Not making plans can lead to disaster, or at least a less fulfilling life. Making plans and not following them could be quite frustrating as you neglect your dreams and don’t reach your own expectations.
If you have an exciting vision, make a plan to get there and follow the plan, you are very likely to achieve it. Now go give it a try!
If it’s moral and no one should get hurt, take a chance. Sometimes it will work out well in the short term, others in the long term and some not at all. The experience will be worth it.
It’s how you find new opportunities, business partners, ideas, solutions and adventure. Get out there. Mix it up a little.
Are you financially fit? Are you hoping, dreaming, avoiding or planning, when it comes to your financial future?
You’ll probably end up broke if you hope, dream or avoid. And if you plan, have you stress tested it with challenges and been accurate with your current, realistic course?
You can do more than you think, so start imagining and planning. Yes you need effort and sometimes it will be hard, uncomfortable or even frustrating. But it’s better to have those challenges in your 20’s to 50’s than your 60’s and up.
It can feel hard, uncertain and confusing to get started organising your finances. But if you don’t, you could end up broke or in an undesirable (non) retirement situation.
Yet, if you start now, you can take control of your future, learn some basics and have a wonderful retirement, while still passing on a solid inheritance to the kids or your favourite charity.
Start today! It’s time to wake up! Do it yourself or get in touch and I can give you some pointers. Regardless, pay attention and set up your life to win! I’m cheering for you. ✅
Imagine paying £20k/$20k more interest in 2023 than you did in 2022!! This can happen if you haven’t been paying attention or don’t take immediate action.
Many mortgage rates have gone up 3% over the past 12 months. So with a £700,000 mortgage, on a £1 million house, you will pay £21,000 more interest next year. Your rates may have gone from 2% to 5% or £14,000 per annum to £35,000 per annum.
Now if you fixed that for five years, that would be £105,000 less in your pocket and more in your bank’s pocket. Yikes! I bet you could have had nice plans for that kind of money.
You can’t do anything about the rate changes up until now. However, if rates go up 3% more by summer next year, but you lock in now, you could save yourself a further £21,000 per year and £105,0000 over five years. You know it makes sense!!
Get your pen and paper out. Call your bank or broker and run the numbers. Get a fixed rate if it makes sense. This time next year you’ll be so glad you did. Do it now!
Use your imagination. Refine your thoughts. Be sensible, stay in budget but build a better life in your mind. See it clearly. Add in all of the detail.
Now, give yourself 10 years to get there.
Then decide you’re going to start today, do something everyday and reach your goals in 9 or 10 years. July 29 2032 will be the day you celebrate hard from achieving your dreams. Congratulations. You made it!
You may be financially free, married, still alive, retired, travelling to fascinating countries, dedicated to charity work, having children, adopting, teaching, coaching, having fun, or any of 1,000 other things.
Don’t wait 15 years. Don’t wait another minute. Get clear on a goal or two now and get working on it. Follow the 7 Simple Steps in my book, Achieve Anything, and you will succeed and become Unstoppable. Go for it now!
#achieveanything
There are many reasons to do this. It’s an investment in you and your personal well-being for starters. Knowing where things are at financially is calming, liberating and allows maximum fun.
If you know your bills are paid, your emergency account is fully funded and your investments are working day and night for you, you will have a greater sense of calm. And it lasts all year. Not just the week or two of calm you get from going on a holiday. Especially if your bills pile up, your admin gets behind and you blow your emergency funds on your, ‘but I needed it!’ trip.
Also, if you were incapacitated or died, could someone step in and know where everything was? Are all the accounts easy to find? Is there an up-to-date will? Are bills on direct debit? Or would someone have to hunt around and figure out what to pay and when?
Do this for you, and your heirs or carers. Start today and have it all sorted by the 15th July (2022!!). Go!
Prices can make your mind make funny justifications. It’s not prices on their own though. It requires your bias and your emotion. And without thinking, you can end up on the wrong end of the stick.
There are many reasons not to own an investment property. People will share these with you whether you ask or not.
But a property in an area that is reasonably desirable, or is likely to continue to grow, can be an excellent investment.
For example, in the UK, property tends to double in value, on average, every 10 years. So, if you buy a £600,000 property with a £450,000 mortgage (75% loan to value), it should be worth about £1.2 million in 10 years and £2.4 million in 20 years.
Imagine that. One property that you put £150,000 down on as a deposit, could be worth about 4 times it’s current price in 20 years. That would leave you with nearly £2 million in equity.
That’s more than 10x on your money. You may also have received some rent in that time period too. Add that into the mix.
Now imagine that one property helped you buy two more at £800,000 on the 10th anniversary. And they went up similarly. And their mortgages stayed static. You could have about £4 million in total equity after the 20 years. Just three properties could change your life and whole financial circumstance.
Think it through. Or ask. But make it work for you. Because property can make you wealthy.
Have you got a money plan? Do you have a clear and precise written plan for your future or just a general idea? To build generational wealth, you will need to be specific and intentional with your plans.
The main thing holding you back in this era is your mindset. Secondly, it is your follow-on actions. Arguably you can be doing the right actions with a poor money mindset. Although, the mindset usually comes first before the motivation and actions. Regardless, it is better if they are both aligned.
Are you earning money only to pay for your current lifestyle? Or are you earning, saving and investing for now and for ‘retirement’. Ideally you are earning, saving and investing, with thoughts of your years ahead without an active income. And then ultimately, it would be great if you were preparing to have sufficient investments remaining to leave in an inheritance.
Preparing your finances is an important item on your to do list. The earlier you start, the stronger the habit will be. In addition, you are much more likely to have more money for yourself and for your heirs, the earlier you start.
Get a separate savings account set up. Place some money in it every week without fail. Learn about investing. Take it seriously. Though you can make it fun and interesting too. Begin investing for the 20, 60 and 140 year horizon.
Build generational wealth.
Our corner of the world is getting better. Lockdown and restrictions are lifting and almost gone. We can open up and say ahh.
We did that Thursday night with our monthly property meetup. The first Thursday of each month we organise an opportunity for property investors to join together to meet and chat. It was a lovely evening on Richmond Green. We had donuts to celebrate Canada Day and also Alan’s birthday on the 4th.
It was a great evening outside. We could buy drinks at The Cricketers, where we’ve been holding the meetup for almost 5 years. It was so nice to see many other groups on the Green. Short sleeve shirts and some shorts were common. I did not see any masks. It all started to feel rather familiar.
That was the second consecutive property meetup we’ve held in person. It was a nice change to our Zoom calls. They had their pros and cons, and so do the in person gatherings.
I’ve seen the future and I think you are going to like it. It looks similar to 2019. In the UK we are due to open up fully on the 19th of July. It could be quite exciting. It is only 2.5 weeks away. Most children will be out of school by then or by the end of that week.
Open up and say ahh.
