SIMPLE BUT NOT EASY - Thoughts on life, money and everything else

How is your retirement plan going? Are you frustrated with the way your mutual funds, stocks and other traditional investments have gone / are going? If the answer is YES then you need to consider the alternatives. Financial Planners will always tell you to diversify. That’s a good idea except that diversification is usually exercised by most people solely through the purchase of many different mutual funds. It is still investing in mutual funds or the stock market. There are ways to obtain wealth (and financial security) that you may not currently be exploring, ways that go beyond buying mutual funds. Instead of planning for retirement, plan to reach Financial Independence instead. True Financial Independence is an easily measurable known target, and is a goal that can actually be reached within a short period of time. How? Through passive income. Generate positive cash flow from hard assets such as real estate income property. Rental income is passive income for the most part, ...

Everyone uses money. We all want it, work for it and think about it. If you don't know what money is, you are not like most humans. However, the task of defining what money is, where it comes from and what it's worth is belongs to those who dedicate themselves to the discipline of economics. While the creation and growth of money seems somewhat intangible, money is the way we get the things we need and want. So what is this thing that means so much to everyone? Normally when people think of money, they do not focus on the raw concept of money but on how to acquire it, how to spend it and how to hang on to it. Most people spend a great deal of time thinking about money without ever contemplating what it is. Most people go through life believing that money is nothing more than paper and coin. They are mistaken. These objects are merely symbols that denote an arbitrary value. Paper and coin are inanimate objects that have no power of their own, other than the power we assign t...