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Multiple Streams of Income (MSOI)


msoi

 

I was first introduced to this term by Bob Proctor, a prominent Canadian author and motivational speaker on matters of financial wealth, among other fields related to human success (the definition of human “success” varies depending on the paradigm we use).

The concept is fairly simple, but not simplistic. During and after the industrial revolution (1760-1840), most workers started earning their income through employment in factories and enterprises that supported factory work (banks, press, railways, post, mining, and so forth).

By the turn of the 20th century, more than 50% of the North American workforce had shifted to employment. Excluding the Great Depression period (1929-1939), that percentage had experienced an upward trend, reaching its peak during the era after WW2. Fewer people took farm jobs or started their own ventures. Large corporations absorbed small businesses, manifesting capitalism on a wide scale.

Most of the population had retired to a sense of financial security derived from a “guaranteed” paycheck. The widespread possibility of serving the same employer for prolonged periods of time had supported that disposition. Job security had been perceived as a reality.

The Information Revolution came to shake things up. By the mid Eighties, assured continuation of employment had taken a backseat. Clinging to a job that would end with a two-week notice turned out to be questionable.

Disruptive changes are not always bad. They serve the individual(s) who is open to learning and growing, riding the wave of change, instead of getting washed out by it. Rigidity is synonym to breakdown!

Where does all of that lead us to? Flexibility, autonomy, and being in command of one’s life. Blindly following the crowd is risky, and oftentimes, intellectually and financially fatal. Relying on one source of income in today’s economy is not a wise choice, to say the least.

What are the alternatives? Take multiple jobs at different companies? Work “harder” at the same job to the extent you forget your children’s names or birthdays?! Or rely on social programs, where they exist, to bail you out when the unfortunate happens?

None of these options is viable. We can easily discount the first once we consider the conflict-of-interest provision in any employment contract, let alone the strenuous stretch and excessive stress endured by the employee.

The second is possible, and so many people have traversed that rocky path. However, the impact on personal life is undeniable. Furthermore, those who put 70- and 80-hour work weeks are not immune to reorganization storms. Management by numbers has become the rule at the end of the day!

Social programs can help, but they are not enough. They are meant to supplement other incomes, not replace them.

Now we’ve come to a point in our study where we are ready to consider better alternatives. Alternatives that lay a strong financial foundation, upon which to pursue higher intentions. The tool must remain a tool. When making money becomes the chief concern amid the struggle to “make ends meet”, life loses its meaning, its exuberance and joy. Happiness seems like a mirage dancing on a sun-broiled horizon.

Here is a mathematical representation of the solution:

T = P + (n * S)

T: Total income

P: Primary income

S: Secondary income

n: Number of secondary sources

P could be a form of employment or an established business. What about S? It can be any legitimate, ethical activity that produces money in exchange for providing real value.

Investing is one example. Online stores, part-time teaching/training/coaching, freelance writing (blogging, publishing, technical writing), creating digital products and selling them online on sites, such as Amazon™ and ClickBank™.

You could discover more sources. The bottom line is to find something you love and have the skillset to produce, grow and maintain, without jeopardizing your personal life. Again, we’re building a foundation, not a whole structure.

I have covered investing in great detail throughout this blog. You can learn about online stores by reading this particular post: https://soaring-eagle.org/2012/07/04/making-money-online-online-stores/

Please share with us your comments and suggestions. This article is not comprehensive, as the possibilities are endless. Its aim is to open doors of exploration, to deliver the message that there is more to work-life than a single option…

 

The Wealth Maker

 

© Image Credit: www.windowssearch-exp.com

 

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A Farmer’s Approach to Wealth Making


farming

 

The universe is a perfect example of collaboration and interdependence. Nothing stands alone!

We are members of that system. Our lives exhibit different dimensions that must work together if we aim for harmony and prosperity.

Attaining financial wealth is the result of thoughtful and intuitive groundwork on our part. Just like love, self esteem, happiness. They are all fruits, of healthy roots!

To use farming as a metaphor, a wise farmer decides what he/she wants to grow, picks up good seeds, prepares the land (weeding, leveling, fertilizing, etc), waits for the right season (which takes knowledge), then plants the seeds carefully.

That is the bulk of the work. After that, he or she must keep tending to the land, making sure it’s well-watered, free from insects, and so forth.

The rest is not his/her job! The seeds, given the right environment, know what to do. A farmer can’t speed up or slow down their growth.

Aiming to create and grow wealth is quite similar. It starts with knowing what we want, in as much details as possible, while leaving ample room for creativity and spontaneity.

The next step is finding the right “land”, which is the right business or investment that would translate what we want into actual products and/or services, profitable investments, or both.

The “seeds” are plenty. The challenge is to choose the right ones for you and your dream. It is essential to give this enough thought and soul searching. Sit down, write down, reflect, talk to others, collect and analyze information, release negative emotions, then make your decision(s).

What we seek, seeks us! As strange as it may sound, I’m sure you could find examples from your own life to the truthfulness of this finding. Most of the time we meet halfway, but it won’t come knocking on our doors (it might for a few). We must “move” intelligently towards it, and while moving, we continue to be open to what the road might throw before us. That might be another opportunity we haven’t thought of.

Let’s summarize what we have explored so far:

  • Know what you want.
    • This can’t be emphasized enough. We either know what we want, or not. In the latter case, someone, or something, else would choose for us
    • The farmer, in the above metaphor, knows that he/she wants to grow, say, corn this season. What do you want to “grow”, and how would you know? Go back to the basics. Ask yourself fundamental questions about your life in general. Be as honest as you can when you answer. Let those responses come from “you”, regardless of others’ approval, regardless of your current circumstances, and regardless of past conditioning and limiting self-concepts (this is a tough one. Go through it gently and steadily)
    • The outcome is your vision/mission statement. The constitution of your life! Something that reflects who you truly are. Something that inspires you every time you read it!
    • Derive from that statement your wealth objectives. Write them down as intentions, in the present tense. Avoid woulds and shoulds. And stay away from “wanting”. Here’s an example: “I intend to reach $$ net-worth by end of 20xx
  • Find the seeds
    • Now that you know the destination, look for the vehicle(s) that would take you there. One source that is readily available for you is this blog. Read the articles from the beginning. You’ll find a multitude of concepts, strategies and techniques to help you decide what vehicle you’d like to ride
    • Once you find what seeds you like to grow, look for the right implementation. This is also covered in details throughout the blog. However, you can do your own research using whatever tools that are available to you. The point is to plant those seeds in a good, “fertile” environment
  • Take care of your new farm. Nonetheless, allow it to grow on its own. Give it time and be patient. A farmer wouldn’t wake up every morning, go to the cornfield, and yell at it: Grow, grow! Be watchful at this stage and well-informed, but not willful

Finally, what we set out to achieve in life follows timeless principles. The more we know and understand those changeless facts, the smoother the ride, and the better the outcome would be.

The Wealth Maker

© Image Credit: www.shermanfarmnh.com, From Google Images. © Google Inc.

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How to Weather Financial Storms


fin-storm

Wealth is a state of being. An orientation towards abundance that is unique. On one hand, you do not feel “entitled” to anything. You see what you have as a pure blessing. On the other, one believes he or she deserves prosperity as a birthright, and go out in the world to attain it, ethically and effectively.

Financial wealth is no exception. It comes as a result of who you are, and how you translate that into enlightened, guided and productive actions.

Like everything in this short passage called “life”, like the oceans that ebb and flow, the state of our physical wealth may go through ups and downs. The frequency of such changes could appear over the course of years, or months, depending on the structure of your financial foundation, and your short-, mid- and long-term decisions.

When everything is alright, everything is alright! Friends and family are close, all is well, and everyone is “seemingly” happy.

As things start faltering, guess who sticks around? Only those who love you, or like you, regardless of your financial status, or any status for that matter. This is important to know in good times, not only in bad times. It helps choose whom to trust.

On the practical level, it is advisable to always have, stowed away, a six-month reserve to cover basic, essential needs: Food, shelter, car, school tuition, etc.

What if the downturn lasted more than six months? It is possible, and we’ve seen it, especially in a soft economy. Here comes the importance of long-term planning, and preparation. As a master of your ship, you can “see” those black clouds before they hit home, and get to work on your plan B, C or even D (of course, you do have at least B 🙂

How about the emotional side of things? This could be tougher!

How can you maintain your composure, your strength, and your trust in a higher Power that knows what you’re going through, and will never leave you alone, as it always has?

This is not theoretical, or abstract. It is as real as it can get. We need our emotional and spiritual energies at their best. Otherwise, the storm might wipe us out, no kidding about that …

What we do when “everything is alright” comes to the rescue when things are not alright. Serving others quietly and candidly, helping the needy, being active volunteers in our communities, nurturing the relationships we’ve built upon love and trust. But the most important is cultivating an unwavering faith, a special connection beyond space-time and cause-effect restrictions. All of that is a different kind of “deposit” in a mysterious, yet real, emotional/spiritual account. We deposit without keeping track, for it comes naturally out of who we truly are!

And finally, we need to remember that no storm lasts forever, and that every storm brings with it opportunities for growth, which would’ve never been possible otherwise.

The Wealth Maker

© Image Credit: http://www.comparethemarket.com.au/

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How Can an Investor Read The Future?


Investing is not only an intellectual enterprise. It challenges all dimensions of an investor’s personality and character. That’s why it is an inner job, before it manifests in the outer.

Nonetheless, an investor is not a fortuneteller, a speculator, or a gambler. He or she sees the activity as a business, which is prone to loss and profit, rise and demise.

Human beings are bound by the laws of cause and effect, and governed by the flow of time. Is that so? We tend to “like” to surrender to such determinism because our minds need to find closure on everything. Without such “unconscious” obedience to these laws, without time, the mind gets lost.

Within each and every one of us is a potential greater than the mind. Tapping into that potential requires awareness and inner work. You may start by paying attention to the mind’s ceaseless thinking, and train yourself to be an observer, not a participant in the thousands of thoughts the mind conjures up everyday! You can reach a stage where you “choose” what serves you and add value to your life, while releasing that which confuses or troubles you.

The mind can’t stop working. This is a blessing. Nevertheless, it could turn into a curse when the mind starts using us to “entertain” itself, especially as it finds itself “free”. Keep it busy with something suitable to its nature, and useful to you and to the world around you. Apart from that, practice the art of “un-participation”. You are not your mind!

Here you might say: I’m confused! Are you telling me to be mindless?

Not at all. I’m asking you to be “mindful”. To be the master of your mind not its slave. There is a huge difference between the two worlds.

How is all of that related to investing? Surprisingly a lot!

When you become in command of your mind, and hence your life, all your activities start flowing effortlessly. You bypass the mind’s resistance to the new in favor of the old and familiar.

That leads to a very important fact, which sets the stage for the rest of this discussion: History does not repeat itself! Each and every moment is independent and new, and it may surprise you.

Does that make me read the future? You might ask.

Not literally. However, it advances you light years ahead in your ability to engage the moments while they unfold, which is, in my humble opinion, better than reading the future.

As you rid yourself of a troubling past, and be fully present here and now, you become “aligned” with true universal principles. Time becomes your friend. Cause and effect your servants. You are no longer asleep, spiritually. You start to “see”. You begin to “know” without thinking. You step into a new realm that has already been within you, but now you’re “awake” to its existence and brilliance.

From this new foundation, your investment decisions (and all your decisions) will change, for the better. You have on your side the best advisor ever, you! The real you…

This can only be proven through direct experience. Do not believe any of the above, but try it and practice it, honestly.

After all, whose life and whose money are we talking about? Doesn’t that deserve exploring something new? Haven’t we had enough of resigning to the old, only because it is familiar? And we all know, too well, that “familiar” does not equate to “successful”. Most of the time, it leads to the opposite.

Any breakthrough, throughout human history, has come about by challenging habitual thinking and exploring the frontiers that laid dormant behind the mind.

Gravity isn’t only physical!

The Wealth Maker

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Beware of Binary Options (BO) Trading!


Despite its newness, BO trading has almost gone mainstream. The promise of fast and easy attainment of riches fuels its overwhelming proliferation.

People with no experience whatsoever embark on this adventure. After all, opening an account takes seconds. Placing a trade is swift and instant, and so is losing money!

The business model of the so-called binary options brokers (many of them are regulated by gambling authorities, if at all) is an old-fashion scheme, where the winners take part of the losers’ money, and the house keeps the rest. Does that remind you of any other business model?!

New brokers are popping up everywhere. The only region that doesn’t welcome them as much is North America. None of them is recognized or regulated by financial authorities in either Canada or The US.

The platforms, the graphs, the glamour, and even the so-called “rules” play on the psychology of the users, who soon become losers of hard-earned funds.

What is the split? Probably one winner in every 100 or more members. So let’s run a quick calculation. The winner is so good, he/she nets $1000 a day. The losers, on the other hand, give up an average of 50/member. Total loss: 50 *100 = 5000. The winner gets a grand, and the house keeps four; not bad at all! Keep in mind that this example assumes a very low-end of the game. Usually, the split is one winner out of at least 500. And the losers let go of more than 50 a piece.

Is that business, investment, or even trading?

No. It is not, by any measure. It’s a new form of online gambling. People talk about using technical analysis to “predict” the closing price of an asset, when the trade expires. What’s that called? Betting, right. Fighting the odds, with eyes less than half-oppened.

Financial markets are unpredictable on the long-term, let alone for minutes and/or seconds. A price graph may decide to have a “hiccup” right before expiry, costing you all the money you’ve put on that price closing higher (or lower) than the entry point. The reason could be a piece of news, High Frequency Trading (HFT), or any other unpredictable event that may have taken place momentarily, causing a trend to change direction, wiping out your “investment.”

Is that fair? Well, first, no one forces you to do it. And second, which is more important, this is an emotional rollercoaster. Very few people can maintain their composure in the face of such rapid changes. Those are the few winners, exactly as in poker, or any other money game.

Money is a vehicle to exchange real value. Playing with it isn’t healthy, both for the individual and the economy.

Please notice that nothing is being exchanged, not even futures (for example, commodities or stocks). The whole deal is about prediction and speculation. The “trader” buys the “right” to put money on a probability, which is affected by factors that are entirely outside the reach and control of the trader. Can you buy and sell probabilities? You can utilize statistical data to make an informed investment decision. Here, that piece of information has become the asset!

We need to know the traps so we wouldn’t step on them.

Go back to the articles on this blog, or any other source you trust. Gain the knowledge of real investment, real work. Know your options, and never commit money to buying fish in the ocean!

The Wealth Maker

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Business and Technology: Allies or Adversaries?


Not long ago, trade was at the core of business: The exchange of value between the buyer and the seller, physically. People used to travel, on horseback, carrying their homeland goods, to distant territories. They would trade the goods they have with what the other country had to offer.

Nowadays, billions of dollars get exchanged everyday, across the globe, without anything physical being “traded”. The wonders of technology!

Millions go online to trade commodities they never own, or to bet on price movements of stocks, indices, currencies or commodities. What is being exchanged? Where is the value transferred from the seller to the buyer?

Has technology added an inherent value to business dealings?

Has it made making money easier or losing it faster?

A merchant in ancient times wouldn’t lose his shirt overnight. Today, a business may go down in days, due, in part, to a blind reliance on technology.

Technology is a tool, a means to an end. When a business adopts any new technology, it must “serve” the mission of that business. Failing to do so, is a sign of either picking the wrong technology, or not having the right expertise to correctly utilize it.

The other concern when it comes to entirely relying on the instantaneous availability of technology is the probability of the opposite! What would a business do in case of a power failure, a major software crash, a loss of connection to the intranet (the business’s own internet, sometimes called Virtual Private Network (VPN); a tunneled network that securely rides over the public Internet)?

Here are some guidelines concerning the “marriage” between business and technology:

  • What is the business about, regardless of “how” it’s going to reach its objectives?
  • Who are the “people”, human beings, whom will run that business?
  • Does this business need to rely “critically” on any technology? what is the percentage?
  • What is the technology strategy? One that is “derived” from the overall business strategy, not the other way around, even if the business is all about “making” technology. In other words, a hi-tech enterprise
  • Do we have, in-house, the expertise to select, procure, install, configure, test and run the technology we need, or do we need to outsource it?
  • Risk management: Document, in details, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to follow in case of a technical malfunction, no matter how small. The overarching objective is to keep the business running, at its best, and keep customers happy
  • Have we considered implementing five nines High Availability (99.999 % HA)? There is no such thing as 100% availability, but five nines is close, yet not enough, alone

The list could go on. Add to it what’s relevant and specific to your business.

This article is an invitation to be aware of the wonders of technology, its limitations, and the best approaches to utilizing it for the good of a business.

The author loves technology and comes from a scientific/technology background, yet the misuse of a wonderful tool turns it from being an ally to becoming and adversary…

 

The Wealth Maker

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Go Slow


Rushing is a form of greed. We can’t squeeze in a moment more than what it unfolds to offer. What does that mean? You might ask.

Each and every moment is a medium of expression and interaction. Our attitudes determine the way we interact with those moments, but nothing can “change” the nature of a moment, and what it has come to offer.

When it comes to investing, this is so rewarding, even if you can’t observe its effect immediately.

“Go slow” is not a synonym of “be lazy”. It’s an invitation to be mindful of your vision, objectives and actions.

Take your time researching a potential business; read, analyze, and discuss, but never rush to a decision under the pressure of timing the market. That strategy has proven to be misleading, at best…

Once you reach a decision, and you become ready to act, then go for it, do not delay. Here you can be bold and swift.

Now you have planted the seed. You can’t sit next to it and repeat: “Grow, grow, …”. Can you do that on a farm? Can you speed up natural processes, skip a season, harvest in February and plant in September?

The same principles apply across the board, in each and every human endeavor.

Your seed is the “wonderful business” you’ve mindfully invested in. Go slow! Learn to wait. Cultivate patience. It pays in droves at the right time.

How do you know if it is time to harvest? When the business ceases to be “wonderful”, or when it has already produced a handsome return. Before you sell, though, you should have already completed the same research process on another business, in which you intend to reinvest the profits from selling the first business. You need to have liquidity as part of your portfolio, but don’t leave too much sitting around, doing nothing (actually un-invested money becomes a burden, over time, as it loses some of its original value due to inflation and other factors).

Is that boring? You bet it is! But boring is better than losing, isn’t it?

Refrain from buying and selling for the sake of having fun and excitement. Find another venue to satisfy that desire. Investing isn’t a game to be played. It is a discipline to be followed…

Good Investing!

The Wealth Maker

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What is Wealth to You?


Everything is created twice: First on the screen within that reflects heart wishes and mind logic, and second, in the physical world, as a manifestation of what is reflected on that screen.

Now, the actual realization of one’s wishes and desires may or not precisely reflect what was within. Individual beliefs, self concept, and guided action, all, among others, determine what actually takes place before our eyes.

Wealth is no exception. In order to attain it, you’ve got to know what it means to you! Can you hit a target you don’t see?

I was inspired to write this article by a book titled “The Rules of Wealth” by Richard Templar. The 2nd rule in that book is “Decide on your definition of wealth”.

Templar has a good point there. It is not enough to tell yourself: “I want to be wealthy”. What does that mean?

If you couldn’t “define it”, then how would you go get it?

Once you finish reading this article, grab a pen and paper, your smart phone, tablet, whatever, and write down at least five things that would give your dream a meaning; something you can visualize, internalize and start moving towards.

It could be a list of possessions. Or, a combination of things to have, activities to do, and character traits to develop and sustain. No matter what comes first to the mind, and seems flowing from the heart, write it down. That’s how a commitment is shaped.

Use present tense, and avoid hoping and wishing. Here’s an example:

I intend to get a graduate degree in (fill in the blanks) by end of 20xx

I intend to create a residual income of ($$$) by June 20xx

By the time you finish writing down your intentions, you’ll have a “contract” with yourself. If you enjoy a high, healthy self-respect (which I’m sure you do), chances are you will attain those intentions, because the first, and most important, creation has already been taken care of!

The Wealth Maker

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The Wealth Making Architect™


If you performed a Google™ search on the above title, you’d get something along the lines of either wealth advisors or engineering architects.

I wanted to introduce this term to reflect the necessity of building wealth from the ground up. Furthermore, to emphasize that “wealth” is not only financial. When an engineer designed a house, for example, he/she would take into consideration all the aspects which would make that house livable and ready to become a home!

Another vital step in creating that architecture is to create a blueprint. Have you ever heard of any sort of construction that didn’t have a blueprint to start with, to build upon and use as a baseline?

A Wealth Making Architect (WMA™) is going to follow the path of his/her counterparts in other disciplines. However, instead of designing a brick and mortar dwelling, they design a life-long wealth making, growing, and maintaining epic, with the client being the hero.

And here’s a list of the steps involved:

  1. Find out what the requirements really are: Working closely with your client, you set an objective to clearly “understand” the hopes, the dreams, the needs, and the responsibilities of that client. Once you’ve reached such understanding, you turn it into a set of specific, implementable”requirements”; one which the client accepts and feels satisfied with
  2. Now you go to the drawing board and create a solution derived from the requirements. This is easier said than done. How can you “weave” requirements into solutions? Into a blueprint that has an eye on the vision, and another on the strategy and plan. Your knowledge and expertise play a major role here, and that involves specific methods, processes, products and/or services available. Sometimes you might need to seek help from other members of your organization/team to “develop” new products or services that would meet the requirements (those must prove reusable with other clients in order to justify the cost and time of a new development)
  3. The next step is a comprehensive review of the solution with your client. Although you both had reached a set of specific requirements, the blueprint might not express what the client was hoping for. This could be the result of the client being not sufficiently informed/educated, or it could be a flaw in the design. Either way, a revision and an update version of the solution should be created. This can take more than one iteration
  4. Once you reach an agreement with the client on the blueprint of his/her financial story, you start translating that solution into long-term and short-term objectives. Each objective requires an action plan. Here comes the knowledge and skill of financial planning, or let’s say, wealth-making planning; the bits and bytes of what needs to be done on a daily basis
  5. Implementing the plans is not an open-ended endeavor. You wouldn’t hand them over to the client and “instruct” him/her to go ahead and “do” the steps! You still need to work with them regularly, and make sure they are ready to commit their time and energy to implementing what has been mutually agreed upon
  6. As with any plan, the process continues dynamically. This is the tracking/observing, feedback, review and update/correction cycle. Plans are not meant to be set in stone. They must evolve in reflection to consistent change. However, a good architect would not divert too much from the original vision and the blueprint.

The past is gone for all of us. The future is known to none of us. All we’ve got is the present moment. Planning, to a great extent, is a matter of trying to predict the future based on past experiences. It helps, but nothing is certain. That’s why it’s a good practice to keep risk planning in sight, and always have plan B within reach!

The Wealth Maker

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Can Wealth Be Attracted, Unconventionally?


 

The advocates of the law of attraction suggest that people “attract” into their lives what they think and feel repeatedly. That is a big statement, and an alarming one, for that matter.

I recently stumbled upon an audio product titled “Attract Wealth”, by barainsync.com ™. It is presented (and probably authored) by Kelly Howell, a well-known figure in that field.

The message is this: If you could bypass the traffic lights of your conscious mind (the gatekeeper of everything you know since you were in your mother’s womb), and delve into the subconscious, impressing upon it messages of wealth and prosperity, you would see different, positive results manifest in your financial life.

Coming from an engineering/science background, I can’t seem to find a method to “test” or measure such claim. The only way of validation is direct experience. And that differs from one person to another.

Regardless of whether the proposition is valid or not, my own view is that it should be treated as a supplementary resource, just like multivitamins.

What does that entail? We still have a need to work, to provide value and be rewarded for it. If something can make that meaningful effort easier and more enjoyable, then why not?

On the other hand, it is true, in my opinion, that the universe is much more than what the five senses convey to our minds. If we can’t see, smell, hear, taste or touch something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that “something” does not exist. Existence is not as simple as we might think. It’s real, complex, and mysterious at the same time.

A word of caution before you try to “experience” the above-mentioned product (or something similar). The soundtracks have embedded brainwaves and subliminal messages. If you don’t know what those are, Google™ them. You’ll find thousands of pages. Here’s the one I’d suggest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwave_entrainment

If you decide to give it a shot, why not share with us your findings by commenting on this post?

 

The Wealth Maker