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Overview
* Get your next raise totally tax-free
* Make your vacations and trips tax-deductible
* Get your retirement-plan money tax- and penalty-free before age 59 1/2
* Use high-powered, little-known strategies for getting out of debt and rebuilding credit
* Get next year's tax refund this year
And much, much more!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780671694036 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Gallery Books |
| Publication date: | 04/01/1995 |
| Edition description: | Updated |
| Pages: | 608 |
| Sales rank: | 427,885 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.70(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1
DEVELOPING YOUR FINANCIAL BLUEPRINT
I expect to spend the rest of my life in the future, so I want to be reasonably sure what kind of future it is going to be. That is my reason for planning.
Charles Kettering
Industrialist
1950
OBJECTIVE
TURN DREAMS INTO REALITIES.
There are three strategies we were never taught in school:
* how to run a successful marriage
* how to raise successful children
* how to build wealth successfully
The purpose of this book is to show you how to overcome the third of these educational gaps — how to build your wealth quickly and easily by making your financial decisions correctly and with confidence.
Everyone with self-earned wealth will tell you that money is not complicated. The confusing trade terms, buzz words, and complex explanations that are thrown around by investment counselors and financial people are not necessary. They just muddy the waters and sometimes hide the fact that the so-called experts don't really know what they're talking about.
In the course of my life, I have discovered a success principle that has enabled me to accumulate tens of millions of dollars while maintaining a constant state of happiness, emotional balance, and zest for life.
Strategy #2
ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN ANY AREA OF LIFE BY IDENTIFYING THE OPTIMUM STRATEGIES AND REPEATING THEM UNTIL THEY BECOME HABITS.
Success with money, family, relationships, health, and careers is the ability to reach your personal objectives in the shortest time, with the least effort, and with the fewest mistakes. The goals you set for yourself and the strategies you choose become your blueprint or plan.
Strategies are like recipes: choose the right ingredients, mix them in the correct proportions, and you'll always produce the same predictable result: in this case, financial success. The success strategies for managing money and building wealth are called Money Strategies.
As you learn to use Money Strategies as a part of your day-to-day life, financial frustration and failure will become a thing of the past. Why, then, do so many people find it so difficult to accumulate wealth and, more importantly, to enjoy the journey?. There are two reasons: not being clear about what they are after and not knowing the strategies for achieving it.
The starting point in any plan is where you are right now. Where you are is where you are. Your first objective is to accept yourself and your current status as an O.K. place to be without making excuses as to why you don't know more or aren't doing better. Excuses become the limiters that turn realistic dreams into idle wishes. Lack of action and the lack of a willingness to change are almost the only things in life that create frustration and depression.
When it comes to excuses for not taking financial control, I hear them again and again:
"I can't even balance my checkbook."
"I'm too old."
"I'm too broke."
"I can't get my husband (or wife) to listen."
"I don't want much."
"I'm too young."
"I'm too tired."
"I'm too dumb about money."
"I'm too busy."
"I'm too scared."
Excuses do not produce results. You can find unlimited excuses for failure, but no one ever makes an excuse for success.
Now figure out where you want to be — your goals in life — and write them down. Your written plan sets the tone, speed, and most importantly the direction for your life. If you've ever attended a rousing motivational lecture, you were probably struck by the spirit, humor, and drive, but walked out of the room thinking, "Now, what the hell am I supposed to do?" Enthusiasm, but no direction.
Direction can turn the power of a light bulb into a laser beam. Lasers are nothing more than sharply focused light. Lasers have the power to cut through steel and destroy missiles in space. Same light as the light bulb — just focused and directed. Clearly establishing objectives and choosing your direction will turn the power of your mind into the laser beam it was meant to be, drawing to you the opportunities, people, and knowledge you will need, allowing you to cut through the obstacles along your success path.
Power to accomplish also lies in knowing how to compress time — to do in one year what it takes everyone else ten years to accomplish. The strategies in this book are powerful time compressors.
Success also requires an understanding and use of the Momentum Principle.
Strategy #3
SUCCESS REQUIRES FIRST EXPENDING TEN UNITS OF EFFORT TO PRODUCE ONE UNIT OF RESULTS. YOUR MOMENTUM WILL THEN PRODUCE TEN UNITS OF RESULTS WITH EACH UNIT OF EFFORT.
Direction and control begin with a written plan spelled out in two parts. Part A lists "dreams" — what you are after both financially and personally. Part B lists your "strategies" — the specific financial and personal road map that will take you from where you are to where you want to be. By clearly defining your direction, and by adopting the correct money and attitude strategies for control, you will automatically establish the shortest possible route.
When I was 18, I sat down with a pad of paper and, without totally realizing what I was doing, wrote an action blueprint for my life. I called it my dreams list. The exercise will do the same for you, clearly defining at one time and in one place your goals, dreams, objectives, and even your fantasies. Choose a totally quiet spot where you will not be interrupted. At the top of the pad of paper write the following:
DREAMS LIST
If I had unlimited...
TIME
TALENT
MONEY
ABILITY
SELF-CONFIDENCE
SUPPORT FROM FAMILY
Here's what I'd do...
Relax and let the ideas pour from both your conscious and subconscious. Don't evaluate your potential for achieving each item you write. What you will write will excite you, motivate you, inspire you, make you laugh, and, most of all, define desires and dreams that all too often are ready to surface but are held back by the complexities of daily living. Write it all down no matter how silly it seems, no matter what it costs. The ideas will come slowly at first, gaining speed as you leave behind the realities and limits in your life.
My first list was 181 dreams long, of which 175 have already become reality. Since that time I've added dozens of others, as you will probably find yourself doing.
All of us at any age have dreams, and the first step of turning dreams into reality is to get those dreams out in front of you where you can see and feel them.
Having taught my students this dreams list strategy for over 12 years, I have seen some truly wonderful things happen that might never have occurred otherwise.
A 66-year-old Ph.D. spent his birthday hang gliding with me off the huge sand dunes at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
A 14-year-old boy started his own successful business.
A 45-year-old, recently separated housewife with no previous sense of adventure rappeled straight down a 200-foot cliff, then rode a zip line 60 feet in the air, 300 yards across a valley at 40 miles per hour hanging from only wrist straps, resulting in more self-confidence in two days than she had achieved in her entire lifetime.
Through the dreams list strategy a 35-year-old mother swam and played with dolphins at Kings Dominion Park in Virginia, a dream she had had since she was a child.
A 28-year-old European immigrant, who barely spoke English, built a $5-million fortune in five years starting with a $6-an-hour job. I will never forget the tears of joy in his eyes as he sat in my office in Orlando telling me the story of his success and the part my strategies had played in his life.
Once you have made your list with no limits, choose those objectives that are the most important to you. Some will be individual objectives, others will include and require the support of your family. Encourage your spouse and children, if you have them, to create their own lists.
After you define your dreams, the things you want to do, places you want to go, what you want to be and accomplish, the next logical step is to build your road map — your strategies list. The rest of the chapters will show you all of the safe alternatives for creating the wealth to live out your dreams.
Copyright © 1988, 1991, 1995 by Charles J. Givens
Table of Contents
CONTENTSPreface My Story
Introduction
Part I PERSONAL FINANCE STRATEGIES
1 Developing Your Financial Blueprint
Turn dreams into realities
2 Becoming Your Own Financial Expert
Take control of your financial future
3 Automobile Insurance — Cutting Your Premiums 50%
Save up to 50% of the cost of your automobile insurance while maintaining necessary coverages
4 Avoid Rental Car Insurance Rip-offs
Save hundreds of dollars and avoid unnecessary hassles when you rent a car
5 Getting Control of Your Homeowner's Policy and Other Insurance
Lower the premiums on your homeowner's policy while getting rid of poor-value coverages and gimmick insurance
6 Better Life Insurance for 80% Less
Cut the cost of your life insurance by up to 80% while increasing financial protection for your family
7 Give Yourself Credit
Get control of your credit bureau file and establish good credit habits
8 Creative Credit Repair
Get control and repair your credit when life throws you a financial curve
9 Borrowing Money — Mortgage Control Strategies
Save tens of thousands on any home mortgage
10 Borrowing Money — Loan and Credit Card Strategies
Cut the cost of borrowing money by 30 to 50%
11 Send Your Kids to College Free!
Combine a college loan with an investment that will cut the real cost of educating your children by 50 to 100%
12 Found Money for College
Take the mystery and frustration out of finding college loans and grants
Part II TAX-REDUCING STRATEGIES
13 Making Your Life Less Taxing
Cut your income taxes by up to 50%
14 Tax Return Filing Strategies
Reduce your taxes and chances of an audit at the same time
15 Winning the Tax Audit
Gain the upper hand in a tax audit
16 Family Ties
Turn family expenses into tax deductions
17 Whom Do You Trust?
Beat the dreaded gift tax and estate tax probate hoax, and protect your assets through the use of trusts
18 Doubling the Profits in Your Employer's Retirement Plan
Create a million-dollar retirement plan where you work
19 Travel the World on Deductible Dollars
Make your vacations and trips tax deductible
20 In Your Best Interest
Make consumer interest deductible
21 Give Yourself a Tax-Free Raise
Increase your take-home pay $50 to $350 per month
22 Working for Tax Deductions
Use your job to create big tax deductions
23 Turn Your Home into a Tax Haven
Generate thousands in extra tax deductions from your principal residence
24 Make Your Boat, Plane, or RV Tax Deductible
Find big tax deductions for your recreational assets
25 Getting Down to Business
Start a small business for fun, profit, and huge tax deductions
Part III POWERFUL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
26 The Secrets of Powerful Investing
Accomplish the three major investment objectives: 15% safe investment return, no commissions, no taxes
27 The Ten Biggest Investment Mistakes
Learn to recognize investment schemes, scams, and bad advice
28 The 10% Solution
Get your million-dollar investment plan started on a shoestring
29 The Asset Management Account (AMA)
Couple the convenience of checking with the power of an investment
30 The Money Movement Strategy™
Move your investment money among stock, bond, and money market mutual funds to earn an average 15% per year
31 Mutual Fund Winning Strategies
Learn the winning strategies for identifying and using mutual fund investments
32 Mutual Fund Margin Accounts
Use OPM to increase the earning power of mutual funds
33 IRA and Keogh Investment Superstrategies
Earn 15 to 20% per year in nontraditional IRA and Keogh investments
34 Self-Directed Annuities
Combine the 15% earning power of the Money Movement Strategy with America's best tax shelter
35 Discounted Mortgages
Earn 30% per year guaranteed and secured
36 Tax Lien Certificates
Earn 15 to 50% government-guaranteed interest
37 Powerful Investing — How to Structure Your Investment Plan
Choose the investments that will accomplish your goals in the shortest time
Epilogue
Appendix Fund Family Fact Sheets
Acknowledgments
Index
What People are Saying About This
U.S. News & World Report Excellent....Pragmatic and Sound....A great deal of valuable advice and information....
Fort Worth Star-Telegram A monumental catalog of insurance credit, tax, and investing strategies.
USA Today Charles J. Givens is becoming to investing what Dale Carnegie is to human relations.
Self Magazine Finally, someone has turned investing into a simple-to-understand system....
San Jose Mercury News Very good....Stocked with considerable substance....
St. Petersburg Times Givens' plan focuses on reducing expenses for insurance, taxes and credit cards and increasing savings and investment earnings....Many of his strategies are common sense....
Booklist There is no way that an individual cannot benefit from at least several money-saving or -earning tips....
Kirkus Reviews Uncommonly sensible recommendations....Features a wealth of smart-money tips....
Publishers Weekly A top money guide — entertaining, exciting and full of new ideas....
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