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Category: Wealth

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Advice Best Practices Wealth Women In Business

Building Financial Security: Simple Tips to Take Control of Your Finances and Secure Your Future

Are you worried about your financial future? Do you ever feel like you’re just barely getting by, and the idea of retirement seems like a far-off dream? You’re not alone. Many people feel overwhelmed and uncertain about their finances, especially in the midst of economic uncertainty and unexpected emergencies.

But the good news is that financial security is within your reach. By following a few simple tips, you can take control of your finances and build a brighter future for yourself and your loved ones.

First, start by making saving a habit. Remember when you were a kid and your parents encouraged you to put a portion of your allowance into a piggy bank? The same principle applies today. Set aside at least 10% of your income into a savings account, and make it a regular habit. This will give you a safety net for emergencies and unexpected expenses, and help you build towards a more secure future.

Next, ditch the credit cards. Credit cards can make it easy to overspend and rack up debt, leaving you feeling trapped and uncertain about your finances. Instead, focus on buying only what you can afford with cash or your debit card. This will help you stay within your budget and avoid unnecessary debt.

Speaking of budget, make sure you have one! A budget is an essential tool for gaining financial security. By knowing exactly how much money you have coming in and going out each month, you can make informed decisions about your spending and ensure that you’re not overspending or falling into debt.

Another important step is to avoid silly risks. We all want to get rich quick, but the truth is that the most reliable way to build wealth is to do it slowly and steadily over time. Avoid get-rich-quick schemes, gambling, and other risky investments that could leave you worse off than before.

If you’re looking to save for retirement, consider putting your savings into a tax-deferred account or a Roth IRA. These types of accounts allow you to save your money and avoid taxes until you withdraw it, making it an effective way to build towards your retirement.

While you’re at it, make sure you’re not paying unnecessary taxes. Work with a good tax attorney to figure out where you can save on taxes legally, without risking any legal trouble.

Finally, invest intelligently. Making the right investments can be a great way to build wealth over time. However, it’s important to work with a professional who can guide you toward the right investments for your goals and risk tolerance.

Protecting your assets is also an essential part of gaining financial security. Make sure you have insurance for your assets, including your home, car, and life. This will give you peace of mind and help you enjoy your assets without worrying about your finances.

In short, financial security may seem like a daunting goal, but it’s within your reach. By taking these simple steps, you can take control of your finances and build a brighter future for yourself and your loved ones. Remember, the freedom that comes from not having to worry about retirement and emergencies is priceless. So start building your financial security today!

For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast  “Money 911”

Sign up for a Financial Fitness Strategy Session at Meet with Kris Miller – Financial Fitness Strategy Sessions

Go to my website https://healthymoneyhappylife.com

Email me at Kris@HealthyMoneyHappyLIfe.com

Call me at (951) 926-4158

Categories
Advice Wealth Women In Business

From Ancient Rome to Modern Day: The Timeless Success of Deferred Annuities

Have you ever wondered how people secured their retirement income in ancient times? Look no further than the Roman Empire over two thousand years ago, where speculators sold a payout known as Annua – the root word for what we know as annuities today. Fast forward to 1720 in the United States, where the Presbyterian Church used annuities to provide a secure retirement for aging ministers and their families, widows, and orphans. Annuities have been a reliable and vital financial tool for individuals, organizations, and businesses worldwide ever since. In 1912, Pennsylvania Company Insurance was among the first to offer annuities to the general public in the United States. Today, annuities continue to grow in popularity as people look for secure ways to guarantee retirement income. Many notable people throughout history have made use of annuities, including Benjamin Franklin, Babe Ruth, OJ Simpson, and even former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who disclosed that his major financial assets were two annuities.    

One type of annuity that has gained significant attention over the years is the deferred annuity. As the name suggests, a deferred annuity allows for deferral in the payout, which allows the value of the annuity to increase. After a deferral period, the annuity can produce more income, providing a lifetime of financial stability. Deferred annuities can be purchased in periodic, systematic, or lump sum payments, providing flexibility to suit individual needs.    

Deferred annuities have the added advantage of tax deferral, making them commonly referred to as tax-deferred annuities. With tax deferral, you can earn interest on your annuity without paying taxes until you withdraw funds from the annuity. This makes it an attractive option for individuals looking to build a retirement nest egg.    

Fixed deferred annuities are typically invested in high-quality A-AAA government and investment-grade bonds, providing stability and no risk to the client. On the other hand, variable deferred annuities are invested in the securities market, and clients assume the market risk. Fixed index deferred annuities use the index as a gauge to credit interest to the client, providing a balance between market risk and stability.    

One unique feature of deferred annuities is that they are creditor-protected in most states, providing an added layer of security for individuals concerned about protecting their assets. Additionally, a CD deferred annuity refers to a type of annuity that has a multi-year interest guarantee, similar to a bank-issued CD.    

It’s important to note that deferred annuities are first guaranteed by the claims-paying ability of the insurer, and then each state has a State Insurance Guarantee Association (SIGA) with varying coverage limits. Therefore, it’s essential to choose a reputable insurer and do your due diligence before investing in a deferred annuity.    

In conclusion, annuities have a rich and successful history, dating back to ancient Rome, and continue to provide a reliable financial tool for individuals, organizations, and businesses worldwide. Deferred annuities, in particular, offer flexibility, tax deferral, and stability, making them a popular choice for those looking to secure their retirement income.    

For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast “Money 911” and Subscribe to my Youtube channel here

Sign up for a Financial Fitness Strategy Session at Meet with Kris Miller – Financial Fitness Strategy Sessions

Go to my website healthymoneyhappylife.com

Email me at Kris@HealthyMoneyHappyLIfe.com Call me or text (951) 926-4158

Categories
Capital Economics Wealth

TACKLING THE DEBT, SAVING, AND POOR KNOWLEDGE DILEMMA FOR SMART FINANCIAL DECISIONS IN YOUR LIFE

Knowing financial terms and other surplus jargon is irrelevant to one’s personal financial situation. However, knowing some financial terms is marginally helpful to one’s general well being. Understanding how the Fed uses the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to implement monetary policy through Open Market Operations (OMOs) as they direct the Federal Reserve Bank of NY’s Trading Desk to buy securities – is not in the least bit helpful.

In my view, the solution to tackling the debt, saving, and poor knowledge dilemma is teaching people how to make better decisions. Personal Financial Proficiency (PFP) in a manner that allows them to make smart financial decisions in their personal lives, their professional lives, or maybe in their business lives

There is so much information, programs, and courses focusing on financial literacy today; most of them are of little value and waste time. Countless studies have shown that many people fail basic financial questions when asked, and many have so little savings that they can’t handle a $2,000 emergency. 

Teaching financial proficiency through my Foundation Building program is simple; it takes real-life situations and breaks them down so you can apply real-life fixes. The big difference with the Foundation Building program is that they learn these solutions through short 15-minute programs. 

In creating these programs, I reversed and engineered over the last four decades the excuses people used for not having enough saved or accumulated debt, etc. I have heard every excuse you can imagine, and I took all those reasons why they couldn’t and designed solutions so they could. Sadly, the lack of sufficient savings and spending habits is not a problem for just the working poor; it dramatically affects people earning over $250,000 as well. These classes are designed for everyone to get proficient in PFP.

For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast “Money 911”

Meet with Kris Miller – Financial Fitness Strategy Sessions

https://healthymoneyhappylife.com/

Kris@HealthyMoneyHappyLIfe.com

(951) 926-4158

Categories
Capital Wealth

THE LACK OF FINANCIAL UNDERSTANDING AFFECTS ALL AGES AND SOCIOECONOMIC LEVELS

Promoting informed financial decisions, saving habits, and education in the workplace is essential to a vibrant and productive workforce. Unfortunately, many people may lack the basic math skills and financial know-how to make decisions. One of my favorite books, which I reread from time to time, is the 1988 book Innumeracy by John Paulos; he coined the book’s title from people being slow in math as compared to illiterate. Math and money are very different, and learning the differences is crucial to building wealth securely.

Even though many adults across generations were functioning with medium levels of financial literacy, too many workers today possess low levels of Personal Financial Proficiency (PFP) and have difficulty applying financial decision-making skills to real-life situations.   

Here are a few general questions about everyday financial situations that stumped so many:

  • Determining wages and take-home pay, 
  • Questions about investment types, risk, and return, 
  • Understanding specific risk economic outcomes risk
  • Understanding that 401(k) are not pensions

This is where Americans exhibit the lowest scores, with less than one-third answering correctly.

Lack of financial understanding affects all ages and socioeconomic levels. The result is those who fall into the limited PFP category, even though financially literate, may not manage their financial resources effectively and may feel intimated by retirement, budgeting, tax planning, and Social Security topics.

One way to help everyone become more confident about their personal finances is by building a solid foundation with Personal Financial Proficiency. 

Financial literacy dark secret

People with higher levels of financial literacy “fluency bias.” are more likely to build weak foundations to support their financial houses. Sadly, in this case, a little knowledge is dangerous and prevents many from developing a strategy that works and won’t leave you in a pickle as you get to retirement age.  

For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast “Money 911”

Meet with Kris Miller – Financial Fitness Strategy Sessions

https://healthymoneyhappylife.com/

Kris@HealthyMoneyHappyLIfe.com

(951) 926-4158

Categories
Capital Economics Wealth

A TAX BOMB IN DISGUISE: THE SECURE ACT AND THE IRS

The SECURE act is a Tax bomb in disguise. Many people saved large retirement accounts where they thought a big chunk of it would be left over for their beneficiaries. The beneficiaries used to be able to take withdrawals from the inherited funds over their lifetimes. Taking the money over their lifetime was known as the stretch IRA.

Under the SECURE act, all of the inherited IRAs, 401(k), etc., money will have to be withdrawn and taxed within ten years after death. This change is known as the ten-year rule.

This new ten-year rule allowed beneficiaries, or so they thought, that the money could be left to compound for those ten years. However, the IRS had different ideas. They did not want to wait ten years to get their significant share. The IRS ruled that the money would be subjected to required distributions each year during the ten years, and the inherited accounts and those forced required distributions would take big chunks out of the growth.

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People tend to get involved in the fine print for workarounds-there are none. The IRS needs money badly to fund the US’s spending. In case you didn’t know, the government spends more each year than it takes in. Therefore what better place to get big tax dollars than from someone who is not around to complain?

While it may seem that this tax-grab situation looks dismal, tax-saving moves can be used to make the most of a challenging situation. 

There are a few options that may have some significant tax breaks. Suppose you want to create a source of tax-free income for retirement or family. In that case, you need to consider a Roth IRA. Although subject to limits and rules, the Roth should be reviewed. Another option widely gaining popularity is a new “special” type of life insurance. This new product comes with much higher limits, fewer restrictions, and greater flexibility. A more practical option is to use a combination of both to maximize all the benefits.

Converting to these options while the market is down minimizes the tax liability and allows for more significant tax-free growth when the markets rebound.

The tax time bomb does have a ticking clock, so you must take advantage of the 2017 tax reform legislation because those lower tax rates are temporary and set to expire after 2025.

There are many additional considerations when determining to make changes.

 

For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast “Money 911”

Meet with Kris Miller – Financial Fitness Strategy Sessions

https://healthymoneyhappylife.com/

Kris@HealthyMoneyHappyLIfe.com

(951) 926-4158

Categories
Entrepreneurship Growth Wealth

Why Incorporate Or Form An LLC?

Over the last 25 years people have asked me what the benefits are of setting up a Corporation or an LLC. I always say, there are a lot of reasons to form one but let me go over the five primary reasons.

  1. Liability Protection: This means that you and your personal assets are separated from any liability that can affect your Company. Yes, insurance is always a first line of defense, however if someone claims negligence or punitive damages, insurance will always find a way to not get involved or remove themselves from the equation, so they do not have to pay. This means that the liability falls through to the business. If you do not have a properly structured Corporation or LLC, this means that you the Proprietor would assume the liability. Should this be a lawsuit situation, that means your personal assets and business assets would all be considered one and could be seized in the event a Judgment is achieved by said Creditor.
  2. Tax Savings: I hear this all the time, “My CPA said not to incorporate or form an LLC until I am making over $50k.” If you are looking to build a successful business, you need to incorporate or form an LLC now. Operating your business or investments as a Sole Proprietor gives you very limited deductions, roughly about 15-30 different deductions on your Schedule C. Whereas, if you use a Corporation or LLC, the IRS Corporate Tax Code is comprised of 81,000 pages, which equates to 233-305 different deductions you can take advantage of that will not only allow you more use of your money upfront, but also reduce your tax payment to whom I like to call our silent partner, “Uncle Sam.” As a Sole Proprietor you are also subject to Self-Employment Taxes if you are in an active business which is equivalent to 15.3% of your hard-earned money. So just know that you will not only pay Federal Income Tax, but State Income Tax and the Self-Employment Tax. This all could add up to 40%-45% of your revenue. When the government talks about taxing the rich, they are talking about W2 wage earners and Sole Proprietors. As the old saying goes, “The more money you make personally, the more money they, (the IRS & State) take.” As a Corporation or LLC, you can play the “game” by the rules that the IRS wants no one to know about.
  3. Protection against Creditors: What does this mean? Let us say you were operating as a Sole Proprietor and had a liability issue that resulted in a judgment or you went through a marital dissolution and your “Creditors” kept coming after every asset you acquire. If you establish a Corporation or LLC, you can limit the amount of how much the Creditors could take. They can only garnish what you draw personally but cannot attack the Corporation or LLC since it was not involved in the previous liability issue. This would be like someone going after your employer if you personally had a liability issue.
  4. Can build its own Credit Score: Corporations and LLCs have the ability to build their own separate credit from you. This will allow you to double if not triple your borrowing ability depending on whether you have one Company or three. This allows you to keep your personal FICO score up & Debt To Income Ratio down since you are not the only credit profile being used. Building credit immediately in your business is essential to not only maintain cashflow but to also build up the credit history of the Company to show that it can manage and sustain debt without you the Principle personally guaranteeing everything.
  5. Estate Planning: If you are looking to build your business to either sell or pass it on to the next generation, you need to form a Corporation or LLC. Corporations and LLCs have perpetual existence which means they do not die; they simply get a new President or Member. When you have a properly structured Corporation or LLC, you will receive a Record Book which contains Ownership Certificates. Once these are issued to your Family Trust, the Company becomes part of your estate plan which allows your estate including the Company to by-pass probate, should something happen to the owners. This is how you create true Generational Wealth.

 

If these five primary reasons do not explain to you why you should setup a Corporation or LLC right now, I encourage you to contact my office at 775-384-8124 or send an email to contact@controllersltd.com to schedule a time to speak with my Senior Strategists. We look forward to speaking with you and assisting you in building a more profitable & protected future!

Much Success,

Scott L. Arden, CEO
Controllers, Ltd.

Categories
Economics Entrepreneurship Growth Investing Negotiating Skills Wealth

The Top 10 Times Mark Cuban Called Out the Sleaziest Frauds on Shark Tank

Hearing the phrase “you’re such a con-artist!” coming from the lips of a potential investor during a live pitch is defiantly not a good look (especially when it happens on live TV broadcasting to millions of viewers).

It happened 10 times when Mark Cuban publicly called out scams when he smelled fish oil on ABC’s Shark Tank.

 

 

Sharktank is the place where people’s dreams can become a reality or a total nightmare…

The television program features some of the world’s most successful investors which include: Mark Cuban, Keavin O’leary, Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, and Lori Greiner.

Since the show debuted in 2009, there have been some pretty memorable pitches. Here’s a video that shows some of the most savage shark tank moments on that were called out at total scams.

Mark Cuban goes head to head with these entrepreneurs, even questioning their ethics. Here’s the 10 times Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban calls out the sleaziest frauds on Shark Tank.

 

So awkward…

 

WATCH:

 

 

 

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Branding Case Studies Entrepreneurship Growth Investing Marketing News and Politics Wealth

How a Broke YouTuber Invented $4 Billion Business After Being Rejected 40 Times…

In 2012, Jack Conte and his wife, Nataly Dawn, were known as the indie band called Pomplamoose. They were bringing in roughly $400,000 per year in revenue from tour dates, merch, and on ads viewed by their 1.5M followers on their YouTube channel.

 

But then a mental breakdown a few years ago changed all of that…

After spending three months producing an elaborate music video for their song “Pedals, (it’s pretty impressive for a self-production). But the production came at the heavy cost of maxing out all of Jack and Nataly’s credit cards.

The Conte’s sunk their life savings into making the video popular on YouTube. So far the video has 2.3M views, but the confused couple received almost nothing for their efforts from YouTube…

They spent $10,000 and three months to make just the 1 video go viral on YouTube. He soon realized that, even though he receives an average of one million viewers on his YouTube videos, he’d only make $160 in ad revenue. Kind of a shitty reward for the time and effort they were putting in.

Jack knew there had to be a better way…

So he came up with an idea for creators to get compensated directly from their fans and cut out the middle man.

That’s how he came up with the idea of launching Patreon. He sent a sketch of his idea to his former college roommate, an engineer, who started coding for it that night. They launched soon after, with Jack being Patreon’s first official creator. Within two weeks, he was making six figures…

 

Wait, What is Patreon?

Basically it’s a membership platform that helps creators to get paid. Creators perform an artistic service and return, their fans and supporters (aka patrons) use Patreon to support them by means of payments. This way, creators can spend more time creating content instead of looking for funding.

There’s a few business models that content creators can use on this crowdfunding/membership platform.

 

Patreon’s Business Model Enables Creators to Charge For:

  • Community (monthly memberships)
  • Educational subscriptions
  • Gated premium content
  • Pay-what-you-can donations

 

Jack founded Patreon in 2013, today they have 3 million monthly active patrons generating $100M+ per month on the platform.

At one point for example, author and psychologist Jordan Peterson, was said to be making over $70k per month on the platform just in donations alone.

Patreon currently takes between 5% and 12% of creator earnings (plus a payment processing fee). The pandemic helped increase revenue with over 30,000 creators flocking to the site within the first few weeks of the pandemic. Videos and podcasts are the biggest categories on the site.

Along with all their success, the company is facing an intense amount of competition coming from Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, Only Fans, Substack, and Clubhouse (is that thing still alive?).  It seems every platform these days is doing their best to lure creators by allowing everyone to make money versus just the big creatives.

But for now, Patreon has proven their business model helping participants in the creator economy to get paid more. The result of the couple’s efforts so far has resulted in an estimated $8 million in cash.

The companies’ market valuation is currently hovering at $4billion. Which is a pretty awesome accomplishment that a broken husband fed up YouTube created a rival platform that turned him into a millionaire.

#boss…

 

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Branding Capital Case Studies Entrepreneurship Growth Investing Taxes Uncategorized Wealth

This is How Shaq Made $400 Million from Carwashes…

Did you know 60% of professional athletes end up broke within 5 years of retiring? Not Shaq though. Far from it, his personal business investments are growing to Warren Buffet status.

You won’t believe how many businesses he currently owns…

Shaquille O’Neal is one of the savviest businessmen in the North American sporting world who has managed to amassed an incredible $400 million net worth following the end of a successful 19-year NBA career.

Including over 150 car washes across the US…

 

Here’s a Breakdown of Shaq’s Investment Portfolio:

  • Shaq owns 10% of all Five Guys (that’s 155 locations)
  • 40 – 24Hour Fitness centers
  • 9 Papa John’s
  • Krispy Kreme
  • Shaq Shoes (sold over 120 million pairs)

Side note, Shaq is also the owner of one of the most pointless website on the internet…

Pettiness aside, here’s a video where Shaq breaks down his investment strategy:

 

WATCH:

 

 

How Much Does Shaq Make on Endorsements?

In addition his business portfolio, Shaq makes a killing monetizing his personal brand too.

Shaq has endorsements with VitaminWater, Pepsi, IcyHot, and Taco Bell. All combined nets him a cool $20 million a year.

But that isn’t where he makes his fortune…His real money he prints while he sleeps in the fleet of carwashes he owns. All 150 of them, where he makes a majority of his earnings.

Watch for the full story…

 

WATCH:

 

 

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Capital Entrepreneurship Growth Investing Mergers & Acquisition Wealth

“Competition is for Losers” Peter Theil’s Billionaire Monopoly Strategy

“If you’re starting a company, you always want to aim for a monopoly and avoid competition. Hence, competition is for Losers.” – Peter Thiel

 

Who the Hell Are You Calling a Loser?

In a famous Y Combinator master class, Peter Theil founder of Paypal and Palantir, presented his famous business strategy that requires founders to position their growth for a monopoly of the industry.

‘Competition is for losers’ is one of his mantras. ‘Monopoly is the condition of every successful business’ is another. It is the ultimate test of entrepreneurship to build something that is one of a kind, sufficiently different from what already exists to render the idea of competition redundant.

In this article, we’ll cover how Peter approaches new markets and how to create a monopoly. But first, here’s a brief background on Thiel and why you should even care what he has to say in the first place…

 

Who the Hell is Peter Thiel?

You could say he knows a thing or two about the tech space. Peter Andreas Thiel is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur and venture capitalist. A co-founder of PayPal, CIA-based Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund.

He was also the first outside investor in some of the biggest unicorns in silicon valley including Facebook, Stripe and Space X.

His companies and investments have earned him a net worth of $5 billion. He also gives a small number of entrepreneurs $100k over two years to skip college and build their own companies.

You can watch his talk at Y Combinator. Or read the summary below…

 

WATCH:

 

So How Do You Enter a Crowded Market? Don’t…

As Peter explains, especially to tech founders, companies need to be very careful about what markets they enter and especially how they differentiate themselves as not better, but something entirely different when approaching markets of high competition.

Similar to the Blue Ocean Strategy, Theil explains that if you’re entering into a  crowded market it’s very difficult (and often expensive) to gain the attention needed to build effective brand awareness. Especially if you offer similar product or service…

Success in saturated markets requires a lot of money to advertise, dramatically lowering your margins and ability to win. This has also been dubbed, the start-up graveyard.

 

Evaluate the Cost Trap of Entering Saturated Markets

The only way to enter saturated markets with established larger brands (with way more money than you) is to make a product or service completely better and different than everyone else on the market.

But doing so is way easier said than done. That’s where the case for chasing emerging market trends pays off. Emerging companies (especially tech), should forget fitting into existing markets and instead pursue entirely new and emerging  potential markets. Even if it’s risky.

Here’s why…

When entering markets with less or no competition, you have a greater chance of success and it’s far easier and more cost effective to acquire the attention you need to scale. Simply because you’re one of a few players in the space.

Even if you launch in an emerging market with an average or similar product at the beginning, you will have more time and opportunity to develop and perfect your average product and service while you’re building your audience and future customer base.

In fact, if you think about it, that’s exactly how most successful tech companies have been able to scale so fast as early stage market players. They rode the wave of the trend and captured all the early attention establishing their future industry dominance.

 

Conclusion:

Facebook wasn’t the first social network site, Google wasn’t the first search engine, Microsoft wasn’t the first OS company or Apple wasn’t the first computer company. But they were early in the market, they caught the trend and they executed better than everyone else. And when market reached its full potential they became big brands or monopolies.

That’s what Peter Thiel meant by “competition is for losers”…

 

 

WATCH:

 

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com