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1. Financial Planning
2. Wealth Creation
3. Business Creation
INTRODUCTION
Hi. My name is Sherry Peel Jackson, retired Certified PublicAccountant and Certified Fraud Examiner; and former IRS agent.
Ive been teaching about finances for over 30 years, and haveseen the results of the vicious cycle called the rat racemental breakdowns, brokenmarriages and even suicide. Ive even seen people resort to crime, such as embezzlement,just to get relief from the drudgery of the race. Of course theres a better way.
There are many financial gurus out there who tell you all thewrong ways to escape the rat race. Theyve told you to do everything from get anextra job to sell your house and live in a commune. Many of you have followed theiradvice but it didnt free you from the race.
When the market crashed in late 2008, millions of people lostover half their savings and retirement funds. Over ten trillion dollars in savingswas transferred from the middle class to the ultra-wealthy. That event sent thousandsof people into a tailspin that will have them running the rat race for the restof their lives, and even thousands more had to delay retirement or return to work,because they werent preparing themselves to get off at the next exit ramp. Theylistened to traditional advice from traditional financial experts and they losttheir shirts, literally.
Wealthy people have escaped the rat race. Do you want to escape?Heres where you learn how. The wealthy people that I interact with havent followedtraditional methods in decades. Some of them never followed the television gurusat all. They dont invest in the traditional manner that weve been taught via mainstream media.
In this book I will show you the steps to get off at the nextexit ramp. Youll learn how to be financially free by decreasing your expenses andincreasing your income. Youll also learn the proper way to save for future purchasesand to invest so that you will have resources in your latter years. You can be outof the rat race in as little as two or three years if you prepare and follow a plan.Youll also learn how to help others escape with you.
This book contains four sections; keys to acquire the lifeof your dreams:
Decreasing Expenses
Increasing Income
Saving
Investing
Each of these sections will comprise several chapters to bringclarity to the strategies that will free you from the rat race.
Ive traveled to Canada, Europe, Africa, East Asia, Malta,Central and South America, and the Caribbean. In many of these places there is nomiddle class! The United States is not far from that point! The United States isbecoming like those other countries that have only the rich and the poor.
The education that you receive in this book will show you howyou can avoid landing in the poor category, or escaping the poor category if youare already there.
This book does not contain legal advice. This book is designedto provide accurate and authoritative information pertaining to the subject mattercovered. It is sold with the understanding that legal, accounting, or other professionalservices are not included. If you need legal or accounting advice, or other expertassistance, please seek the services of a competent professional.
Every effort has been made to make the course materials current.Laws affecting our finances are subject to rapid changes, however. Congress hasauthority to modify the law, and it has done so on numerous occasions in the recentpast. Court decisions and rulings may significantly affect the applications of financiallaws to individual circumstances. Such changes may affect the accuracy of this book.
This information comes from over 30 years of study and experience,from one who has run the gamut of making six figures a year to being flat broke,and from observing others in the same situation. This perpetual rat race is an epidemicin our culture and is slowly killing us mentally, physically and financially. Letsget started on our journey out of the rat race!
SECTION ONE
DECREASING EXPENSES
First, Id like to talk to you about implementing a plan thatwill help you become debt free and stay that way.
Becoming debt free today is a very daunting task. Current statisticsreveal that Americans have a negative rate of saving, meaning that we spend morethan we earn. We have created a massive amount of debt, and we are witnessing devastationaround the country because of this debt.
I want you to avoid the coming economic earthquake, and youcan if you take the proper steps. Time is of the essence.
As I interact with people on a regular basis I find that manyare in debt because they are self-indulgent. Self-indulgent people have tell-talesigns:
1. Buying items without thinking about the bills that are alreadydue.
2. Living a lavish lifestyle to try to impress others.
3. Buying or leasing a new vehicle every two years.
4. Having closets full of clothes, many with the tags still onthem.
5. Always talking about department store sales.
6. Making sure that everything they buy carries a well-knownname brand.
One of the hardest things for people to do is decrease theirexpenses. Whether out of habit, pride, or for whatever reason, people dont seemto be interested in decreasing their expenses. They always talk about making moremoney to make ends meet, but never mention cutting the grass themselves or doingtheir own hair or nails.
The fastest way to have extra income is to immediatelydecrease your expenses. Write down your monthly income and all of your monthlyexpenses in a notebook. Then decide which ones to reduce or eliminate. For example,if your monthly income is $3,215 but your monthly expenses are $3,795 then you arespending $580 more per month than youre earning! It also means that you are probablyfloating this overspending with credit card debt that is steadily mounting. Thetypes of expenses that you should consider decreasing or eliminating are:
Gym membershipswalkaround a park or your neighborhood
Beauty salon, barbershop and nail shopdo it yourself
Eating outcook more
Car detailingwashyour own vehicle
Clothes and Shoeswearwhat you have or shop at thrift stores
Cable TVread booksthat will help improve your finances
A woman came to me in desperate need of financial counseling.She had been spending on things that she didnt actually need and things that shecould do herself. When I told her that she could at least even out her income andexpenses by eliminating many of her discretionary expenses and that she could getahead of the game by eliminating entertainment and music all together for a while,she was very angry and did not want any more counseling. Unfortunately, she is notunlike many Americans who want to live a lifestyle that is higher than they canafford.