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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781466994782 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Trafford Publishing |
| Publication date: | 05/31/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 197 KB |
Read an Excerpt
The Ascertainment of Financial Freedom, Fear and Work
By Varant Majarian
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2013 Varant MajarianAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-9480-5
CHAPTER 1
How to Avoid Credit Card Debt
People use credit cards to buy groceries, go shopping, and do many other things. They use credit cards like candy. When people get their credit card bills, they pay the minimum amount due because they become scared and afraid that they will spend more than they have. These obsessive-compulsive spenders spend money for absolutely no reason.
Most credit card companies give consumers credit card offers because they know that consumers will accept them, especially around Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Up to 75 percent of people who pay the minimum amount due have debt on credit cards. Paying the minimum amount on a $1,000 balance can lead to more than $500 in finance charges. Credit card companies charge 14-30 percent in interest. Having more than $5,000 in credit card debt could end up costing more than $10,000.
Do you really want to pay almost double the amount of your bill in finance fees? Many people who have credit cards apply for other credit cards. They use multiple credit cards and think they are doing the right thing. Using multiple credit cards all the time and only paying the minimum can lead to exceeding the credit limit. If you can't keep up with the fees, you will soon be filing for bankruptcy.
When people file for bankruptcy, credit card companies love to give them credit. If they go into debt, they can't file for bankruptcy again for eleven years unless the court approves it. Once someone files for bankruptcy, he or she can't file again for eleven years, so spend your money wisely and carefully.
Five Ways to Avoid Credit Card Debt
1. Transfer balances. If you have an outstanding balance with a high interest rate (over 18 percent), try to transfer it to another credit card with a lower interest rate.
2. Pay on time. Pay your credit card balance in full.
3. Use only in emergencies. Only use your credit card for emergencies.
4. Get help. If you have a spendthrift personality and spend unnecessarily, get credit counseling.
5. Budget. Set a monthly budget for credit card spending.
How to Save Money and Achieve Financial Freedom
When I talk about saving money with my clients and friends, I always ask them what they would do if they had extra money. They all say they would spend it. That is the reason why they are in debt right now.
The economy is down, and social security is in limbo. How certain are you that there will be social security when you reach retirement age? I encourage my readers to save 5-20 percent of their monthly earnings. Set the money aside—and let it grow.
It's up to us to determine our retirement; don't depend on the government. Investing 5-20 percent of your earnings or setting it aside in a special savings account can make you financially secure.
Robert Kiyosaki says, "If you want to be successful, get educated."
What Is the Meaning of a Credit Card?
Credit cards should be used only for emergencies. I have seen people use credit cards for all types of purchases. That is how people get into debt. The economy has been struggling because many people abuse credit cards. Eventually, they file for bankruptcy.
I don't understand why people blame our government. They don't realize that they got into debt by themselves—no one forced them to spend. It's a choice. Take responsibility for your bills.
What causes you to have fear?
Job loss?
Divorce?
Insecurity?
Low self-esteem?
I would love to talk about job loss first because, these days, people lose their jobs more frequently than in the past. People these days experience fear in all areas of their lives, including social and work-related fears.
The biggest fear that people have right now is losing their jobs, and they are afraid of money loss. This creates fear, and once this fear becomes a reality and they must start looking for jobs, hope will be lost because, then, they are afraid of getting the jobs.
About the current economy, things are still in limbo because people don't want to take the chance and jump in. People have fear. There are opportunities out there. Why don't you take the chance? How do you know if there are still opportunities if you don't take the chance?
It's always easy to blame others for your own mistakes and actions. People blame previous and current presidents, but what can you do if you don't take action?
Another common cause of fear is rejection by a love interest. Rejection will cause low self-esteem.
Another fear that people have is being alone. This relates to elderly people who want company all the time, so they spend time shopping, socializing, and so on.
Another major fear occurs when you avoid a difficult question and try to change it.
What Is Fear?
Emotions play an important part in our daily lives. Fear is one such emotion that is preprogrammed into all animals and people as an instinctual response to potential danger. When you feel anxiety, it causes fear. Panic is another common cause of fear.
Fear is an emotional state that can lead to severe depression and hopelessness, and it may cause low self-esteem.
Guilt and fear run side by side. When someone feels guilty, this will cause fear.
Symptoms of fear include rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure, tightening of muscles, sharpened or redirected senses, dilation of the pupils (to let in more light), and increased sweating.
A common way that people avoid fear is by using antidepressant medications. That's the easy way out. Antidepressant pills have major side effects that may, themselves, cause fear.
One of my favorite visionaries, Dr. John Demartini, explains all about fear:
Fear is the assumption that in the near or far future you are going to experience through your passive senses or imagination, more pain than pleasure, more negatives than positives, more losses than gains, more challenge than support from self or other(s).
Job vs. Work
These days, when people look into starting a business, the biggest challenge they face is the word fear. There are a lot of people who have the knowledge and want to start businesses, and often their biggest fear is of not making money, so they try to find other work to bring in a salary.
For example, if you are looking for a job for over a year and then you finally get a job in the meantime, you are desperate because you are paying rent (or a mortgage) and bills. Then you are finally making $10 per hour. In this state of mind, you will accept the offer of $10 per hour.
People don't realize that you are paying tax on this "$10 per hour," which means you are actually making $8. Do you think you can live on $10 per hour? Do you think you are worth the amount your boss is paying you? Do you want to make your employer wealthier?
When your employer or your manager gives you your paycheck, he or she is not really excited. Employers always give their employees excuses. This again leads to your biggest challenge: fear.
Most people know how important their values are, but they don't know that the most important fear is of whether or not their boss is happy with them or if they think their boss is happy. This is the biggest challenge you may face.
There is a difference between the term job and the term work.
The term job—"just over broke"—refers to how you are getting taxed over your salary while your values are diminishing. Remember what I said earlier: Do you think you are worth the amount your boss is paying you? Your values are more likely that you think the amount of money you want to earn is unlimited.
When I listen to others whose cases are similar to what my own was like—who want to leave their current jobs and start their own businesses—they usually have a problem, even a family problem. They do the research on the Internet, getting the best marketing plan for their potential business, and they fear that there will be multiple distributors selling the same product as theirs. This, again, causes the biggest challenge in business: fear.
The quickest and most honest way to do business on this matter is to
• get the best location to start a business (location, location, location is the most important—you need to open where there is good foot traffic);
• have a financial backer, like someone you really trust; and
• develop a product that is unique and that you enjoy and love.
Eight percent of businesses survive the first two years. If your business survives the first two years, you will make it in the current market.
The most important rule in business is to have the best customer service and staff possible. Don't be intimidated if multiple venues of the product you are selling can be found in several places on the Internet. It is a challenge to get the best product out there in the marketplace. If you have the best customer service, you'll be fine.
If you hear someone saying "I have work to do," he or she usually is a self-contractor. In this case, he or she is called an entrepreneur.
Education
When does someone decide to become an entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship usually starts forming at a young age. I started getting the entrepreneurship bug at the age of sixteen. I was going to community college while I was still in high school. I studied and learned how people going to work worry about their job statuses.
Then, while I was doing that, I said that I would go to college, get my degree, and start being an entrepreneur. One of my other books, Finding Your Own Way towards Success, explains how I started my journey to become an inspired entrepreneur. Don't let anyone stop you with your vision and purpose in your path to success.
The key to being a successful entrepreneur is to know what you want and to get educated.
Ethics
Another important issue in business is business ethics in order to get the best customer service and support.
For example, is amassing financial debt a proper way to do business? This is the worst ethics; in my opinion, credit cards should be used only for emergency use.
In my book Financial Freedom, I explained how people abuse this system. I wrote about credit card debt and how paying only the minimum payments will lead to financial hardship when your credit card gets an outstanding balance and you can't catch up with your bills. This will lead to fear on how you will be able to pay your bills. A reason why people may not become entrepreneurs is because their credit is so poor.
When someone tells you not to take action and start a business, even if you have vision and purpose in your life, this will create fear and may stop you from doing what you imagine. With the current economy still in limbo, certainly, this will also create fear and a stoppage on starting any kind of business.
But if you have a unique product that you want to share in the market, my best suggestion is to stop facing the biggest challenge—fear—and start acting on your vision. If you don't try it, you'll never know if you can be successful at it.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Ascertainment of Financial Freedom, Fear and Work by Varant Majarian. Copyright © 2013 Varant Majarian. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Financial Freedom....................
How to Avoid Credit Card Debt.................... 3
Five Ways to Avoid Credit Card Debt.................... 7
How to Save Money and Achieve Financial Freedom.................... 9
What Is the Meaning of a Credit Card?.................... 11
Understanding Fear....................
What Causes Fear?.................... 15
What Is Fear?.................... 19
Job vs. Work....................
Education.................... 31
Ethics.................... 33
About the Author.................... 37