How To Earn Extra Money

After a personal financial disaster, most people are left wondering what to do next. In fact, significant financial loss is such an incredible psychological setback to some people that they feel there is nothing they can do to recover from it. Divorce, suicide, and other tragic events occur every day because Americans find themselves in financial ruin.

This is going to be a multi-part series of articles discussing the process of financial recovery. I will be basing this series on both my own experience with financial recovery, which is just beginning as I write this, and the lives of people that I have entered due to their quest for tax debt relief.

The first place to start is to define financial disaster. Just because you're deep in debt doesn't necessarily mean that you're in complete financial ruin. Different people are all going to have their own interpretation of what it means to be financial ruined, but for the purposes of this series of articles I'm going to use my own definition. Here are the things I classify as financially destroyed:

• Straight up insolvency.
• You qualify for chapter 7 bankruptcy.
• You just lost your primary residence to foreclosure (or eviction because you couldn't pay rent).
• Creditors have seized assets, levied bank accounts, and garnished wages.

There are probably more things I could put on this list, but I think you get the idea. This situation can be created by any number of factors, too. Business failure, expensive medical problems, divorce, inability to pay tax debt, extended job loss, poor money management, stupidity...all of these can contribute to being broke and belly up.

Also, you don't necessarily need to be homeless and jobless to be financially ruined. There are very high income earners that get deep into debt, just as there are low income earners that turn into millionaires over time.

After defining financial disaster for yourself, the next important step is to take a reality check and admit to the fact that you're there, or are approaching it. People tend to live in denial when it comes to their financial situation, if they even know what their financial position is at all. It's important to take stock of where you, including analyzing your income and expenses and looking at your assets and liabilities. If that starts to sound like a budgetary counseling session in progress, it's because it is. Your finances are one of those few things about yourself and your life that you can distinctly quantify, and you can't figure out how to get where you're going if you don't know where you are.

In the next article in this series, we'll get into the process of figuring out where you are and making decisions about your plan for financial recovery.

To your success,

Jassen Bowman

One of the biggest challenges with exploring alternative ways of making a living is knowing how different decisions will impact your finances for the long haul. While formal classroom education, seminars, home study courses, and books are all a wealth of knowledge, actually getting out and applying that knowledge is really the only way to obtain the wisdom and experience that comes from being in the trenches.

Most people are probably familiar with the game Monopoly. They're probably also familiar with the stark differences between the game and the realities of life. It's incredibly difficult for a game or simulation of any sort to match what happens in real life. Some attempts are much better than others, and the free online simulator at Learn To Be Rich is definitely one of the better options out there.

LearnToBeRich.com is currently absolutely free. All you have to do is register for the game, and a password will be sent to you. Once you're in the game, the array of options that you're presented with can be somewhat daunting, so take the time to read through the options and read the tips that are on the screen during each turn, it really does help.

Every time you play the game, you are lead through the complete working life of your character. Each turn of the game corresponds to one month of real life. During each turn, you are free to take one of many, many different actions relating to your overall financial picture. For example, you can choose to focus on your career and try to get a raise, you can meet with a stock broker to look at potential stocks to buy, and you can start businesses. Every action you take has certain risks and rewards that correspond to the risks and rewards of the similar actions in real life.

The overall purpose of the game is to allow you to see the results of your financial decisions over an entire 45 year working life. The game throws in things that do happen in real life, such as the surprise stock that takes off like a rocket or the rapid increase in operating expenses for a particular business. The game models an amazing array of factors, including inflation, individual industry sector performances, housing trends, cost of living raises, marketing performance, and much more. All of these factors are based on real life historical performance and trending of the actual variable, along with the occasional random surprise factor thrown in to reflect the reality of booms, busts, good times, and tough times economically.

A recently added feature to the game is the ability to see where you stack up against other active players. You can compare ranking for bank account balances, real estate portfolio performance, net worth, and more.

The game was developed by James Orr, a professional real estate investor and Internet entrepreneur. The amazing part is that James is actually one of those rare guys that practices what he preaches, rather than just riding the seminar and infomercial circuit. James has built a sizable portfolio of rental properties, and has operated a number of very successful online ventures. The game is something that he does as a hobby to teach others the things that he's learned the hard way. He recognizes a severe lack of financial education out there, and he says, "You can learn a lot by modeling life and making your mistakes in a game rather than in real life with real money."

I would agree with his statement wholeheartedly, and this game is the best effort I've seen at providing an environment for learning this way. To check out the game for yourself, just visit http://LearnToBeRich.com.

Until next time,

Jassen Bowman

I had sort of an epiphany today. A lot of people, myself included, make strides to isolate ourselves from the overall ups and downs of the general economy. While I think it's impossible to do so completely, excepting perhaps if you live completely off the land and choose not to participate in the economy at all, I think there are ways to, in general, insulate yourself against the broader economic fumblings going on around you without dropping out of society.

This is something I've been exploring for years on a thought experiment sort of basis, in particular. I think I finally had a breakthrough about it today. In retrospect, it seems kind of obvious, and what I'm about to write is by no means profound, but here it is anyway. In general, I believe that there are certain goods and services within a modern, civilized society that are fairly critical. If you can associate yourself with one or more of those critical functions, and do so in a way that precludes removal of you as a worker, then I think that the probability of long-term economic success drastically increases. This relates in particular to the idea of working in a field that will more or less always be around.

I have no intention of making an exhaustive list of what these essential occupations in an economy would be, but I think I've come up with some generalities. For example, in general I think there always has been, and always will be, a place in the world for the person that can make broken things become fixed things (e.g., construction trades, repair personnel, mechanics, etc.). On the same line of reasoning, I think there will always be a place for people that can take an idea and turn it into a time or labor saving physical device (such as designers, engineers, builders, etc.). In other words, if you're "good with your hands" you'll probably always be able to at least scrape by. Even in the event of the collapse of civilization, these kind of folks will have a better grasp on how to become self-sufficient and maximize the use of materials they have at hand for survival.

Also, look at the things that are essential for life. I think that if you're able to participate in the production and distribution of food and water, you've probably got some good job security. In this day and age, you could probably also add in jobs relating to the extraction and distribution of raw materials and energy. Computers are so tied into our daily lives that the world of information technology is also likely to have long term economic stability.

Life and death happen to be on the guaranteed side of things, too, so I think that those workers in healthcare professions will always be around. At the very least, doctors, nurses, and morticians should be with us for quite a while.

What actually got me thinking about this today was that I was thinking about the necessity of two of my own professional interests: real estate and taxes. Everybody needs a place to live, as the saying goes, so being involved in providing that housing is a good long term bet. Also, whenever you get large groups of human beings together, some sort of government usually tends to emerge from the ether (be it for better or worse), which invariably leads to taxation.

A lot of this sort of thought process definitely involves making assumptions about the future and the world in which we live. I could definitely see how a person's viewpoint on the world could impact there thought process here, particularly based on political and religious beliefs. Some people think we're less than 2 years away from total global annihilation, while other people think we're only two years from some Utopian paradise where nobody wants for anything and all humans have flying cars condensed into their briefcases.

In general, though, I think it's safe (and sane) to assume that in 20 years, much of our world will be fairly similar to what it is today. Maybe a little better, maybe a little worse. There might be major system changes to society similar to what the computer brought along, but even then, most of the basics for living in a modern, civilized environment tend to remain similar.

A profound example of this is that, despite the growth of online sales, the retail sector remains as strong as it is. Yes, there have been changes in the retail landscape, but that landscape is still there and it's still really, really huge, economically. If you're involved in retail trade or customer service, I think there's long-term job stability there, too. People still want STUFF. The nature of that stuff might change, but stuff is what we tend to accumulate. Maybe this year you're selling iPods on eBay or as a sales associate in a retail store, or providing telephone customer service for that iPod, or selling accessories for it out of your trunk in a parking lot, etc. But it's still connected to retail, and "stuff". Next decade, that "stuff" might be micro-miniaturized verboplasm power packs that power every device known to man, but somebody still has to sell, service, repair, provide tech support, account for, set up displays, rotate inventory, collect sales tax, ship/transport/deliver, and who knows what else in support of that gizmo, so again, in general, those related retail and service professions will still exist, in some way.

So, in closing, let me just say that I now believe that if your primarily goal in planning your future work is to achieve maximum probability of being able to work, I think it's important to build a history of connection to some of these essential things within life and society, and stay on top of the learning curve when it comes to the slow, gradual changes that move these fields along.

Now, also keep in mind that ensuring employability isn't the ONLY thing. Many of the fields I've mentioned in this post tend to be lower paying occupations these days. So, if you're more motivated by extremely high earnings, then maybe you need to look at other factors for selecting an occupation, instead of what I've discussed here. Or maybe you're motivated by the excitement of a rapidly advancing field, regardless of long term employment stability or money. Only you can decide that for yourself, of course.

Make it a GREAT day!

-Jassen

Ten basic rules from the dating world, applied to sales. Specifically targeted to real estate sales, but heck, I think it covers some good bases for any sales endeavor:

10 Dating Rules For Sales

Robert Kiyosaki talks about the importance of “financial education” over and over and over again. And the reason he talks about it so much is because he’s right - financial education is the most important type of education to have if you ever want to get out of the “rat race” and become financially independent.

People need to understand basic financial terms, how the money and banking system works in their country, and how credit, income, and other factors all interplay to produce a person’s overall financial status. Even if people are in a bad financial status and already know that, it’s important to understand how they got there, what all the good and bad stuff means, and how to start making changes.

The absolute best resource that I have ever found on the Internet for basic personal finance information is at http://www.GetRichSlow.com. Seriously, you can delete all your bookmarks to CNN/Money, Kiplinger’s, Motley Fool, and all the other personal finance portals out there and learn everything you really need to know from GetRichSlow.com. The beauty of this web site is that it was put up in 1996 and literally has not been updated since then. This makes all the examples on mortgage rates, housing prices, salaries, college costs, etc. a bit outdated, but the principles themselves are still valid and probably will be for as long as we have our current style of economic systems in capitalist countries.

So, if you’re just starting out, read GetRichSlow.com….every page. It’ll take a couple hours for the average person, but it could quite likely be the most valuable reading you ever do, in financial terms.

Now, when it comes to financial education and business, we enter the world of a very, very, very broad range of things. Here are just some of the things that a new business owner has to think about: how to set up your business entity, how to get paid and accept payments (credit cards, merchant accounts and other methods), how to deal with inventory or drop shipping, how to deal with websites, web hosting, domain names and e-mails, accounting and taxes, business plans, affiliate programs, start up money and financing options, cost analysis, insurance, budgeting, record keeping, licensing concerns, setting goals, staying motivated, and marketing.

Look at it: That’s a boat load of stuff!

And once you start learning all this stuff, it can become overwhelming. The sheer number of books, tapes, courses, gurus, etc. that are out there trying to teach all this stuff is phenomenal. Weeding through it all can itself become a full time job.

Every business owner needs to understand the basics of all those things, too. But where on Earth do you start???

First off, visit your local library or bookstore and grab the most generic looking book you can find about starting a small business. There are some good titles in the “…for Dummies” and “Idiot’s Guide to…” series. Barron’s also publishes a great series on business startup and small business topics. I would also encourage you to look up your local Small Business Administration (SBA) office and see what seminars they have in your local area. They are often free or very low cost. Your local Chamber of Commerce can also be a great resource.

Once you have the basics of all those areas covered, and even after you’ve become proficient in a number of areas, you need to ALWAYS be learning. Continueing education is a requirement in many professions, and it should be important to you as a small business owner, also.

Here’s an example. I like to consider myself fairly intelligent and pretty well educated on the basics of most business topics. When I got into real estate investing a little over 4 years ago, I had to overcome a steep learning curve about real estate, and I continue to learn more and more about real estate and related areas of the process.

Along the way, I took the class to become a licensed real estate broker. I also took a loan origination course, became a certified housing inspector in a very niche specialty, and am also contemplating taking the registered appraiser course next year.

People ask me why I do these things. These courses, certifications, and licensing are all mainly part of continueing my financial education, but they also bring certain perks. For example, being a real estate broker allow me to have direct access to the MLS, quicker comps, and certain databases that my local MLS service subscribes to for agent’s to use. On top of that, it’s a great side income.

Although I don’t actually originate loans, it’s nice to be able to keep up on the changing scope of interest rates and products without constantly bugging my own mortgage broker. In addition, if I ever find a deal that I really want to do for some reason, and saving money on origination fees and closing costs makes the difference between being able to buy the property or not, I can originate my own loan myself and save quite a bit of money.

Being an insurance hazard inspector and now a certified federal disaster housing inspector has taught me many things about what to look for in a property that I didn’t know 2 years ago, and has also provided a steady source of income that helps me get through the ups and down of my other business operations.

And why take the appraiser course? Not to become a licensed appraiser, but to get a better idea of where appraisers are coming from when they do MY appraisals.

All of these things contribute to the overall picture of real estate investor education. I would encourage you to seek similar continueing education in your own area of business. While continueing to learn your trade or business, you might also pick up industry certifications, licenses, etc. along the way that open doors to increased credibility, special resources, and additional revenue sources that might not have existed before.