MoneyMinding Monitor

A Nation of Paupers?

This inquiry from the PR Leads service we are subscribed to starts with some very interesting statistics.  I thought I’d include it to gove the context to my response.

 ”The wealthy are in an economic slump. According to Chicago-based Spectrem Group, the number of millionaires in the U.S. grew a meager 2 percent in 2007. That compares with 8 percent growth in 2006, 11 percent in 2005 and 21 percent in 2004. There are now 9.2 million households worth $1 million or more, not including the value of their primary residence, according to Spectrem. Even multi-millionaires are feeling the pinch. Spectrem says the population of people worth $5 million or more also grew 2 percent in 2007, down from 23 percent in 2006 and 26 percent in 2005. What’s going on here? Is the American dream threatened? Are we going to be a nation of paupers in the future?”

The answer to the last question is YES… unless we do something about it.

The conventional approach to managing finances focuses on wealth accumulation, not on creating income stream.  This very vertical focus puts excessive emphasis on rates of returns on stock, and real estate assets.  The measure of success then becomes the net worth statement which will fluctuate with market movements and create a sense of well-being when markets are on the rise and a sense of fear or scarcity when market conditions are poor. 

While there are more and more people with a net worth over $1million dollars or more – these people do not necessarily have the financial training to profit from all market conditions.  These are all principles that we teach in the MoneyMinding Makeover system along with the financial foundation to make investment decisions that are appropriate for individual situations in all market environments – without the emphasis being on rate of return and net worth.

Posted in Tracy's Thoughts | 1 Comment »

Reach Your Goals Using Your Business Plan

Here’s a request from a freelance journalist that came into my inbox this morning:

“I’m looking for someone with experience or knowledge of revising business plans: when it should be done, hidden benefits, little-known aspects, etc.”

My first reaction to this request was one of curiosity since a business plan is the living, breathing document from which all businesses make their decisions.  How frequently it gets updated and reviewed is then likely daily for some aspects like finances, or task allocation between support staff or departments; and a weekly review of goals and targets and priorities is also a minimum requirement for growing companies.

The hidden benefits are obvious when you have a plan and are working the plan on a daily basis.  There have been so many studies that show that if you have a written goal, you have a 95% higher probability of reaching that goal.  So if your business plan and all its contents are the plan to reach the goal, it’s only natural to refer to it and update it almost constantly in order to succeed

So while my initial reaction was one of curiosity about why even ask the question about when to review plans, based on my experience, it’s likely that business owners don’t want to look at this information and would instead focus on doing the parts of their business they enjoy– therefore another question might be why so many business plans are collecting dust?

These are all principles that we teach in the MoneyMinding Makeover system along with the financial foundation to make cash flow projections, raise capital and to manage the money for the company and the owners. 

Posted in Tracy's Thoughts | No Comments »