A Disturbing Statistic

I hope you will not be offended by this posting.  I write this because I feel it is so important, and I feel so strongly about the subject, that I cannot hold back.

First let's do a hypothetical situation.  Suppose your doctor told you that he had a service that would provide a comprehensive medical screening, using state of the art diagnostic technology, that would give you a clear concise report of your health and potential problems, including an clear indicator of whether or not you had any cancer cells anywhere in your body.  And, on top of that, the entire service was free of charge.  That's right, absolutely no cost to you.

If your doctor told you that, would you, (in your right mind), say to his face, "No, that's all right.  I feel fine right now so I don't think I need that".  Of course not.

A survey was done by a reputable financial news outlet that had several disturbing statistics about American's financial health, and their attitude about their financial health. 

It turns out that 54% of American workers have not even tried to calculate what they need for retirement.  The survey also showed that 43% of American workers have less than $10,000 in savings.

These are the same people who, when offered a free no obligation analysis of their financial health, would respond, "No thanks, I'm doing fine".  How do I know?  Because my colleagues and I have spoken to a lot of people during our careers and that is exactly the answer we get.

Tell me, how can they know that they are doing fine if they have not even thought about their financial future? (Let alone the present)

I am going to ask you a question, and you need to really, honestly, answer it:  If your primary source of income, (job, etc.), were cut off today, how long before you would experience financial disaster?

• How many house payments or rent payments could you make?
• How long could you go on buying groceries like you normally do?
• How long before the phone, gas, electricity, cell, internet, etc., are cut off, or threatened to be shut off?
• How long before the car is repossessed?
• How long before the credit card companies start calling?

If you honestly answered these questions with anything less than 1 year, (two would be better), you are like a person with cancer who tells his doctor, "don't bother treating me because I feel fine".  I believe that deep down, these people really know in their heart of hearts that they need help but are so much in denial, they can't allow themselves to look at their finances with the stark daylight of reality.

A short while ago I had someone come to me in a panic.  This person was about three years away from retirement and had finally admitted to themselves that they had a problem because they still had 20 years worth of debt.  I am happy to say that my colleagues and I were able to help them out so that their financial picture isn't quite so bleak, but they won't be retiring when they thought they would. 

What makes these statistics even more sad is that I know of over 100,000 trained, experienced professionals, through out the US and Canada, who would, with no charge, provide a comprehensive analysis of your financial health and provide clear, concise, easy to follow recommendations, and yet there are millions of Americans who, with their head in the sand, say to themselves, "I'm just fine, thank you".

Four ways to earn income

3. Residual Income - Work once and get paid again and again.

If trading time for money can be considered as "today's income" then residual income would be "tomorrow's income".

What is residual income?  Simply put, it is income that is created from work that you have done sometime in the past. Common examples of this are the performance & intellectual property businesses, (books, CDs, Movies, Computer programs, etc.), and is often referred to as "mail box money". When an author or an artist creates something, they usually get a royalty; a payment for each time their creation is purchased or performed. In most cases, as time passes, the amount of income received will diminish and eventually ends.

Now, most of us are probably not going to create a blockbuster book, CD, or movie that will provide us with royalties, but there are other ways to build up a residual income that will continue, and even increase), as time passes.

One way is to become securities licensed as an agent or broker. Financial services companies need agents and brokers to met one on one with clients and help them with their investment portfolios. A portion of the management fees earned by the company is paid to the agents each year. As the size of the portfolio grows, through both the increase in value, and influx of new clients, the amount of the commissions grows.

When an agent or broker helps a new client, they often get paid a commission for setting up the account or investment, and then they receive a portion of the annual management fees as each year goes by.

For example, I am aware of one company where, for a portfolio of $10 million, (that's not really all that much), the management fee paid to the agents ranges from about $60,000 to $112,000 a year, (depending on if they are part time or full time with the company).

Interestingly enough, the process to become a licensed agent is relatively simple and inexpensive. So for all of us that don't have a blockbuster movie or book, we still have the opportunity to earn a significant residual income, by helping other people find the financial solutions that they are seeking.

If you are interested in becoming an agent and getting licensed, fill out the information below, (click on "Referral Form" link below), and we will find an office in your area that can help you become a licensed agent or broker.

Referral Form 

The above information is for illustrative and educational purposes only and does not constitute any type of promise or guarantee.  Not all licensed individuals earn the above noted income.

Four Ways to Earn Income

2. Earn income when others work

The word for this is “over-rides”.  The concept is simple.  Every time someone else does something to earn money, (work, sell, construct), you earn some of the income they generated.  Now before you get upset and say that is somehow immoral or dishonest, let me explain.

Let’s say that you own a hot dog cart and sell hot dogs downtown during lunch hours.  On an average day, (about 4 hours work), you sell 100 hot dogs for a total income of $250.  After you deduct the cost of the dogs, buns, toppings, etc., your net income for the day is $160.  Not a bad income, ($40 an hour). 

(Side note: If you are the business owner and have to be at the business to earn income, then you are just trading time for money, see "Trading Time for Money").

One day you want to take your kids to the zoo, (to see the llamas), but you don’t want to lose out on a whole day’s income.  So you find a person who needs to earn some extra cash and offer to pay her $60 to operate the cart for the day.  I would say that is a pretty fair deal.  She gets a $15 hour job and you get $100 and weren’t even there. 

Congratulations, you have just discovered the power of over-rides, making money when someone else works by using a basic business model: hiring someone to sell your product to the public.  (Now tell me, how was that dishonest?)  The person you hired is making money they need and you are getting a return on your financial investment, (the cart and inventory).  It doesn’t take long to realize that if you had two, three, or more carts, you can make some very good income, all without having to trade your own time for money.

Let go a step further.  You like the person you hired to run your cart and want to give her a chance to run her own business.  Here is your offer.  You will buy another cart and let her run it herself, all she has to do is give you $20 each day and 50 cents of every hot dog she sells.  Our friend now has a chance to earn $160 for herself, (or she can do like you did and hire someone to run the cart for her).  You make about $70 each day without having to worry about managing inventory or running a business.

Find three or four other people that want to run a hot dog cart and now you are making a great income without having to worry or care about employees, inventory, dealing with customers, etc.  This is the basis for what is called “Franchising”. 

The bottom line:  our entire economy is built on this simple financial principal, every time a product is sold or someone is paid a wage, there is someone who gets paid an override.  It can be a person, or an entity, (company, stock holders, etc.), but that is how it works.

What you may not realize is how easy it is to become someone who earns money via over-rides.  The reason most people don’t feel that the average person can build a business for themselves is simply because they don’t know where to look, or what to look for, (more about that later).

Next Post: The third way to earn income