A ‘secret’ book project …

When I launched this site – and, found the 6 Millionaires … In Training! – I made sure that everybody who applied knew that I had a book or two in the off’ing …

The work we are doing here will the subject of at least two books: one now, and one at the end of the project.

Who knows, there may be a whole series of the damn things!

Anyhow, I have been harboring a book for many, many years now … and, I can safely say that one of the reasons I became rich was because I was basically researching that book and ‘experimenting’ on myself.

And, this site is, in effect, a repeat of that experiment, but in a much more organized fashion: I had to learn by trial and error; you, 7MIT or active member of the 7m7y Community, simply have to follow along the path that I have hacked with my personal finance machete … hopefully, you won’t encounter as many scorpions, rattlesnakes, blind bluffs, broad chasms, and wrong turns as I did.

In some respects, I am the lone adventurer, but you are the true pioneers …. setting out from your ‘safe comfort zones’ to make new homes for yourselves amongst the ‘rich’; you don’t really know what you will encounter, but you are brave enough to embark on the journey … and, I hope you have the stamina to see it through!

Which brings me back to the book:

I can’t tell you the subject, but I can tell you that the ’6 Millionaires … In Training!’ comment that introduced this post with was NOT a typo …

… at my invitation, Debbie has agreed to leave 7 Millionaires … In Training! program to co-author the book with me!

After all, one writer (Diane) on this ‘grand experiment’ is enough

I am very excited that Debbie has chosen to work with me on this project, as we hope to have a major impact on the PF reader community with it … and, we will need your help: we will need active participation both here and on the Share Your Number community site from as many people as possible, as we will be using a lot of your contributions on these sites as case study material.

You will be helping to break new Personal Finance ground (well, new to everybody who doesn’t actively follow this blog and ‘grand experiment’!) …

The catch for Debbie, of course, is that by teaming up with me, she would be breaking at least one – perhaps several – of the 7 Golden Rules. However, Debbie will remain an active member of both this site and the Share Your Number Community, which she will be co-hosting with me.

We’ll keep you posted on the book … and, on some further exciting news for this site … as we go along!

The Last Piece of the Puzzle …

Well, so far we have looked at our Life’s Purpose, found our Numbers, translated that into an Annual Required Compound Growth Rate, and thought about how we are going to achieve all of that …

… our future vision is complete!

Well, almost complete:

In coming weeks we will look at your plans in detail and start to put in place strategies that will see them come to fruition … your Journey starts NOW

But, every journey begins by making sure that our bags are packed, that you have the requisite travel documents and tickets and that your house is in order …

… so, it’s time to look at where we are today:

[private]

Take some time to think about your current financial situation and what you are – or intend to – do about improving it in the short/medium term; e.g.

- are you in too much debt? What can/will you do about it …

- is your income too low (tell us what it is)? What can/will you do about it …

- are your expenses too high (tell us what / how much you’re spending today)? What can/will you do about it …

- are you saving enough money (where? 401k? Roth? Banks? What are your savings in: stocks, bonds, cash?) What can/will you do about it …

This will help you get a plan in place to ensure a sound financial footing, so that you can move on to your Making Money 201 activities that will get you to your Number (by our Date).

[/private]

Naturally, I’ve asked the 7MITs the same questions and hope that they will share with us, right here!

Don’t break Harry’s Code …

The 7MITs have a ‘code’ – not Harry’s Code that Dexter has to live by (as he carefully slices and dices not-so-innocent people in the darkly popular Showtime series of the same name), but Adrian’s 7 Golden Rules …

… these rules are in place to ensure this site’s integrity and ethics: it’s about money, not about me (or any of the Community) using it to make money … there’s a difference!

Debbie (correctly, I might add) asks:

Are we able to mention URL’s in the post we’re making about how we plan to get to our numbers or are we not supposed to do that? It’s not really intended to advertise but it probably would end up being an advertisement anyway since people could click it.

Like most rules, this is a toughie – Debbie’s question relates to Golden Rules # 2 and # 3:

2. NO money – or ‘in kind exchange’ – will change hands via this site.

3. NO products, advertising, or affiliate links of any kind will be accepted. I may, however, include no more than one (1) link to my own site or blog in each post -  my site may contain products, but no ’spam’ or ‘offensive’ products.

Having read Debbie’s draft post, I am encouraging her to include just ONE unobtrusive hyperlink to the web-site that she refers to:

I will even allow (nay, encourage) you to hyperlink the words “online business” ONCE to your site, because if people want to see what you’re up to, we should encourage that … hey, I’m curious! But, one contextual link is plenty and shouldn’t break ‘the Code’ (now, I’m beginning to feel like Dexter).

… and, I am curious, so I just assume that our readers will be, too!

If it’s relevant, helpful, unobtrusive, legal, and ethical, go ahead and link it … but, make sure you are doing it to help the 7m7y Community, not to feather your own nest.

My Mountain’s too steep! – Part 2

In my last post we started answering the question about what to do if your ‘mountain’ is too steep – that is, your Number just seems way too large:

[private]

We started with the natural reaction, which is to try and knock some off the top …

… but, if you’ve ever tried to make a mountain into a molehill, you can see how tough that can really be.

But, there’s a MUCH easier way!

When you realize that it’s not the size of the mountain that’s important (unless, of course, you’re talking about climbing Everest and you are worried about snow, ice and rarefied air!) but the steepness of the climb then you have made a major breakthrough in your thinking.

Ever seen a mountain way off in the distance?

It looks low … but it may not be, it may be real high. Intuitively, you realize that if the road that you are on would just gradually climb all the way until you get there, you would be at the top of that huge mountain and barely even realize it.

A long distance between you and the mountain means a shallow climb (just – and, this is the key – spread over that long distance) so, it’s not so hard to climb at all …

In the real world, though, mountains don’t come with nice, long, flat roads to the top … they look more like the mountain in the picture above.

But, the same principle applies: whether you stand at the first marker (on the left) or the second marker (in the middle) makes a BIG difference as to whether you’ll make it to the third marker (on the right) at the top!

The difference is the ‘run up’ that you get … building up the steam and momentum that helps to carry you all the way to the top: it’s how a cyclist gets up a steep hill … so, it’s actually easier to get up if you just start a little further away, where the road is a little less steep.

In the world of money, the ‘momentum’ that we build up comes from the power of compounding; just take a look at how $1,000 compounds over 30 years (@ 10% p.a.represented by the blue part of the graph, below) … more importantly, look at what happens if we start just 10 years later (represented by the red part of the graph):

… we can get to the same end point, but only by increasing our annual compound growth rate by  a hefty 55% (i.e. to 15.5% p.a.).

Increasing our compound growth rate implies increasing our risk e.g. moving from cash to investing in stocks; or, moving from stocks to investing in real-estate; or, moving from investing in real-estate to buying a business; or, moving from buying a business to starting our own.

So, if you want to give yourself the maximum chance to reach the Number that you need to live your Life’s Purpose, by all means look at what you can trim back (without compromising your true needs) …

… but, more importantly, give yourself just a little more time to get there:

Extend your Date!

[/private]

That’s it: the all-too-simple ‘secret’ to financial success revealed at last

My Mountain’s too steep! – Part 1

Well, we have looked (again) at the size of the mountain i.e. our Number, and – if you are anything like me or the 7MITs – it seems huge.

What to do?

[private]

That’s exactly the question that Ryan (who is one of the 7 Millionaires … In Training!) posed:

The previous number I sent you was without taxes.  I’ve included the revised table with taxes which pushes my number to 19million.  YIKES!!!  That new number seems astronomical, but I don’t feel like I’m trying to live like Donald Trump!  Is there something I’m missing?

Spooky, huh?

If you share Ryan’s ‘issue’ (i.e. what seems like a super-high Number) you’ll probably notice a couple of things:

1. Whether you buy a $2 Million house or a $4 Mill. house (today’s dollars) doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference to your Number e.g $19 Mill. or $17 Mill. – who cares?!

2. But every extra dollar that you spend ANNUALLY really takes a chunk i.e. x 20 for inflation AFTER you stop working x Inflation Adjustment BEFORE you reach Your Number/Date) …

… which really means that every recurring dollar that you spend costs 20 to 40 times more in ‘Number costs’.

So, it’s logical to start by cutting annually recurring expenses: e.g.

- Do you really expect to eat out every night and incur $40k per year of ‘Meals’ expenses?

- Do you love golf enough to spend $20k a year on it?

- Spa? I guess with all that golf, you’ll need the massages

- And, so on …

Also, keep in mind, the bigger the house, the bigger the maintenance, etc. expenses … so, I guess the size of house really does matter – but, not for the obvious reason.

But this IS your Life, so make sure that your Number is EXACTLY as big or small as you NEED it to be.

There’s nothing wrong with reviewing things now …

Of course, if you’ve looked at your Number objectively – and filtered it through the only lens that matters: your Life’s Purpose – and, it still scares you then you can either accept it, or do something else …

[/private]

… something that’s so simple, yet powerful, that you will kick yourself for not thinking of it sooner.

But, more on that tomorrow

Sorry, no LIVE Chat tonight … back, at the usual time next week!

______________________________

How high is your mountain?

Lee gently reminded me that I have used a similar post title before; and I have!

That’s because, this is the second time that the 7 Millionaires … In Training! (and, hopefully, you) have taken a long, hard look at your Number …

… in fact, you have probably put more time and energy into Your Number (and, Your Life’s Purpose) than I did, way back in 1998!

It will be well worth the effort …

[private]

Before we go on, let me remind you that we measure the ‘steepness’ of a financial curve by its Required Annual Compound Growth Rate – and, here is what the 7MITs’ look like (using the 7MITs’ actual current net worth as a starting point):

Two things to notice:

1. How some of the Numbers have changed a LOT since the last time the 7MITs tried this exercise (while others haven’t changed at all), so it pays to put serious effort into understanding both your Life’s Purpose and your ensuing WANTS v NEEDS, and

2. The compound growth rate required to get from here (your current Net Worth) to there (your Number) by when (your Date).

Why is this significant?

Because it tells you a lot about the investment choices, hence risks you need to take:

The Average Compound Growth Rate is a measure of how ’steep’ a financial mountain you need to climb … and, that should tell you whether you need a train, a fast car, or a helicopter to get you to the very top in time.

According to Michael Masterson in his book Seven Years To Seven Figures:

Required Compound              Investments

Growth Rate                             Required

4%                                                  CD’s

8%                                           Index Funds

15%                                              Stocks

30%                            Real-Estate together with Stocks

45%              Real-Estate together with Stocks and Small Businesses

50%+                           Start Your Own Business

So, how big is your mountain? More importantly, how steep the gradient?

And, are you prepared to try a new mode of transport, if that’s what is required?

Are you?

[/private]

BTW: For convenience, here are links to each of the 7MITs recently updated NetworthIQ Profiles:

Lee       http://www.networthiq.com/people/topekac1
Diane    https://www.networthiq.com/people/Diane
Mark     https://www.networthiq.com/people/markwws
Josh      https://www.networthiq.com/people/jaushwa/2008/11
Ryan     https://www.networthiq.com/people/PassiveSeeker
Debbie  https://www.networthiq.com/people/debtfreedom/2008/10
Scott     https://www.networthiq.com/people/abundantlife

Tick, tock …. tick, tock …

Honestly, I’m not the kind of guy to sit somewhere with my fingers drumming … I either do with a passion or don’t do – with equal passion.

It’s why my online business experiment goes in fits and starts – starting an online business of the type that I am suggesting that you start is not my passion, so it’s hard work for me. Yet, every few days I do a ‘spurt’ of activity …

… but, that activity is unlikely to last for 7 years.

On the other hand, this site – and, my blog, but particularly this site – is something that I come back to first thing in the morning and last thing at night … and a whole lot of times in between. There’s some passion here, Baby!

I’m not really sure why …

The same goes for our 7 Millionaires … In Training! And, for you, too!

Some of you will see this as one of the most important opportunities of your life … others as a lot of fun, with your ‘passion’ rising and falling like the tides … and, others just reading along until “something dramatic happens” or your interest just runs its course …

I see the signs of all of these in our 7MITs; I could run a ‘book’ with odds on who’s going to make it and who isn’t … who’s going to stay the course, and who isn’t. But, I won’t.

Even this is part of the ‘social experiment’; so, I’ll let them decide who is who, and which is which for themselves … in the meantime, I’ll continue my commitment.

Right now, I am waiting for some numbers from some of the 7MITs so that I can update a table that I provided some time ago … tick, tock …

I don’t get the point of the exercise at all …

This whole concept of the Number, Your Rear Deck Speech, and the associated “Lee’s List” is difficult because it is intangible and personal …

… it only has meaning to YOU and you alone!

That’s why I thought that I should share Di’s recent comments in response to a good-natured back-and-forth between us exploring the role of ‘hair salons’ in one’s Life Purpose:

Well, then I don’t get the point of the exercise at all. Am I supposed to have some higher-than-thou kind of motivation in order to BE motivated? I thought the point was just to BE motivated. Lee’s List looked like a bunch of “what I would do with the money” to me, along the lines of his personal desires. So did Scott’s. So, if I haven’t somehow in all those writings already said what I’m doing with the money, then it’s just not coming thru clearly.

My point is simply this:

I’ve traveled this road, and I can tell you that the road to the top of the hill (and, you’ve already had a ‘sneak peek’ at how steep each of the 7MITs’ roads might be) is going to be EXCEEDINGLY tough … emotionally tough … mentally tough … physically tough … and, the list of ‘toughs’ goes on.

On some level, you already understand this simply because you know a lot more people would be rich if it were simply a matter of luck, knowledge, or external factors (of course, they ARE factors, too).

It’s my belief, and experience, that a lot of motivated people simply fall off the path to riches because they hit Roadblocks Number 1 thru’ n, and eventually give up …

…. or, more likely, simply settle for less.

Think about it; you want $10 Mill. and you make it to $3 Mill. then a fork in the road appears: an easy way (stop now and pocket the $3 Mill.) or the hard way (say NO to the ‘offer’ and roll the dice again).

Which road will you take?

Well, you think you MAY know the answer, but I can tell you that you won’t KNOW for sure until you get there!

This happened to me, but somehow I persevered beyond Roadblock (n+1) …

… I believe THE reason that I managed this was because there was only ONE measure of success to me:

Achieving my Life’s Purpose as measured by the $5 Mill. that I needed for my travels and the fund for my ‘creative adventures’.

And, yes, I got the cars and the houses, and the home theater and all that stuff, but they really weren’t that important to me, and still aren’t.

For example, the US house is on the market, the Maserati at the dealership on consignment. Who knows what the house is like that we have bought in Australia (we haven’t seen it yet)? And, I know I won’t buy another Maserati there (at least not straight away … so here I am looking at BMW’s again) simply because taxes double the price of ‘exotics’ Down Under.

It is what it is …

Hardly suffering, but the point is, we buy what we reasonably think we can afford because we have a large bank account because we aimed for OUR top and got there.

Who knows what would have happened if our Number was $1M or $50M … all I know is that it was $5 Mill. (and, we got lucky enough to overshoot in the process of cashing out).

As for the tangibles – ‘finer things’ – in life:

I didn’t ever put a $4+ Mill. house or a Maserati in my Number; I did pick a ‘rich’ lifestyle – sure – but, that was VERY secondary to fulfilling my Life’s Purpose with: travel; time; and, a ‘slush fund’ … all of which allows me to do what I am doing right now (just STARTING to really LIVE my Life’s Purpose).

Plus all the other stuff that I have planned (and, for once in my life, left gloriously unplanned)!

So, Di.

This boils down to YOU … what is so important to YOU that you simply won’t back down until you get to it … the WHOLE shebang, not some ‘booby prize’?

It could be in what you’ve already written … it could be more than you’ve written … it could be less. But, when you find IT (if you haven’t already), you will know, without a shadow of a doubt.

Of course, if you have found IT already, that’s it … STOP … smell the roses for a while before we launch into the journey-proper … and, don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

But, if you can’t find IT now – even after looking real long and hard – don’t worry … push on with what you DO know, but leave yourself open to the possibility that something more may appear … or, may not.

Oh, and if you’ve been following this discussion between me, Di, and the Others and this exercise STILL doesn’t make any sense, don’t worry …

… SKIP IT and simply make your best guess at a Number (and Date) and see what happens … nobody knows how Life will pan out for YOU; it may just work out fine, anyway

BTW: Since I drafted this post a few days ago (in fact, as soon as Diane raised the question), Diane has revised her Lee’s List – I can see from what she has now written that she totally ‘gets it’ – after a little help from Jeff – so I thought that I should share an extract, here:

I went back to Lee’s 2nd List and here it is, then paralleled my stuff to his organization. In the end, I like what Jeff said and will address that at the bottom.
@ Adrian – thanks for posting my life’s purpose…
A). $ 350,000 ……. Design, write and publish course materials.
(B). $ 500,000 ……. Travel to states & Countries 6 times a year.
(C). $ 300,000 ……. Help Establish chaplains programs & donate.
(D). $180,000 ……. Two vehicles & expenses (domestic type)
(E). $ 400,000 ……. Create & Publish Magazine (God & Stress management)
(F). $ 550,000 ……. Two yearly Personal “Family” vacations (stress relievers)

(A & B (B is for A)) Travel costs for 6 months overseas living, researching and writing, with no other visible source of income: $55,000
(to enable A & B) Living expenses: $90,000
(C) not enabling any programs or specializing in donating
(D) Vehicle within the states: $15,000 annually, with maintenance/insurance
(E) I’ll use a blog – free to me and readers – to gage and increase readership and interest, but not to the extent that I would detract from the “real” writing – no cost, tho perhaps might want to set up a LLC and a webpage professionally eventually – say $20,000 upfront (assuming I hire expensive designers to do it for me and then to run it) and $5k per year thereafter. Right now, Barry has one and it is about $20 per year and he updates it himself. So, I’ve been figuring this is negligible for us. IF the money from the writing allows it, then we do it. If not, we stay “free”
(F) Researching and writing and living like this IS the stress-free vacation – going home to visit them is a lot more stressful  and is considered part of the travel costs anyway (the direction that is backwards) for when it is necessary or desireable, hopefully the latter, but my parents are in their mid-70s and this will be when they are near or into their 80s, so I would expect some travel back to the states from time to time.
But…$6,000 for yard/garden – this is a big stress reliever as well.

When One Door Closes…

…find another one (or climb through the window).

In the last two weeks, my life turned upside down, sideways and diagonal!  The highlight was being selected as one of the 7 Millionaires in Training, of course – some things happened and turned out just fine, while some of the other stuff has changed my life plan considerably.

• My 2 year old required a triple-punch surgery: tonsils and adnoids removed and tubes placed in his ears.  The doctor also checked his voice box and throat for any unusual growth or problems.  All in all he recovered rather quickly and should be on the road to finally hearing well enough to learn to talk.
• I moved twice in a two week period.  Packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking! Once from the house I shared with my husband and into my parents home for a temporary stay while my new place was being prepared; and a second time from my parents home into my new home with the children (and without the husband).
• Both children started new schools, requiring a lot of running around and paperwork hassles.
• I’ve been without internet for the entire time- with the exception of borrowing my parents computer to check email and try to keep up to date with my clients so as not to lose them; and right now while I’m “borrowing” a wireless signal from somewhere near by.  The cable company had no available install dates until Monday the 8th.

So anyway, this is a glimpse of my last two weeks.  Pretty much everything in my world has been changed in a short period of time.  I believe everything happens for a reason.  I believe this has all taken place because it had to in order to fulfill my new life’s plan – perhaps if everything had stayed where it was, there would be no way to create and live the new plan?

Next time you feel like your world’s being turned upside down, sideways and diagonal, you might try to think about it as becoming the new foundation for something new and better that must be coming your way…

Adrian and 7 Millionaires in Training is all part of this new plan for me… my new road I’m traveling on.  Part One of this path for me is to eliminate most of the excessive debt I have (a combination of college loans, a new vehicle loan that I really had little choice in taking on, and some new credit card debt obtained when moving into my new place – needed a refrigerator and washing machine…. and a dishwasher, because if I’m spending all my time washing dishes I certainly won’t get very far towards achieving my new plan, right?!)

(image from http://www.santamargaritasolutions.com)

While I’m loving that I’m one of the 7 selected for this experiment, I also love that anyone with the desire could follow along as we go and find their own path… when one door closes, just find another one to open (or if all the doors seem to be presenting road blocks, just go through the window).

The Final Step!

Today I sent an e-mail to my Final 15 (if you didn’t get one and are not sure why, send me an e-mail) that said:

This is it, the FINAL STEP before I select my 7 Millionaires … In Training!
 
Congratulations for making it this far … it means that you have that rare combination of ambition, vision, and staying power that all truly successful people exhibit. And, now you should be consolidating your ‘vision’ for what your life should be all about and setting a clear financial destination: these are the exact ingredients that I truly believe will propel you to the top of Financial America as it did for me!
 
Remember, I was effectively $30k in debt in 1998 when I discovered my Life’s Purpose (and the very scary Number and all-too-soon Date needed to support it!), yet just 7 years later I had a Net Worth of $7 million … lucky? Perhaps. Coincidence? I think not … what will you be able to achieve?
 
Well, we’re about to find out – together!
 
I am attaching a final application form, one that only the Final 15 will have the chance to submit, and I am giving you until Midnight CST on August 7 to attach it to your reply to THIS e-mail …

[private]
 
Why so long? I want you to have every opportunity to let your Life’s Purpose resonate deep within your psyche and to choose The Number (and, The Date) that seems to fit.
 
These are things that can take time … even if you feel that you have them down ‘pat’, let the words that represent your Rear Deck Speech and Your Life’s Purpose swim in your subconscious and see what develops over the next week or so before finalizing (as best you can) and completing and sending the attached application form to me.

[/private]
 
I can promise you this, if you think the Journey so far has been ‘interesting’, you ain’t seen nothing yet
 
Good Luck!
 
Adrian J Cartwood.

PS I’m taking a few days break so will be writing on this site only sporadically for the next few days! 7million7years.com will be running as usual …

So, in about two weeks and on this site, I will (finally) be announcing my 7 Millionaires … In Training!

Even if you are NOT one of the finalists, I hope that you have been participating in these exercises, too …. you don’t have to be one of my 7MITs to benefit from this ‘grand experiment’ – you just need to be an active member of the 7m7y Community. Welcome!