Financial Freedom

The great debate!

In his book "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind" T.Harv Eker said when it's comes to the money game, most people don't have a clue to what it takes to win. That got me thinking and I read on to discover a unique blueprint that can easily be understood and applied.

His definition of financial freedom is simple: it's the ability to live the lifestyle you desire without having to work or rely on anyone else for money.

The desired lifestyle would cost money! Therefore to be "free" you will need to earn money without working. To win the money game, the goal is to earn enough passive income.

Two primary sources of passive income.

1. Money working for you.
This includes investment income from your stocks, unit trust, ASB as well as owning properties or other assets that appreciate in value and can be liquidated for cash.

2. Business working for you.
This means generating an ongoing income from a business where you do not need to be personally involved. WOW...that means the business must have it's systems in place. Of course, you need to build it up first...but once that is done...passive income comes in.

So by choosing business opportunities that immediately or eventually produce passive income, you'll have the best of both worlds - working income for now and passive income later.

Now, go have fun building up your investments and that business...just make sure that it's got the passive income structure. Good or good?

Buy America. I Am.

This is an extract from the text of an opinion piece written by Warren Buffett and published in the New York Times on Friday, October 17, 2008:

In his opening remarks this is what he said.

The financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad. Its problems, moreover, have been leaking into the general economy, and the leaks are now turning into a gusher. In the near term, unemployment will rise, business activity will falter and headlines will continue to be scary. So ... I’ve been buying American stocks.



This is some of the points, in summary of his reasons why.

1. A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.

2. Fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation’s many sound companies make no sense. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

3. I can’t predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven’t the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month — or a year — from now. What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up.

4. Bad news is an investor’s best friend.

5. Equities will almost certainly outperform cash over the next decade, probably by a substantial degree.

So there we have it, Mr Buffett's strategy. He's buying America. Question ... who are you buying?

You can read the full article at New York Times.

If you want further elaboration, you can also see what our team member, Mr Techno Lim has to say. Just click here to go to his blog.

A day in history

Look at the picture closely. Do you see any resemblance? Is it the same building? What differences do you notice?