We have a CHOICE

[Russ H]

Lots of things are happening in the world of finance.

I liken this to the changes in TAX laws.

Tax laws in the US change each year.

And each year, we adjust our strategies to profit from the changes.

If we just complained about the changes, we'd go broke.

Slowly.

Painfully.

So why not use this same "can do" approach to what's happening in the financial quarters?

Instead of COMPLAINING, let's start ADJUSTING OUR STRATEGIES.

*****

Since we're in the midst of many of these changes, I don't expect anyone to have strategies right yet.

But hey, what a great time to take stock of our lives (sorry for the pun) and REFLECT on where we are, where we want to go, and HOW WE'RE GOING TO GET THERE?

So, let's start w/ 1 and 2:

1. Where are you NOW?
2. Where do you WANT TO GO?

******

Post these to this thread, and then when the changes are in place, we'll work together on #3:

HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THERE?

Looking forward to this.

-Russ H.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[andviv]

Russ, great thread, in my opinion. This is what I expect to find in this place.

1. Where I am now:
Hurting. Big time. Rentals are either empty or I'm dealing with renters' issues and maintenance cost. Equity disappeared and access to credit has been severely affected.

2. Where I want to go:
Short term: Increase the flow coming in. Create assets that provide me excess of cash to have available to buy the many many assets that will be make available soon by the banks and the government.
Long Term: Create a business that provides enough cash flow to be completely out of the rat race "for good".

2.a) The question not asked...
What I'm doing now is working on identifying where is the money that will fund my assets acquisitions in the short term, and what vehicle will take me to the long term goal.

 

[^eagle^]

1. Where am I now?
closed on home that appraised out 30% below ARV. Working on e book for passive income. Learning forex. Working too many hours at my job.

2. Where would I like to be?
I set a goal to be finacially free from my job in one year.

3. how am I going to get there?
House will either be flipped or HELOC'd for next property. Leaning towards HELOC
Developing two profitable systems to maximize returns on Forex while minimizing risk.
Continuing to write ebook.
Continue to study those who have been there before me and learn from them. No time to reinvent the wheel.

rEAD THE FASLANE TO MILLIONS BOOK! iS IT DONE YET?!

 

[AroundTheWorld]

1. Where Am I Now

Illiquid. Majority of N.W. in Real Estate. Some Cashflows. Some Does Not (in lease up phase)


2. Where Do I Want to Be

Convert some N.W. to: more gold. more commodities. some foreign assets. Pay off Residence.


3. Ideas - - How to Get There?

Come up with some creative ideas for selling SFR's. and Motel.
Generate Cash .... develop internet biz.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[EasyMoney_in_NC]

I'll skip the "where am I" part, its not a bad place (so far) and those that have read some of my earlier posts know anyway so.......

As for where do I want to be?
On a small island enjoying a totally passive income life

How do I get there?
Well I have one fledgling business I am slowly trying to expand to a more "non hands on" day to day scenario, hopefully soon I'll know if its going to pan out or not.
My other family business is doing ok and should continue to grow even through these tough times. The hope is to continue as is or grow and maybe sell it when the economy turns and people are feeling good again (3-5 years IMO).
As for the rentals, like ATW and probably many others, my aspirations of pulling money and expanding may be over in the short term without having to go with unfavorable finance terms, so probably just ride things out and start selling on the next upswing in the market.

Don't have any other real plans other than that. My wife and I tend to be conservative so we'll ride the slow train for a while 'til things level out. I think we're (country/world) in for much more turmoil and now is not the time to make major life altering decisions (as we see it).

Ultimately though the plan is build up and sell out, try new things in life Be 40 soon, time to do things I've never done before..........

 

[Runum]

I'll skip the "where am I" part, its not a bad place (so far) and those that have read some of my earlier posts know anyway so.......

As for where do I want to be?
On a small island enjoying a totally passive income life

How do I get there?
Well I have one fledgling business I am slowly trying to expand to a more "non hands on" day to day scenario, hopefully soon I'll know if its going to pan out or not.
My other family business is doing ok and should continue to grow even through these tough times. The hope is to continue as is or grow and maybe sell it when the economy turns and people are feeling good again (3-5 years IMO).
As for the rentals, like ATW and probably many others, my aspirations of pulling money and expanding may be over in the short term without having to go with unfavorable finance terms, so probably just ride things out and start selling on the next upswing in the market.

Don't have any other real plans other than that. My wife and I tend to be conservative so we'll ride the slow train for a while 'til things level out. I think we're (country/world) in for much more turmoil and now is not the time to make major life altering decisions (as we see it).

Ultimately though the plan is build up and sell out, try new things in life Be 40 soon, time to do things I've never done before..........

Easy, I respect your view point on making major changes right now. However, I think that viewpoint depends on what you have to lose. Beginners, young people, haven't got much to lose. Decisions they make now could make them very wealthy 2-3 years down the road. But those decisions could also amount to nothing and they would be where they are right now.

Myself, I am where I want to be, working for myself.

I have a 4 year plan in place to move my family to even more independence. The rule changes just means I have to go back to the plan and tweak it some.:cheers:

 

[AroundTheWorld]

In the short term - 3 to 6 months - will this bail out help credit flow? What are your opinions?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Jill]

Where I am:
Time
- Working a JOB. Even tho it's an "S", it's still 50 hrs/wk that is out of my control and it has a fixed dollar amount tied to it. (Fortunately, it's a decent amount!)
- Wasting countless hours trying to defend an IRS audit (going into my 5th month now)
- Investing downtime reading about SEO, Landing pages, eCommerce
- Setting up two passive income sources (web-based retail)

Money
- 20% of net worth in primary residence
- 10% in MF apartment investment (illiquid, no cash flow to speak of)
- 70% in cash. Pulled out of the market 6 months ago.

Where I want to be:
Time
- Working on my own businesses as many hours as I find enjoyable and rewarding
- Traveling when and where I wish

Money
- Enough to afford me this lifestyle, while leaving enough to continue growing the NW

How to get there:
- Develop eCommerce businesses for passive income
....~ 3-4 retail sites
....~ Numerous blogs / search / research sites
- Find more REIs in which to place remainder of IRA (SteveO?)
- Find either REOs or develop REI. Not sure yet what that will look like. Either self-storage or MF probably.

 

[randallg99]

In the short term - 3 to 6 months - will this bail out help credit flow? What are your opinions?

the bail out will not immediately improve banks positions to lend money, but it will stop the carnage and at the very least, it will instill confidence in the markets which is terribly needed at this juncture. even the most optimistic traders have all but thrown in the towels and the vast gyrations are a reflection of nervousness

credit is still available to those with good relationships with banks, along with good credit scores and "skin in the game"... just like the good ol' days, quite frankly....

as we go thru this period of serious asset deflation, paying for assets in tomorrow's dollars is a must.

 

[EasyMoney_in_NC]

Easy, I respect your view point on making major changes right now. However, I think that viewpoint depends on what you have to lose. Beginners, young people, haven't got much to lose. Decisions they make now could make them very wealthy 2-3 years down the road. But those decisions could also amount to nothing and they would be where they are right now.

Myself, I am where I want to be, working for myself.

I have a 4 year plan in place to move my family to even more independence. The rule changes just means I have to go back to the plan and tweak it some.:cheers:

Oh absolutely, thats why I said (as we see it) I'm not saying its for everyone, but for those of us that don't like to loose...... I'm one that likes to play in the middle, timing this market and bottom feeding now could be dangerous (with all the turmoil) and buying at the top gets us to where we are now. We'll just wait it out a bit, but thats us.
My gut feeling though does tell me that rentals will be hot in time, but the clientèle will have to be watched quite a bit more (client pool full of people willing to breach contracts/walk away)

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[venom]

Damn I really want to say something political and its killin me :nonod:
Most people make the same choices.
ignore things and hope something will change.

I am still playing catch up. I think that chances to become richer are greater today then they were. The question is the same as always.
I got 200$ what should I do with it.....
Rob

 

[Sid23]

(Jill, I hope you don't mind that I cut and pasted a bit from your post! Thanks!)

Where I am:
Time
- Working as a project manager at a small, private real estate development and investment firm. I'm an "E", but in my mind gaining unbelievable experience. Just received a good bonus so don't have to count pennies (like I was) at least for a bit.
- Spending most of my week at work managing the projects. Spending my downtime reviewing my PLAN, looking for ways to get to my goals FASTER and continuing to learn RE.

Money
- renter
- $20k savings (in cash)
- $55k debt
-will clear six figures in gross comp this year - decent but nowhere near where I need to be

Where I want to be:
Time
- Working on my own businesses as many hours as I find enjoyable and rewarding; being able to work as much or as little as I feel like
- Having the freedom to travel as much as I'd like - especially home to see the folks
- Finding a solution to the housing issues in America, hopefully designing or figuring out a "new housing type" that can be mass-marketed (i.e. modern pre-fab, etc)

Money
- Enough to afford me the lifestyle I want my family to live in the area we live (min $350k/yr) and watching my net worth rise dramatically -- goal is $25mm before cashing in the chips

How to get there:
- Short term: TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE THE CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS TO MY ADVANTAGE TO GET ME WHERE I WANT TO BE...would love to hear ideas if people have them
-Longer term is real estate development, investment and creating a new housing type that can be mass-marketed

 

[AroundTheWorld]

This is a portion of a blog post I ran across today...

How to Survive Hyperinflation:
By Franklin in Finance on September 21st, 2007

1. Avoid, to the extent it is possible, selling goods at a fixed price to be paid in the future
1. Remember that if you work for somebody you are selling your work at a price set in the past and you will be paid in the future, so, during hyperinflation, you will be robbed daily
2. Do not loan money at a fixed interest rate
1. Remember that when you put money on a 401k, bank account, etc., you are loaning money at a fixed rate (bank account) or at a zero rate (401k), the same is true if your are an employee
3. Take loans at a fixed interest rate
1. Good luck with that (see 5)
4. Do not save! Every penny you save will lose value on a daily basis
1. Remember that if you work for somebody you are saving no matter what (you give your work today and your employers keep the money they owe you for your work in their bank account, and they pay you without interest at the end of the week, etc.)
2. The longer it takes for you to spend your money, the more you lose
5. Owe interest free money
1. Try to buy goods and services and pay for them in the future
2. Take as long as you can to pay your debts and, if your creditors complain, tell them that you are facing a liquidity crisis
3. The best candidates for this kind of transactions (if you have no power) are your friends, so be ready to change friends frequently

That said, here are the informal chances of survival and thriving based on the income class you belong to:

1. If your only source of income is the sale of your work and you have adjustable rate debt: 0%

You will survive, but it is called slavery (you will have enough money to feed yourself so you can go to work)

2. If your only source of income is the sale of your work and you have adjustable and fixed rate debt: 5%

You will survive, and have a very expensive house/ car, or whatever else you are buying on a fixed rate. As soon as you refinance that expensive house or car to get all that equity you will go back to 1.

3. If your only source of income is selling your work/services as an independent contractor/professional and you don’t charge cash: 10%

You can always raise your prices every day; however, you will lose money in every non-cash transaction



4. If your only source of income is selling your work/services as an independent contractor/professional and you charge cash: 20%

Of course, it also depends on your debt situation

5. If you sell goods you paid cash for: 30%
6. If you sell goods you will pay at 30, 60, 90 days: 40%
7. If you loaned money at a variable rate: 50%
8. If you have employees and you pay weekly: 60%
9. If you have employees and you pay bi-weekly: 70%
10. If you have employees and you pay monthly: 80%
11. If you have employees, you pay monthly and they give you money for their 401Ks: 90%
12. If you are Wall Street: 100%

source...

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[AroundTheWorld]

A review of the book, The Hyperinflation Survival Guide

Surviving Hyperinflation by Eric Englund

good info in the review

 

[Allthingznew]

Where I am now: Income comes from 1099 S work. Bills paid, little extra for fun... Have some time freedom, but not enough $ to play like I want

Where I want to be: Income from B. No bills to pay outside of life operating expenses. Have the money and the time to play