A: First thing you do with the $460,000 is pay down that $60,000 of credit card debt that is at 20%. Next thing you do is to get your spending under control so you are not racking up additional credit card debt. After that, you need to create your wealth strategy that builds so much wealth you can spend whatever you want without worrying about credit card or other debt.

Begin by going through the 17 Secrets course you acquired at the Chris Howard seminar in Sydney. This is the same material that others can acquire (though without all of the bonuses) through our School of Wealth Strategy at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products. Once you have been through the materials, consider hiring a ProVision Strategic Wealth Coach. A ProVision wealth coach will give you advice that is relevant to your specific situation, will hold you accountable, and will help you build the team and the systems that will allow you to achieve your 30% investment returns.

Remember, that the key is not the investment, but rather the method of investing. This is what we teach in our School of Wealth Strategy at http//www.provisionwealth.com/products. Be sure to ask any questions you have either through the AskTom link or in our monthly coaching calls. I would suggest waiting to borrow the $460,000 until after you have developed your wealth strategy, unless you can borrow it as a line of credit that allows you to draw down only the amount you need at any one time, in which case I would suggest you obtain the line as soon as possible to pay down your expensive credit card debt.

Again, please feel free to ask these and any other questions on our monthly coaching calls. The next call is tomorrow at 7:00p.m. MST, 6:00p.m. PST. I believe this is in the middle of your day in Australia.

Warmest regards,

Tom

P.S. - See tomorrow's blog for the answer to your question about the tax planning bonus course you are getting with the 17 Secrets course.

I have been asked to speak to several church groups over the next two months on the topic of financial preparedness (ward conferences for you LDS folks out there). So I have been preparing my talk these past couple of weeks. I have 10 minutes to speak, so I have to make it count. So I'm wondering would could provide the greatest benefit to these people in that short of a time?

When I have heard similar talks about financial preparedness in the past, the focus has always been on budgeting your expenses and making sure you live within your means and save money. Not only is this boring, it is extremely negative and pretty much worthless. I want to inspire people and I don't think anyone is inspired by the thought of depriving themselves of what they want and need through the idea of a budget. Both "budget" and "save" are negative terms that are all about scarcity.

Instead, I have decided to talk about creating a wealth plan, or strategy. See, if we focus on a plan, we have something positive to look forward to. As I mentioned the other day, the first step of a plan is to determine your goal. And the first step of forming a goal is to decide how you are going to celebrate when you reach the goal. So, by focusing on a strategy, we are now talking about the most positive topic possible - celebrating!!!

I would encourage all of our readers to get rid of your budget, stop saving, and start planning for a great celebration when you reach your goals. Instead of saving, begin by investing but go the next step, as we discuss in our School of Wealth Strategy (http://www.provisionwealth.com/products, i.e., creating a wealth business. Doesn't having your own wealth business sound a whole lot better than saving money and budgeting? Not only is it more positive, it is the ONLY WAY TO BUILD PERMANENT WEALTH. All great wealth has been created through business.

And it's really not very difficult once you have a system or recipe to do it and especially not if you have a great Strategic Wealth Coach to guide you through. For more information on ProVision Strategic Wealth Coaching, go to our website at http://provisionwealth.com or sign up for our School of Wealth Strategy at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products.

And wish me luck in my presentation this Sunday. I can use your good vibes. I will be speaking at 11:00a.m. MST on Sunday.

Thanks for all of your positive energy.

Your financial freedom is closer than you think.

Warmest regards,

Tom

I had fun this morning doing two radio interviews - one in Gainesville, Florida on WOCA and one in Atlanta on WDUN. The hosts in Florida were Larry and Robin. Very nice, genuine people. The hosts in Atlanta were Joel and Bill - funny guys. What stood out the most for me was how basic I had to be in explaining what I believe to be basic financial concepts. Don't get me wrong - it was not that the hosts weren't intelligent people - to the contrary. Rather, it became more apparent than ever that the financial landscape is full of weeds (i.e., bad advice) and a desert of good information.

For example, a caller on WOCA who is retired called and asked what he should do to make more money on his investments. When I asked him what he currently did with his money, he said that he had it in cd's making 3-4% interest. How sad! Think about how much better he could live if he was making even 5-10% on his money. And what if he learned the rules of wealth that we teach in our FREE cd (that you can get at http://www.provisionwealth.com/wealthcd) and made 20-30% on his money? He could be traveling first class all over the world.

Another example was talking about taxes. The focus was on how much to withhold. While this is important, how much more important to actually reduce your tax bill permanently like we teach in our School of Tax Strategy at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products.

My point is that the keys to great wealth are:

1. Dream big
2. Learn the Rules
3. Take control of your wealth with a wealth strategy (plan)
4. Learn the ProVision Investment Process
5. Build your wealth team so you don't spend hours and hours managing your investments

I am passionate about getting this information out to the world. Would you please help me? We have tons of free education online at http://www.provisionwealth.com. Pass this link on to your friends, your family and anyone else you know. Let's get the world educated. If we do, this recession will be over in a hurry.

A special thanks today to WCOA and WDUN for helping to get this message out. I really appreciate you taking time to talk to me to get more of this information out to your audience.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Debbie from our School of Wealth Strategy asks the following question:

Q: Tom, what do you mean when you say we should build a business around our investing?

A: This is the question of all questions and gets to the core of ProVision and what we are all about. Let's start with a little background.

Historically, all great fortunes have been built in business. Whether it was Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, all great fortunes have business as their foundation. You really don't hear about great fortunes being made by investors. Ever wonder why? It's because business done right provides the most leverage, greatest velocity, and least amount of risk of any money-making activity.

I come from a long line of entrepreneurs. My father owned a printing company, his father owned an insurance agency. I learned early on in my life what it was like to run a business. But my father, while a great printer and a wonderful person, was not a great businessman. So I have spent my life learning what makes the difference between a great business and an average business. Why do some businesses grow and grow while others seem to hit a ceiling past which they can't grow?

The answer to this question lies in the foundation of the business. Small businesses stay small when the owner spends his or her time running the business. Effectively, these people own their job. They have no time to work on the business because they are always working in the business. The key is how to get the owner out of the business operations and focused on the business growth. The answer is for the business to create a strategy and a set of systems that implement that strategy. Then, and only then, will the business owner have time to grow the business. When the strategy and systems are in place, the owner only has to manage the systems, not the people. The owner isn't doing the work, the employees and other team members are doing the work.

In case you think this is a fantasy, let me explain that I have done this with my accounting firm. My partner, Ann, is a systems genius. My expertise is in strategy. So once I created the strategy for the firm, Ann created the systems. The result is that Ann doesn't spend any time at all on the accounting firm and I spend about 3 hours a week. If it can be done with a professional services firm, it can be done with any business.

So, back to Debbie's question. What does this have to do with investing? I have discovered that the business principles of strategy and systems can be applied to investing. Investors who create a business of investing, by developing a strategy and implementing systems, can enjoy the same results enjoyed by a successful business owner, i.e., higher profits, more growth, less time spent on investing, total control over their investing and less risk.

These are the principles I teach on T. Harv Eker's stage, Chris Howard's stage and Robert Kiyosaki's stage. These are the principles I have followed to create an accounting firm where I only spend 3 hours a week managing the firm. And these are the principles I follow in my real estate investing.

The good news is that Ann and I have decided to share all of our strategies and systems with you. And we have made it as inexpensive as possible. How? Through our School of Wealth Strategy and our School of Tax Strategy; two inexpensive subscriptions that each include hours of training materials and a monthly coaching call with me. To sign up, simply go to http://www.provisionwealth.com/products. It's fast and it's easy.

We want to share more of our strategies and systems, so we are continually adding more sessions to our Schools. The response from our current members has been fantastic.

Thanks to Debbie for asking this question.

Warmest regards,

Tom

The other evening, my wife, Rosie, and I were at the house of one of our friends. The current economy came up (of course) and the topic of investing was raised. We have played Cash Flow 101 with these friends and, of course, they know that financial education is my profession. They asked me the following question:

How can you tell which advice to follow? Who is right and who is wrong?

I've been thinking about this question a lot since then. How do you know who to listen to when it comes to financial issues? Do you listen to the talking heads on CNN, Fox or CNBC? What about the newspaper columnists? Or what about the financial advisors?

After considerable reflection, I came up with my answer to this question. THE WAY TO EVALUATE FINANCIAL ADVICE IS TO LOOK AT HOW THE PERSON GIVING THE ADVICE GETS PAID. How they are paid will tell you a lot about their incentive to provide certain types of information or advice. Let me explain by going through some examples.

Start with the financial advisors. How do they get paid? Most of them get paid from commissions for specific products they sell. Do you want advice from someone whose payday comes from selling a specific product? I don't. Their incentive is to advise you to buy their product. The same goes equally for real estate agents, insurance agents and investment advisors. They all get paid only if you invest in their "product." So getting financial education from them can be a bit risky.

What about the talking heads or so-called experts on television and radio? They get paid for viewers. So their incentive is to say what will get them most noticed. That means fear and controversy. And who buys the advertising on their stations? Primarily the real estate agents, insurance agents and investment advisors, so of course, they will tend to promote their customers.

Is there anyone we have left out? Oh yes - the advisors who get paid simply for providing good financial education by the people they are educating. Their incentive (and yes, this includes ProVision, so of course, I am biased) is to provide the best education so you will buy more of it. Wouldn't you rather take advice from someone you are paying specifically to give you good advice rather that someone with another motive?

By the way, I include in this latter group of wrongly incented advisors those of my CPA colleagues who provide investment advice, sell mutual funds and other products such as annuities and insurance. Shame on you! You give up your independence by doing this. I know the temptation is great. I can't tell you how many times I have been approached by stock brokerage houses and others to promote their products to my clients and get paid for it.

So look to those financial educators whose interest is solely to provide sound financial education. At ProVision, we provide pages and pages of financial education for free (go to http://www.provisionwealth.com/wealthstrategyu) and tons of financial education for a minimal price in our School of Wealth Strategy and our School of Tax Strategy at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products.

Now, I'm not saying that there aren't good people to listen to who get paid through both products and education. I love Rich Dad, T. Harv Eker, Marshall Sylver and Chris Howard seminars, among others. And there are some great insurance agents, such as my friend, Kim Butler, who get paid through selling their products who are excellent resources in this field. What I am saying is that you have to be more careful when their are motivations other than simply providing good education.

So, as we say in the accounting industry, "follow the money." When you do that, you can get a pretty good idea of whose information to trust.

Remember that your financial freedom is closer than you think.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Last night, I had the great privilege of being a guest on Kim Kiyosaki's webinar that she does each quarter for PBS. The topic centered around our current economy and whether this is an adversity or an opportunity. Kim asked me a very important question:

Q: What are you recommending to clients in this current economy about how to deal with financial challenges?

A: Education, education, education. I explained that as our knowledge about finance and investing increases, two things happen. First, our risk goes down. The more we know about any investment, the lower the risk because we know how to invest. Second, investment returns go up. We are able to take advantage of better investments when we know how to deal with them and how to find them.

I went on to say that after knowledge, the next key is FOCUS. It's critical that you focus on a single type of investing activity. I was very clear that the idea of multiple streams of income from multiple types of investing as recommended by several of the "gurus" is garbage. It simply doesn't work. In fact, it cannot possibly work. How can you possibly master multiple investment strategies?

We teach our clients how to determine the right investment category for them and how to create a strategy that will be successful for them in our School of Wealth Strategy. If you haven't had a chance to review this wonderful educational product, please go to http://www.provisionwealth.com/products and check it out.

In reality, the only way to solve your current economic situation is to get educated in a new way to look at wealth. The old ways simply don't work anymore. Come visit us and let me know what you think.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Every time I turn on the news or pick up a newspaper, there is article after article about the sorry state of our economy and how much people are hurting. It's so depressing I hate to even look. And it's just going to get worse over the next few years.

Yet, this is the Great Opportunity! Never again will we see real estate, stock and business prices so low. But with all of the negative reinforcements, it's easy to sink into our own depression about the economy and worry about our own financial situation. These thoughts can easily prevent us from going out and doing something positive to take advantage of the Great Opportunity.

So what do we do? How do we keep our thoughts and actions positive? Here are three keys to positive thoughts and actions during this period of Great Opportunity:

1. Get out of the house and out of the office. And I'm not just talking about going to the grocery store. Go to a seminar or some other place where there are people who are talking positively about the Great Opportunity. I'm in Canada right now at Greg Hasbritt's Master Wealth real estate conference. 150 investors looking for opportunities. Next month I will be at the Rich Dad Annual Forum in Orlando. 1200 investors looking for opportunities. These are positive environments where the focus is entirely on opportunity.

2. Associate with people who see opportunity in the Great Opportunity. This may require some serious changes in your life. A number of years ago, I had to make a change in a business partner. It was the most difficult choice I have ever made, since this partner was also my best friend. But while immensely painful (and, to be honest, still painful when I think about it), it was one of the best decisions I have ever made as it has made a huge improvement to my business and has greatly reduced the stress in my life. Think about your friends, your business partners and associates, and your advisors. Are your advisors constantly telling you to pull back and to protect what you have or are they advising you to take advantage of the Great Opportunity? If the former, it may be time for a change (your CPA, for example?).

3. Take time every day to thank God for all of your many blessings. And thank your family, your friends and everyone you meet who helps you in any way. Yesterday at the Master Wealth seminar, Greg invited the staff of the Hotel Arts where we are staying to come on stage so we could give them a round of applause. The energy in the room was amazing. I don't know who got more out of this show of appreciation, the staff or the seminar participants. I know it was very positive for my mental attitude.

4. Take time to serve others. (I know, I said 3 keys - just consider this a bonus). Serving gets us out of ourselves. We begin to see that our problems are not so big and we feel so good about the help we give others. This is my greatest reward when I teach, whether on stage in front of 1,000 people or with my Sunday School class of 5 eleven-year olds. It is such a privilege to serve others.

It's easy to get sucked into the great negative that is being perpetrated on us by the goverment and the media. So get out and do something positive and take advantage of the Great Opportunity! And be thankful. We have so much.

Warmest regards,

Tom

I just finished speaking at Greg Hasbritt's Master Wealth real estate seminar in Calgary, Alberta. Greg had asked me to speak twice to his American students about tax strategies. He also asked that I stay for the entire 5-day program to meet with students. I had previously met several of his students when I spoke at T. Harv Eker's Extreme Wealth seminar in Las Vegas last fall. At Extreme Wealth, my topic was wealth strategies.

Several of the students came up to me during the week to ask me tax, business and wealth questions. One of their most frequent questions was about what ProVision does and how we could help them build their wealth. So, I thought it might be a good idea to write about ProVision and how we see the process of building wealth.

In the most general sense, you could say that ProVision is a company that creates Tax, Business and Wealth strategies for entrepreneurs and investors. But there is so much more to ProVision. We have a very clear vision of how to build Permanent Wealth while maintaining control over your financial success.

We have found that, particularly in today's economy, many people are tired of the old ideas of investing by turning their money and their taxes over to someone else to manage. They want to take back control of their finances and they want to take back their taxes from the government. ProVision is dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and investors to build their own wealth and to learn enough about tax-saving strategies to permanently reduce their taxes.

So we have built systems to train clients how to take back control of their wealth, including their taxes. These systems allow clients to not only create a tax, business and/or wealth strategy, but provides the systems to implement their strategy so they only need to spend a few hours per week growing their wealth. We can even show business owners how to set up their teams and systems so they only have to spend a few hours each week on their business.

Can you imagine growing your wealth while severly reducing the amount of time you spend on your investing and your business? I know it's possible, because I have done it. I have built my own teams and systems to allow me to spend my most of my time doing what I want to do. At Greg's seminar, several people asked how I could take time out of Tax Season to be at the seminar. The reality is that I don't do or review any tax returns other than my own. I have a team and systems to do that.

So if you are thinking that you would like to take back your taxes and take back control of your financial future, give us a call at 866.467.5809. We would love to learn more about your business and investing goals to see how we can best serve you. Or, visit our website at http://www.ProVisionWealth.com/wealthstrategyu. Remember that your financial future is closer than you think!

Warmest regards,

Tom

Recently, I have been doing interviews on radio stations around the country. With the downturn in the stock market, every radio show host asks me the same question - What should i do about my 401(k)? Should I continue putting money into my 401(k)? What if my employer matches my contributions? Does that make a difference?

I'm going to give you an answer that you may not like. But it's the truth. Stop putting money into your 401(k), EVEN IF your employer matches you 100%! I say this for two reasons - tax savings and leverage.

Let's start with tax savings. Unless you 401(k) is a Roth 401(k), you are merely postponing your taxes to a later year in a 401(k). Now, if your only choices were to pay now or pay later, you would certainly want to pay later. But these aren't your only choices. Of the over 5,600 pages of law in the Internal Revenue Code, less than 400 relate to postponing or deferring income taxes such as with a 401(k) or regular IRA. The remaining 5,200+ pages explain how to permanently reduce your taxes.

So which do you prefer - temporarily postponing your taxes like most people do or permanently reducing your taxes like we teach our clients at ProVision? If you want to permanently reduce your taxes, don't be putting your money into a regulard 401(k). Instead, invest in some good permanent tax planning and get those savings every year without having to pay it back.

I will blog another time about the other reasons I don't like 401(k)'s. In the meantime, if you would like to know more about Permanent Tax Savings, visit our website at http://www.ProVisionWealth.com/wealthstrategyu and sign up for our Wealth Strategy University. It's all free with no obligation.

Warmest regards,

Tom

It's mid-February and perhaps time to review the goals and resolutions we made on New Year's Day. It's so easy to forget them and get caught up in our daily life. And if we have broken a resolution, it's easy to discard it and say we will try again next year.

I look at my goals and resolutions every day. This helps to keep me focused on them. (I keep them in the note section of my iPhone so they are with me all the time.) Like most people, I have not been perfect with my resolutions. Of course, you know that, since one of my resolutions was to blog every day and I have been less than perfect in that regard. There's even one of my resolutions that I haven't even started doing yet at all.

But should we discard resolutions just because we aren't perfect? I would say NO! Every day we need to keep after improving ourselves. And isn't that what a resolution is all about? And let's celebrate what success we have had. While I haven't blogged every day, I certainly have blogged more than I did last year and I am determined to make this a daily habit. And I have kept one of my resolutions perfectly. So that's a big win.

My point is that we need to forgive ourselves and move on. If our resolution or goal is to lose weight and we slip and eat cheesecake, rather than beating ourself up about it, just move on and be better the next day (or even the next minute). The same is true for our financial goals and resolutions. If your goal is to create a wealth strategy, it's not too late. Sit down with your wealth coach and do the strategy. If your goal is to get financially educated, resolve again to read something new every day.

Here is what I know for sure. The more we focus on our financial health, the healthier we will get. When I'm focused on my triathlon goal, my weight goes down and my workouts improve. The same will happen with your financial goals. Stay focused and stay positive. And if you need some help, join us in our School of Wealth Strategy at http://www.provisionwealth.com/products. We have a great group now that meets every month by phone to discuss wealth strategies. We would love to have you with us.

Warmest regards,

Tom

I had the opportunity to speak to the MAP trading group yesterday in Sacramento. These people are serious about trading in the stock market. 40 of their roughly 100 members gathered to participate in 3 hours of discussion regarding how to reduce their taxes. Of the 40, 4 decided to go to the next step of joining our School of Tax Strategy to continue their efforts to reduce their taxes.

These numbers are instructional. Of the 100 members, only 40 of them were willing to spend 3-4 hours learning how to reduce their taxes on their trading income. Of the 40, 4 were willing to spend a couple of hours a month and a few hundred dollars to continue learning how to reduce their taxes. So about 4% of the membership was willing to take serious steps to reduce their taxes, the single biggest expense they have and a potentially huge burden on their trading profits.

Interestingly, these numbers are about average for people who attend seminars. About 5% actually take action. Why is that? I suggest it's because reaching our dreams is hard work. As my friend Greg Habstritt says, "building wealth is simple, but it's not easy."

How dedicated are we to reaching our dreams? What will we give (see "sacrifice") in order to win? Robert Kiyosaki explained at the Rich Dad Tuesday meeting recently (go to www.richdad.com to sign up for Rich Dad Insiders to participate via the Web in these meetings) that at any given time, we have a choice between winning and being comfortable.

This really struck me as I was flying home last night. I will admit that I frequently take the comfortable route. What about you? Are you winning? Will you make the extraordinary effort it takes to be the best? Think about Olympic athletes and their mindset. It's all about winning!

Every minute of every day we are making this choice. Just remember that. And here's to winning whatever it is you seek!

When you dedicate yourself to winning, your financial freedom is closer than you think.

Tom

I received the following quote yesterday from a good friend of mine:

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." ~~~ The late Dr. Adrian Rogers , 1931 to 2005 ~~~

I would very much like to hear your thoughts on this. Personally, I fear for our country. This country was built on the notion of freedom. Heavy taxation is not freedom. And neither is a free handout. Work is a privilege and when we take away the incentive to work by giving people what they need without work, we take away this privilege.

I am not saying that we should not take care of the poor and the needy. I simply believe this should be voluntary, not compelled. At the same time the government is talking about free health care and making sure everyone has "enough", it is talking about eliminating the tax deduction for charitable contributions. These are two entirely inconsistent policies. Who takes better care of the poor - the government or charities? Charitable giving always serves two people - the giver and the receiver. Government at best only serve the receiver and serves them poorly.

Let me know what you think on this matter. And write your Representative and Senators.

Warmest regards,

Tom

The first thing I remember learning from Robert Kiyosaki when I first met him years ago was the concept of context vs. content. Robert uses a glass to illustrate this concept. The glass represents the context while what goes into the glass is the content. Until you make the glass (your context) bigger, you cannot add more content then you currently have.

I was thinking about this the other day in terms of tax knowledge. What's more important - context or content? In my travels, I am finding that most people are lacking in both content and context when it comes to taxes. They know very little (and really don't want to know more) about the rules (which, admittedly, are complex) and know even less about how the tax law works.

As I do tax evaluations for our new clients, I routinely find that 90-95% of them are overpaying their taxes by 10-40% simply because they don't know how the tax law works. This is the context I'm talking about, not the content. As soon as we broaden their context, they instantly start paying less tax.

The first and most startling change in context for most people is that Congress has filled the tax laws with tax savings that act as incentives for handling their business and investments. In fact, of the approximately 5,700 pages of Internal Revenue Code, 5,600, or 98%, is dedicated to reducing taxes. Less than 100 pages are dedicated to raising taxes.

The second change in context is finding out that of the 5,600 pages of tax reductions, only 400 pages are dedicated to deferring, or postponing taxes through mechanisms such as IRAs, 401(k)'s and pension and profit sharing plans. The remaining 5,200 pages are dedicated to permanent tax reductions.

That's enough context for today. Are you beginning to get a sense of what I mean by changing your context when it comes to taxes? When you begin to understand how the tax laws function, they stop being so scary and you can start saving taxes immediately.

Tomorrow we will talk about another change in context regarding taxes that will change your life and permanently reduce your taxes. Stay tuned.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Pretty deep question, huh? And likely the most important question we can ever ask ourself. If we don't know our life's purpose, how do we know what we should do on a daily basis?

I talk a lot about vision (as in ProVision). We can take this a lot deeper than vision of your future and vision of your financial freedom. What about your vision for your life? Do you see your strengths and weaknesses and how you can contribute to the rest of the world? Do you have a clear understanding of your purpose on the Earth?

As you know by now, I'm a big believer in strategic thinking. Strategic thinking is critical in business and in building wealth. Are you strategically thinking about your life? Does your life reflect your strategy for life? Remember the definition of strategy - A systematic plan of action to accomplish a specific goal or purpose.

Think about your life strategy. Begin by looking at your life goal and purpose. Then, create a systematic plan of action for accomplishing that goal and purpose. When you do that, every minute of every day will have meaning. You will be truly focused on your life and when you are on your deathbed, you won't be wondering what life was all about.

I will talk more about how to do this in future blogs. Because, why would we care about a tax, business or financial strategy if we don't have a life strategy?

Just a few casual thoughts to think about today.

Warmest regards,

Tom

For Christmas, my wife, Rosie, gave me tickets to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert. Last night was the big event. Rosie and I expected a good show - it's always good to see great performers. We weren't expecting the amazing show these two put on last night.

Elton and Billy came out and did 3 or 4 songs together and then we got 75 minutes of just Elton John doing his best work. After that, we had 75 mintes of Billy Joel's best music. Then, we got another 45 minutes of Elton and Billy together. In all, 3 1/2 hours of amazing performances from two of the greatest performers ever.

My point? These two way over delivered. Anyone in the crowd would have been thrilled with 2 hours of Elton John and Billy Joel. But 3 1/2 hours? And they weren't mailing it in, either. They were fully engaged. Very impressive.

It made me think about my own business and those of my clients. Do we over deliver? Do we consistently give more than expected? When we do, what is the result? You can be sure that the fans last night will be first in line for the next Elton and/or Billy concert. And I'm sure their music sales will skyrocket from these events. The point? The more we give, the more we get.

I hear all the time from clients, vendors and others about how amazing the ProVision staff is. The responsiveness from my employees and partners is fantastic. I appreciate each and every one of them. Especially this time of year, when they are putting in long hours and feeling the stress of what we refer to as "Prime Time." (I'm guessing the rest of you refer to it as Tax Season." Please join me in thanking everyone at ProVision for giving more than expected.

If you would like to have this kind of result from your CPA, call us at 866.467.5809 or send us an email at cs@provisionwealth.com. I guarantee you will get amazing results that will immediately contribute to your financial freedom.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Studies show that most of us live our entire adult life based upon the things we learned and especially experienced while we were young. Whether it is our eating habits, exercise or how we relate to others, most of how we behave as adults stems from our experience and teachings as a child. That's what keeps psychologists in business. We go to them hoping they can reprogram us from the experiences of our youth.

This is especially true when it comes to money. People who grow up poor tend to be poor as adults. The same is true with people growing up wealthy, even if their parents don't pass on any of the wealth to them. If we grow up in a middle-class family, chances are we will live middle-class lives as adults. It makes sense - this is what we know.

Of course, this is not always the case. Many athletes and others grow up poor and become rich as adults. I have several clients like this. A perfect example is my friend, Marshall Sylver. Marshall grew up very poor. Now he is very wealthy. Why? Like many who grow up poor, Marshall is driven to succeed so he will never be poor again. And, of course, we hear of wealthy kids who are lazy and lose all their money. Middle class, though, is the most dangerous of these positions. It is the most difficult to rise from.

Why? Middle class is comfortable. You aren't starving or feeling a lack of basic necessities. You aren't living on grits or oatmeal. So where does the drive come from to change so you can become wealthy? Here is where you have to change your mindset. You have to begin thinking differently about what is comfortable and what is important.

The same is true about anything we want to change. We have to start by changing our mindset. Even when it comes to taxes. Most people think taxes are scary and something they have to deal with once a year and something that is a necessary evil. One of my goals in life to to teach a new mindset about taxes. They don't have to be scary. We need to deal with them throughout the year and, with proper planning, we can reduce or avoid a lot of them.

The wealthy understand this about taxes. It's one of the things that differentiates their mindset from that of the middle class. And it's an essential change of mindset for anyone who wants to move up the ladder from middle class to wealthy.

Warmest regards,

Tom

It's been an interesting week. In fact, it's been an interesting week, month and year of self-discovery for Tom Wheelwright. And not just discovery about myself - discovery about other people and how they act and are motivated (or not). Along the way, I've learned a secret to success that I am convinced most people don't understand. I still don't completely understand it's power. I do understand its importance.

The past two years my partner and I have been building a new business. Previously, we had built a CPA (certified public accounting) firm and had been quite successful at it. Even to the point where we were able to largely step out of it and turn it over to others to run on a daily basis.

Our new business is financial education. We have learned so much over the years working with hundreds and thousands of clients that we want to share this knowledge with the rest of the world. And we both love to teach. I love to teach in a classroom and Ann loves to teach through the written word.

In order to help more people, we developed products and services that we can deliver to thousands and thousands of people, unlike the CPA professional services that we have to deliver one-to-one. To get the word out, I have been speaking on large platform stages, such as T. Harv Eker, Robert Kiyosaki, Marshall Sylver and Chris Howard. The presentation I do on these stages is designed first to teach some fundamental concepts and second to offer our products and services so we can better serve the people I'm teaching.

It's been very interesting to watch the participants in these seminars and see what they are willing to do and why they are willing to do it. Almost all of the speakers at these seminars are selling something. Usually it is some way to easily make money, such as internet marketing, real estate or some type of home-based business. People tend to buy when they are convinced that they can do it immediately and they can do it without making much effort.

All of us who have built a business and at any time in our life have been wealthy, understand that the idea of easy money is a hoax. There is no easy way to wealth. It's hard work. Some of the participants understand this. Most do not. That's why there are thousands of home study courses sitting unopened on people's shelves. And among those that are opened, only a very small portion of people make them work successfully. Why is that?

Commitment. This single word is the key to wealth and any other success we want to achieve. Commitment is the difference between the very successful and the less successful. Commitment is what keeps us from being successful at our jobs, in our families and in our athletic/physical endeavors. Commitment is the primary difference between the Olympic athlete and the weekend warrior. Commitment is what has held me back personally from the success I desire for myself, my family and my business.

We must have unwavering commitment to our cause. If our cause is our family, we must have unwavering commitment to them. If our cause is our religion, we must commit unconditionally to our religion. The Governor of South Carolina can tell you all about this. It was his lack of commitment to his family that allowed him to stray from his wife and commit adultery.

When we think of the great leaders of the world, the word commitment describes every one of them. From Mother Theresa to Martin Luther King to Ghandi. Every great leader shows total, undying commitment to their cause.

My great lesson came this week during a midnight counseling session with my older son. I woke up unable to sleep over some business matters. Max was still awake. The previous day, Max had become very angry and frustrated. So we had a little talk. As we were talking, the solution to both of our challenges became clear. We needed to be fully committed to our causes. For Max, it's a commitment to his religion and faith. For me, it's a total commitment to business, family and personal success. We both realized that it was a lack of commitment that was causing our stress.

I urge you to relieve your own stress by committing to your success. Commit to your financial success. Commit to your physical success (your health). And commit to your family's success. It's not difficult. It just takes focus and moving forward on a straight and unwavering path. Stop wondering if you are on the right path. Make a decision and get moving.

If you would like to know more about how to build wealth while reducing risk and time devoted to building wealth, visit our website at http://www.ProVisionWealth.com or join our School of Wealth Strategy at http://www.ProVisionWealth.com/products.

Thank you for reading this blog. Feel free to pass the link on to your friends. I am recommitted to writing this blog several days a week. Commit to reading it and taking action.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Yesterday at Robert Kiyosaki's staff meeting, we were talking about change. With the economy in the shape it's in, what are people going to do to change? How are we individually going to deal with the drastic changes in the economy that are coming when the Baby Boomers retire and start using Medicare? What causes people to want to change?

I was so enamoured with our discussion, that I took it to my staff and we discussed it in our weekly ProVision staff meeting. Another great discussion. At the conclusion, one of my partners, Rondi Habern, gave me the following that helps explain change and growth.

All change and growth involves three steps:
1. DISSATISFACTION: Because of outer events or inner feelings, you decide your current situation no longer works for you.
2. CONFUSION: Normally, a period of confusion follows in which you challenge your old beliefs. You begin to fantasize how things could be different or what you would like to take place. This transitional period could last a day, a month, a year, or more ... until something happens.
3. ACTION: Someone helps you to make a decision, or an opportunity presents itself, or you manage to attain clarity. Once this happens, you take action and, ideally, manifest a more satisfying life.

A lot of people are in the Dissatisfaction first stage of change right now because of the Economy. And many are in the second stage, Confusion, not knowing what to do since they have never been taught anything about Finance except what they hear from mutual funds on TV (which is a load of crap!). The key for companies like Rich Dad and ProVision is to help people take action. That's what we both do. Rich Dad helps you take action through education about the fundamentals of Finance. ProVision helps you take action through implementing those fundamentals in your LIFE.

So, don't let this period of confusion you are in last for a long time. Visit Rich Dad at http://www.richdad.com and contact ProVision at 866.467.5809 or email us at cs@provisionwealth.com. When you begin to take action, you will take control of your life, your confusion will go away and Your Financial Freedom will be Closer Than You Think.

Warmest regards,

Tom

At the Rich Dad staff meeting yesterday, we were talking about Leadership. The question posed was what are the qualities of a great leader. The one that immediately came to mind is Consistency. Let me explain.

A great leader is consistent between his/her personal actions and his actions in front of a group. Great leaders are also consistent in their actions and language regardless of the circumstance.

I know several individuals who are great guys in a social setting. They're funny. They're kind. They give much of themselves and their time. These same people are completely different in a business setting. In business, they have a reputation for not paying their bills, for cheating associates wherever they can and for not fulfilling their promises. I think they have compartmentalized their lives to the degree that they are almost schizophrenic. They see themselves completely different in the two settings. Somehow they have justified this to themselves for so long that it is acceptable to them.

Great leaders aren't like this at all. They are good all the time. They are fair and honest all the time. They give of themselves all the time. They may waffle on decisions from time to time. They may change their mind frequently (this will happen particularly if they are QuickStarts per the Kolbe assessment). Still, they are consistent in that they are the same person in any setting.

I know several people in this latter category as well. I admire them greatly. These are the people I want to associate with.

What does this have to do with wealth? Long-term wealth requires Consistency. Great business leaders, those who build tremendous fortunes and lead happy lives, are Consistent. They may not be kind or even nice. Still, they are consistent.

And true wealth is much more than having a lot of money. It's having good health, great friends, and a wonderful family who loves and supports you. One of my favorite movies is Meet Joe Black about a man who is about to die and is literally visited by death (in the form of Brad Pitt - who'd of thought?). It's clear by the end of the move that not only is this man wealthy and a great leader, he is consistent in all he does. He is beloved by all who know him, especially is children.

Just a thought for building wealth in these troubled time. Those who stay consistent will be okay. They will make through these times and come out well.

Warmest regards,

Tom

About 2 years ago, I received a call from Robert Kiyosaki, author of the bestselling book, Rich Dad Poor Dad. Robert asked if I would contribute to a book he was writing about real estate. Of course, I jumped at this offer. The result of my two chapters plus those of 21 other authors, including Donald Trump, Robert and Kim Kiyosaki and Wayne Palmer, is the recently published book, "The Real Book of Real Estate."

Donald Trump recently listed The Real Book of Real Estate as the number one book on investing to read this summer. And it's my great privilege to have written the very first chapter of the book, "The Business of Real Estate."

I remember when we first got together as a group of authors 18 months ago. Kathy Heasley, editor extraordinaire, asked each of us about topics we would like to see in the Book. Of course, I suggested the Business of Real Estate. Why? Because in my 30+ years of experience as a consultant to entrepreneurs and investors, I have found that the most successful people are business owners.

Business owners understand how to use other people's time and money to their advantage; how to work smarter, not harder. So why not treat your investments like a business?!! This is especially true when it comes to real estate investing. As many have discovered over the past year or two, real estate investing is not easy. It takes time, education, and hard work. So why not treat it as a business?

You tell me. What do you think about the idea of treating your real estate investing as a business? I would love to hear you thoughts on this idea and I'm sure our other readers would like to hear your thoughts as well. So don't be shy - share your thoughts with us.

Warmest regards,

Tom

P.S. - You can purchase a copy of The Real Book of Real Estate at any major book store or online at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_14?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+real+book+of+real+estate&sprefix=The+Real+Book+

One of the most common questions I am asked is how to find the various advisors, coaches and other team members for your Wealth Team. The next question I get is, once you have been refered to a potential team member, what questions do you ask to be sure they know what they are talking about?

The best way for me to answer this is to tell you about pickles. That's right, cucumbers with a hangover. Now, a lot of people like pickles. I few of us (including yours truly) don't like them at all. In fact, we can't stand them. And what makes it worse is that pickles are very sociable. When someone puts a pickle on a plate with a sandwich and fries, the pickle doesn't stay to itself. It leaks all over the rest of the plate. I have always presumed that for pickle lovers, this is a good thing. You like the flavor of the pickle in the sandwich and fries.

For those of us who don't like pickles, this is a disaster. It means that the entire meal is ruined. I realize that right now two things are going through your mind. First, I have lost my mind. Second, what in the world do pickles have to do with choosing good members for your Wealth Team. I can't help you with the first thing. For you pickle lovers out there, I realize that you may have a tough time understanding why this is such a big deal to those of us who don't care for the slimy little green vegetables (they are vegetables, right?). However, I can well explain the second point by sharing a personal pickle experience (PPE for the uninitiated). It happend like this.

My colleague and I just sat down to lunch at a neighborhood cafe near our office. The server comes over and asks what we would like to order. I order a turkey sandwich with fries. Now, when I was reading the menu, I noticed that the menu indicated that all sandwiches came with a pickle. So I knew I had better do something to keep that pickle off my plate.

So when I gave my order to the server, I asked her if it would be okay if they left the pickle off my plate as I really don't care for them. She responded kindly that of course they could do this. Then she went off to get our drinks. When she returned, I thought I maybe ought to be sure she got the pickle thing straight so I asked her again if she could be sure I didn't get a pickle on my plate? To which she kindly responded "yes" she would make sure there was no pickle with my sandwich.

Nervously, I waited for my sandwich and fries, wondering if there would be a pickle infecting my sandwich and fries. Ten minutes I sat wondering if the server would really make sure there wasn't a pickle on my plate. Finally, the server comes out with our orders. I look and sure enough, there is a pickle on my plate. My colleague and I start talking about how I could have possible ended up with a pickle on my plate. Could it be that the server was not really listening to me? Perhaps she didn't like me? Or maybe the cook didn't read her note (maybe she didn't write down the note to "hold the pickle")?

So after two conversations with the server and ten minutes of worry, I still had a pickle on my plate. My friend and I continued our conversation about the pickle. What could we learn from this? After an extensive conversation it came down to this - What would have been the best outcome from this situation?

The obvious answer, of course, is that I didn't get a pickle on my plate. Still, I thought, there is an even better outcome. Getting a pickle on my plate was only part of my problem. I also had to sit there for ten minutes worrying about whether there would be a pickle on my plate. So we came to the conclusion that the best outcome would have been for the server to ask me if I wanted a pickle with my sandwich.

Why is this the best answer? Because then I wouldn't have worried about it. I would have known that the server was interested in what I wanted. She would have been the one actively inquiring about whether I wanted a pickle. It would have been on her mind to make sure I got what I really wanted and nothing else.

Now do you see what pickles have to do with selecting the right advisors and other Wealth Team members? You want people on your team who have your interests at heart. And how can you tell if they have your interests at heart? Easy - they ask you about your interests. They find out what you really want. They sincerely search for how they can best help you. And THEY ASK YOU THE RIGHT QUESTIONS!!!

You see, the server did not ask me the right question. Oh, she asked me what I wanted to eat. Only she wasn't specific about it. When I told her I wanted a sandwich, she didn't go further to ask if I wanted the pickle that normally came with the sandwich. If she had, I am confident that I would not have had a pickle on my sandwich.

So, when you are interviewing advisors and other members for your Wealth Team, observe closely what questions they ask. How deep do they go into finding out what you want? How much time to they spending talking about your wants before they start telling you about themselves?

Only when we have team members truly interested in us will we be most successful in our wealth building. When we have team members like this, we can be confident that they will be thinking of our wants when they perform tasks on our behalf. We can be sure they are most interested in our success because they understand what success means to us (they asked the questions).

Financial freedom comes with great teams of people who are truly interested in our success. When we have a great team, financial freedom gets closer and closer and closer. So go out and find your Wealth Team today. Find those individuals who ask you the right questions and are clearly interested first in your success.

Yours for financial freedom now,

Tom

Late last night I learned that a friend of mine passed away. Apparently, he had a heart attack. In his late 40's, he left a wonderful wife and six amazing children. He was a fine, fine man and a terrific father, husband and friend to everyone he met. Everyone liked him.

Yes, this is a tragedy. It's also a celebration of a life well lived. He didn't live nearly long enough. Still, he had a positive, lasting impact on hundreds or even thousands of people, including my son, Sam.

What do we learn from this? Life may be shorter than we think. Don't postpone doing good in the world, doing good to your family. My friend was successful in business as well as his family and for the same reasons he was successful with his family. Because he cared and loved everyone he met.

We can all learn from this. We can all care about others and show them that we care. We can take time to talk to them and listen to them. To joke with them and pray for them. My friend will be remembered for how much he cared for others. Will we be remembered the same?

I want all of you to know that I personally care about the success of every person I meet. Whether through a blog, when I'm on stage, or as a client or other business associate. I want you to succeed.

I apologize for being gone from my blog for so long. I will repent and get back on it. No excuses. Have a wonderful day and a great weekend. Remember the lessons from my friend. Be good to others and life, no matter how long or short, will be worthwhile.

Warmest regards,

Tom

My wife, Rosie, grew up as the youngest child of a family of eight children. Her father was a shift worker at Standard Oil. Her mother stayed home to raise the kids. They never had much money. It seemed there was never enough food, so you had to be quick to get what you could. Clothes were home made and/or hand-me-downs and never as nice as your friends' clothes.

So it's no surprise that Rosie has always looked at life as one with a scarcity and one where if you had the means, you should never keep anything back from yourself or your children. You should always eat whatever you want, do what you want to do and have whatever you want. Discipline, of course, is akin to keeping something back. Discipline means not always eating what you want, doing what you want to do or having whatever you want. So, discipline is, effectively, a 4-letter word that you don't want around.

On the other hand, I grew up in a family that always had enough. We had enough to eat, enough to share and, though as the youngest of 6 children I, too, wore hand-me-downs, I really never felt a lack of anything. We were taught to sacrifice now for what we wanted later. My brothers and I were all competitive swimmers. We worked hard to become the best swimmers we could be, so we could compete in the State championships. Our high school in Salt Lake City, East High, had one of the best swimming teams in the State year in and year out.

We also worked hard at school, sacrificing time with friends to get good grades. Consequently, we were all "A" students.

So you see that for me, self-discipline has always brought rewards where with Rosie, it meant depriving yourself. (You can imagine this was a bit difficult while we were raising our children.)

I continue to see the benefits of self-discipline. I'm working hard right now to prepare for my triathlon in two weeks. I believe my self-discipline will pay off and I will race faster than I ever have before.

I'm about to head off to the Rich Dad Tuesday meeting where the first thing we will read is the Rich Dad mission statement, "I Am The Rich Dad Company." One of the lines is that "I demand hard work today for freedom and happiness tomorrow."

How do you feel about discipline? Does it mean deprivation to you like it does my wife or does it signal future success? Let me know. I'm interested in hearing from you about this.

Warmest regards,

Tom

The argument my wife would use against self discipline is that it is essentially denial. Why give up what you enjoy today for the prospect of something tomorrow? Should I deny myself that donut so that I can have a thinner waist?

Perhaps the question really is what matters most to you? I'm at Walgreens the other day picking up a condolence card for the daughter of my friend who died last week. The person in front of me is a woman who is perhaps 30 lbs overweight. She picks out a candy bar and ice cream novelty at the register. I'm thinking, "Don't do it, lady. It's not worth it."

Perhaps it is worth it to her. Certainly it's not worth it to me. I work too hard to keep my weight down and care too much about my health. Perhaps, though, I am casting my judgment on her and suggesting that I'm right and she's wrong. Maybe she really prefers the candy and ice cream to keeping her weight down.

So what's important to you? I think this is a valid question. So long as we ask it each time we make a decision, we will tend to make the best decisions. Let me know what you think.

Tomorrow we will talk about the positive side of self discipline (you knew it was coming) and my thoughts as to have our cake and eat it too.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Over the past couple of days, I have explained the downside of self discipline and my wife's argument for not depriving yourself of life's little luxuries. Now, I would like to present the other side of self discipline and even argue that you don't have to deprive yourself of anything now and you can still have what you are striving for in the future.

Self discipline begins with a goal or a dream. What are we trying to accomplish in our life? Whether it's being physically fit, financially free, or having time for our children, self discipline is the key to ALL of life's accomplishments. As Robert Kiyosaki says, "we demand hard work today for financial freedom tomorrow." All athletes will tell you that it takes hard work today to win the race tomorrow. And certainly, making time for our children requires the highest of self discipline. Not because we don't want to make time for them; because other things get in the way rather easily and if we don't discipline ourselves, our times flies out the window never to return and we miss those little moments with our kids.

You have all heard these arguments before and you are still saying, "yes, but you said we could eat our cake too!" That's right. And here is the secret (don't tell anybody).

The best goals always bring with them the best journeys.

That's right. The goal is the motivation, the reward. The journey that goes along with accomplishing the goal is the real benefit. So the key is to have goals that produce great journeys. Let me give you an example.

Suppose your goal is to lose weight and become physically fit. Your target then may be competing in a triathlon or running a marathon. The journey is the daily workouts. These workouts produce both current and future benefits. The current benefit comes from more energy, produced by the workouts as well as the endorphins you generate with the workout. An old friend of mine, Coulam Monk, used to tell me that working out really didn't take any time because it both extended our life and improved our efforts at everything else during the day.

So how can we apply this to your financial goals and dreams? Quite simply, you should find a type of investing and determine the appropriate role you play in that investing that is fun and enjoyable for you. I know many people who dread working out because they do things working out that they aren't good at and don't enjoy. My workouts are heavy on swimming and biking because I love to swim and I love to ride my bike.

The same holds true for investing. I know many people who invest in something because they have been told it's a good investment. Here's another secret.

You can make money at any investment. It's just how you do the investing that determines how much money you will make. And the more you enjoy an investment, the better you will be at that investment and the more fun you will have doing it. I love business and I love to teach. So, I have developed my business into one in which I spend a lot of time teaching. And I make money at it!!!

Self discipline is so much easier when you enjoy what you are doing. Then, it's just a matter of sticking with your priorities. You will enjoy life more (the journey) and at the same time will reach your dreams better and faster.

So, the key to self discipline is finding a discipline you enjoy, setting your goals and sticking with it. Life is good all around.

Warmest regards,

Tom

The cover story on this week's TIME magazine covers a topic that I covered with Robert Kiyosaki two years ago in his Yahoo! Finance column. In that column, I wrote a "Why the Lottery is a Better Investment than a 401(k)." Robert and I were piloried by 750 respondents within 3 hours of this article being posted. Now comes this TIME article underscoring how right we were two years ago.

The TIME article begins with the story of Robert Shively, a retiree who has to work as a mechanic at a golf course because he never saved enough in his 401(k) to retire properly. Proponents of the 401(k) say that he simply didn't put enough away. The author, however, is more to the point. Stephen Gandel says, "The ugly truth, though, is that the 401(k) is a lousy idea, a financial flop, a rotten repository for our retirement reserves."

I like the article because it does underscore the problem. Unfortunately, it suggests that perhaps if we give the 401(k) a little longer (30 years of saving/investing according to the article), then maybe it's okay.

The reality, is that a 401(k) is NEVER okay. It has three fundamental problems that cannot be solved with any guaranteed plan or saving for a lifetime.

1. Contrary to what the article suggests, you do NOT have control of your investments in a 401(k). You are severely limited in what you can do with your investment dollars.
2. You have no control over when you can use your money. While some 401(k)'s allow you to borrow up to 50% of your funds, none of them allow you to use all of them unless you leave the company (and then you pay a tax penalty) or you retire.
3. You pay the highest tax rate on your earnings. Dividends, capital gains and passive income, while outside of a 401(k) taxed at a preferential rate, are taxed at ordinary income rates when you withdraw your funds.
4. I know I said there are three reasons - this one's a bonus. Your 401(k) will NEVER KEEP UP WITH INFLATION.

So stop contributing to your 401(k) and learn how to invest like a business owner. Take control of your financial life. The big myth perpetrated by the financial institutions and the government is that finance is difficult to understand. Money is easy. I will be explaining how money works over the next several days in my blog. Stay tuned.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Today I am off to Lake Powell where I will compete in the triathlon I have been training for on Saturday. A couple of comments about this.

First, it's October 15th. Some of you may recognize that this is the final deadline for personal income tax returns. I am able to leave today because at ProVision, we have systems and people in place that allows an owner such as myself to not worry about tax deadlines.

Second, I've been thinking about the race and what I hope to accomplish. As I stated earlier in the year, my goal is to break 2 hours and 30 minutes. It will be tight, though I do have a shot at doing this. My previous best, by the way, is 2 hours and 57 minutes. I know my swim is better and my bike is much faster. As always, my concern is the run. For the run, it's mostly a matter of concentration so I don't hurt or strain my weaker left leg. I learned the other day when my ipod shuffle died that if I'm not distracted, I can run so my left leg doesn't tighten up. (Of course, the same is true for wealth building. That's a discussion for another day.)

Third, I have been wondering which is more important, the process of preparing for the triathlon or the triathlon itself. My conclusion is that the goal of the triathlon is a part of the process. It's the motivation part. Everything from what I eat and drink, my sleep and general health, my workouts and the triathlon itself is part of the process of becoming healther.

And it's worked. I'm in better shape and feel better than I have in many years. It feels great to be comfortable pedaling hard for 30 miles at a time. I'm looking forward to continuing my training and reaching for new goals to keep the process going. I love the process!!!

Wish me luck and send me your wings. I'm going to need them during the run.

Warmest regards,

Tom

I did it! Another triathlon completed. It was a beautiful fall day in the most beautiful place on earth, Lake Powell. There were about 300 athletes with lots of families there to cheer us on. The race got under way with the first wave of Olympic distance men at 8:00a.m. The second wave of Olympic distance men left about 7 minutes later. I was in the second wave.

The swim was two laps around a set of three bouys. As some of you know, I have always been a swimmer. So the swim is usually my best event. Well, I hadn't prepared for two things on this swim. First, I had not taken into account the altitude. Second, I had not done enough swimming in a wetsuit to get comfortable with it. The two combined to so constrict my breathing that during the first 500 meters, I really thought I wasn't going to be able to complete the triathlon and would have to pull out.

Still, I stuck with it and focused on my breathing. A couple of times early on I stopped and swam breaststroke for a few meters. Eventually, I got into a rhythm. I still struggled getting enough oxygen, but I didn't feel like I was suffocating. In the end, I completed the swim in about 25 minutes, three minutes longer than my goal.

From the water, we had to run up the boat ramp (very long) to get to the transition area. I was just glad to be done with the swim (never thought I would say that). Once I was on my bike, I felt I could breath a little better, though I struggled with my breathing even on my bike. The ride was beautiful. We swam alongside the shore of the lake. A breathtaking view the entire ride. Truly the most beautiful ride I have ever done.

Only one challenge. I was slow on my bike. I had neglected to put on my heart monitor, which allows me to pace myself properly. What a mistake that was. I was a good 15 minutes slower on the bike than I had been in training.

Then to the run. The dreaded run. By this time my lungs were burning and my legs wobbly. I was especially worried about my left leg and ankle, that has been bothering me ever since I started doing triathlons. During my training, I found that my left leg was seizing about 2-3 miles into my run and I couldn't run farther.

The triathlon distance is 6.2 miles. So I knew I really had to concentrate not to put too much strain on my left leg. Slowly, I made it up the first half of the course, running alongside the lake and concentrating on putting more emphasis on my right leg and not taking too long of a stride. I made it to the turnaround in pretty good time - about 6 miles/hour (which was my target speed). Most of the return was downhill, good for both my legs and my endurance. Still, by the time the end was in sight, I was barely hanging on.

When I crossed the finish line, I checked my time. I had completed the run in my target time of an hour. I was about 10 minutes ahead of my previous best time and 20 minutes slower than my overall goal. It was great to have improved my time, even with the altitude, wetsuit and mistake with the heart monitor. I was sad not to have reached my goal of 2:30.

What did I learn? Stay tuned tomorrow and I will cover all of that. For now, I need a massage and another day's rest. Tomorrow I will be back to training. Not as hard for awhile. Still, I don't want to let my fitness lapse in the least so I will continue working out at least an hour a day. Thanks for staying with me on this journey. There are more chapters and more learning to come.

Warmest regards,

Tom

Whenever we engage in a productive activity, there is much we can learn from both our successes and our failures. And perhaps we learn even more from our failures than from our successes. As I mentioned yesterday, there are three things I could have done that would have vastly improved my time in my triathlon. As it turned out, I took 3rd place in the 50+ age group and could easily have won if my bike time had been as good as it could have been (averaging 20 miles/hour, which I did on my training rides).

Here is what I learned and how we all can apply this to our wealth building.

1. The altitude. I had not taken this into account. I knew about it. I simply did not recognize the impact it would have on my performance. All I had to do was get some coaching on altitude training and build up my lung capacity to handle the thinner air. How many times in our investments do we forget to take some external impact into consideration? It could be the economy. It could be a competitor. It could be a law or regulation. If we don't take these all into consideration in our investing, we could lose big even though we did everything else right.

2. The wetsuit. I had not done sufficient open water training in my wetsuit to feel comfortable. This was simply a matter of not understanding the impact of the wetsuit constriction and getting comfortable with it. Again, lung capacity training really would have helped. How often do we get into an investment without training properly for the investment? Have we done our due diligence? Have we practiced to expand our knowledge? Perhaps playing Cash Flow 101 more or reading The Real Book of Real Estate? Or perhaps it's just having the right coach (more on this later).

3. The heart monitor. No excuse here. I had the monitor with me. I had practiced on the bike with the monitor. I simply made a last minute, snap decision, not to wear it. How many times in our wealth building do we practice and practice investing a certain way and then when it comes down to the actual investment, we revert to a previous bad habit or make a snap decision that is inconsistent with our training?

The solution to all of these issues is good coaching. My next step will be to engage a triathlon coach so I can practice and train properly. Your next step with your investing must be to engage a wealth coach and/or tax coach so you can practice, train and implement your wealth and tax strategies properly. At ProVision, we are the premiere tax, business and wealth coaches for entrepreneurs and emerging entrepreneurs. Visit us at http://www.ProVisionWealth.com or call us at 866467.5809.

And if you know a good triathlon club and coach in the Phoenix area, let me know. I would love to receive your recommendation.

Remember that with good coaching and steady training, you can reach your dream faster than you ever thought possible.

Warmest regards,

Tom

My good friend, Robert Kiyosaki, recently posted an interesting opinion on the USA Today blog at http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/02/column-we-need-two-school-systems-.html#uslPageReturn. In his blog post, Robert suggests two school systems, one for entrepreneurs and one for those who wish to be employees.

The number of comments already to this post is astounding. Clearly a reflection that the public sees challenges with the current school system. Personally, I like the idea of a parallel school system for those who want to be entrepreneurs. I, for one, would have loved going to a school for entrepreneurs. My earliest memories are of business ventures my friends and I started.

For the record, I always did well in school. For the most part, an "A" student. I liked school. I'm one of those who found reading enjoyable and didn't mind listening to the teachers. I took the very traditional route of going to school, then going to college and then getting a masters degree. My family was not wealthy. I paid for my own education, including graduate school.

Still, I would have loved attending a school for entrepreneurs. I am an entrepreneur, having successfully started and run two businesses in my lifetime - a CPA firm and a financial education company. I can't say that I learned anything about building or running a company in school. I had to learn it the hard way - trial and error. And I had lots of help from good friends and mentors along the way who were encouraging and supportive and willing to take the time to teach me with no expectation of payment or reward.

One of the things I like most about Robert's idea is that the instructors would work for free. I would like to be on that faculty. Heck, I was an adjunct professor at Arizona State University for fourteen years and it was practically for free, the pay was so low. I didn't do it for the pay. In fact, I don't know of any adjunct professors who do it for the money. (Adjuncts get paid less than janitors.) We do it because we love to teach and want to share our knowledge with the students.

I, for one, applaud Robert's idea of creating a second school system. This is creative thinking and we definitely need an alternative to the current public school system. It would be ideal to overhaul the current system, but given the power of the AEA, I don't see it happening any time soon.

Let me know what you think about a school for entrepreneurs.

Warmest regards,

Tom

One of our School of Tax Strategy students from Canada asks the following question about investing in real estate in the U.S.

Q: Is it possible to engineer a rental property investment so that it has positive cash flow and zero taxable income?

A: Most definitely. In fact, if you are leveraging properly (as much leverage as possible with a rate lower than your cap rate), then you should never have taxable income from an investment in U.S. real estate even if you have positive cash flow. The reason is the high depreciation deduction (capital cost allowance) that you receive on real estate. The best thing you can do to ensure no taxable income is to do a cost segregation on the property. A cost segregation breaks down the property into four categories - 1) land 2) building 3) land improvements and 4) building contents. You need a CPA (U.S. equivalent of a CA) or an engineer to do the cost segregation.

If you are thinking of investing in real estate in the U.S., be sure to contact us at 866.467.5809 and we will be happy to share with you some thoughts about how to structure your investment and get the most tax benefits available.

Warmest regards,

Tom