financial resources and ways to reach financial security with self directed IRA

finances

One of the greatest obstacles to living life fully is money. While happiness and contentment definitely can't be bought, it's also true that a lack of money can have devastating effects on anyone, and not having sufficient money can cause extreme levels of stress, marital problems, problems with the rest of the family, work problems, and so much more. How many people aren't living full lives because they have to work two or even three jobs just to make ends meet? How many people are miserable because they don't feel that they're providing their children with enough of the basics, or any of the luxuries of life?

As the societies of the world become more and more materialistic, it's more and more common that people base their happiness on possessions. How many possessions, what brand names we have, or how expensive they are--all become very important to us because we're trying to win the approval and respect of other people. This materialism, though, often leads us to spend more money than we can truly afford, and we often end up finding ourselves in debt, making large payments on credit cards, not having enough money to do anything today because it all went to make payments. So what do we do? We charge something else today, thus ensuring our future lack of financial security.

The arguments start when one spouse buys something that the other spouse knows they can't afford, or when someone's not able to buy new clothes for their children, or when payments are being made late and the late charges are piling up or the creditors are calling.

The stress comes when you look at a pile of bills and have no idea where the money's going to come from to pay them. The despair takes over when you start to feel that you're trapped in an inescapable abyss that's eating you alive.

Escape from this sort of situation may look impossible, but it's not. It takes time and patience, and you have to realize that from the start, but it is possible to stabilize your financial situation. There are a number of steps that you can take to "fix" your finances, but each step takes a bit of work, self-discipline, and dedication if you're going to be successful in your attempts to reach financial stability.

1. Knowledge. More than anything else, you need to know your financial situation intimately. You need to know exactly what you owe to whom, and how much you have to pay each month in order to meet your obligations. You simply won't make any progress if you allow your situation to be unclear and confused. You also need to know exactly how much money is coming in, and if the amount going out is higher than the amount coming in, then something has to change.

2. A plan. Once you know your financial situation, you need a plan. What are you going to do in order to lower monthly bills? How are you going to spend less, and how are you going to get more money coming in? Some people take a part-time job and use ALL of the money from that job to pay off debt. Others search out help from a debt counseling service, where they can help you to lower the payments that you have. Most end up having to adjust their spending habits, buying supermarket brands which are just as good as the brand-name products, or making lunches for their kids instead of buying Lunchables™ and other expensive products. Do you really need those lottery tickets? We all have to make choices when we're trying to stabilize our financial situations.

3. Self-discipline. Once the plan's in place, stick to it, no matter what. That doesn't mean that you have to stop living life--it means that you're doing with less for a while in order to ensure a future that's much less stressful and harmful than the present. Make sure that an evening out for dinner every other week is in the plan, or even a Saturday morning out for breakfast or a nice weekend lunch out--it's cheaper and you tend to get more food for your money at breakfast and lunch. Plan this because your goal here isn't to make yourself miserable by depriving yourself, but to improve your situation by sticking to a financial plan. A day out every once in a while helps to raise your spirits so that you can deal with your struggles more easily.

4. Education. Learn. And don't just learn about money--learn about yourself and your attitudes and your perspective, and find out which parts of yourself may be contributing to financial problems. Are you spending too much on your car because you feel insecure and you want acceptance from certain people? Are you not looking for a better-paying job because you lack confidence in your own abilities? The fear of success holds many people back. Learn how to make more money with the resources available to you now--what skills and abilities do you have that will help you to earn money in different ways? We have many such resources available on our tapes page, and they're all very good, very educational programs that have helped many, many people to reach financial independence, even wealth.

5. Action. Once you learn, act on it. Nothing is ever accomplished without action. Some things may happen, but that's not an accomplishment. Your goal is financial stability or affluence, and one of the beauties of the world of today is that such a financial situation is available to all of us--we just have to act and work on our plans.

The pain of financial problems is one that never goes away as long as the problems are there. If you begin to work on your problems systematically, though, you'll find a sense of peace and satisfaction settling down on you like a nice warm blanket on a cold and rainy day, for you know that no matter how bad the situation looks, at least you're doing what you can to fix it. It takes patience and discipline, and it often takes asking someone else for help, such as a debt counseling service, but the action you take now can help you to pull out of the desperation you feel, and it can ensure a future free from the awful feelings that your present situation is causing. That vacation that you can't take now may be easy to do three or four years from now, and you may be ensuring your children's college educations if you take control now. The benefits are well worth the work.

Controlling Your Finances and Retirement Investing
Strategies for Saving Money and Controlling Spending
How to Balance a Checkbook and Keep Track of Money
Self Directed IRA Checkbook Control Transaction Info
How Does a Self Directed IRA Retirement Account Work

quotations - contents - welcome page - obstacles
the people behind the words - our current e-zine - articles and excerpts
Daily Meditations, Year One - Year Two - Year Three - Year Four

Sign up for your free daily spiritual or general quotation ~ ~ Sign up for your free daily meditation

It's Easy to Earn Money
Bob Proctor

There is a very real possibility that everything you and I have been taught about how to earn money is so far from the truth that it's almost comical. Earning money has nothing to do with age, formal education, gender or geography. It has nothing to do with past experience or your formal years of education or your level of intellect. Check it out ... there are individuals who are functionally illiterate who have become multi-millionaires, while there are others who are absolutely brilliant and they are broke. Virtually anyone can be taught how to earn millions of dollars and yet the sad truth is that 97 out of every 100 people are born, live their entire lives, and die without ever learning how to earn money. To perpetuate this ridiculous problem, their ignorance is passed along from one generation to the next.

Our school system has been designed as an environment to enlighten young minds, to replace ignorance with understanding and thereby improve the quality of life. Our educational system has obviously been successful in many areas. However, it has woefully neglected one important subject, "How to Earn Money." You can earn a doctorate degree in economics and have little or no knowledge of how to earn money. A lack of understanding in this area is the cause of numerous unwanted and unnecessary problems, since money is the medium of exchange that is used worldwide for other people's products and services.

There has always been a small, select group, approximately 3% of our population, who clearly understand that prosperity consciousness is the primary cause of wealth and their prosperity consciousness, like ignorance, is also passed down from one generation to the next.

Let's look at "money." What is it? Money is a reward you receive for the service you render. The more valuable the service, the greater the reward. Thinking of ways we can be of greater service will not only help us earn more money, it will also enable us to grow intellectually and spiritually.

Money Is An Idea. The paper you fold and place in your purse or pocket is not money. It is paper with ink on it. It represents money, but it is not money. Money is an idea. The earning of money has nothing to do with the paper stuff. It has to do with consciousness.

I am aware there are books that instruct you on how to manipulate the market, stocks and people... they might even help you get money. But, let me caution you... when there is no spiritual growth... there is no spiritual strength... there is no lasting happiness... and, there is no real or lasting wealth.

To accumulate wealth, a person must become very comfortable with the idea of money. That may sound strange, however most people are not comfortable with the idea of money, which is why they do not have any. The cause of poverty is poverty consciousness. A poverty consciousness will cause a person to see, hear, smell, think and feel ... lack and limitation.

The late Mike Todd said, "Being broke is a temporary situation. Being poor is a mental state."

He was correct. There are wealthy people who lose every cent they have through a series of mistakes in judgment ... but that does not make them poor. They will have it all back in a short time because of their prosperity consciousness.

If you have any question in your mind regarding your level of consciousness with respect to money, be very honest with yourself and look at your results. Study the patterns in your life.

If you want to improve your financial position in life, focus your attention on creating a higher level of prosperity consciousness. Begin by preparing a powerful, positive affirmation and fuel it with emotion. When you do this, you are depositing this creative energy in the treasury of your sub-conscious mind. And, by repeating this process over and over and over again every day, it will begin to alter your conditioning and mentally move you in the direction you want to go. Write it out, read it, feel it, and let it take hold of your mind.

How much money do you want? Saying you want more is not good enough. Five dollars is more. How much more? Decide on a figure. Be specific. You will not seriously want more money than you are capable of earning... however, you would be wise to remember, you must earn it.

There Are Three Income Earning Strategies
Trading time for money - By far the worst of the three income earning strategies, it is employed by approximately 96% of our population - doctors, lawyers, accountants, laborers, etc. There is an inherent problem with this strategy - saturation. You run out of time. If a person accumulates any degree of wealth employing this strategy, it will be at the expense of a life. They compromise on the car they drive, the house they live in, the clothes they choose and the vacations they take. They rarely, if ever, get what they want.

Investing money to earn money - This strategy is used by approximately 3% of the population. The number is small for the obvious reason - very few people have any money to invest. Many people who effectively employ this strategy follow the advice of a trusted, knowledgeable advisor.

Leveraging yourself to earn money - This is where you multiply your time through the efforts of others by setting up Multiple Sources of Income (MSI). This is, without question, the very best way to increase your earnings. Make a decision to have many sources of income; it's the strategy that wealthy people have used dating clear back to the ancient Babylonians. Unfortunately, this strategy is only used by approximately 1% of our population, yet that 1% earns approximately 96% of all the money that is earned! You are only a decision away from membership.

Once you determine how much money you want to earn, write it down on a sheet of paper in large figures. Look at the number with the dollar sign beside it and tell yourself over and over again:

That Amount of Money is an Effect.
It Represents a Reward that I Want to Receive.
What Service Can I Render that Would be Deserving of that Reward?

You can take the total figure and divide it into multiple parts. Each part would represent a source of income. Each source of income represents a separate reward that you would receive for a service you would render.

Work on one source of income at a time; each one can become an exciting part of your life. What you are actually doing is thinking of different ways you can be of service to others.

Think of how you can do whatever you do - more effectively.
Think of how you can improve the quality and quantity of service you render.
Think of how you can help people in a greater way.

Money is the ultimate servant. The more you earn, the more you can help others.

For 40 years, Bob Proctor has focused his entire life and agenda around helping people create lives of prosperity, rewarding relationships and spiritual awareness.