Doug Boettcher's Blog

Taking Your First Steps With Confidence

2007-12-18T06:58:00.000-06:00

About 10 years ago, I started speaking at an annual Millionaire's conference. I soon discovered that I was usually the only speaker at that conference who hadn't gone bankrupt. Everyone who spoke had been bankrupt at least once.

I've never been bankrupt. I didn't have a "good" story like that. And, there's nothing wrong with going bankrupt if its for the right reasons. If you're in business trying to make it and something happens - that's one reason. If you just spend more money than you make, if you've got all the latest and greatest CDs and Plasma TVs, you've seen all the movies, eaten at all the nice restaurants, play golf and go bankrupt, that's just stupid.

But, if you're trying to make something happen - you're leveraging your future, you've got it all on the line and it doesn't work out - that person is not a loser to me. That's someone who's trying. So, I'm not saying that bankrupt is a bad thing, although I'm not personally interested in doing it.

I had breakfast with a guy from Ohio recently going over tax strategies for business people. This is something that is really important to me. You want to implement strategies to get the money from the marketplace or from your business into your personal pocket as cheaply as possible.

Accountants won't help you with that. Accountants take the numbers you give them and put them in a little box and then they compute what the end result is - and that's what you pay. They don't give you financial advice. They don't know how to help you create a more profitable business. All they can do is tell you if your business is profitable based on the numbers you give them.

Earlier this year, a friend of mine talked me into starting a mentorship group. I told him I wasn't interested in just having a meeting, in just having a place to speak. I wanted it to be something I had never seen happening anywhere else - personal, hands-on coaching to help new investors take their first investing steps with confidence. It isn't free and it isn't cheap and its not for everybody - but maybe... Contact Kevin [at] DBmentorship.com if you have any questions.

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The Art Of The Deal - Case Study #1

2007-12-17T07:17:00.000-06:00

I was talking with Israel recently. We had just finished negotiating a real estate deal - he's a real estate agent. And, to just sit and talk about negotiating a real estate deal is one thing. To actually be involved in a negotiation is another. Here's how he explained it to the group:

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"This place was a multi-unit and it was listed at $220,000. At Doug's suggestion, our initial offer was $174,000 with closing costs and 20 grand back. I'm looking at this and in my mind, its unbelievable - these people are going to laugh us out the door. But I just went along with it - whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen.

And, it was just an amazing process because it was so not typical of any other deals that I had helped negotiate. I looked it up last night and we ended up with around 9, possibly 10 contracts going back and forth with offers and counter offers before we finally got an accepted contract for substantially less than the original $220,000 asking price.

But, the whole process was not something I can easily explain - its all about locating the seller's bottom price. If that bottom price and terms are acceptable, do the deal - if not, be prepared to walk away. That takes time and patience. The way you told us to look at the numbers and what makes the investment profitable were totally different than I ever knew to look at.

It was a really good learning experience and I've been able to incorporate those principles with other people I'm working with to find investments. Now I know how to dig deeper to get the best price for my client - to make the investment work for them even better."

Israel Smith, Realtor

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For me, the worst thing that can happen to an investor is to have his first offer accepted. That happened to me once (and only once) when the Realtor I was working with at the time convinced me to increase my initial offer by $9,000. A day later the seller accepted. Ouch. Now, it was still a great deal and one of the best investments I've made, but it might have been that much better.

A lot of real estate gurus talk about the cookie cutter principle. They tell you keep on looking until you find a particular kind of deal and do that same deal over and over again. I would be passing up on a lot of potentially profitable deals if I did that.

Its all about being creative and making a deal work for both sides, especially when no one else has figured out how to make it work. That's when you've hit paydirt.

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Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Part 4

2007-12-16T12:42:00.000-06:00

The fourth major source of self-made Millionaires in America are sales people and sales consultants. Five percent of self-made Millionaires are sales people at the top of their field.

They never started their own businesses, they never went to college to get a professional degree, they just became good sales people. They learned how to sell their products or services and they were paid very well for their efforts. They held onto their money, they invested it.

So, those four groups account for 99% of all self-made Millionaires in America. The remaining 1% comprise the fifth category, which is everything else (e.g. lottery winners, legal settlements, professional sports players, rock stars, celebrities, etc.).

My goal was to find a job where I could eventually make six figures, and in a lot of sales jobs, you really can't. So when I started looking, the first thing I wanted to know was - who's the top person in this office and how much are they making? If their best employee was making $38,000 he wasn't going to be able to teach me how to make $500,000.

I found a good opportunity, went to work and had some success in sales, and then because they felt I had leadership ability they gave me a promotion and asked me to lead the team. When I just about thought I could handle that job, they did it to me again. With each promotion came additional incentives and well as increased salary.

But, what I know today is that the real key to becoming a Millionaire does not require you to make a big salary. The secret has always been to start setting some of your income aside to invest it. The more you can invest and the earlier you can invest it the greater your eventual return on that investment will be.

Therefore, anyone can become a Millionaire by applying that simple discipline. Today, I am more convinced than ever, that the path to "cash" Millionaire status is through Real Estate investment. If that is your goal, there are a hundred ways to get involved and get started.

But I can just about guarantee you that you won't succeed by trying to do it all by yourself. Attending seminars, gathering information and knowledge is a good idea. But getting involved with a group of like- minded investors will accelerate your success and reduce your risk of failure by letting your learn from the experiences of others.

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Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Part 3

2007-12-14T08:37:00.000-06:00

The third major source of self-made Millionaires in America is doctors, lawyers and other professionals. People who went to school for a long time, paid a lot of tuition and probably took out a lot of student loans. Around 5% of the self-made Millionaires in America come from this group.

To make this work, you have to be at the very top of your field. It takes many additional years of work to acquire the necessary reputation and connections to represent an OJ or to become Hollywood's most famous Plastic Surgeon. These days, many doctors find it hard to make ends meet. Their expenses are high and they have to fight insurance companies and the government for their income.

Some of the aptitude tests I took in High School said I should be a lawyer. I didn't want to go to school forever and I didn't know how I was going to pay for all that, but OK, let's check it out.

Back then, something like 38,000 lawyers were passing their bar exams every year and there were only about 15,000 jobs openings available to them. That's why you can often find lawyers working in sales and as accountants. If you're paying someone $100 to do your taxes for you at the corner tax service store, they might be a lawyer.

For most doctors and lawyers and other professionals, they are only making money when they are actually working. Income generation stops when they go on vacation or if they are unable to work for some reason. In effect, they are employees working for themselves.

So, I knew I was not going to become a Millionaire working in this group. I didn't want my income to be limited by just what I could do by myself, for myself. I found my niche in the group we'll talk about next time.

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Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Part 2

2007-12-11T08:46:00.000-06:00

The second major source of self-made Millionaires is Senior Executives. Fully 10% of self-made Millionaires in America are men and women who joined large corporations, worked in them for many years, worked hard and rose to the top with their seniority, stock options and profit-sharing.

Now, I do not believe that everyone is cut out to be self-employed. But everyone can use their time wisely. Everyone can become a better student of money, a better student of their job. I do believe that whatever we are going to do, we need to be successful at it.

Not everyone has the temperament to be self-employed - and if you're not going to be self-employed, and you know you're not, then you need to be the best employee you can. Do your job as if you DID own the business. Try to see your job from your employer's perspective.

And be faithful. That's something very difficult to do in America. The standards are so low. In my lifetime, I have watched the standard of the American worker deteriorate. I talk to self-employed people and small business owners all the time. They're happy if people just show up for work. Just showing up, is enough to put you ahead today in America.

People blow off work. They don't show up. They screw off when they get there. People are being promoted today that would have been fired 20 years ago.

It's not hard to succeed - because NOBODY'S TRYING. They think they are. They think they're owed a paycheck just because they rolled out of bed and made it to work.

Michael Eisner at Disney Corporation received a $126,000,000 bonus one year. Lee Iacocca was paid a $26,000,000 bonus in one year, and his company was failing. With bonuses like that, you can become a Millionaire and not own the Company. You can work for someone else with bonuses like that.

But to get there you have to become the chief problem solver for the Company and not be focused on how the Company can solve your problems.

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Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

2007-12-10T07:23:00.001-06:00

Let me tell you who the Millionaires are. There are basically five ways people become a Millionaire in America - a first generation Millionaire.

Unless your last name is Gates, Walton, Rockefeller, Kennedy, Hilton or something like that or if you don't have a trust fund that has you set up for the rest of your life just because you were born, you've got to do something to make it happen.

If you're serious about becoming wealthy, the number one way to become wealthy in America is by building your own business - 74% of self-made Millionaires in America - first generation Millionaires - did it in some way through their own businesses.

To eventually make you a Millionaire, your business must solve a small problem for a big bunch of people or a large problem for fewer people. The best business ideas are usually at one of these two extremes.

For instance, you could start out buying a single family home, fixing it up and renting it out for a small positive cash flow each month. In the current Real Estate market, that is not hard to do.

You have succeeded in solving a housing problem for one family. Over several years, that home will likely increase in value (if for no other reason than to keep up with inflation) and you could sell it someday for double what you paid for it, or more.

Now, instead of being content with one rental, you could make it your goal to buy and rent more homes and duplexes, maybe a four-unit. When you get that figured out, you could sell some of them for a down payment on a 50 unit apartment building - small problem, more people. You can see the pattern.

You can even combine the two extremes. By allowing other investors to get involved in your projects to avoid getting their hands dirty with the day to day details of finding, buying and managing Real Estate, you are solving a large problem for a few of them, while solving a small problem for a big bunch of renters.

So, the ultimate goal is to make your business a problem solver for as many people as possible. Money is the measure of your success and that money properly invested will be the foundation for setting up those trust funds for your children and your children's children, as well.

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Statistics and Stereotypes

2007-12-07T07:15:00.000-06:00

Eighty percent of self-made millionaires in America started with nothing. Of those self-made millionaires, 80% of their kids blow the fortune. So, just looking at two generations of millionaires - one that started with nothing, became a millionaire, handed it off to their children, and they blew it. So where we start really isn't that important.

Actually, technically speaking, statistically speaking - in America, if you start with money, chances are you don't respect it enough to know how to keep it. In other countries its different. But in America, if you have money, chances are you're losing it right now. If you started broke, you might be able to accumulate some. That's how it works in America. Those are the statistics.

Here's a shocking statement - statistically speaking "Most stereo- types are right". If something like this is happening to 75% or 80% of a certain population group (e.g. millionaires), that stereotype is accurate. Now, for you to assume that because I'm in that category, I'm going to be one of the 80% who fail instead of the other 20% that succeed would be called prejudice.

The stereotype tells us what will happen to most people in a group, but it might not be accurate for any given individual. You follow me?

So, looking at the stereotypes gives us an idea of what we are going to be challenged with so we can prepare NOT to be like the stereotype - so you can be among that 1% that retires wealthy and not the 80% that are led where they don't want to go when they retire.

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Becoming Omnipresent

2007-12-05T08:15:00.000-06:00

How would you like to be everywhere at once - not limited by time or space? - in other words, to be omnipresent. Though it seems impossible, it has always been within your grasp.

Some have done it with purpose and succeeded. Others have done it without expecting omnipresence because that's just who they were. Others have done it seeking praise and gained nothing but ridicule.

Of course, it doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. But there is something you can do every day, every week, every month, whenever the opportunity presents itself that will put you on the road to omnipresence.

It is a simple thing to do and yet one of the hardest things to do. It is not enough to just do it once. It must be done consistently, over time, with the right motives. It can be summed by just one word:

Give.

When I give, my gift can go all over the world. I might not be dishing out the soup, but I paid for the soup. I might not be building a house, I might not be there pounding the nails, but I paid for the nails. I paid for the wood. I paid for the person to pound the nails.

The more I give, the more omnipresent I become - unlimited by time and space, making a difference everywhere, all day, every day.

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Guidelines for "Lottery" Winners

2007-12-04T07:18:00.000-06:00

Have you ever won the Lottery, sold your business, won the Big Jackpot, or received an unexpected inheritance? These situations have one thing in common for most people - they are unprepared for the windfall. They don't know what to do with the money.

Many times, their first impulse is to begin sharing it with friends and family members. They've never been so popular. Everybody knows their name. They are praised for every gift they make, for every car they buy and every debt they pay off. A new home for mom, exotic vacations with 17 of their best friends in Tahiti. You da Man!

Nothing wrong with doing those things. But, what trips up most "winners" is their timing - its "when" they do it that's the problem. Choosing the wrong "when" is what gets them into trouble.

The rich become richer because they avoid spending their capital. They seek to preserve their capital, to leverage their capital, to increase their capital. When they want to buy "stuff", they use some of the money their capital has produced - not the capital itself. The result is ever-increasing wealth.

So, don't buy mom a car with your winnings. Buy her a car a few months later using a bit of the interest money your winnings generated at the bank. That way you could buy her a car every month for the rest of her life, if you wanted to. Get the picture?

If you don't know how to handle it, put the money into the bank so it can at least generate some interest while you're finding the right advisers and mentors. Do not be in a hurry. You have one chance to get this right. Take your time.

Don't kill your golden goose by spending it. With the right planning and advice, you can succeed where others have failed miserably.

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The Most Powerful Force In The Universe

2007-12-03T08:15:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid, my father worked at International Harvester. They were laying everybody off in the late '70s and those were the best jobs I knew of. I can remember thinking - "How am I ever going to have money to buy a house or a car? - I'm 16. In two years I'm going to be on my own - I'm going to be an adult."

There was no money to go to college then or anything like that. And nobody I would ask had an answer. Have you ever lived in a little town and everybody's all depressed? The economy's bad - people laid off and all that kind of stuff? You ask them for advice, you ask them how you're going to make it. They don't know - they don't even know how they're making it themselves. Right?

I can remember laying awake at night thinking "Man, what am I gonna do?" Whenever I would ask my family why they spent money for this thing or that, the standard answer was "None of yer damn business". That was the extent of my early financial training. Saving money was never high on the list.

In the book "The Richest Man In Babylon" it talks about paying yourself first, putting some money away for yourself first. If you can train yourself to save and/or invest 10 percent of your income and never touch it and allow it to start accumulating, it's remarkable what can happen.

Albert Einstein is reputed to have said "The most powerful force in the universe is Compound Interest". That force can work for you if you make it, or against you if you let it. There was a day when you lived on 90 percent of your current income. There was a day. So you can do it. You must do it.

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Keeping Wal-Mart an Option

2007-11-28T08:01:00.000-06:00

In America, statistics show that for every 100 people who reach retirement age, only one (1%) will be wealthy. Another four (4%) will be financially independent - they don't have to depend on somebody else. Fifteen (15%) will actually have some savings and the remaining 80% will be dependent on the government or someone else to take care of them.

Or, they're broke and are compelled to work part-time into their 70's and 80's to supplement their Social Security just to survive. There's nothing wrong with an old guy working at Wal-Mart as a greeter - but if you have to do it because you're broke and you need lunch money - that's to be avoided.

If you just like to meet people, that's great. Just want to have some extra seed to sow, that's awesome. Don't want to sit around all day and play golf - no problem. Play golf and then work at Wal-Mart in the afternoon.

What I'm saying is - start planning now to be one of the top 5% or at least the next 15%. Then you will be able to choose how to spend your time when retirement shows up. Doing nothing now ensures that you will be part of the 80% who awaken to find themselves unable to make their own choices in their retirement years.

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When Should You Retire?

2007-11-27T07:55:00.000-06:00

Retirement was forced on Americans during the Depression to make the older people get off the job so the younger people with families could get on the job. Retirement was not an option. Retirement was not a blessing. Retirement was not a reward. Retirement was "Move on - because by this time in your life you should be financially secure". That's what Retirement was in America.

Now think about this. In all the annals of human history - 60 years ago, the idea of retirement was introduced in America. Now, because we all grew up with it, we think that's the way it's been forever. It's not. Retirement was a Socialist idea.

But, the reason people now retire poor is that they never decided to invest or put some money away. They never decided to live within their means. They procrastinated until it was too late. They put things off. They thought Social Security would be enough.

I see this because one of the things I am doing now is financial planning, retirement planning, investments, insurance, wealth protection, tax protection - all of those kind of things for people. And most people just won't think about retirement.

They're in their 50's and 60's and they're just starting to think about it - and its almost too late. They're trying to catch up - and Time is what you need on your side for retirement.

That's why you have to start saving something out of every paycheck now. While you can. When you get a raise - start saving it. Put it away so you can have that financial independence. It has to be disciplined. It has to be continuous - it can't be something you do a few times now and then. It must become your habit.

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Avoiding Slavery

2007-11-26T07:36:00.000-06:00

Going into debt to own an asset (which will hopefully appreciate) is investing. Going into debt just to have more stuff is self-imposed slavery.

When you save or invest money, you're pushing time into your future. You are giving yourself more time in the future. That's why people want to be wealthy. Most people today haven't even started working and they're already planning their retirement.

They want to retire by 40. They want to retire by 50. Why? So they can have all that time to do nothing - so they don't have to work. In order to do that you have to have all the money you'll need there by that time - which means you've pushed your life into your future.

But, when you go into debt, you've basically spent tomorrow's earning power. You've already spent next year's wages. You've already spent your life. You've spent your next 10 years. Gone! You're working for what you already have - not for what you're going to get.

That's where people get discouraged. When they look around and say, "This is what I have. And I have to keep workin' just to pay for this? Not as nice as it was when I bought it."

When you save rather than spend, you're guaranteeing your security - you're opening up new possibilities - you're building a better life for yourself and your family to live in when the future arrives.

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Money is Time

2007-11-24T07:36:00.000-06:00

The prosperity and stability of societies, families and individuals can be predicted by the degree of their savings rate because it indicates their willingness to push their time into the future.

Money is nothing but time rolled up into pieces of paper in your pocket. You gave up your time to get it into your hand. Whatever you do for a living - it took time. You took your time and somebody gave you their money. Then what?

You take your money, which is your time rolled up in your pocket, and give it someone else for their time. Maybe they cooked you a meal. Maybe they made clothes for you. You could have worked all year long and still wouldn't know how to make a suit. Somebody else knew how to do it though.

So with their time they made that suit - you took your money (you traded some of your life for that money) now you're trading some of that money for a piece of their life - and you wear your new suit home.

So money is time. It's a piece of your life concentrated and rolled up. When you give your money or your time, you are actually giving a piece of your yourself.

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Murder your Television

2007-11-23T07:03:00.000-06:00

As I said earlier, the first step towards financial independence is to start saving 10 percent of your earnings. Set up an account somewhere where you don't touch it and never plan on touching it. The second thing is to become a student of money.

Now, being a student of money would begin with being a student of how to make money in your own business - whatever that business is. Even if you work for somebody else, there are ways to succeed, there is knowledge to be gained which will bring you future economic benefits - whether its promotions, bonuses, more sales, whatever.

At a recent seminar, the speaker said that the first step toward financial success was to "murder your television" - and he made that same point several times. How much TV are you watching every day? The national household average in America is 8 hours!

Start by keeping detailed TV viewing log for a few weeks and once you know how many hours you yourself are averaging daily, resolve to spend half of that time becoming a student of money, instead.

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George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

2007-11-22T07:48:00.000-06:00

General Thanksgiving
By the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God -- to obey His will -- to be grateful for His benefits -- and humbly to implore His protection and favour;

And whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) George Washington

As published in The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789

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Saving For Your Future and Theirs

2007-11-19T10:55:00.000-06:00

Here is a principal I learned early on - and one book I would recommend (it’s a real small book) "The Richest Man In Babylon".

Financial freedom comes to people who save some of their money. My recommendation would be to save at least 10 percent of what you make. One of the smallest things you can ever do for yourself is put some of your money away for your future.

Since they were little, I gave my kids allowances – not because they needed money, but because I wanted them to know what to do with the money. One of the things they had to do was tithe and give. And then they also had savings. And when did I tell them they could spend their savings? Never.

Why would you save money and never spend it? This is money you’re putting away for your future. When you get to your future you can evaluate it, but ultimately you would hope to never spend it. You want to pass it along to the next generations.

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Making Money Is Like Loosing Weight

2007-10-31T17:29:00.000-05:00

Making money is kind of like losing weight. It’s simple, but it’s hard. I mean, it’s real simple. It's not fun. It's not glamorous. There are no magic bullets.

How do you lose weight? You consume fewer calories than you "spend". Do that, and you won't get fat. That’s also how you get out of debt – you spend less money than you make. It's so simple. But you can find volumes and volumes of books about it.

It’s simple, but it’s hard to do. Especially in America – there’s so much nice stuff to buy. It’s hard – all those commercials. So people end up spending more than they make.

Now the interesting thing about that is right now in America there’s somebody making half as much as you who’s not in debt. And, there’s somebody else who makes twice as much as you and is going bankrupt right now. So it has nothing to do with what you make -- it’s not how much we make, it’s how we handle what we make.

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Roy Hobbs Baseball Tournament

2007-10-31T00:17:00.001-05:00

Every year about this time, Roy Hobbs Baseball holds its national tournament. I am an avid sports fan and baseball player. I play for the Chicago Knights. Many of the team's members are Chicago Policemen and Firemen.

Check out their web site at http://www.psof.org and take a moment to make a donation to this worthy cause.

The Chicago Knights made it into the finals. More on that soon. Check out the video at http://www.squidoo.com/douglas-boettcher.

Thank you!

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