Are you in debt or have some other type of financial burden you just want to hide in the closet? Trust me on this. You are not alone. When you finally accept that you are in a financial bind, the faster you can work at removing it from your life. Before I moved to Orlando, I had to pump in $8,000 into fixing up my rental property after my previous tenants did some pretty big damages to the house. This situation evaporated all my savings and I started to live on credit. To make things even worse, a business I was partnering with ended up terminating our agreement and totally removed any type of monthly cash flow. I can honestly admit that this was one of the hardest times of my life. I didn’t know what to do, which led me to a small type of depression.

I took even more struggle for me to actually realize what I had to do to get the ball rolling in the right direction. Being in debt, spending over 40 hours a week repairing my rental house, and having no income really threw a wrench in my plan on being financially independent. My sister-in-law said to me that “There’s a big difference between successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs find any way possible [legal of course] to get out of a situation on top. Unsuccessful entrepreneurs give up and cry about their situations.” I was acting like an unsuccessful entrepreneur. Having a negative outlook on the scenario will always bring a negative outcome. Think positive and ask for guidance from people that have gone through a similar situation. Remember the first step to any problem is admitting it’s a problem.

I needed to think of ways to get out of my mess and come out on top. Originally, I tried to handle everything at the same time. I needed to get new tenants, create a case on my previous tenants, find a job, get money, repair my house, and at the time, keep my girlfriend happy. As all of you know, I didn’t resolve this situation without lots of bangs and bruises. I am still in debt from all the house repairs, I didn’t end up getting any money from the old tenants, and I lost my girl. Was I successful in the overall situation? I think so. I currently have incredible tenants, I have a new job in Orlando, and I am paying off my debt slowly but surely. I learned that you need to handle everything like an individual project. Complete one thing at a time and then move on. In my situation, I needed to get new tenants, but first I needed to repair my house so I could get people in there. So repairing my house was the number one priority. After that, things started to fall in place.

Now that that part of my life is complete, I can reflect on the decisions I’ve made and understand my mistakes. After analyzing the past year, I realized that this was all spun from a poor decision I made last year. Renting out my house without doing proper due diligence really smacked me in the face. If I tried to find better tenants, I wouldn’t have had to throw in all the money and go through all the stress that came from it. With every huge financial decision you need to take your time and reflect. It would have been better for me to pay one more month of the mortgage and try to find better tenants; instead of renting it to bad tenants.

Just remember to face your fears before 2008 and handle them accordingly. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to people that know and always learn from your mistakes.

Comments(0)

With the New Year approaching rapidly, it’s time to prepare some rough goals for 2008. Mostly the stuff you didn’t really accomplish in 2007. With so many life changing moments that happened at the last quarter of this year, I really need to set the bar back up so I can live life to my fullest potential. I am starting to realize that life shouldn’t be as serious as most people try to make it out to be. When life throws you a curve ball, you still have to try to hit it as hard as you can even if you miss.

My goals for 2008 consist of doing everything that I was ever negative about in my life. For instance, I used to hate beer, but I’ve realized that I actually like some types of beers. You can’t judge things and activities before you actually try them out. I was notorious for doing this, but not anymore. This year my biggest goal is being much less judgmental in every aspect of my life. I need to look at every opportunity as a gift and seize the moment every day of my life. You need to learn how to use the power of “The Now.”

I need to experience all of life’s experience with open arms so I can actually create my own opinions. You can learn from other people’s mistakes, but it doesn’t mean you have to avoid the same scenarios. My best advice for 2008 is: try everything and have a good time doing it. Avoid being negative and try to always have a smile on your face. Try to listen to people instead of talking. Avoid judging and keep an open mind. Everyone knows that a negative, close minded person can ruin the party, so do the complete opposite.

This year your life can be different if you just allow yourself to enjoy every moment. Don’t take things for granted, love like you have never loved, and enjoy life like you just won the lotto. If you learn to create light in your life, even the darkest times will seem bright. Find the best in people and you will find the best in yourself.

I am going to make this year kick ass, so please join me in welcoming the New Year. I will list some of the activities I WILL accomplish this year and how the experience influenced my life. Remember to do it big and keep it real.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Comments(0)

With all the news circulating about the Fed’s decision on cutting rates for the third time in a row, is the economy really based on the Federal Reserve or companies blowing away earnings estimates provided by analysts? Right now it seems like it’s heavily dependent on the Fed. The complete lack of confidence in the market is creating a lot more controversy than the whole mortgage mess. I think that there’s about 600-800 points of pure speculation embedded in the Dow right now. Usually when people think of the American stock market and economy, they think of the purest form of separation of government and business.

But does this situation erase the line in the sand and mix the two together? I am starting to think that it is. It feels like a complete bail out of companies that really don’t deserve to still be around. The major companies that have suffered were in the business to make money out of thin air. Did they really think they would make money off of a consumer that can’t even pay for the minimum payments on their credit cards? Come on now! And those are the idiots the Fed is trying to save…

I am sure our country would be perfectly fine with the total disappearance of some of these companies. When you play with fire, your ass will get burned most of the time. The companies playing around with crappy mortgage portfolios deserve what they got. If I went to a casino and bet all my money on red and the ball lands on black, am I allowed to complain and try to get my money back? I could, but the manager would tell me it was my fault for gambling.

Where should we invest our money to get ahead of the game? I think we should play the market in a 10-12 stock portfolio. You need to have some consistent growers like (Kroger, (KR), Coke (KO), Costco (COST), and some that will deliver constant dividends Pengrowth (PGH), Bank of America (BAC), Unilever (UN). After the portfolio has a strong foundation, you can pick some good performers over the long-haul. I like Wainwright Bank (WAIN), Adobe (ADBE), Honda (HMC) and Hologic (HOLX). Those stocks have some varied fluctuation, but have a strong long-term performance. Your portfolio is almost complete, but it’s still missing a few more stocks to really make it happen. I am still on the E*Trade (ETFC) bandwagon even after all the news. Does this make me a hypocrite because of what I said before? Maybe a little, but their main business is still very strong and their cash infusion will certainly help. Here are some picks of my favorite movers and shakers: Nintendo (NTDOY.PK), Suncor Energy (SU), and ValueClick (VCLK).

No matter how you end up playing this wild market, keep your eye on the long-term and remember that the stuff in between is almost like an illusion. The next year might be scary, but I think that this market will end up producing a lot of rich people. Do you want to be part of the pack or sit on the sidelines with your best friend Mr. Mutual Fund?

Comments(2)