Tag Archives: prosperity

Time to Ring Out The Old

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Ring out the old, ring in the new
Ring, happy bells across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.*

As we say adieu to the year 2015, it is an opportune time to reflect on some of the achievements that we may have made over the last 364 days. I hope that your review will reveal encouraging steps in your journey to improving your financial wellbeing and accomplishing your goals!

The year end is also an appropriate time for us to honestly look at our problems and determine stategies to have a better New Year. Let’s review some of the issues that have concerned many Jamaicans in 2015, and make some resolutions that can lead to a more prosperous nation in 2016. Continue reading Time to Ring Out The Old →

MoneyAir Flight 2013

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard MoneyAir Flight 2013, with non-stop service to Money Success! It is my pleasure to be your financial flight attendant who will guide and assist you for the duration of this 12-month journey.

Your trip on MoneyAir will be customised to fit your needs, as all passengers must create individual flight plans to achieve their personal objectives. It is important that you make a directional map that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. If not, your journey will be aimless and frustrating, and you will not be able to reach your desired destination.

On MoneyAir, we put you in the pilot’s seat, as you are actually the designer and driver of your own destiny. You will be required to adopt a persistent and determined attitude on this flight, as it will not always be a smooth or simple journey. As we prepare for take-off, please pay full attention as I explain the safety features of our special flight. Continue reading MoneyAir Flight 2013 →

How to become a successful investor

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Last week we looked at several investor personalities which Robert Kiyosaki describes in his best-selling investing book, CASHFLOW Quadrant. While examining the attitudes and actions of different types of investors, he explains that most of them will only achieve minimal success because they lack the financial intelligence required to become wealthy.

Kiyosaki outlines three investor types that will become successful with money. The first is the long-term investor that is actively involved in making investment decisions. He explains that these persons invest in their own financial education before they buy an investment, so that they can fully understand how to make appropriate choices with their money.

These investors are financially disciplined; they live within their means and minimise their liabilities. Once they have identified their goals, they find out how much they need to invest to attain their objectives and create realistic action plans. They seek advice from competent financial advisors, are usually conservative, and avoid complex investing options. Continue reading How to become a successful investor →

What type of investor are you?

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Too many people live out their lives without setting financial goals or thinking of ways to get ahead in life. Like the ancient Arabic saying, “He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool,” they are dangerously unconscious about the importance of creating and carrying out a plan of action to become financially secure and successful.

One of the strategies that can help you to finance your dreams and achieve your objectives is investing. Investing is simply the act of putting your money to work in some type of endeavour with the expectation of making profit. The idea is that you are actively trying to increase the value of your initial investment and/or earn an income from your efforts.

While investing can be a key component in creating wealth, persons who decide to invest may receive vastly different results than they had expected. Although it may be relatively easy to put your money into some type of investment, it is not a given that you will make a profit.

The level of success you obtain will be largely dependent on your investing expertise.

Continue reading What type of investor are you? →

Going Viral with your Dream

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We have recently been looking at the importance of each person creating a vision for his or her personal growth and financial progress. I believe that Jamaica’s future economic development will be dependent on the ability of all of us to take charge of our own destinies, instead of waiting around for someone else to create change.

An unfolding Internet phenomenon has substantiated my belief that one person with a passionate dream for a better life can influence others to join in the vision. Clifton Brown, resident of Mavis Bank, St Andrew, was interviewed on a local television news programme about the woes caused by the recent inclement weather in his community.

Whenever heavy rains fall, the Yallahs River overflows and becomes a raging current across several roadways, including the Robertsfield main road, leaving the citizens marooned. Brown explained that people had to pay to be carried over by skilled persons, or by trucks or buses which could manage the flow. He appealed for a bridge to be constructed to rectify this perennial problem.

The vision becomes viral

I am sure that Brown had no idea that his impassioned plea captured on the television show would have led to him achieving celebrity status. His enthusiastic speech drew out the creativity of a young university student, Kevin-Sean Hamilton, who used clips of his interview to make an amusing music video that spread quickly on the Internet. Continue reading Going Viral with your Dream →

Going The Distance In Achieving Your Dreams

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“Where there is no vision, the people perish” – Proverbs 29:18

Most Jamaicans ardently want our nation to progress towards peace and prosperity. However, many of us don’t realise that for Jamaica to advance, we can’t simply expect others to make it happen; we must each embark upon our own personal journey of growth and development.

In The Richest Man in Babylon, author George S Clason declares that, “Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the personal financial prosperity of each of us as individuals.” In other words, if we are going to see Jamaica succeed, we have to first commit to working on our personal success.

In over 10 years of coaching persons on their financial goals, I have discovered that there are two main reasons that prevent people from getting ahead in life. Most persons are not clear about exactly what they want to achieve; and even if they have some idea about what they want, they aren’t passionate enough about why they want it to happen. Continue reading Going The Distance In Achieving Your Dreams →

I Have A Dream

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After writing about some of my concerns for the economic future of this country last week, I was heartened to receive responses from readers who indicated that they too, were anxious to play a part in restoring Jamaica to a prosperous state.

A few persons shared with me the development plans that had been drafted by organisations with which were affiliated. Although there are several groups of well-thinking citizens with inspired proposals, it appears that we are not as efficient in actualising our projects to create change. Why can’t we seem to move from idea stage to action phase?

In reflecting on the possible reasons for this inability to progress, I realised that our country’s financial problems are not unlike those faced by individuals. While many of us may think about how we want to improve our lives, somehow we just can’t seem to turn our thoughts into reality. Continue reading I Have A Dream →

Waiting in Vain?

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Dearest readers,

Since February 2006 I have been faithfully writing on the subject of personal finance, teaching you about the essentials of managing, multiplying and maintaining your money. It has been my pleasure to share all the money lessons I’ve learnt while searching to find answers to solve my own financial challenges.

Over the last five years, I have been honoured and humbled by the hundreds of readers who have shared their testimonies of how my articles have encouraged and enlightened them towards improving their financial situations. In fact, I have been privileged to meet and become friends with some of my more enthusiastic supporters.

Despite all the naysayers and negativity in the country, I have always held firm in my belief that it is possible for each and every one of us to be successful with money. Once a determined effort is made to learn and apply all the important principles that govern money, no one should continue to experience financial distress indefinitely.

However, as I write this article, I must admit that my heart is a little heavy. Yes, I have been preaching about the principles of money success and practising positive thinking about our problems, but this cannot be enough.

I recognise that a whole lot more needs to be done if the people of Jamaica are truly going to experience a change of economic fortunes.

Continue reading Waiting in Vain? →

How To Maintain Your Money

Retirement & Estate Planning, Risk Protection, , , , , , , ,

Why do some people achieve long-lasting financial success while others struggle with money for their entire lives? After years of seeking the answer to this mystery, I have discovered that the route to prosperity lies in the knowledge and application of some basic principles that govern money.

We have been examining the three tenets of money success – managing, multiplying and maintaining your money. After making smart use of the money you already have and making determined efforts to earn more, the final key is making plans to preserve your wealth for your lifetime and beyond.

Here are the four essential steps to maintaining your money: Continue reading How To Maintain Your Money →

The Secrets to Wealth

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It has been said that only about one per cent of the world’s population ever achieves great wealth. No wonder the 99 per cent majority thinks that there are some hidden secrets to becoming wealthy that rich people won’t divulge!

Recently, First Global Financial Services (FGFS) revealed some of the mysteries to wealth at its Dollars and Sense Money Management seminar. Jason Dear, FGFS Equity Trading manager, explained that the act of wealth creation was not shrouded in secrecy.

Dear explained that making money came with understanding and following simple money principles.

“There are universal rules that govern wealth creation,” he clarified. “To get rich you need to learn and execute these principles.” Dear outlined his top 10 list of ‘secrets’ that could help ordinary people begin a successful journey to wealth: Continue reading The Secrets to Wealth →