Day 4 - Who's the Boss? You or Your Money?

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here   Give Every Dollar a Job   We've covered the basics of a budget. You have your inflows, and your outflows. Sandwiched in the middle is Rule One: Give Every Dollar a Job. YOU are the boss. Imagine a business where there are no defined job descriptions. Engineers work on the marketing plan, or determine how to amortize a lease for the accounting. The marketing employees love spending time on the factory floor looking at the big, shiny machinery. The accountants (with all their personality) enjoy spending their time trying to sell the product to customers (imagine how well that's going). I think you get the picture. This is not a company that has mastered cross-functional team theory. This is a company with no defined employee responsibilities. You wouldn't want to work there--and your job wouldn't last long if you did. It is only a matter of time before a company without properly defined roles is going under. A household, where the dollars' roles are not properly defined is destined for similar financial failure. Our dollars cannot just go about their business doing whatever they please. Not even a little bit. With spending ever easier, it has become even more important that we consciously assign each of our dollars a job to do for the month. Let's say that $2,000 comes into your hands during the month. You must assign each and every single, solitary dollar a job. Some goes toward rent, and do their job during that very month. Other dollars will go to saving for a new vacation. Some dollars have the job of just being "ready" for an emergency (much like firemen, right?). You'll have some dollars that sit around for six to twelve months before finally doing something (saving up in anticipation of car insurance premiums, and Christmas come to mind). Every dollar still does something. No dollar goes without a job. Ever. Even the fun money.   You Still Need Some Breathing Room   When my wife and I first started budgeting, we made the same mistake most beginners make. We didn't allow any breathing room. I have to give credit to my wife though--she was much more dedicated than I was. I started noticing that I was stressed about money. I was stressed about spending it. I was stressed we wouldn't have enough of it. Frankly, it was getting to me. I felt like I couldn't justify spending money on anything. This is a dangerous situation. I was struggling and wanted to quit! We were assigning every single dollar a job. Every job appeared so important! I felt like I couldn't buy a candy bar. I felt constricted. After a month or two of working like this, I talked with my wife about it. We decided each of us would get a little bit of "fun" money to spend on whatever we wanted--with no accountability. Amazingly, the amount can be small--but it does need to be there! We settled on five dollars each per month. Five lousy dollars and I felt like I could buy the world. Learn from our mistake. Every dollar needs a job, and every budget needs some breathing room! I've found too often that when people are unrealistic with their budgeting (as my wife and I were), they give up. Why? You can't do unrealistic things for a significant amount of time when you're living in a brutally realistic world. The intentional lack of accountability to your spouse is key. It doesn't matter if one of you is the complete breadwinner of the family, once it hits the budget, it belongs to the household. Only once you assign fun money to each other do you once again have your "own" money. (Guys, it's very romantic to spend your fun money on your wife.) I can't stress enough how important it is to have your dollars working for you instead of just doing their own thing. As you implement Rule One, you'll notice that your dollars work harder, longer, and stronger for you. They're more efficient. They don't put up a fight. They do what they're told. They're basically the opposite of your teenager. In this technologically progressive (and fiscally-irresponsible) society, you need to use something that will allow you to assign your dollars their jobs with ease. You can use a pencil and paper, my software, envelopes, a chalkboard - whatever. Just make sure every dollar gets a job! We've talked a lot about assigning your dollars jobs, but we didn't mention the process by which you do that. Tomorrow will be a special day because we're going to focus specifically on budgeting in a marriage. If you're single, well, tomorrow you'll learn what you'll do once you're married (or you can take a day off).   Action Steps:   Create a list of your dollars' potential "jobs." These will be your spending categories. Promise yourself that you'll allocate some dollars to your "Fun" category. Your budget's longevity depends on it.   Warm Regards,   - Jesse Mecham   P.S. You can purchase a YNAB activation key here if you need one!   follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below:  Unsubscribe YouNeedABudget.com 770 E Main St. #236 Lehi, Utah 84043 United States

Day 3 - The Ins and Outs of Inflows and Outflows

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here     Let's discuss the mechanics of budgeting. Money is like breathing:   • In • Out   With fancy marketing and pushy salesman, many times more money goes out than comes in. The result of that is...debt and stress.   When you're operating on a budget, the pattern changes just slightly:   • In • >> Assigned << • Out   We'll talk about each aspect of a budget, why it's there, and what you need to do to make it work.     Inflows & Outflows   Inflows:  Typically, when you think of money coming into your pocket, you think of your employment. Some people are paid twice per month; others are paid every two weeks. Some are paid just once a month. None of that matters though because you always follow the same three steps. You record your income, decide how to spend it, then track your spending against your plan.   Every dollar you receive should be recorded as an inflow.   Outflows: Outflows are really pretty basic. Any time money flows out of your pocket (or you charge something on a credit card - meaning you incur the obligation to pay money out of your pocket), it is an outflow.   How big does an outflow have to be for it to really "count" as an outflow? It need not be very big at all. Did you stick a penny in the gumball machine at the oil & lube station while you were waiting for your car to be serviced? Congratulations, you just created an outflow! (How'd that gumball taste, by the way?)   The one-penny charge is a bit of an exaggeration, but I do it to illustrate a point. Too often we talk ourselves into little purchases that we think won't really add up. It's true that even the little things add up, but there's something even more important:   If you're constantly making exceptions to recording an outflow, you'll never successfully form the habit.   I should probably mention that people place WAY too much weight on the notion of having to record everything you spend. Remember the other day when I said that my wife and I had been clocked at doing the ENTIRE budgeting process in 38 minutes? That included recording every single outflow for the month--manually. Just record it on your phone as you spend it. It takes seconds.   There is a psychological advantage in writing things down. It keeps you closer to your money. This is a good thing. As you write down EVERYTHING you spend, you'll notice your spending decline. Not because you're "cutting back", but because you're more aware of your money doing things you value.   Begin recording every single purchase you make-and stop whining!   For Day Four we'll talk about the First Rule of Cash Flow, that crucial middle step of the budgeting process where you...budget. We'll see you tomorrow!   Action Steps:   Begin recording every single purchase you make. Without exception. It doesn't matter how you record it (pencil, iPhone or Android, spreadsheet, etc.), just make sure you do it consistently beginning today. Right now.   Warm Regards,   - Jesse Mecham P.S. If you haven't yet purchased your YNAB activation key, you can purchase it here.   follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below:  Unsubscribe YouNeedABudget.com 770 E Main St. #236 Lehi, Utah 84043 United States

Your Weekly Update - Q1 Markets Review

	Weekly Market Recap For the first three months of 2015, returns were generally positive across markets and asset classes. The average FutureAdvisor portfolio rose +1.16%. January and March saw generally weaker returns with most asset classes falling in value, but February was strongly positive leading to overall positive returns for the start of the year. Our performance lagged the initial estimate of other wealth managers' performance by 0.71% for the quarter, doing better in weaker markets of January and March, but lagging February's strong growth. After FutureAdvisor's 2014 outperformance of ARC's Steady Growth Private Client Index by 7.52% we remain significantly ahead of other wealth management peers on a rolling 12 month view. The US market as measured by the S&P 500 was generally weaker than most markets and rose 0.95%. FutureAdvisor's allocation to real estate helped performance in US and developed markets, with real estate funds up between 3% and 6% depending on the fund. Small cap funds generally performed positively, while value funds lagged the broader US market. These portfolio tilts combined with FutureAdvisor's international and asset class diversification lead to an outcome ahead of the S&P 500. The first quarter was one in which international diversification was valuable for the US investor. Global markets as measured by the MSCI index rose 2.31%, developed markets outside the US started 2015 strongly, rising 4.88%. This result was helped notably by Japan, up 10.21%, where it appears the economic policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may be bearing fruit, and in Europe, where the markets took an optimistic view of monetary stimulus, and we saw some early, if muted, signs of general European growth. As a reminder, Europe is 2% below the level of economic activity (GDP) it had before the 2008 recession, whereas in contrast the US is 9% ahead. Emerging markets were overall positive up 2.42% and Russia, China and India all rose over 5%, but this was somewhat offset by extreme weakness in Brazil, down 14.68% as the country appears close to recession impacted by rising interest rates and weak commodity prices. However, the power of diversification within emerging markets was evident as strong performances from most other countries more than offset this weakness leading to overall emerging market growth. Fixed income returns were generally positive domestically, though internationally fixed income returns fell. Overall, 2015 has started in a positive, but relatively volatile, fashion for investors and international and asset class diversification helped returns in the first quarter. Note that this analysis excludes any potential tax efficiency gains for clients based on tax efficient allocation, our long-term capital gains oriented strategy, and tax loss harvesting activities. Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are not intended to serve as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendations or an offer to buy or sell securities by FutureAdvisor. The FutureAdvisor performance figures mentioned herein are based on the average of all Premium clients' portfolios for the periods mentioned. Differences in account size, timing of transactions and market conditions prevailing at the time of investment may lead to different results, and clients may lose money. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The tax loss harvesting strategy discussed should not be interpreted as tax advice and it does not represent in any manner that the tax consequences detailed will be obtained or that its tax loss harvesting strategy will result in any particular tax consequence. Clients should consult with their personal tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing. Your Portfolio Summary $9,924.28 Your Total Assets B Diversification A+ Fee Efficiency A+ Tax Efficiency Ways To Improve Your Portfolio 0 Accounts with Actions Your portfolio has no recommended actions right now. We'll watch over your investments and alert you with an email when there are actions for you to complete. Sign in to see detailed steps Sign in to see your full dashboard If you wish to change your email settings, visit your Settings.
	FutureAdvisor | 580 Market St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94104 Drop us a note anytime: advisor@futureadvisor.com

Day 2 - Dirty, Rotten, Lousy Lies.

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here     Yesterday we talked about how a budget is the ROCK of your financial plan. Of all things financial, it's first priority. If you're concerned about your retirement nest egg, you must first be concerned with the chicken. And, as we talked about yesterday, if you want to grow some fruit (retirement, debt freedom, college funding), you need a budget - err, tree. Whatever. I'm sure it was as true in your neighborhood as it was in mine. There was a house nearby that the kids decided was haunted. It was occupied by some scary lady who would peer through her curtains and scare the living daylights out of any kids that dared set foot on her lawn. You stayed awake with your friends during sleepovers daring each other to knock on the door and bolt. Little did you know how absolutely wrong you all were! The scary lady was the sweetest lady you ever could have met. She peered out of her window hoping you would come and knock on her door, so she could show you pictures of her grandkids that lived thousands of miles away. She also wanted to feed you the most delicious chocolate chip cookies you ever would have tasted. She just wanted some company. You never heard her talk (because you wouldn't dare go near her house), but if you had, you would have heard the sweetest grandmotherly voice EVER. See what I'm getting at? A budget is like a sweet grandmother who bakes to-die-for chocolate chip cookies but is shunned by the neighborhood for no good reason! (I'll see if I can't use some sort of analogy with each day. By the end, I imagine we'll all be good and confused!)   Dirty, Rotten, Lousy Lies.   Why is the budget so shunned? Lies, and the media. (Just kidding about the media.) Lie #1: I'm spontaneous. Budgeting destroys spontaneity. Wrong. If, on a whim, you buy shoes, and you've done it consistently, and you can't stop, you either need to take drastic measures to keep yourself out of shoe stores or you need to acknowledge reality and budget for it. You still won't know which shoes you're going to buy (brown, white, black? Who knows!? That's the unpredictable spontaneous part), but you're acknowledging the fact that you WILL do something unplanned. See? Spontaneity and budgets can coexist. Lie #2: I'm not heavily in debt. I don't need a budget. If money ever passes through your fingers, you need a budget. Your money works harder, lasts longer, goes stronger, thinks faster, and moves quicker. Whatever your income, you need a budget. Lie #3: I don't have time to budget. Oh, don't even go there! Throughout this course you will learn the most effective, efficient way to manage your money. It takes one to two hours per month. (My wife and I have been as fast as 38 minutes for the entire month. Yes, I timed it. Quiet, you.) Put another way, you're saying you DO have time for: talking with creditors, going to the bank to take out a loan, financing the purchase of a couch, settling for a new job that you don't want because you can't make it one month without a paycheck, etc. You don't have time NOT to budget. Lie #4: Budgeting means lots of paperwork. Nope. How the heck could my wife and I have done ALL money management tasks for the entire month in 38 minutes if there was a ton of paperwork involved? We enter our spending on our phones, and plan monthly. That's it. Sometimes there's something good to eat while we're doing our budgeting meeting, but I'll talk about that on Day Six. Lie #5: Budgeting causes inexplicable pain and suffering. Just the opposite my friend! The budget removes inexplicable pain and suffering. It is your straight-to-the-point doctor that never misses a diagnosis and tells you like it is. The budget will make your life easier. Truly. Lie #6: I'm on a variable income, so I can't budget. Wrong again! Budgeting is NOT forecasting. You'll just answer one question every time new money comes into your life: "What do I want this money to do before I'm paid again?" That's it. No forecasting. No guessing. Write down what has kept you from budgeting. Do you not know how? Is the tracking too daunting? Is the software too overwhelming? Have you used the TIME excuse? Write those all down, then critically address each one of them. Are your excuses also just dirty rotten lousy lies about a sweet, lonely grandmother? Based on my experience working with others, these lies appear fairly often. They're dirty, rotten, lousy lies. Pay them no heed. Remember: the budget wants to give you fresh, hot, gooey chocolate chip cookies, and just chat in a sweet, grandmotherly voice for an hour or so each month. Tomorrow we're going to get into the mechanics of the budget, starting with the First Rule of Cash Flow. Hey, it only gets better, so hang on for the ride.   Action Steps:   There are no action steps for Day Two. Just stop believing all the lies about budgeting.   Warm Regards,   - Jesse Mecham P.S. You can purchase a YNAB activation key here.   follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below:  Unsubscribe YouNeedABudget.com 770 E Main St. #236 Lehi, Utah 84043 United States

Fwd: Your Weekly Update - Refining Your Allocation For The Long Term

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: FutureAdvisor <advisor@futureadvisor.com>
Date: Sun, Apr 12, 2015 at 12:48 AM
Subject: Your Weekly Update - Refining Your Allocation For The Long Term
To: mrpiebald@gmail.com

	Weekly Market Recap This week in the US saw good news on both the US economy generally and employment specifically. It appears to us that US manufacturing may have hit a soft patch, but the remainder of the US economy has a solid footing. The Federal Reserve released minutes from their last meeting. This lead to renewed speculation on when a rate increase may occur. As a reminder, we believe our recommended portfolio is well-diversified for such moves. Trying to gain an advantage by predicting the Fed's actions is more likely to lead to higher trading costs than higher returns in our view. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a relatively downbeat World Economic Outlook this week, arguing that the lower rate of global growth seen in past years may be permanent. In particular, the IMF point to falling global growth forecasts during each of the past 4 years. However, the report also highlights the significant contribution that emerging markets, especially China, have made in contributing to growth. This is one of the reasons we believe emerging market exposure is an important part of global portfolios. Oil price has started to rise from some of the lows it hit in recent months. This is likely due to the planned nuclear deal with Iran, which has the potential to reduce tensions in the Middle East, a key region for oil production. Also, this week European energy company Shell announced plans to merge with BG Group, potentially creating an energy producer larger than Exxon Mobil, currently the world's largest by market capitalization. The views expressed herein are not intended to serve as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendations or an offer to buy or sell securities by FutureAdvisor. Differences in account size, timing of transactions and market conditions prevailing at the time of investment may lead to different results, and clients may lose money. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Your Portfolio Summary $9,956.31 Your Total Assets B Diversification A+ Fee Efficiency A+ Tax Efficiency Ways To Improve Your Portfolio 0 Accounts with Actions Your portfolio has no recommended actions right now. We'll watch over your investments and alert you with an email when there are actions for you to complete. Sign in to see detailed steps Sign in to see your full dashboard If you wish to change your email settings, visit your Settings.
	FutureAdvisor | 580 Market St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94104 Drop us a note anytime: advisor@futureadvisor.com

Fwd: ric , here's wealth plan principle 5 of 5

Hi ric ,

If you thought building wealth was about how much you make then you
would be wrong: it's about how much you keep.

The single biggest expense standing between your earnings and
savings is (drum roll, please)... taxes.

Nothing else comes close.

When you add together federal, state, and local taxes on items like
income and consumption, factor in the pass through of all other
taxes like corporate taxes, import duties, etc., you quickly see
what an extraordinary burden taxes have become regardless of your
income level.

That's why legally controlling this expense is the 5th essential
wealth building principle. You must learn how to keep more of what
you make.

The key point is how your government (in it's infinite "wisdom")
has decided to favor certain financial practices through tax
incentives.

How does this all fit together? Well, remember a few emails back
when I taught you the 3 paths to building wealth - paper assets,
real estate, and business?

At the time I explained how paper assets were a wealth parking
vehicle, but real estate and owning your own business were wealth
building vehicles. This critical distinction surprised a lot of
readers.

While the stats make this claim indisputable, I wanted to give you
two reasons why it is true.

The first reason was contained in the last lesson - leverage. Few
leverage opportunities exist in paper assets (and all carry
significant risk and cost). However, business ownership and real
estate offer maximum leverage opportunities (many without
increasing risk or cost - some even lower costs).

Now you are learning a second reason these two asset classes are
favored wealth building vehicles - tax advantages. Real estate and
business ownership offer tax advantages not available to W2 wage
earners or paper asset investors.

(Yes, I know I'm using United States centric terminology; however,
similar laws and principles apply in most common law countries for
my readers outside the U.S.)

The government has decided to make these two asset classes the most
tax favored wealth building vehicles available.

For example, it is entirely possible to own real estate that
puts cash in your pocket every month while providing valuable tax
deductions that give you a bigger tax refund at the end of the year
as well. You can't do that with earned income from your job or
capital gains from stocks and bonds without going to jail.

Similarly, when you own a business many expenses are paid
partially by the government as legal tax deductions. This can put
more money in your pocket for any given level of income.

Now, it is beyond this brief email instruction to give detailed
analysis of all the deductions available or how they work. There
are too many countries, too many rules, and everyone's situation
is unique. You'll need to learn the details from one of the many
books focused exclusively on this topic or consult with a competent
tax professional.

Instead, what is important for this lesson is to understand how
real estate and owning your own business are two wealth building
vehicles that afford both valuable tax deductions and leverage
opportunities.

The leverage and tax advantages can dramatically affect your rate
of compound growth which will shorten the amount of time it takes
to achieve wealth. In short, these two principles allow you to
create more wealth with fewer resources - both time and money. You
can't apply these two principles to paper assets.

It is why more people build wealth through real estate and business
entrepreneurship than any other vehicles. It is also why paper
assets are generally used to park and preserve wealth built
elsewhere.

Sure, you can still achieve financial security the traditional way
with a W2 job and savings plan invested in paper assets (which we
will cover in detail in the next several lessons). This
strategy works (without leverage or tax advantages) if you have the
time and discipline to make it work.

It is well-proven financial path that is governed by strict
mathematical limitations.

However, many people want to turbo charge their results. They want
financial security in 10-15 years instead of taking a lifetime. If
you're one of those people then there is no getting around the
necessity for leverage and tax advantages.

Your homework from this lesson is to develop a working knowledge of
the various tax strategies that apply to your chosen path to
wealth. Develop this knowledge or find a professional to help you
because it will pay you dividends for a lifetime.

I know it has for me. That is why it's your 5th wealth building
principle.

I hope you've enjoyed these first 5 principles to wealth. Yes,
there are many more essential wealth principles which are fully
explained in the first two steps of the "7 Steps To 7 Figures"
courses. They will teach you exactly what you need to know to put
together your own personal plan for wealth... step-by-step.

In the next series of lessons in this "52 Weeks To Financial
Freedom" series I will continue to share ideas from "7 Steps To 7
Figures" group coaching by explaining exactly how the traditional
"save your way to wealth" path works with investing in paper assets.
This is important material since nearly everyone applies this
strategy - for at least a portion of their wealth - me included.

I hope you are enjoying these lessons. As always, a great way to
give back is to spread the word by telling your friends, tweeting,
linking, and liking this resource. If you get a valuable insight
then tell the world and link back.

Thanks for your support, and I'll see you in few days...

Todd R. Tresidder - Founder
FinancialMentor.com
CreateCorp Business Solutions, Inc.
DBA FinancialMentor.Com
14085 Raider Run Road
Reno, NV 89511, USA

To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit:
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Fwd: Day 1 - How to Become Financially Secure.

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here   Introduction   Thanks for taking part in this course! I'm excited to be able to share some information with you about possibly the most boring topic imaginable: budgeting. On a personal note though, this is right up my alley. When I began college there was one major that kept calling my name: accounting. They accepted me before I had my charisma bypass surgery. I was a natural from the start! Be forewarned! My formal schooling is as an accountant! And this is about budgeting! I actually take the idea of budgeting extremely seriously. When you lack personality, these things become very important to you. Over the next ten days we'll discuss everything from spontaneity to boxing, and marriage to dollar unemployment. I'll keep this quite personal. You'll hear my experiences and those of others with whom I've worked. My hope is to have you so consumed with resolve to get your financial house in order that you'll be absolutely dying to get on a budget. You do need a budget, after all. Your Budget - Your ROCK   Read a "money book" carefully and you'll notice every "guru" mentions the need for a budget. Each stresses its importance for...oh, about three sentences. They then move on to catchier, more popular, more saleable things. That's the biggest problem people have with budgeting--it doesn't sell. It's not sexy. It's not complicated. As a matter of fact, a lot of times an author sells a book by over-complicating something that was simple to begin with. Not so with a budget-- it's just too straight-forward. "Sorry Mr. Guru, you don't have a chance with this one. You'd best write about intelligent portfolio allocation or super-mega-rapid-debt-repayment-strategy optimizers." I am being sarcastic. But the fact remains that the budget is not given the attention it deserves. BUT, it is the ROCK upon which your financial life is built. It is your foundation. All other financial decisions are appendages to the budget. The budget is the tree. Your retirement plan is the fruit. The budget is the massive trunk, rooted deep into the ground, immovable by any force. The new car you want is the fruit. The house you want--the fruit. The college savings you're dying to put away for your kids is, you guessed it...the fruit. If you don't plant and care for the tree, you won't get the fruit. Advice from a Guru: "Make sure you're putting away at least 15 percent of your retirement into no-load mutual funds with solid track records." But you still need to find that 15 percent. Advice from a Guru: "You can utilize many options to save for your kids' college: 529 plans, ESAs, etc. It's an absolute must that you begin putting money away today." Where will that money come from? Most financial books focus on the fruit. During this course, we're focusing on the tree. The fruit needs to come from somewhere, and that's ALL we're going to talk about (well, almost). Tomorrow we'll discuss the budget's bad rap, and expose some dirty lies about budgeting. In two days we'll hit our First of Four Rules. Write down the "fruit" you would like to grow from your financial tree. What will you do? Get out of debt? Pay off your home? Invest more earnestly for retirement? Put away money for a fancy vacation? Buy a new TV? Write down your financial goals. This course will open your eyes to the reality of those goals--they are a reality. You just need to plant your tree, help it take root, and watch it grow.   Action Steps:   Write down your short- and long-term financial goals.   Warm Regards,   - Jesse Mecham   P.S. Enjoy the course!   follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below:  Unsubscribe YouNeedABudget.com 770 E Main St. #236 Lehi, Utah 84043 United States