The Road To Financial Independence

Tuesday, 10 April 2018

Show Me the Money! Jerry Maguire 1 8) Movie CLIP (1996) HD

Monday, 9 April 2018

Illegal Pyramids vs. Legal MLM Part II

Part 1

Sunday, 8 April 2018

Illegal Pyramids vs. Legal Multilevel Marketing MLM Companies

Part 2

Friday, 6 April 2018

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Maybe you have read the term affiliate marketing somewhere but you are not quite sure what it means.

So let me tell you: Affiliate marketing is when you find a buyer for a product that someone else sells.

But why should you find customers for other businesses?

Because they pay you every time they make a sale through one of the people you sent to them.

Ok, this was the "explanation" of what affiliate marketing is, but the concept might not be 100% clear in your mind. That is why I want you to look at this example:

Many phone companies have affiliate programs. I don't want to promote any kind of phone company in this article, so I'm just going to make up a fake telephone company name: Surracall.

So, Surracall likes to get more customers (because more customers mean more money). What do they do to get more customers? They advertise, right. They put spots on TV, radio, and the put ads in magazines. Maybe they even have a sales team that goes out to companies and peoples houses and talks to them - either by phone or in person and tries to get them to switch to Surracall.

But Surracall has some clever marketing people on board. And they say: all this is good, but how about some free advertising?

Now what they do is they offer the opportunity to (basically everybody) to sell Surracall phone contracts for them. Let's say that you bring a new customers to Surracell who signs up for a 12 month contract, Surracall will pay you $30. If you bring two new customers, Surracall will pay you $60, if you bring 10 they will pay you $300 and so on.

Some people are bringing LOTS of new customers to Surracell every single day.

How do they do it?

Well, they DON'T go from door to door or coldcall people.

Some very clever people set up "phone company comparison websites". Because many people go online and they want to compare rates for different phone companies. So they will type something in the search engines like "compare phone companies". If you do that, most likely you will be taken to some site that offers you to type in some data (like where you live, how many hours you spend on the phone each month, whether you mostly call on cell or home phones, etc.) Then you click a button and many different companies show up with different prices.

What do you do? You select the one that has the best offer for you - in this case it might be Surracell because you call a lot to cellphone and they have a cellphone flatrate. And you click on the image where it sais "Sign up here for Surracell". And they you can fill up an form online to sign up with Surracell, and next thing you know: you get a letter from Surracell and can use their services just like you wanted.

Now what happens is that Surracell KNOWS that you signed up because you clicked on that image on the phone company comparison website. And because that person signed up for Surracells affiliate program, Surracell will pay that person a commission. So part of the money you pay for your phone contract will actually get paid to the one who runs that phone company comparison site.

Affiliate marketing can be done in any market - and is most popular on the Internet. Many affiliate marketers are making hundreds of thousands of dollars. The good thing with affiliate marketing is that you do not need to have a product. You can just use other people's products to make money. And it is easy to get started as an affiliate marketer with very little budget.

The downside of affiliate marketing is that it is very competitive and you need a lot of marketing knowledge to become successful doing so. But just like with everything in life, if you practice and are disciplined you have the potential to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars each and every month.

On the other hand - many people think that just because they are making money online it will be easy and they can be lazy and just spend 3 hours per day and retire rich. But that's not the way it goes. Yes, there are SOME people who are lucky and got rich with very little work as affiliate marketers - but frankly, it's VERY unlikely that you'll be one of them. In fact I think that you are more likely to win the lottery than getting rich as a lazy affiliate marketer.

But if you apply yourself and put in the hours and do the right things - I'm convinced that you can make some real good money and become financially independent. I don't say it's easy - I don't say it's guaranteed - but I do say it's POSSIBLE.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1229443

Thursday, 5 April 2018

With a crisis in social care funding looming, here’s how you can plan to pay for yours

The combination of improving longevity and an ageing population means growing numbers will need some form of care in old age. Already, around 140,000 elderly people enter care homes each year in the UK, according to the government, and that number is set to rise as the baby boomer cohort ages.

However, while many elderly people rely for years on informal support from family or neighbours, formalised social care is expensive. Average annual care home costs run at between £30,000 and £50,000, depending primarily on whether nursing care as well as residential care is needed. Given that the average stay in a care home runs to around four years, total costs could easily top the six-figure mark.

Benefits you're entitled to: the over-60s

Care in the home is harder to price because it depends what is needed, but bills ‘can easily run to several hundred pounds a week if an older person needs several care visits a day,’ according to Age UK.

Most families fail to prepare

At present, the state funding system requires people to fund their own care entirely if they have more than £23,250 in savings. Around half of those going into care each year do not qualify for state support and are required to fund at least part of their care costs; but as Stephen Lowe, communications director at Just Group, observes: ‘The level of awareness regarding funding care is almost nil’, and so most families do not have a financial plan in place.

So how can people meet these costs when they arise? One starting point is to seek out a financial adviser specialising in the complexities of later life and the care system. Jane Finnerty, director of the Society of Later Life Advisers, which on its website lists financial advisers who have gained the ‘later life adviser’ accreditation, adds: ‘specialist advice can demystify the situation.’

One in four have ‘no idea’ how to fund the cost of care

In terms of funding, there are of course more choices open to wealthier people. Those with sufficient assets could ringfence part of their pension, which has the advantage that any funds not needed for care can be passed on to the family free of inheritance tax. However, the trouble with this solution is that it is impossible to predict what the final bill may amount to. For example, you might ringfence £100,000 within your pension, but that would only see you through three years of care.

Payment options

A care or immediate need annuity offers a solution. This works in the same way as other annuities, with the cost basically dependent on life expectancy; it can be arranged for a fixed term or for life. With annuity rates at continuing historic lows, it’s an expensive option, typically requiring £100,000 plus; but as Neil Adams, head of pension planning at Drewberry Wealth, explains: ‘If the income from the annuity goes directly to the care home it’s tax-free, so this might be a worthwhile consideration for those with larger estates.’

The benefit is basically peace of mind: first, there’s no need to worry about the risk of the money running out, which could force a move to a cheaper care home; and secondly, the rest of the estate can be safely allocated to the children and grandchildren. It avoids ‘catastrophic loss of assets’, comments Lowe.

Best annuity rates this month

What about insurance? There are no specific care products that can be bought to protect yourself in future years, Lowe says. ‘The government would love the insurance industry to design one but it’s too hard to price, and also would require a large market – and that would mean much greater public awareness.’

Adams suggests a whole of life critical illness policy including total permanent disability cover might work. ‘In principle, this would pay out if serious health conditions arose and the payout could be used to fund care costs,’ he says. AIG is one of the few providers offering such a policy; for someone born in 1944, a £100,000 policy would cost around £420 per month.

Those without the wherewithal to pre-fund a care plan will probably have to fall back on the equity in their home. Equity release is an option, but Lowe warns it will only work for care at home; if you need residential care (and don’t have a partner still living at home), your property will be sold and the loan repaid.

New inheritance tax allowance: five things you didn't know

‘Most people will need to accept that they either make plans to reallocate their property wealth when they are still in good health, or they effectively roll the dice and hope that their family home doesn’t end up under the hammer when any opportunity to protect its value will have passed,’ says Adams.

How to reduce a potential IHT bill

Put a lasting power of attorney in place, to enable someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you are no longer able to do so.
If you gift your home to a family member but continue to live in it, you will need to pay a market rent or the property may be liable to inheritance tax on your death.
There is also a risk that the local authority will view the gift as ‘deliberate deprivation of assets’ to avoid care costs, and will tax the estate as though you had not given the property away. Specialist advice is crucial.

Wednesday, 4 April 2018

The 10 Most Limiting Beliefs About Money (& How to Remove Them)

The #1 thing that will determine your financial success in life is your mindset towards money. As I already wrote in The Big Picture Guide to Get Control Over Your Money, your attitude towards money is actively creating your financial reality. And the most influential part of a mindset are the beliefs you hold true.

Unfortunately many beliefs are operating subconsciously. Once we accepted them they are our reality. Until we question them again. So the first step is always to get aware that these limiting beliefs about money exist at all. You need to find them.

What are Your Beliefs about Money?

Maybe your money beliefs are already empowering you to create an abundance of money in your life. But maybe there are still some limiting ones. Then it is relieving to get these limits out of your way.

So think about it, what does money mean to you?

Complete the sentence: Money is ______. Fill in the blank.
And then: Money means for me ______. Write it down.

This little exercise alone can reveal some of your limiting beliefs about money.

The Top 10 Limiting Beliefs About Money and Corresponding Supporting Beliefs

Here are some of the most common limiting beliefs with money. See if you find yourself in them somewhere. Along with the limiting belief I will suggest an alternative belief that is empowering instead. You can adopt the empowering belief by repeating it in your mind and overwriting the limiting belief:

1. “Money is the root of all evil.”

A common misconception, if you haven’t mastered this area of your life yet, is to think of money as something bad, or even evil. It’s an abstract belief, looking from the outside. Or maybe you have had some bad experiences with rich people and created the limiting belief that with money everybody will become like this.

Or maybe you think about when people make money their one and only goal in life. When they start chasing money and get blind for higher human values like love, compassion and character integrity. This, of course, is wrong. But it’s not the fault of money. The people doing it got it wrong. They made money their king. They have become a slave to money.

Money was created as an exchange medium for the value of traded goods. So it is just an expression of value. If you have a lot of money that means that you have created a lot of value, for other people. (I know there are exceptions to this, for instance a bank robber. But that’s no role model and you don’t want to become one either.)

So money is just a neutral medium that follows along with how you use it. It is your responsibility to make the best out of it.