Wonderful wealth boosters break through the barriers to wealth 2nd edition

I would also like to thank Ken Moon and everyonewho has helped to shape the content of the book and those who provided feedback on early drafts.Finally, and especially, I would like to t

Pond Publishing 2012

REVISED & EXPANDED 2nd Edition

EDWIN PALMER

2nd Edition Copyright © 2012 by Edwin Palmer, all rights reserved

(1st Edition published 2011 © Edwin Palmer)The right of Edwin Palmer to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in

accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission of the copyright holder; nor mayany part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or be transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other, without written permission from

the copyright holder

Cover design and illustrations by RIPPLE-GRAPHICS

DISCLAIMER

The material in this book is provided to assist you in identifying options that you otherwise may nothave been aware of It does not constitute financial advice and you should not rely on any material inthis book to make (or refrain from making) any decision, or take (or refrain from taking) any action.The content of this book should not be relied upon as specific recommendations It should be used forgeneral information purposes only Always seek independent legal and financial advice from anappropriately qualified person or persons before making a financial decision based on the content ofthis book or any other source The writer(s), publisher(s) and retailer(s) of this book are not liablefor any decisions or actions taken or not taken as a direct or indirect result of reading this book

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book is a collection of wealth wisdom and ideas, old and new, that I have researched and putinto practice over the past twenty years It also includes many original concepts and adaptations of myown Where known, I have referred to the source of each idea, although in many cases the link to the

actual originator is lost or unclear due to repetition by others over time I would like to thank andacknowledge all of the originators (known and unknown) of the information that I have collated,distilled and revised within the pages of this book I would also like to thank Ken Moon and everyonewho has helped to shape the content of the book and those who provided feedback on early drafts.Finally, and especially, I would like to thank you (the reader of this book) for choosing this particularpathway to prosperity.

BOOSTER No 1 : Positively Align Your Wealth Beliefs and Values (Psy) Your relationship with

money guides and drives your financial decisions and actions - turn unconscious, negative beliefsabout money and wealth into positive thoughts with prosperous outcomes

BOOSTER No 2 : The Penny Principle (Psy) Picking up a penny from the floor has much more

significance than you might imagine - find out if you are ‘programmed’ to receive riches, and if not,how to easily change course

BOOSTER No 3: The Wealth Mirror Question (Psy + Prac) The deceptively simple, yet powerful

question that you must ask yourself - the answer will reveal the route that you should take to achieve awealthy future

BOOSTER No 4 : Position ‘A’ - Current Wealth Inventory (Prac) How wealthy are you now?

Examine your current financial position and prepare to experience some big leaps forward into theworld of wealth

BOOSTER No 5 : Boring Budget? - Treat Your Finances as a Business (Prac) Make your

finances transparent and find out why the principle of ‘Personal Profit’ is so important - applybusiness practices to ensure that your money multiplies Includes 15 x ways to save money and the 3 xmain routes to making money

BOOSTER No 6 : Decide, Divide and Conquer (Psy + Prac) How to set financial goals and make

major money ambitions achievable Discover the crucial elements required to create stepping stones

to abundance and prosperity

BOOSTER No 7 : Don’t Keep Up With The Joneses (Psy) The Joneses have a lot to answer for

-they are a very bad influence! - find out why it is essential that you don’t fall into their trap, and soonthey’ll be trying to keep up with you

BOOSTER No 8 : Reduce Your Grocery (and other) Bills (Prac) 8 x ways to reduce one of your

biggest monthly expenses plus 11 x supermarket and 4 x retail mind tricks aimed at parting you from

your money Be aware of them and hold on to your cash.

BOOSTER No 9 : Cash-back Credit Cards and Websites (Prac) Not all credit cards are bad

(although most are) How to make money from credit cards and cash-back websites

BOOSTER No 10 : Create a Cash Cascade System (Prac) Organise your finances to create

positive cash-flow momentum that is geared to increasing your wealth The 4 step process that can beautomated, or used manually to generate wealth

BOOSTER No 11: Turn Your House From a Liability Into an Asset (Prac) In some circumstances

turning your house from a liability into an asset can be a better use of your money than saving - here’swhy and how

BOOSTER No 12 : Create an Appreciation Log (Psy) Why appreciation is better than gratitude

and how you can incorporate an ‘Appreciation Log’ into your wealth strategy to lay the foundationsfor consistent financial success

BOOSTER No 13 : Write Yourself a Wealth Cheque (Psy) A psychological technique to focus

your mind on your wealth goal and condition you to recognise the opportunities available to achieve

it It has worked for others and it can work for you

BOOSTER No 14 : Time is Money - Get Rich Slow (Prac) The overwhelming majority of wealthy

people did not ‘get-rich-quick’ Learn how to use time as your ally instead of trying in vain to beat it

BOOSTER No 15: Money is Time - Spend it Wisely (Psy) Convert your perception of the value of

money into time periods and use it to your advantage when spending and saving

BOOSTER No 16 : Your Wealth Hero Rich List (Psy) The best way to learn how to become

wealthy is from those who have already achieved it Here are some conventional, and unconventionalways to do just that

BOOSTER No 17 : The Law of Attraction vs The Law of Action (Prac) Which is the most

effective, the latest trend towards ‘Cosmic Ordering’, or real world actions? There is one clearwinner The other could actually be delaying or stopping your progress

BOOSTER No 18 : Multiple Streams of Income (Prac) In today’s uncertain economic climate

having only one source of income can be risky Increase wealth and financial stability by creatingmultiple streams of income 16 x methods are included here

BOOSTER No 19 : Become a Solution Provider (Prac) Learn why problems are seen as

opportunities by entrepreneurs and how you can become wealthy by actively seeking them out andcapitalising on them

BOOSTER No 20 : Invest in Your Personal Development (Prac) The ability to create and attract

wealth is linked to your knowledge, skill-set and experience By investing in yourself you increaseyour earning potential

BOOSTER No 21 : Always Over Deliver (Psy + Prac) The small change to the way that you work

that can BOOST your career and which could lead to promotion and increased income Plus, how toask for a pay rise with the best chance of success

BOOSTER No 22 : The 10% Minimum Savings Rule (Prac) How much of your income should you

save? Progress from the minimum and learn the next steps of your savings plan.

BOOSTER No 23 : Pay Yourself First and Last (Psy + Prac) This is a classic, but it is still one

of the best ever techniques for improving your financial position

BOOSTER No 24 : The Savings Ramp System (Prac) A stealthy saving method that is so

‘under-the-radar’ that you won’t even miss the money that you are putting away month after month

BOOSTER No 25: Don’t Virtually Save Actually Save (Prac) What money saving really is, and

what it isn’t Why spending less money is not saving, and what you should do to achieve real, tangiblemoney accumulation

BOOSTER No 26: Automate Your Savings (Prac) How to use the automated services provided by

your bank(s) to take the hassle out of saving

BOOSTER No 27 : Self Employ Yourself (Prac) If you are really serious about making a massive

difference to your finances, this technique will completely alter your perspective and your level ofwealth for the better Also includes ‘The Envelope System’ as an alternative if you are not yet ready

to self employ yourself

BOOSTER No 28: The Coin Machine (Prac) The easy savings method with surprising results.

BOOSTER No 29: Successful Saving Motivation (Psy) Having the motivation to save is one of the

most important factors in achieving, maintaining and increasing wealth This BOOSTER shows youhow to fuel your saving motivation and avoid the pitfalls of taking it too far

BOOSTER No 30 : The Wealth Commitment (Psy) Use this tool to cement your commitment to

achieve wealth and make the desired outcome far more likely

Wealth, Happiness and Giving to Others

AFTERWORD: Your New Prosperity Perspective

APPENDICES

Sixty Wealth Boosting Questions

Recommended Books

Recommended Websites

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ONE LAST THING

(Prac) = Practical BOOSTER / (Psy) = Psychological BOOSTER

Wealth is relative If you were to ask ten different people what their definition of wealth is and howmuch money they would need to be wealthy, the chances are that you would get ten different answers.This book will take you from the starting point of defining what wealth really means to you, and thenthrough a step-by-step process designed to transport you to toward the achievement of your specificwealth goals

I won’t lie to you, or exaggerate for effect I’ve never been bankrupt, up to my neck in debt or evenjust plain broke I don’t have an inspirational story to tell you about how I hit financial rock bottomand then managed to get back on my feet and finally triumphed against all the odds No, my story isnot particularly remarkable, but it is probably more typical of most of the readers of this book, atleast to begin with

I wasn’t even aware that I had a problem, in fact I believed that my finances were in pretty goodshape My realisation that I was in trouble and my initial transition out of it and towards a wealthyfuture was gradual My friends and family would probably tell you that I have always been good withmoney and that I was sensible about how I used and saved it The truth is, they would be wrong Ihaven’t always been good with money, far from it I have been fortunate enough to pursue a relativelysuccessful career path that created a financial ‘cushion’ in the form of a good level of pay In effect,this allowed me to do a lot of stupid things with my money and be ‘unconscious’ about how I wasspending it without my outgoings exceeding my income You could say that I was lucky, and I suppose

I was, however, I definitely wasn’t in control

I wasn’t extravagant with my money and I did have some (very) modest savings I didn’t live in a bighouse or have multiple residences I didn’t have flashy cars or dress in expensive designer clothes Ididn’t go on luxury vacations several times per year - none of that As I became older, I began to getthe feeling that something was wrong and some increasingly concerning questions kept popping into

my head that eventually I just couldn’t ignore Friends and colleagues who I knew were earningconsiderably less than myself appeared to be better off and more financially secure than I was Whatwas going on? Had they inherited the money from somewhere, or won the lottery? Was there some bigsecret about financial success that they knew that I didn’t? How would I cope if I lost my job andcouldn’t find work? How would I manage when I retired? Would I have to keep working into my oldage before I could retire? (It turned out that I had fallen headlong into the trap of ‘Parkinson’s SecondLaw’ - more about that later in the book at BOOSTER No 24)

I may not have been good with money, but I set about doing something that I was good at, which wasresearching and learning everything that I needed to know to solve the problem I was faced with Iimmersed myself in the process of seeking out, learning and applying all the wealth creationprinciples and techniques that I could to feed my hunger for financial knowledge After a while, Inoticed some major improvements to my monetary situation I also noticed something else - I was

actually enjoying the whole process I leapfrogged from one month’s worth of saved net income to

three, then six, then twelve, then eighteen and so on It had transformed from a problem solvingexercise into an active and ongoing pursuit of a single, but clear goal I had defined what wealthreally meant to me and I had developed a strategy, supported by actions, that was propelling me at anever increasing rate towards my goal

This book contains the knowledge that I have personally sought out, studied, trialled and developed

over many years This is information that has cost many thousands to acquire, learn and apply I havebeen, and continue to be, a dedicated student of personal success and wealth creation I have readhundreds of books, attended seminars, completed training courses, listened to countless audioprogrammes and watched numerous DVD presentations in my quest to absorb success principles andspecific skill sets I ditched the techniques that didn’t work or were clearly crazy and ended up with afiltered and cohesive system that includes the best thinking from the leading teachers in the fields ofsuccess and wealth creation During the course of writing this book, I have put my own ‘spin’ onsome of those ideas and techniques to make them more accessible and relevant to today’s world.Through personal trial and error, I have also developed a few new tweaks and additions of my own

to increase their effectiveness and make them easier to use

This is not just a ‘financial’ book, it also includes many elements of personal change anddevelopment that are inherently linked to wealth success As has been said many times in the past, inorder to have more, you must become more

My career, income and wealth position have been greatly BOOSTED by practicing the methodologyyou are about to learn If I could travel back in time, I would give a copy of this book to my youngerself and ensure that I studied and applied every single one of the BOOSTERS presented in thefollowing pages I would have achieved a level of wealth even further beyond where I am now if Ihad held this book in my hands and (crucially) had recognised its importance twenty years ago.However, it is never too late to start creating wealth and the levels that you can reach are virtuallylimitless All the ‘tools’ you will need to get there are here at your disposal

Wherever you are on the journey toward your destination of wealth, this book will accelerate yourprogress and provide you with short-cuts that are collectively known to relatively few (wealthy)individuals The vast majority of people don’t seek out this type of information and even feweractively apply it By reading this book and using the information it contains, you too can join the ranks

of the wealthy few

This 2nd Edition of ‘Wonderful Wealth Boosters: Break Through the Barriers to Wealth’ has beenrevised and expanded to include several additional ideas and insights within the overall framework

of the 30 main BOOSTERS I hope you will find an abundance of valuable information andinspiration in the following pages

Ed Palmer

About this book

Whether you want to become wealthy, or you are already wealthy and want to increase or maintainyour wealth, this book is for you It is a collection of ideas brought together in the form of a ‘Pick &Mix’ assortment that can be used to structure a ‘Prosperity Plan’ to suit your own aspirations Each ofthe thirty techniques outlined in the following pages, if applied, will BOOST your wealth and help tomove you towards a future of financial independence and freedom

Each of the BOOSTERS you are about to learn are simple, straightforward and easy to apply to yourown personal finance situation They don’t require detailed financial knowledge and are either ‘no-risk’ or ‘low-risk’ strategies that won’t involve ‘gambling’ your security

Each BOOSTER is either a practical financial technique (Prac) or a psychological technique (Psy),

or a combination of both Do not be tempted to skip the psychological BOOSTERS, they areextremely important Failure to address psychological aspects is often one of the main reasons thatpeople do not make progress with their conscious desire to achieve wealth Knowing what to do isthe easy part, actually motivating yourself to carry out the required actions (and to keep doing so)requires a background mindset that will help to drive you in the right direction instead of holding youback

This book is not specifically about getting out of debt, although many of the ideas in it will certainlyhelp you to reduce, eliminate and stay out of debt if that is your aim In general, where the bookadvises you to save and / or invest any money as a result of applying one or more of the BOOSTERS,you should instead use this money to pay off debt, if that is your current situation

This is definitely not a ‘Get-Rich-Quick’ program - you should usually steer clear of those However,

if you are prepared to implement each of the BOOSTERS in this book, you will see immediate andsteady improvement in your financial situation The most common and stable method of becomingwealthy is to ‘Get-Rich-Slow’ It may not be the route that is the most glamorous, or the most reportedand talked about, but it is the most common and reliable method

Pounds, Dollars, Euros, Yen, Rupees

The term pounds (GBP) / £ will be used throughout the majority of this book However, this reference

is interchangeable with any currency, except when mentioned as part of a specific story or anecdote.The fundamentals of wealth creation apply to any currency, any country and anybody

Master or servant ?

Do you work hard for your money, but struggle to make ends meet? Or do you make your money workfor you? Is money your Master or your Servant? The overall objective of this book is to help you totake full control of your personal finances and create a cash flow system that works to youradvantage

“The poor and middle class work for money The rich have money work for them.”

(Robert Kiyosaki)

Become the wealthy future you

Just imagine if some of the basic rules of economics suddenly stopped applying to you Supposethat you retained all your regular income and future income increases, but all your expenditure goingforward was cancelled In other words, you could still have whatever you needed and wanted, butyou wouldn’t have to pay for anything If you tracked this vision into the future by 5, 10, 15 or 20years, you would see yourself sitting on an ever increasing fortune relative to your financial situationnow The results could be astounding, especially if you also invested your income wisely andreceived good returns on your input capital, besides, what else would you do with your money if youdidn’t actually need to spend it?

Now suppose that, one thing after another, you had to start paying for everything again Each item ofexpenditure would start to eat away at your future wealth and the future you would become steadilyless wealthy You would probably try all the tricks, tips and techniques that you could to reduce oreliminate each of these expenses to protect your future wealth This book is a comprehensive manual

of those tricks, tips and techniques and much more

Having this vision of future wealth and acting in the present to protect and expand it is not aridiculous dream, it can be a solid and achievable goal Many have achieved it before, many areachieving it now - there is absolutely no reason why you can’t achieve it too

The meaning of wealth

The word ‘wealth’ is derived from the old English word ‘weal’, which means ‘well-being’ This isprobably not the meaning that most people would associate with the word ‘wealth’ today, althoughwell-being may be one of the desired by-products of achieving wealth for many

In order to work towards the goal of wealth, and before you embark on the rest of this book, you willfirst need to define what it means to you personally If you don’t know what wealth means to you, howwill you know when you have achieved it, or at what stage you are at on the route to accomplishingthe final outcome?

To help you define your personal definition of wealth, a few general definitions are listed below foryour consideration If one of them ‘feels’ right for you, write it down and tailor it to exactly suit youridea of what wealth is You may decide that ‘wealth’ is a combination of some of these definitions, orone that is completely of you own making If you can also decide on an amount of money that willfulfil your definition and when you want it by (realistically), you will have outlined a timed andmeasurable Wealth Goal to work towards

Wealth definitions

(1) Having enough money to give you the freedom to do whatever you want with your time (including

working if you want to, or not working if you want to) without any lifestyle compromises

(2) Realistically protected, nurtured, and accommodated X numbers of human lives for Y numbers of

forward days (Buckminster Fuller) Another way of expressing this definition is the number of days,weeks, months or years worth of future living expenses (for you and your family) that you currentlyhave saved or invested

(3) Accumulation of valuable non-necessities.

(4) Abundance of valuable material possessions or resources.

(5) Financial independence - no reliance on other people for your income - creating sufficient income

from your own personal resources (e.g savings and investments)

(6) Wealth is the ability to fully experience life (Henry David Thoreau).

Assuming that you are now clear about what wealth means to you and what you want from this book,let’s get started on the BOOSTERS that, one by one, will move you closer to your goal You don’thave to read or apply them in order (unless you want to) Decide which are the simplest and easiestfor you to apply first, apply them, and then work on the others in the order that gives you the mostbenefit, or which best suit your personal situation

“Wealth - any income that is at least one hundred dollars more a year than the income of one's

wife's sister's husband”

(H L Mencken)

BOOSTER No 1Positively Align Your Wealth Beliefs and Values

Major, but often unconsidered obstacles to achieving wealth can be your unconscious beliefs andvalues about money, wealth and people who are wealthy It is often the case that opposing views can

be held simultaneously by the same person at conscious and unconscious levels Consciously you may

be committed to your goal of achieving wealth, but this can be seriously undermined by negative,unconscious beliefs that you have absorbed over time and which play a large part in your level ofmotivation and outward behaviour This can result in apathy when it comes to taking action, or self-sabotage and feelings that you are not worthy of becoming wealthy If you have already tried a number

of times, or for a long period of time without success (or only limited or fleeting success) it could bethat your unconscious, negative beliefs are holding you back

The effect of wealth beliefs can be seen when people win huge sums of money on the lottery only tospend or lose it all within a short period of time and revert to their original financial position orworse Equally many wealthy people have lost their wealth once, twice or even more times only torebuild it after every setback and end up better off than they have ever been There are wealth beliefsdriving habits and actions behind both of these common stories and they are not ‘set in stone’ - theycan be changed for the better

Negative beliefs about money are often passed on, usually unintentionally and quite innocently by ourparents, or people we have associated with in the past Negative beliefs such as these can also bedescribed as ‘Limiting Beliefs’ as they create limits to what we could, potentially achieve Beliefsare not ‘truths’ or ‘facts’, otherwise different people would not have different beliefs We canactively adapt and change our unconscious beliefs according to new or revised information and / orwhat works best for us

Take a look at the following common limiting beliefs about money and wealthy people and see if theyare familiar or ‘strike a chord’ with you If so, focus on the opposing, positive (or empowering)belief(s) and think about how it would serve and benefit you to adopt it

(1) NEGATIVE: (the love of) Money is the route of all evil POSITIVE+: The lack of money is a

major factor involved in many of the robberies, suicides and violent crimes committed in the worldtoday The giving of money to worthy charities and organisations does a lot of ‘good’ Wealthypeople are able to give more of their money and time to support charities of their choice since theyhave excess cash and do not need to devote a large proportion of their time to a job or career (unlessthey choose to) to make ends meet

(2) NEGATIVE: Money is evil POSITIVE+: Money is just paper notes, coins, or figures on a piece

of paper or computer screen - it is just a method of transferring and storing value Money in itself isneither good or bad, what you do with it is good or bad, and that is your choice In the majority ofcases (with the possible exception of taxes etc) money is a way of saying ‘thank you’ If you buy anitem, you usually need or want it and the transfer of money in exchange for the item is an indicationthat you value the item equally or more so than the money you are giving up You are rewarding andthanking the seller for exchanging the item for your hard earned cash

(3) NEGATIVE: Wealthy people are crooks who exploit other people POSITIVE+: Unless they are

the very tiny minority who have gained wealth by illegal means or are ‘bad’ people who happen to

have inherited or won money, the vast majority of wealthy people have earned their fortunes byserving others, solving problems or making the lives of others better or easier People pay for aservice or product that solves a problem that they have, or which provides them with more comfort,

or entertainment Ultimately a percentage of this money finds its way back to the providers of these

‘items’ and those who are the best at what they do become wealthy

(4) NEGATIVE: Wealthy people are greedy POSITIVE+: Wealthy people are ensuring their own

and their family’s financial security They may also be employing a number of people and helping tosupport other families Everyone has an unwritten right to be wealthy - including you By beingwealthy, no one is depriving anyone else of the opportunity to be wealthy Some wealthy people may

be greedy, but so are many people who are not - it has nothing to do with the wealth or the lack of it

A common attribute of many wealthy individuals is their ability to delay gratification In other words,they are able to go without now and for a long period of time in order to have more later on This isalmost exactly the opposite of greed (e.g wanting lots now) If you study the lives of many of thewealthiest individuals (past and present), greed is rarely, if ever, a driving factor in their attainment

of riches A response to the negative experience of poverty, a desire to do better, be better or to beable to give more are much more common motivations Many wealthy individuals just set aboutcreating the circumstances where they are able to do what they enjoy for a living The money itself isactually just a happy and welcome by-product of their actions

(5) NEGATIVE: Money doesn’t grow on trees (in other words, money is scarce and not easy to get

hold of) POSITIVE+: Money may seem scarce to you if you don’t personally have much currently It

is not scarce globally and is just as available to you and your family as anyone else if you decide tomake changes to increase your wealth

(6) NEGATIVE: Money can’t buy you happiness POSITIVE+: True, money can’t buy you happiness.

However, it can give you the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want to do it andprovide you with financial peace of mind - that has to be a good foundation for happiness by anyone’sstandards

Are there any other common negative beliefs that you can think of? If so, think about and write downyour own positive counter beliefs - it’s easy This is a very worthwhile exercise to go through andyou should make a point to regularly re-visit it to ensure that all your negative beliefs about moneyare firmly replaced with positive ones Positive wealth beliefs act as the antidote to the negativebeliefs that place unconscious barriers in your way

Visualisation - negative image replacement

Visualisation has been shown to be one of the most effective ways of improving performance ofalmost any kind For example, visualisation can offer huge advantages in cases of athletic and sportspursuits and for those of us engaged in any of the various aspects of personal development Onemethod of using visualisation to redirect and positively realign our thoughts and beliefs is called the

‘Swish Pattern’, of which the following is a variation

(1) First think of an image that represents a negative wealth belief, for example for ‘all wealthy

people are greedy’ you could imagine a man sitting on a large pile of money and trying feverishly tostuff it all into his pockets

(2) Now think of a positive image to replace the negative one In this example, it could be the same

man and the same money, but this time instead of stuffing it into his pockets, he is handing it out tothose less fortunate than himself with a big smile on his face.

(3) Go back to the first image and focus on it for a moment Now, in your mind make the image black

and white and begin to make it smaller, as if it is slowly moving into the distance

(4) Now, quickly replace the negative image with the positive one, so that it overlays the negative

image and completely blocks it out

(5) Make the positive image bolder and brighter and in 3D, as if viewed on a huge cinema screen, use

imagined sounds too if it helps and continue to focus on it for a few moments You can even make thepositive image more personal by ‘getting inside it’ and making the wealthy person in the image you,and by replaying the scene from your own perspective

(6) Practice this at least five times and each time try to make the replacement of the images quicker,

as if the positive image quickly ‘swishes’ in front of the negative one Take a short break betweeneach visualisation

Repeat this process over the coming days with the same and different negative beliefs Over time, youwill notice that it is harder to retain the negative images in your mind and that the positive imagesbecome much more dominant and easier to recall Use of the ‘Swish Pattern’ changes your thoughtsand beliefs at a fundamental level and can help you to achieve a much improved and usefulrelationship with money and wealth

Change the focus of your questions from ‘Why’ to ‘How’

We will touch on the subject of questions a number of times throughout this book as they can be used

as very powerful tools for change For now, consider if you are asking yourself the right questions,ones that will provide you with benefits rather than dead ends With one or two major exceptions,including one that we will encounter in BOOSTER No 3, you should always ask yourself ‘How?’questions instead of ‘Why?’ questions ‘Why?’ questions can be very reflective and may not help tomove you forward, whereas ‘How?’ questions are action orientated and can produce answers thathelp you to plan your next steps ‘Why?’ questions can also keep you going in circles looking foranswers, but ‘How?’ questions generally get straight to the point, ignore what has gone before andilluminate what needs to be done A few examples of how to change ‘Why?’ questions to ‘How?’questions are as follows

(1) Why do I never have any money? - change to How can I make more money?

(2) Why am I in debt? - change to How can I get out of debt?

(3) Why don’t I get big pay rises? - change to How can I add value and earn big pay rises?

(4) Why don’t I make good investments? - change to How can I learn to make good investments?

Traditional psychotherapy was, and still is to a large extent, based on treatment that focuses on pastevents in the clients life and why a certain negative psychological condition or situation has comeabout This involves many sessions over several months or even years and the results are oftenquestionable at best Whilst some benefits may arise from these methods, many in the field nowbelieve that there is too much attention paid to the problem and not enough consideration of thesolution Modern psychological techniques in the form of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP -

initially created in the 1970s by Richard Bandler & John Grinder) are rarely concerned with theactual reason for the existence of the problem, merely with the techniques required to produce asuccessful outcome In other words, the ‘How?’ questions are far more important than the ‘Why?’questions NLP successfully treats long standing phobias and other far more serious psychologicalconditions in one session, and sometimes in a matter of minutes Nearly all questions are useful, butsome are more useful than others Change your questions from ‘Why?’ to ‘How?’ and generate moreconstructive answers.

“You can change You can live out your imagination instead of your memory You can tie yourself

to your limitless potential instead of your limiting past You can become your own first creator”

(Stephen R Covey)

BOOSTER No 2The Penny Principle

If you see a penny lying in the floor, what do you usually do? Do you pick it up, or walk by? If youwalk by, what value of coin would you stop to pick up? Would you pick up 2p coin, 10p coin, 50pcoin, £1 coin? What if you came across a 1p coin every day, every hour or every half hour, would youpick up the coins then?

The honest answers to these questions will reveal a great deal about your current attitude toaccumulating money and your ability to accumulate money

If you are not prepared to stop to pick up a 1p coin because you think it is an insignificant amount, oryou can’t be bothered, or because you would find it embarrassing if someone saw you, you willdefinitely need to work on your attitude To a wealthy person, no amount of money (no matter howsmall) is insignificant, and they would not pass up the opportunity to make or save money throughlaziness They would certainly not be embarrassed about making or saving money, or picking a penny

up in the street

*************************

Woman collects £35,000 from toilet floors

In Bonn, (Germany) in 2011, a woman who ran a business which included the operation of 50 publictoilets told her cleaning staff to hand in any loose change that they found on the floor Over a number

of years, the woman collected €40,000 (the equivalent of £35,000, or $58,000) in coins She hadsaved so much money this way that she was investigated by the German tax authorities and the money,which she had kept in her garage, had to be removed by shovelling it into a 7.5 tonne truck

Now, there are those in the ‘Law of Attraction’ camp who would have you believe that this is allabout attuning yourself to the abundance vibrations of the ‘Universe’ Absolute nonsense! This works

on a psychological and subliminal level by (a) reinforcing your appreciation of the value of money(even small amounts), and (b) increasing your awareness of, and predisposing you toward takingadvantage of financial opportunities

Another important lesson to learn from the principle of always picking up unclaimed pennies is thatsmall actions and small amounts can add up to big results over time This is especially true in thearena of financial success.

“Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.”

(Proverb)

BOOSTER No 3The Wealth Mirror Question

In order to identify positive changes that you can make to become wealthy, a question that provides avery revealing indication of the direction(s) you need to take if answered honestly and in detail is:

Why am I not wealthy already? (or as the old millionaire asks his young guest in Mark Fisher’s book

‘The instant Millionaire’ - “Why aren’t you rich already?” ) Note: this is one of the major

exceptions to the ‘How’ not ‘Why’ principle of questioning mentioned in BOOSTER No 1

This question may seem simple and obvious, but it will hold a proverbial ‘mirror’ up to yourfinancial results so far in life and potentially provide a revealing ‘reflection’ of the way forward.Your relationship with money in the past provides clues to behavioural patterns but it does not have

to define your relationship with money in the future The past is gone and cannot be changed, so whyworry about it? The future is yet to be and lies ahead for you to create to your own design, so start

now and ask yourself: Why am I not wealthy already?

You will need to remove any ‘excuses’ from your answer and take full responsibility for your ownresults Outside influences such as the state of the economy, the company you may work for, yourboss, your education, your upbringing, your gender etc are not part of the answer Many people haveexperienced much more disadvantageous and challenging conditions than you and have becomeextremely wealthy The answer lies with you and the decisions you have made, or not made and theactions you have taken, or not taken

Identify the reasons (not the excuses) why you are not currently wealthy and some of the key actionsyou need to take to reverse this should start to become apparent

The answer may simply be that up until this point you have not taken the decision to be wealthy, butfor most people the answer or answers will be much more detailed and useful Unless the purchase ofthis book represents your first attempt to learn how to achieve wealth (which is possible butunlikely), the answer(s) you give will provide you with the key or keys to begin your journey towardriches The beauty of this question is that the answers will be specific to you and your personalsituation and if answered properly will not be general or vague

Examples of typical answers and potential actions may include the following

(1) ANSWER: I haven’t saved and invested enough up until this point in time ACTION: Find ways to

cut back on luxury spending (e.g holidays, big TVs, alcohol, cigarettes, daily latte, designer clothes,eating out etc) and direct the money saved into high interest savings accounts or investments

(2) ANSWER: I don’t earn enough money in my current job to be able to save or invest ACTION:

Find ways to earn more money, find a better paid job or review your spending in detail - are you sureyou couldn’t put some money away each week or month (however small the amount) There are manyexamples of people who have been able to save and invest fortunes, over time, on very low wages.Note: this answer is verging on an excuse rather than a reason

(3) ANSWER: I don’t feel that I deserve to be wealthy ACTION: Examine your core beliefs and

possible alternatives (see BOOSTER No 1)

Whatever answers you come up with, there will be corresponding actions for each of them that can be

applied to redirect you onto the pathway to wealth.

Other simple yet revealing questions which have a similar effect to the wealth mirror question ifanswered honestly and completely are as follows

(1a) What do you want? and (1b) What stops you? (Michael Neill)

(2) What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? (Tony Robbins)

“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers”

(Tony Robbins)

“It’s never too late to be who you might have been”

(attributed to George Eliot)

BOOSTER No 4Position ‘A’ - Current Wealth Inventory

In order to go from Point ‘A’ - in this case, your current financial position to Point ‘B’ - yourdefinition of wealth, you first need to measure where you are now You can then take regularmeasurements (e.g monthly or quarterly) to determine your progress

A simple calculation of your current net worth can be made using the table below

ASSETS (current value)

- Cash (e.g current accounts)

LIABILITIES (current value)

- Credit Card Debts

on the route to wealth to ensure that you remain on course to achieve your goal

The generally accepted definitions of ‘Assets’ and ‘Liabilities’ are as follows

ASSETS: are resources or items that have value, generate income, or possessions that can be sold tocover liabilities

LIABILITIES: are debts or financial obligations which you have responsibility for and are liable for

If you now have a figure for your current net worth and one that fits your personal definition of wealth(see introduction), you can now calculate the difference, or gap that you need to close in order tobecome wealthy You might also want to divide that difference up over the time between now andyour deadline for achieving wealth This will tell you (roughly, not accounting for interest etc) howmuch money you need to make each month or year to become wealthy.

For example, if the gap is £500,000 and you want to be wealthy by the time you are 45 (assuming youare now 37) The calculation would be 500,000 divided by 8 (the amount of years between 37 and45) this equates to £62,500 per year, or by month (62,500 divided by 12) the figure would be

£5208.33 These are the amounts you would need to save over and above your outgoings This doesnot take interest into account, which could have a significant beneficial effect and accelerate yourprogress - as we shall see later on

Your wealth strategy should incorporate key elements that will both increase your assets, anddecrease your liabilities now and in the future

BOOSTER No 5Boring Budget? - Treat Your Finances as a Business

“A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went”

(John C Maxwell)Next, (if you haven’t already done so) you need to create a budget Put simply, you need to work outwhat amount of income you have per month and what amount of outgoings you have per month Youthen have transparency of your finances and how money flows into and out of your bank accounts andyou can make adjustments to manoeuvre the flow and the amounts in the right direction The rightdirection is obviously to have more income than outgoings and to continually find methods ofincreasing the distance between the two in favour of more income and less outgoings

Budgeting can be an extremely boring task for some, but if you approach it from the point of view that

it is the profit and loss account of the business of ‘You Ltd’ it will create more interest and add anelement of fun The words ‘budget’ and ‘budgeting’ can also have negative connotations for somepeople as they unconsciously suggest limits and cutting back One way around this is to rename yourbudget as a ‘Spending Plan’ This is a small change that can sometimes make a huge difference to howyou approach and complete this task The outcome will be the same whatever title you choose

Personal profit

Budgeting, tracking performance against the budget and adjusting outgoings and income accordinglyare the fundamental practices of every successful business You should treat your own finances as abusiness with the aim of making a Personal Profit each and every year A Personal Profit is thepositive difference between the total amount of money you had at the start of the year and the totalamount of money you have at the end of the year Track your Personal Profit monthly and yearly toensure that your budget is working for you - if it isn’t, you need to make changes to reduce youroutgoings and / or increase your income

or schedule them in if you know when they will fall

The following budget outline will provide you with a good basis to begin your budget program It isdesigned to fit a range of circumstances and you will need to tailor your budget to your specificsituation Record your current income and expenditure details in the ‘current’ column first and add upyour totals Then see what you can realistically do to reduce expenditure and increase income and

record the new figures in the ‘revised’ column If you subtract your ‘revised’ figures from your

‘current’ figures you can record the potential savings in the ‘difference’ column

You will likely need to tweak your budget several times as you work on it to take account of changingcircumstances

Income Category Examples (net)

- Your Salary / Wages = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Partner’s Salary / Wages = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Pension = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Benefits = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Maintenance = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Savings Interest = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Investment Returns = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Tax Credits = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Other Income = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

TOTAL INCOME = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

Expenditure Category Examples

Scheduled / Regular Expenditure

- Mortgage / Rent = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Council Tax = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Gas = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Electricity = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Water = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Telephone (Landline) = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Telephone (Mobile) = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- TV Licence = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Satellite / Cable TV = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Personal Loan Repayments = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Car Loan Repayments = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Other Loan Repayments = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Car Tax = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Car Insurance = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- House Insurance = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Contents Insurance = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Life Insurance = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Pet Insurance = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Maintenance Payments = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Internet Bills = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- MOT = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Appliance Rental = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Debt Repayments (e.g Credit Card) = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Other Regular Expenditure = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

Daily / Weekly Expenditure

- Food / Groceries = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Petrol / Diesel = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Public Transport = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Childcare = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- School (meals, transport etc) = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Evening Classes = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Other Daily Expenditure = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

Entertainment / Leisure

- Gym Membership = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Other Memberships = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Magazine Subscriptions = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Eating Out = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Socialising = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Cinema / Theatre = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Trips Out = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Cigarettes = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Other Leisure Expenditure = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

Occasional Expenditure

- Christmas (presents, food etc) = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Birthdays = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Holidays = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Clothing = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Car Repairs = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Decorating / House Repairs = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Dentist / Optician etc = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Vets = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Other Occasional Expenditure = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

Savings / Investments

- Regular Savings (ISA’s etc) = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Regular Investments = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Pension Payments = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

- Other Savings / Investments = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

TOTAL EXPENDITURE = | CURRENT | REVISED | DIFFERENCE |

Make sure that your totals are by month (if you are creating a monthly budget), or spread overwhichever period you feel would be easiest to manage Also check that you haven’t coveredsomething twice under different headings - a common mistake

Regular savings and investments are a form of expenditure as they represent amounts of money goingout of your current account(s) However, these are ‘good’ forms of expenditure as they are beingtransferred to secure your future wealth and you can still access them at some point if needed If youdon’t include them as an expenditure, there is a danger that you will miscalculate your budget, leadingyou to believe that you have more disposable income than you actually have Obviously, these types

of ‘expenditure’ should be actively increased, where possible, rather than decreased

Scenario No 1: If your total expenditure figure is more than your total income figure, then you have

obviously got some work to do to either reduce your spending, or increase your income (or both) toaccount for the shortfall

Scenario No 2: If your total income figure is more than your total expenditure figure, then you should

consider how best to save or invest the ‘spare’ cash You should still get to work on reducing yourspending and / or increasing your income, as this will provide additional funds for saving andinvesting

Continue to work on your budget over the coming months and identify items that could be altered toreduce spending or increase income Re-write your budget as you make these changes, or asindividual item costs change, and track your progress accordingly Budgeting will provide you withtransparency and clarity over your finances that you may not have experienced before and it willenable you to take control in an informed manner

Fixed overheads, variable overheads and hidden costs

Successful businesses closely monitor and control expenditure in the form of fixed and variableoverheads (among many other financial aspects) When related to personal finances, fixed overheadsbecome the regular expenditure items that you have to make which are relatively ‘fixed’ such as themortgage / rent and utility bills Although these items are classed as ‘fixed’ you should still viewthem as areas where savings can be made and reduce them where possible, for example by getting abetter mortgage deal, moving somewhere with lower rent or by switching your utility providers.Variable overheads, in the form of luxury items paid for by ‘disposable income’ (or overdraft) can betargeted for major reduction by amount or complete elimination as you don’t actually need them Lookout for hidden costs too - are you still paying for a gym membership you never use, a magazinesubscription for a publication you are no longer interested in, or cable / satellite channels you neverwatch? - if so, cancel them.

More ideas for reducing your expenditure

(1) Install energy saving light bulbs every time your ordinary bulbs fail They cost more than ordinary

bulbs, but save you money in the long term

(2) Replace failed appliances (freezers, washing machines etc) with low energy rated appliances.

They will save you money and have less environmental impact

(3) Put a brick or water saving device in your toilet cistern(s) You save the volume in water of the

brick or device every time you flush as they displace an amount of water that would otherwise belost

(4) Turn electrical appliances (TVs, DVD Players, Hi-Fis etc) off at the mains - don’t leave them on

‘standby’ Appliances on standby can use as much as 85% of the electricity that they would use when

in operation

(5) Take a 3 minute shower instead of having a bath Showers use much less water than baths (with

the exception of some power showers)

(6) Buy and use a razor sharpener Razor blade sharpeners (such as ‘Razorpit’) work on the same

principle as the old Barber’s Strop They work with any type of razor blade including disposablecartridges and multi blade heads The metal blades themselves actually take a long time to go blunt.What makes them feel ‘dull’ and the reason we replace them is because of the build up of particles ofskin and hair on the blades The razor sharpeners actually clean the blades and significantly prolongtheir lives The manufacturers claim a 90% saving on razor blades and a life of 150 shaves per blade

By using a razor sharpener before or after every shave you are actually being more hygienic andsaving money at the same time Imagine if you shaved every day and only needed to replace theblades 3 times to more than see you through a year

(7) Toilets - only flush solids / leave liquids Save water - don’t flush more than is necessary (the

liquid will go when you flush the solids)

(8) Install a water butt (or more than one) to collect rainwater from your roof Use the water to wash

your car and water your garden

(9) Buy used cars, not new New cars depreciate in value as soon as you drive them off the car lot

and rapidly depreciate further in the first two years - take advantage of this by buying used cars

(10) Instead of buying expensive cups of coffee on your way to work, buy a thermal mug and make it

at home before you leave Coffee shop bought drinks can cost as much as a whole jar of instant coffeeand daily spending on these beverages adds up to a surprising amount each month / year (work it out)

(11) Switch utility providers Are you using the cheapest provider? Compare rates online by using

comparison websites

(12) Ensure your house is properly insulated This can save you large amounts off your heating bills

and you may be able to get a grant for the work to be done

(13) Before you turn your heating on or up, check that you are wearing appropriate clothing Just

wearing an extra layer could make the difference between needing to have the heating on or not

(14) Switch from Satellite or Cable TV to Freeview Freeview TV is increasing the number of

channels available all the time and Freeview boxes are now available with hard drive recordingfacilities

(15) Get an electronic energy usage monitoring device Most of these devices can display energy

usage in monetary terms See what increases your usage the most and when, and adjust your energyconsumption habits accordingly

Ideas for Increasing your Income

There are essentially three income generating strategies All three are capable of generating wealth,but some are more effective than others

(1) Trading time and labour for money … the most common and usually the least effective of the

three income generating strategies This involves having a job / career and is the method employed byapproximately 96 percent of the population Time is a finite resource, we can’t generate more of it, so

it becomes a limiting factor for this income generating strategy People using this method usually have

to make large sacrifices in order to make any significant amounts of money (e.g swapping family timefor work time and having a poor work / life balance)

(2) Investing money to make money … an effective way of making money, although usually over the

longer term through low risk investments Larger amounts of money can be made in quicker timespans, but this will usually involve more risky investments Generally, the higher the risk, the morelikelihood of faster and bigger rewards However, high risks can also mean faster and bigger losses.Approximately 3 percent of the population use this method as a major means of generating income

(3) Leveraging multiple sources of income … this is the most effective way of increasing your

income, yet only approximately 1 percent of the population use it By having multiple sources ofincome, you can multiply the effect of time by channelling the efforts of other people or ‘automated’business systems You can even earn money while you sleep if you are selling products or servicesvia the internet or are receiving royalties from publications or licenses The 1 percent of people whouse this strategy earn 96 percent of the money This strategy has been used by wealthy people forcenturies and dates back at least as far as the ancient Babylonians

If you are currently mainly earning your income through applying strategy (1), start to focus some ofyour efforts and actions into strategies (2) and (3) Over time, increase your efforts in these areas toshift the balance toward the more effective income generating strategies

BOOSTER No 6Decide, Divide and Conquer Decide

“It is in the moments of decision that your destiny is shaped”

(Anthony Robbins)Where you are now in terms of your career, the home you live in, your financial situation, personalrelationships etc is the result of all the decisions you have made in your life so far If you were tochart the twists and turns of the direction of your life, each would be preceded by choices anddecisions based upon those choices

It is not enough to be interested in becoming wealthy or to have aspirations of becoming wealthy, youhave to make a strong an unequivocal decision to be wealthy You also need to regularly re-affirmthis decision in order to align your direction and supporting actions

“A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken new action If there’s no action, you

haven’t truly decided”

(Anthony Robbins)

In order to ensure that you have actually made a concrete decision to be wealthy, and have not justthought about it as something you would like to do, you should write the decision down - perhaps inthe form of a mission statement You must then, immediately take an initial action that shows that youwill follow through on your decision This can be a small action, maybe just a phone call or drawing

up a plan, but start the ball rolling straight away

Divide

“The road to wealth is paved with goals”

(unknown - the quote is the title of a section of Ramit Sethi’s excellent book ‘I Will Teach You to be

Rich’)

“How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time”

(unknown)The best way to conquer your overall wealth goal is to divide it up into ‘chunks’ or smaller goals.Each of these smaller goals will be a ‘milestone’ on your journey to wealth Whilst your overall goalmay initially seem unattainable, dividing it up into ‘baby steps’ can suddenly provide an achievablemap that will motivate you to keep going and add momentum to the process Imagine writing a book -would you sit down and write the whole thing in one go? No, of course you wouldn’t! You wouldscope out an outline of the book and then break it down into chapters or sections and work on themone at a time Think of it this way - if you wrote just 3 pages per week for a year, you would havecompleted a 156 page book by the end of the year

There are a couple of useful ways of setting smaller wealth goals that can either be used separately or

in combination, the first is to make the smaller goals into ‘stepping stones’ that have emotionalmeaning - for example:

(1) Pay off all outstanding loans and debts by date = debt free

(2) Save the equivalent of 3 month’s salary by date = 3 months of financial freedom

(3) Save the equivalent of 6 month’s salary by date = 6 months of financial freedom

(4) Save the equivalent of 12 month’s salary by date = 12 months of financial freedom

(5) Pay off, or save the equivalent of quarter of the remaining mortgage by date

(6) Pay off, or save the equivalent of half of the remaining mortgage by date

(7) Pay off, or save the equivalent of three quarters of the remaining mortgage by date

(8) Pay off, or save the equivalent of the whole of the remaining mortgage by date

and so on, to your ultimate wealth goal

The second way of setting wealth goals is to use financial figures based on budgeted saving linked tothe months and years ahead, or your age - for example:

(1) December 31st, 2012, age 35 = £X assets, or savings / investments

(2) December 31st, 2013, age 36 = £X assets, or savings / investments

(3) December 31st, 2014, age 37 = £X assets, or savings / investments

(4) December 31st, 2015, age 38 = £X assets, or savings / investments

(5) December 31st, 2016, age 39 = £X assets, or savings / investments

(6) December 31st, 2017, age 40 = £X assets, or savings / investments

and so on, to your ultimate wealth goal

When you set your goals, you are in effect looking into the future and predicting the successfulcompletion of that goal and writing a definition of what ‘complete’ means You may well have heard

of the SMART method of goal setting, it has been around since the early 1980s and there are a number

of variations on the same general theme This method ensures that the eventual outcome is clear (wellformed), practical and that you know how long it will take to achieve it

Each letter of SMART stands for an element that should be included in your goals in order to increasethe likelihood of success

If you have a trusted friend, or family member (possibly someone who is also working on their own

goals) why not share the details of your goals and hold each other accountable for achieving them.This will make you less likely to let deadlines slip and means that you are more likely to stay ontrack.

Six-a-day (goal achievement acceleration)

Six-a-day is a simpler, more effective and easy to use version of the ‘To Do List’ and there is aninteresting story behind it In the 1920’s a young man named Ivy Lee approached Charles Schwab, thehead of Bethlehem Steel His intention was to help Schwab make his Managers more effective.Schwab was somewhat resistant to Lee’s ideas as he thought that his Managers were already verycompetent and didn’t need any more help to become more effective or productive Eventually, Leeoffered to give Schwab an idea to try out and if it proved useful, Schwab could give him a cheque forwhatever he thought it was worth Here’s the idea

*************************

The six-a-day technique

Each of Schwab’s Managers was instructed to write down six actions or tasks that they could performthe next day to help them towards their goals in order of priority The next day they were to work onthe actions on the list in order and cross each one off as they completed them If there were anyactions still remaining on the list, they were to carry them over on to the next day’s list of six actionsand put them at the top of the list (to be actioned first) This was to be their routine each day

Less than a month later, Schwab sent Lee a cheque for $25,000 which was a very large sum of money

at the time (the average American worker earned $2 per day) Productivity and profits soared atBethlehem Steel and Schwab said that his $25,000 cheque was actually worth a fraction of the value

of the idea Lee had given him

Bethlehem Steel became the world’s largest producer of steel within just five years and Schwab went

on to make a personal fortune of $100,000,000 Ivy Lee’s career took him in a different direction and

he is today considered by many to be the founder of modern public relations

*************************

You too can use the Six-a-day list to accelerate the achievement of your goals Just write your goal atthe top of a sheet of paper and your six actions for the next day underneath them and away you go

BOOSTER No 7Don’t Keep Up With The Joneses

“Keeping up with the Joneses’” is a common saying that refers to someone who is trying to match orbetter their neighbours or peers by buying all the latest luxuries for show What you may not realise is

that the Joneses have probably become deeply in debt trying to keep up with, or ahead of, their

neighbours or peers Appearances can be very deceptive and may well not be a reflection of reality

"Never spend your money before you have it"

We often do things because we worry what others may think of us, or to impress In reality otherpeople spend very little time thinking about us as they are spending far more time thinking aboutthemselves or worrying what we are thinking of them Why spend money you don’t have, on thingsyou don’t need, to impress people you don’t know?

Dr Daniel Amen addresses the subject of trying to live up to other peoples’ perceived expectations inhis brilliant 18/40/60 Rule which goes as follows:

*************************

Dr Daniel Amen’s 18/40/60 Rule …

When you’re 18, you worry about what everybody is thinking about you; when you’re 40, you don’tgive a darn what anybody thinks of you; when your 60, you realise nobody’s been thinking about you

at all

*************************

Remember, true wealth is not the accumulation of things / stuff (usually liabilities) that the Jonesesbelieve is a display of their financial superiority It is the ability to be able to buy these so calledluxury items without getting into debt - but usually choosing not to There is no rule that says thatwealth has to be displayed - and if there were, it would be one that you should break Every time youspend money you are handing over part of your future wealth The more money you hold on to now,the greater your future wealth will be

If you still find yourself feeling envious of the Joneses, turn the emotion of envy to your advantage byusing it to motivate you Emotions (negative as well as positive) can be harnessed to drive youforward much more effectively than if your response is neutral Significant actions are usuallytriggered by strong emotions Make it your mission to prove to the Joneses that you are the real deal

by having real wealth to back up your future luxurious lifestyle (if that is what you want) Aim to havethe Joneses struggling to keep up with you It may not happen overnight, but you can get there, and youwill get there

“No one is so miserable as the poor person who maintains the appearance of wealth”

(Charles Spurgeon)

“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants”

(Epictetus)

BOOSTER No 8Reduce Your Grocery (and other) Bills

After mortgage / rent payments, the next biggest monthly outgoing for many families and individuals isgrocery expenses (food, drink, toiletries, cleaning materials, other consumables etc) The followingideas (if applied) will help to drastically reduce your weekly grocery bill:

Don’t buy groceries on an empty stomach: Shopping for food when you are hungry makes you muchmore likely to impulse buy items because they look good to eat Eat before you go grocery shopping,write a shopping list beforehand and stick to it

Write a re-useable shopping list of regularly bought items: This list should include all your regularconsumables (e.g bread, milk, vegetables, fruit, toilet roll, cleaning products etc) Before you goshopping, cross off or reduce the amount of the items on the list that you still have sufficient supply offrom the previous week This will help to ensure that you don’t over stock (particularly on perishableitems) and over spend You could also list the price you pay besides the name of each item so that youcan track any changes This could prompt you to change brands, if the price goes up, or just comparethe prices of similar items to ensure that you continue to receive value for money

If you are the person responsible for your household grocery shop, make sure you do it alone:Partners or children tagging along with you are likely to add extra, unnecessary items to the shoppingtrolley

Order your shopping online and have it delivered: It may cost a little more for the delivery, but themajor benefit is that you can see (and adjust if necessary) your total bill before you pay it Most of thesupermarket websites also offer the facility to save your shopping list so that you can edit itaccordingly for your next order

Don’t be loyal to brands: Try ‘downshifting’ to a cheaper brand You may be surprised by the quality

of cheaper brands, and are any slight differences really worth the price difference? Most peoplenever try and never find out for themselves - don’t be one of them

Don’t be loyal to supermarkets: Try ‘downshifting’ to a cheaper supermarket The difference in pricecould be significant If you don’t believe that wealthy people shop at discount supermarkets, have alook at all the top spec cars in the car park when you are there Note: these cars won’t be the onesowned by the Joneses (see BOOSTER No: 7), they wouldn’t be seen dead at a discount store, andthey are losing out as a result

Choose a smaller size shopping trolley: You will tend to fill the trolley whatever size it is, sochoosing a smaller one than usual will limit your shopping capacity

Don’t be persuaded by the supermarkets mind-tricks: Supermarket advertising and their individual

‘strap lines’ often try to persuade us that they are there to save us money, and most of us don’t eventhink about it Let’s be clear, supermarkets are not trying to save us money, they want us to spendmore with them and to do it more often Some of the ‘mind-tricks’ they use to do this are as follows:

(1) The most expensive, most profitable or own brand products tend to be placed at eye level so that

they are the ones you notice and pick up The cheaper products tend to be placed out of your eye line

at the top and bottom of the shelves (remember to ‘look high and low’ for a bargain)

(2) Fruit and vegetables are generally positioned at the front of the stores to give the impression of

freshness as you walk in

(3) Baking smells are wafted through the supermarket from the bakery to tempt you to buy baked

goods, or to make you feel hungry in general (remember, you are likely to impulse buy more food ifyou are hungry)

(4) Essential items are placed strategically throughout the store to draw you through in the hope that

you will buy other things that you see en route

(5) Stores will regularly change their layouts This is a ploy to get you to walk around areas of the

store that you normally wouldn’t in the belief that you will pick up and buy other things as you try tofind your regular shopping items

(6) More supermarkets are installing cafes and coffee shops to try to increase your stay period and get

you to buy more You should go to the supermarket with a clear idea of what you need in the form of ashopping list, get it, and leave as soon as possible

(7) Beware of offers such as ‘buy one, get one free’ (BOGOF), ‘buy one, get one half price’, ‘two for

two pounds’ etc These deals tempt you to buy not only something that perhaps you wouldn’t normallybuy, or did not intend to buy, but also to buy two of them Be especially wary of these types of offerswhen they apply to perishable goods such as fruit and vegetables Will you really eat twice as much

of the fruit or vegetable items on offer? They will still perish in the same amount of time and thechances are that you will end up throwing over half of them away

(8) The price of items can differ considerably depending on the location of the store, even if they are

part of the same chain Smaller, convenience stores in town centres or at train stations etc oftencharge more than bigger, or out of town stores This is because they have a captive audience as youtend to use these stores when you need to buy an essential item that you have run out of, rather thanwhen you are shopping around for a bargain

(9) Look closely at price per weight or amount when you are buying similar items in different size

formats Sometimes larger packs or bottles actually cost more per gram, kilo, litre etc - which is theopposite to what you may expect

(10) Impulse buy items are often placed in areas that you have to pass or stop at such as around the

checkouts (e.g sweets, magazines, CDs and DVDs) - don’t be tempted

(11) Time limited, or item limited offers: this one is used by supermarkets, but it is also used as a

marketing strategy by many other businesses If something is promoted as only available for a limitedtime, or only available while stocks last, it is usually designed to increase your likelihood of making

an impulse buy Your instinct is to get it before the offer or the item is gone, and the supermarketsknow this Unless the item is something that you have already planned to buy and is a very good price,you should not fall for this ploy The product might disappear from the supermarket after the offerexpires, for a while at least, but chances are you could get it from somewhere else (possibly cheaper)

if you really decide that you want or need it - don’t be rushed, take your time Stay in control of yourspending, don’t let the supermarkets influence your choices

*************************

You might be thinking that this isn’t going to add up to much and that you may not bother with thisparticular BOOSTER However, experience shows that a family of four ought to be able to save £30per week at the very least using these simple tips, and possibly much more £30 per week over a year

is £1,560 If you don’t apply this BOOSTER, that money will go to the supermarket If you do applythis BOOSTER, the money can be directed towards your savings and investments or be used to helppay off your mortgage early You can increase the supermarket’s profits, or you can increase yourown financial security and wealth - it’s your choice

*************************

Other retail pricing tricks

(1) ‘Premium’ or ‘Prestige’ pricing is designed to tap into the belief that something that costs more

money is superior in some way or is higher in quality than similar lower priced items Often there islittle or no difference other than the packaging, certainly not enough difference to justify the higherprice In some cases all you are really paying for is a badge or logo This strategy is often used withdesigner clothes and car models that are aimed at the luxury market Often the basic elements ofluxury cars are modelled on the same chassis, engine and other major mechanics of much lowerpriced ‘standard’ models By making relatively small changes, car manufacturers are able to createthe perception of prestige Higher pricing is used to suggest that what you are buying is better in order

to appeal to your desire for luxury or to impress others

(2) ‘Decoys’ are products that are created not in order to sell well themselves but to get you to trade

up or down to the product that the retailers or manufacturers really want you to buy By giving you theillusion of choice you are actually being steered towards the real target sale For example, amanufacturer may produce two similar mobile phones One phone may have a few more features thanthe other but could be twice the price In this example the aim is to sell more of the lower pricedphones because you believe that you are getting a bargain as you are paying half as much for thelower priced phone and you don’t really need the extra few extra features offered by the other phoneanyway This can also work the other way If there is relatively little difference in price between thetwo phone models you might be more likely to trade up to the higher priced item because you feel youare getting a better phone for not much more cash Both of these examples demonstrate the use ofdecoy products

(3) ‘Loss Leaders’: there are essentially two types of loss leaders The first is where the retailer may

price a few products at a very low price and heavily advertise them locally or nationally The itemsare priced so low that the retailer actually makes a loss on them The idea is that more customers areenticed into the shops and stores where they will inevitably buy other items that do provide theretailer with a profit This is a common tactic used to increase the numbers of customers entering theretailer’s premises, or ‘footfall’ as it is termed by marketing strategists The second type of lossleaders are products that are designed to sell the consumable that they use So items such as gamesconsoles, razors, e-book readers etc may be priced below cost The retailer and manufacturer maketheir money via the repeat buys of the games, razor blades and e-books etc

(4) ‘Bundling’ can often offer genuine savings However, it can also be used to create the impression

of value where it doesn’t actually exist An example of real money saving bundling might be where

goods or services are offered bundled together at one price that is lower than the combined cost of theindividual prices of the goods or services if sold separately In this case the offer may be beneficial,particularly if you really need or want all of the items in the bundle On the flip side, bundling can beused to create a false sense of higher value and to confuse the buyer into thinking that the seller isdoing them a favour An example of this might be where one main item is offered then various

‘bonuses’ are thrown in (e.g ‘wait! there’s more!’) This technique can lead to the buyer paying overthe odds for items that have very little bundled or individual value Information products arecommonly sold in this way For example you may buy one highly overpriced e-book or trainingprogramme with another five reports or e-books worth £39.95 each Actually the value of the ‘free’items is massively overstated and they may well be old products that were given away in the past.They are often just ‘taster’ ‘items’ designed to entice you towards a website and are basically used asadvertising for other products or services

“Price is what you pay Value is what you get”

(Warren Buffet)

BOOSTER No 9Cash-back Credit Cards and Websites

Get back some of the money that you spend every day via cash-back websites and cash-back creditcards

Cash-back credit cards …

Not all credit cards are bad - it is possible to actually make money out of certain types of creditcards

If you are in a position to pay off your credit card bill on time and in full every month withoutexception, then this can be an excellent way of getting some of you hard earned cash back into yourpocket Cash-back credit cards return a percentage of what you spend on whatever you spend yourmoney on when you use the card (note: some cards only pay out on certain items) Provided you payoff your card in full every month, there is no cost in interest payments to you for this service (checkindividual card companies terms & conditions) You also need to ensure that there is no monthly feefor using the card and don’t use it for ATM withdrawals as you may be charged for the transaction.You can even set up a regular direct debit to automatically pay off your balance before the first andsubsequent payments are due so that you don’t forget The rate of return can typically be between 1and 5% depending on the card provider and introductory offers Only use the card for purchases,don’t use it for anything that may incur a cost (e.g cash withdrawals or transfers) Even if you just useyour card for essential purchases such as your weekly grocery shop and fuel, the amount of cash-backwill soon accumulate The money ‘earned’ is usually knocked off your credit card bill each year onthe anniversary of your card application Many cash-back enabled credit cards have a higherintroductory rate of cash-back for the first few months, so time your application to coincide withperiods of higher than normal expenditure, e.g Christmas, to make the most of the higher rate

Cash-back websites …

Cash-back websites were born out of intermediate sites advertising the products and services of othercompanies’ websites As consumers clicked through the intermediate site to the retail site, the retailsite would pay a percentage of the profit from the sale to the intermediate site as a reward fordirecting the customer to them The operators of the intermediate sites quickly realised that if theyoffered the customer a percentage of the money paid to them by the retail sites, they could generatemuch more traffic and much more profit There are now several of these sites available

Each cash-back site will have a different mix of companies that it deals with Check that the site youwant to use deals with the online businesses that you most frequently buy from Each cash-back sitewill offer slightly different percentages of the sales as a return to you and this will also vary betweenthe companies the site links to Check that you are getting one of the higher returns

Note: cash-back site comparison sites are now available - they will tell you which cash-back sitesoffer the highest returns and which companies they deal with

Tip: Cash-back Stacking - if you use your cash-back credit card to buy items through a cash-backwebsite you can more than double your cash return

Note: don’t be tempted to get carried away with cash-back devices such as these Only use them

within your normal pattern of spending Buying the equivalent item cheapest is still the best way tohang on to a larger proportion of your budgeted spend.

BOOSTER No 10Create a Cash Cascade System The Cash Cascade Model

The cash cascade model is a method of creating a positive flow of cash and directing your money tospecific areas of savings and investments It consists of four basic elements which are interlinked; (a)current use fund, (b) emergency fund, (c) investment fund and (d) retirement fund

(a) Current Use Fund

You will need to begin by creating a ‘Current Use Fund’ This will usually take the form of yourcurrent or cheque account and will be where you (or your company) pay in your income If you budgetwell and have a full and detailed understanding of all your monthly incoming amounts and outgoingamounts, you will know how much you need to keep in this fund each month to meet your expenses.The amount required to meet your expenses each month, plus a small ‘buffer’ amount to coverunforeseen expenses can then become your ceiling amount Any more money accumulating in this fundcan be transferred into your ‘Emergency Fund’

(b) Emergency Fund

Decide on an amount of money that would cover all your expenses for a realistic period of time if youshould lose your job or income This will depend on whatever makes you feel more comfortable.Three months income is probably the minimum, but six months would be better Once you have savedand ‘ring fenced’ this ‘Emergency Fund’, you should not touch it unless you are in an emergencysituation This fund should sit in a savings account with good interest rates, but with immediate accessshould you need to get at it

This will allow you to feel more financially secure and will be a good basis on which to buildadditional savings and investments Initially you might use this as a ‘Rainy Day’ fund for financingemergencies such as bills for unexpected repairs to essential items such as washing machines,fridges, freezers, cars etc This will help you to absorb unexpected cost without impacting on yourother saving and investment activities As your fund builds toward your target amount, it will becomethe cornerstone of the ‘Financial Fortress’ that you will begin to build to protect you from financial

emergencies and worry.

There may be a case for overlapping your ‘Emergency Fund’ with your ‘Investment Fund’, forexample where a high interest, instant access account is used (such as a Cash ISA) Just because youmay require instant access in an emergency, you should not miss out on high interest rates orprotection from taxation in the meantime Hopefully, the emergency will never happen and you canwatch your money grow

(c) Investment Fund

Transfer any money over your ‘Emergency Fund’ target amount into higher interest savings accounts

or other investments - your ‘Investment Fund’ These may require extended notice periods forwithdrawals in order to qualify for higher returns This shouldn’t become an issue provided that your

‘Emergency Fund’ is set at a sensible level

(d) Retirement Fund

When creating your ‘Retirement Fund’, consider long term investments as well as pension schemes

As with all investment plans, it is better to spread your money across multiple investments in order tomaximise the potential for return and reduce the risk involved As you get closer to retirement age,you should consider moving any funds with a medium to high level of risk into low or no risk options

to protect your retirement pot or income

As a general rule, you may be able to try (after appropriate financial advice) higher risk investments

in order to reap higher returns when you are younger As you get older, you should reduce your level

of risk or amount of exposure to risk in order to secure and protect your existing savings andinvestments for your retirement

One question that you may have in mind is: What if I want to save for a specific item, where does thatfit in? The answer is that you put a metaphorical dam in your ‘Emergency Fund’ so that instead of theexcess going into your ‘Investment Fund’, it builds up over and above the ‘Emergency Fund’ targetlevel to the required amount for the item After you have bought the item with this excess money, you

‘remove the dam’ and let the process carry on as before An alternative for this is to add in an extra

‘bucket’ / fund between your ‘Emergency Fund and your ‘Investment Fund’ and call it your term Savings Fund’ Set it at the amount you need to save and carry on the cascade

‘Short-*************************

Tip: many banks now allow you to name your accounts whatever you want via their online systems.

You could create and name your accounts in line with your fund categories and automate, or managethe cascade accordingly

*************************

BOOSTER No 11Turn Your House From a Liability Into an Asset

If the interest you are being charged for your mortgage is more than the interest you are earning onyour savings, you should consider overpaying your mortgage, or changing your mortgage to one with alower rate

Over time, the amount you pay in interest on your mortgage can vastly inflate the actual amount youpay over and above the original cost price of your property Overpaying your mortgage by regular,but small amounts could save you thousands of pounds in interest and give you the option to reducethe term so that you pay it off quicker

The further you get in your progress toward the middle and then the end of your mortgage payments,the more your house turns from a potential liability, owned by the bank, to an asset, owned by you.Overpaying your mortgage can also provide you with future flexibility If the mortgage rate suddenlyrises (and you can’t find a better offer, or are tied into your existing arrangement), or if youexperience tough financial times, you can reduce your overall payments by lowering or cancellingyour overpayment amount This means that you are reaping the rewards of overpaying when you canafford to do so, but it also allows you to reduce your outgoings if the need arises

Note: check your mortgage terms for overpayment penalty levels before you start overpaying toensure that you will not be penalised