Bob Proctor’s ‘6 Minutes To Success’ Program - How To Fix A Bad Relationship With Money
January 28th, 2012For over 40 years, Bob Proctor has focused his work and teachings on helping people use the power of their mind to achieve lives of prosperity, rewarding relationships and spiritual awareness. In his new program “6 Minutes To Success“, he provides a daily dose of inspiration and positive affirmations to help you achieve your life’s goals. Here are a few useful snippets from his lessons on achieving your financial goals:
Handling your own finances is a tricky subject for a lot of people. Although there are a lot of excuses that can be made, the reality is that each person is responsible for themselves and their money. This article will shed some light on things you need to know to handle your money in the best way possible.
Don’t apply for credit that you have no chance of getting. Every inquiry into your credit history that is authorized by you can affect your credit score. If you are applying for what is considered too much credit, your score can be lowered and this could prevent you from getting credit that you would have otherwise qualified for.
If you’re still in school and have a job, refrain from purchasing a car. This is especially true if you want to keep your finances looking clear and colorful going forward. Getting into a bad auto deal now will just leave things looking bleak. Hopefully you can get a car for a graduation gift, or at the very least borrow your parents’ car until you can outright afford one.
If you are in doubt with what you should do, or do not have all of the information necessary to make a logical decision, stay out of the market. Refraining from entering into a trade that would have plummeted is much better than taking a high risk. Money saved is money earned.
When thinking about how to make the most out of your personal finances, consider carefully the pros and cons of taking out stocks. This is because, while it’s well known that, in the long run, stocks have historically beaten all other investments, they are risky in the short term as they fluctuate a lot. If you’re likely to be in a situation where you need to get access to money fast, stocks may not be your best option.
If your employer matches your 401k contributions, maximize your contributions to take advantage of this “free” retirement money. You do not pay taxes on the money you contribute until after you start drawing it as income, so you are actually reducing your tax load in the short term by investing more for the long term.
A trading system with high probability of successful trades, does not guarantee profit if the system does not have a comprehensive approach to cutting losing trades or closing profitable trades, in the right places. If, for example, 4 out of 5 trades sees a profit of 10 dollars, it will take only one losing trade of 50 dollars to lose money. The inverse is also true, if 1 out of 5 trades is profitable at 50 dollars, you can still consider this system successful, if your 4 losing trades are only 10 dollars each.
Keep your checkbook balanced. It’s really not so hard and can save you the expense and embarrassment of bounced checks and overdrawn fees. Do not just call the bank for a balance and count on having that amount in your account. Some debits and checks may not have cleared yet, resulting in overdrafts when they hit the bank.
Think of your retirement while you can still help yourself. Open a 401(k) or Roth 401(k) retirement plan or an IRA account to save money for your retirement years. Take advantage of your employer’s contribution as well, even if it is a smaller amount, it still represents free money for your golden years.
If you are lucky enough to have it as an option consider increasing your contributions, or starting an IRA or 401k. Many employers will even match however match you put in at three or four percent, so it’s like free money.
If you need a financial planner, it is better to hire one who charges a flat fee rather than commissions. Fee-based planners charge a fixed amount to advise you and invest your funds, but commission-based planners get paid when they trade for your account. This can give commission-based planners an incentive to trade your holdings excessively, increasing your costs.
Don’t automatically buy the biggest containers of a product thinking you will be saving money. While that is most often the rule many times a comparison of the per unit price of a product will show that it is actually the same between bigger and smaller containers, or even that you would actually save by buying the smaller quantity!
Make note of free financial services whenever they are mentioned. Banks often tell their customers about free services they offer at the most inopportune times. The wise customer does not let these opportunities slip away. If a teller offers the customer free financial planning services when he or she is in a rush, for example, the customer can make note of the offer and come back to take advantage of it at a better time.
When purchasing car insurance, be sure to ask a lot of questions and find an insurance agency that you can trust. A lower priced insurance is not always the best choice. Therefore, be sure that you are getting the complete coverage that you need. There are many discounts available (multiple car is a good example) so make sure to take advantage of those.
Automatic bill payments should be reviewed quarterly. Most consumers are taking advantage of many of the automatic financial systems available that pay bills, deposit checks and pay off debts on their own. This does save time, but the process leaves a door wide open for abuse. Not only should all financial activity be reviewed monthly, the canny consumer will review his automatic payment arrangements very closely every three to four months, to ensure they are still doing exactly what he wants them to.
Get out of debt by concentrating the bulk of your monthly credit card payments only on those cards that you are paying interest on. If you happen to have cards that are interest-free, simply pay the monthly minimum. Focus your finances on clearing out the cards that are regularly contributing to your overall debt levels.
A great personal finance tip that can help you save money is to take some of your unused clothing to a consignment shop. If you have any clothes that are just sitting in your closet, you can make a little bit of money by selling them to a consignment shop.
To keep your personal finances solid, budget for all your necessities and savings, pay to them first, and only use what is left over for wants or perks. This should be done every week to ensure that you stay on top of your bills and build up your savings instead of spending everything that is left over and having nothing in case of an emergency.
As you can see, saving for retirement is not exceptionally difficult. The tips in the article give you a few ways to start, but talking to a qualified financial planner, accountant, tax preparer, and/or lawyer will also help you get a better picture of the best way to save for your retirement.