New York Life cuts initial deposit for annuity to attract youth – InvestmentNews

May 17, 2013 11:14 ambcarndufLeave a Comment

New York Life has lowered the initial deposit required to obtain a deferred-income annuity from $10,000 to $5,000 in hopes of attracting younger investors. The question is, should young investors care? I spoke with Darla Mercado, a reporter with InvestmentNews, about these recent changes.

Except in very rare cases, most young investors should avoid these products and instead focus on developing financial life skills:

Priorities are different for those in their 20s and 30s, noted Alan Moore, founder of Serenity Financial Consulting. “At that age it’s about savings habits, setting aside money for retirement and letting it work for you,” he said.

While it may make sense for clients who are close to retirement to think about tax-efficient withdrawal strategies and having money in accounts with different tax treatments, young clients can hold off on those tactics for a number of years.

I also believe that most young investors are looking to get out of debt. Very few are maxing out their 401(k)’s, IRA’s, are debt free, and still looking for tax deferred savings opportunities:

For younger people, “most aren’t looking for big tax-deferred savings; they want to pay down debt and student loans,” Mr. Moore added.

In short, these products rarely make sense for any client, especially investors in their 20’s and 30’s.

You can Click Here to read the article.

Alan Moore is the founder of Serenity Financial Consulting. He is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a Certified Retirement Counselor, author of the Serenity Financial Consulting Blog, and a featured contributor here on the California Institute of Finance

Posted in Alan Moore, Annuities, Featured Contributors, Retirement Planning

Singles swing into retirement with little savings

May 16, 2013 7:37 ambcarndufLeave a Comment

If you think it’s hard saving for retirement as a couple, trying doing it as a single. According to a study—described by one expert as the most intriguing of 2012—the amount of money singles in their late 60s have saved up for retirement is dramatically less than that of married-couple households.

In fact, the median married household had in 2008 nearly 10 times more saved up for retirement than the median single-person household, $111,600 vs. $12,500. (Savings, for the record, included 401(k)s and IRAs and all taxable savings and investment accounts, but it did not include Social Security, pensions, or housing wealth. And single, at least for the purpose of this research could mean divorced, widowed or unmarried for most/all of their life.)

The difference was also extreme at the extremes, according to a blog post by Steve Utkus, who oversees the Vanguard Center for Retirement Research.

In his review of the study, Utkus noted that the top 30% of married households had savings of $332,400 or more while the top 30% of single-person households had just $90,000 or more. The bottom 30% of married households, meanwhile, had less than $24,000 saved while the bottom 30% of single-person households had less than $800.

The paper, from the National Bureau of Economic Research, is titled “The composition and drawdown of wealth in retirement,” and is co-written by James Poterba, Steven Venti and David Wise. Read Utkus’ blog, Retirement: The married/single divide.

Financial savings of households with those ages 65-69 in 2008

Percentile	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90
Married	$300	$6,000	$24,000	$55,000	$111,600	$190,000	$332,000	$518,000	$878,000
Single	$0	$100	$800	$3,400	$12,500	$39,000	$90,000	$150,000	$380,000

Why the sharp divide?

So what’s going on? What explains this sharp divide?

According to Utkus, divorce is one reason why older single households have less money. When a couple separates, assets are divided, and savings can fall due to legal and other costs.

But divorce isn’t the main reason for singles having less money. If that were the case, Utkus wrote, he’d expect single-person figures to be just under half of those for married couples. But the gap is much wider than that. To be fair, the study doesn’t reflect the value of housing wealth which often becomes part of a divorce settlement, so it’s possible that the gap is not as wide.

The early death of a spouse is another reason why single households have less money than married households, according to Utkus. The all-too-familiar situation goes something like this: “One spouse, often the working male, becomes sick in his 50s or early 60s, loses work, and then dies prematurely,” he wrote. “The healthier spouse, often the female, may have a lower income or may not be working. She spends savings on living expenses and her husband’s medical costs. The loss of savings accelerates if they lose health insurance. Long-term care such as a nursing home can also accelerate the loss of assets. Medicaid, which can be used to pay for nursing care, doesn’t kick in until the household depletes most of its savings.”

And being single for most if not all of one’s life is yet another reason why single households have less money than married households. “When you live alone, you don’t benefit from the economies of scale of sharing costs with another person in the household, and so you may save less over your lifetime for a given level of income,” Utkus wrote. “If you lose your job, you don’t have the self-insurance that comes from having another household member with income and health benefits.”

So what lessons can be drawn from the findings? In general, if you’re single you’ll need to accumulate much more in your nest egg than your married counterparts, according to Utkus.

Plus, you need to make sure you have the right kinds of insurance in place. “You need also to protect against large, unexpected claims,” he wrote. And that means, having disability, life, and health insurance. “The new health care act may help when you lose workplace coverage—but of course you’ll still need to buy a policy,” he wrote.

But what one does to counteract the risks of being single depends also on the nature of the household.

Single for life

For instance, Utkus said, those who are single/unmarried for life tend to underestimate the amount of savings they need while those who are married/partnered tend to save more because they are saving for two rather than one.

“This, I believe, is still conjecture, but if it is true, it suggests that those not married need to make a special effort to save more than they might otherwise believe,” Utkus said. “Singles need to be aware that they are in a riskier position. There’s not second-income potential in the household, no sharing of living expenses. So they should be aggressive savers.”

Changes in marital status: divorce

As for those who are either divorced or want to protect against the risks associated with being divorced, Utkus had this advice: “Divorce can set back a retirement plan,” he said.

It raises cost of living (two live more cheaply together than on their own), and it reduces savings because of fees, such as lawyer expenses).

“Those getting divorced, particularly later in life, should do so with their eyes wide open,” he said. It’s best, he said, not just to consult a lawyer but also talk with a financial planner about the post-divorce financial situation. Among the things to address is whether and how to divide assets.

For the record, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) has published a guide to help you address some of the risks in retirement, including changes in marital status and becoming a widow or widower.

According to the SOA, divorce is a personal issue and there are no formal risk-management programs. But there are some things to consider. “At divorce, the law allows for split of private pension plan benefits covered by ERISA,” the SOA writes in its guide. “For this purpose, divorcing spouses need a properly drafted qualified domestic relations order (QDRO).”

And older couples who marry, especially those with children, may want a prenuptial agreement that defines each party’s rights to distribute or dispose of property as they wish, not as a court would decree, the SOA wrote.

The death of a spouse

Coming up with ways to protect against the risk of becoming a widow or widower requires more research, according to Utkus. “One of the unanswered questions in this area is the number of single-person households which arise due to death of a spouse and depletion of assets—either on health costs that are uninsured or on long-term care costs, such as nursing care or nursing-home care not covered by personal savings,” he said. “I think we need to know more about this area is clear. But if it is long-term care, it’s a complex issue.”

Study: Couples are more successful in saving

According to the SOA guide, it’s very difficult to predict which spouse will live longer in individual cases. But on average, women are widowed more often than men. And when that happens, there’s typically a decline in economic status. The SOA suggests that many financial vehicles can be used in combination to manage the death-of-spouse risk. Those include life insurance; survivor income in Social Security, pension plans and annuities, long-term care insurance, and savings. Wills and estate planning are important tools to provide for a surviving spouse. And a well-structured retirement-income plan can be an important source of stability for the surviving spouse. Read “Managing Post-Retirement Risks.”

Read related column, “True love means planning ahead.” That column detailed 10 ways husbands could help their wives survive widowhood.

Utkus said: “In many studies of retirement preparedness, getting divorced, becoming a widow or widower, or being single are risk factors associated with being financially unprepared for retirement. This important study (from Poterba, Venti, and Wise) reminds us why—and also suggests how, as individuals, we might counteract some of these risks.”

Robert Powell is a featured writer on the MarketWatch Retirement blog, a Research Fellow at the California Institute of Finance, and a Featured Contributor here on the CIF blog.

Posted in Divorce and Finance, Featured Contributors, Retirement Planning, Robert Powell, Singles and Finance

Diversification of a Portfolio Done Right

May 15, 2013 5:47 ambcarndufLeave a Comment

Proper diversification of a portfolio can easily trip you up. At the basic level, this is applying the concept of not putting all your (financial) eggs in one basket. Pretty easy. But to really get this right, you have to dig a bit deeper

I know that you are probably reading this because you want to learn how to diversify your financial assets (stocks, bonds and cash). That’s fine. We’ll get there. But in order to do a good job of diversifying your liquid assets, you first have to think about your entire net worth. Why? Because of risk. Let me illustrate by way of example. Your financial picture is made up of the following elements:

Stocks
Bonds, CDs and Fixed Annuities
Savings and Checking Accounts
Real Estate
Commodities
Business Interests
All Sources of Income
All Debts

Let’s say most of your net worth is tied up in a very risky business. If you keep that risk in mind, you probably want to take less risk with your other investments. If you ignore your business risk and take on lots of investment risk too, you’ll probably end up with a very fragile financial situation. Yikers! Let’s look at a different example.

Assume you have more income than you could possibly spend coming in from rental income and pensions. If that is your situation, you are in a very low risk situation. In that case, you can probably afford to take on a little more risk with your other investments (if you want to).

Let’s look at one more case. Let’s say you have a great deal of high-interest debt. In that case, you would keep most of your investments very liquid to pay off that debt. That means you wouldn’t take much risk at all with your money.

Does this make sense?

Interested in automating your portfolio diversification? Please read my Betterment report. This is one company that does just that. They might be a good fit for you especially if you are just starting out.

The first order of business you must address is to get a handle on how much risk you can afford to take with the money in question. The means you must keep your entire financial picture in mind. OK. Let’s move on.

The next consideration is to think through what you want from your financial assets and when you want it. Let’s say you have $10,000. If this is short-term money that you need to spend within a few years, keep it safe by using a high interest bank account. But if you want to invest this money to achieve long-term goals, (including providing long-term income that starts now) you can use long-term investing strategies. This is the point at which you can focus on diversifying your portfolio to reduce risk.

Diversifying your financial assets to reduce risk -Use Long-Term Investments for Long-Term Goals

Some people – a lot of people – will tell you that you should put “x” percent of your long-term money in cash, “y” % in bonds and “z” % of your money in stocks in order to maximize growth and minimize risk. They are half right.

Allocating assets to bonds and cash will reduce your short-term risk and volatility. But such a move can’t possibly increase your returns. That’s because cash is a short-term investment that has almost no return after taxes and inflation. And bonds almost never outperform stocks over 10 years – the last decade excluded.

Portfolio Diversification Done Right

Once you’ve identified how much risk you can take, what you are going to use your money for and when, you can easily diversify your assets. As I’ve said before, if you have long-term money, the best investments to consider are growth stocks and funds and real estate.

Your next step is to select your specific investments based on the investment strategy you use. If you are a buy and hold investor, decide how much money you want to allocate to the different asset classes and keep that percentage fixed. Use asset allocation to rebalance your portfolio every 6 months or year. Simple.

If you want to use a market sensitive strategy like I do, rely on your methodology to select the investments and rebalance as prescribed.

If real estate is right for you, use some of your money to buy property.

If you have a 10-year horizon (or longer), I suggest that an optimal diversification strategy would be to put half the money in real estate and the other half in long-term growth funds. But this depends on your personal situation.

If you have long-term money but you simply don’t have the stomach to keep all those assets in equity funds or real estate, no problem. Water your portfolio down with bonds and cash. This is not a way to maximize your return. It’s a way to provide the best return with minimal discomfort. There is nothing wrong with this approach but it is absolutely not the way to get the best return for your long-term money.

Bottom line. Convention wisdom tells you to diversify your portfolio by holding cash, bonds and equity. This might be great to reduce your anxiety. It won’t however help you achieve your long-term goals as much as using long-term investments to achieve long-term goals.

How do you diversify your portfolio? What has worked best for you?

Neal Frankle is a Certified Financial Planner with more than 25 years of experience, author of the Wealth Pilgrim blog, and a featured contributor here on the “CIF Blog”!

Posted in Featured Contributors, Investments, Neal Frankle

The Best 37 Books For Entrepreneurs That Kick Serious Butt

May 14, 2013 3:32 pmbcarndufLeave a Comment

If you have any inkling of wanting to become an entrepreneur, then you should be doing one simple thing.

What’s the simple thing? Reading.

Reading is said to be the spark behind creative thinking, and is one of the most predominate traits of individuals said to pertain a level of “higher intelligence”.

Is the thought of gaining intelligence through reading actually viable? I believe that it is not intelligence that is gained through reading; rather it’s the exposure to other people’s thoughts and perception of events and processes that lead to you being better rounded thinker.

best books for entrepreneurs

Reading other people’s thoughts and ideas are the key ingredients to being successful in life (beyond being very naturally intelligent).

By reading through stories of people who were in similar situations to your own, and hearing their stories of success and how they perceived the difficulties along the way, you will be able to better separate yourself from your normal thought train and tackle a situation with more “proper” guidance.

I can’t tell how many times I’ve read a book by a successful entrepreneur or motivational speaker to immediately have a burning desire to apply some aspects of their success to my own life.

Don’t believe me? Ask my wife. She’ll be first to tell you how after I read Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Work Week, I wouldn’t shut up about it. Thanks to Tim, I hired my first VA (virtual assistant) and was able to free myself of several mundane details that I have from running this site.

Having diagnosed the process and benefits of reading, there are some books that have changed the way I have thought. They have also opened me up to some great ideas that I, and the majority of the world, would initially have thrown out as hogwash.

My favorite books that help characterize the process, and more important mental game of becoming an entrepreneur are all listed below with a small synopsis of their content.

Top Must Reads for Entrepreneurs

1. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris

Tim’s book takes the prize for the best book I’ve ever read that revolves around business and entrepreneurship. Ever.

I want my kids’ kids to read this book. This book provides a non-standardized idea of how to approach daily situations, and how to think of them with new perspective. It also teaches you positive thinking to maximize your potential.

2. E-Myth by Michael Gerber

This is a clear stand out for so many entrepreneurs.

E Myth Book

According to Todd Tresidder of Financial Mentor, “this book will leave you absolutely clear on the difference between a real business and owning your own job. It will teach you the core principles that differentiate working ON your business vs. working IN your business. It will assure that when you climb the ladder to success it is actually leaning against the right wall. A simple story with a powerful message.”

3. Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port

This book goes through an in depth analysis of why it may be more important to market yourself opposed to marketing your actual business. It also gives guidelines for how to attain more clients and raise your business profile.

What’s funny about this book is that it’s been on my shelf for years. I’m not even sure who recommended it, but it’s been a great addition to my reading library. When I asked fellow entrepreneur Matt Sapaula what books he would recommend, this was tops on his list. I knew I had good taste

4. The Brand Called You by Peter Montoya

A great book that teaches you about how marketing your personal attributes can be more successful and important than marketing your business. This book really helped put into perspective how to differentiate myself from all the competition…like this blog

I’ve been a huge fan of this book for years and recommend it to every new small business person that I encounter. As you can imagine, I was blown away when Peter called me out of the blue to tell me how he liked my blog and I was doing a tremendous job marketing myself. I’m pretty sure he felt good when I told him that his book inspired me to create it.

5. UnMarketing by Scott Stratten

Yes, this book might be more marketing related, but I couldn’t leave Scott out of this list. This book goes through the approach of viral marketing techniques and social media becoming the predominant source of profitable businesses.

What I like about Scott so much is that he’s just a real dude. It’s hard not to respect that about him. Plus he likes Pearl Jam. What else is there to say?

6. The Millionaire Messenger by Brendon Burchard

After surviving a devastating car accident, Brendon Burchard had a realization that he had both a purpose in life and a message to share with others.

Millionaire Messenger Brendan Burchard

This experience helped him realize that every single person has an important story and advice to share, and The Millionaire Messenger outlines what you have to do in order to achieve a sense of mastery over any subject and use your expertise to help others and attain financial and life success. Now the “guru’s guru,” Burchard outlines the steps you can take in order to join the information marketplace by becoming a motivation speaker, coach, author, blogger, and consultant.

7. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

This book is an in-depth look at the phenomenon of a small idea turning huge, and how the critical point is referred to as the “tipping point” by the author.

I was amazed on how the kids show Blues Clues was able to take the Sesame Street concept and blow it up. If you’re looking to grow your business with the same magnitude as Paul Revere galloping on his horse through the U.S. country side, this book is an excellent read.

8. Overwhelming Odds by Susan and Denny O’Leary

This inspirational story of a man who is given overwhelming odds of failure, and the story of how he succeeded in life. I was so fortunate to meet Susan and Denny’s son John, and a small intimate gathering put on by the next author on the list. John was involved in a horrible burning accident as a child that left him nearly for dead – the doctors telling his parents that he had a 1% chance to survive the night.

John did survive and used that tragedy to inspire others to be better people and also better business leaders. If you need help in redefining your purpose in life, this is a must read. Find out more about John and his professional speaking business at Rising Above.

9. Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk

How can you not love Gary V? This guy is loud mouthed, full of energy and lives and breathes entrepreneurship. His book gives a guide of how to think successful in life, opposed to the ordinary how to be successful type novel.

Favorite word of the book: Passion. <<<<YOU better have some passion if you’re going to Crush It!

10. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hseish

How do you top selling a business for $265 million at the age of 24? How about selling another company for a mere $1.2 billion.

Even though I new the outcome of the book (see previous sentence where he sells company for $1.2 billion), I was on pins and needles seeing how Zappos.com almost didn’t make it. Think Tony was worried? Nah. He decided to go ahead with a scheduled trip to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Now that is an entrepreneur that has brass balls.

11. Fight The Good Fight by Ben Newman

I didn’t know what to think when a buddy of mine recommended this book to me. I have to say, I’m thankful that he did.

Fight the Good Fight shares the story of a son who loses his mother at a young age. Later on in life, his grandmother delivers a gift to his son that will change his life. Turns out his mother had kept a memoir of her life, so that her kids could see the courage and inspiration she had – despite her illness.

I can’t remember the last time a book moved me the way that this book did. I’m thankful to have it as part of my reading library, and excited to share it to others.

12. Industry Transformers by Dan Sullivan

You’ll hear more about Dan Sullivan here in a bit. This was a book that I couldn’t pass on, especially when I found out I could get it on my iPad for $12.99.

What makes this book so good for entrepreneurs? How about 10 interviews from 10 awesome entrepreneurs that have all developed their own Unique Process™ through the Strategic Coaching program (that I’m happily enrolled in). If you ever wanted to know how an entrepreneur started from the ground up, how they learned from their mistakes and were able to fully capitalize on them then this is the read for you.

A few of my favorite interviews are with Phillip Tirone from 7 Steps to 720 Credit Score and Joe Polish from Pirahna Marketing. Both were well respected in their industries and were able to develop their own unique product that launched them into the stratosphere. I’ve been fortunate to speak to Phillip directly a few times and I’ve inspired by his continued drive as well as his love for his family.

For Financial Advisors

If you’re a financial advisor and looking to differentiate yourself from the crowd, another good book from Dan Sullivan is Unique Process Advisors. I’m more than halfway through the book and my wheels are already spinning.

13. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Many people feel that Kiyosaki is full of crap with his Real Estate riches and Cash Flow Quadrant. While I have to admit that much of his advice lately (for me, at least) doesn’t hold a lot of water, his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad was the first book that really got my entrepreneurship juices flowing.

Rich Dad Poor Dad Robert Kyosaki

This book tells a tale of two separate people and their life choices. It analyzes these choices to come to some type of conclusion on the more appropriate way to think. Thanks to his book I always knew there was and always will be something more.

14. Purple Cow by Seth Godin

This book teaches you how to re-market your existing business to satisfy the evolving business needs in an ever changing world.

Thanks to Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income for getting this book to me. Mike from Oblivious Investor also recommends this book in addition to The Dip and Tribes.

15. Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki

I was recently introduced to Guy Kawasaki and so glad I was! I had heard of Guy but didn’t really know much about his story. This “guy” just oozes success.

I immediately bought his new book Enchantment but also realized that I need to check out his other stuff, too. Another highly recommended book of his is Art of the Start.

Want a little more insight into how Guy Kawasaki’s mind works? Check out this witty quote of his:

“Don’t worry, be crappy. Revolutionary means you ship and then test… Lots of things made the first Mac in 1984 a piece of crap – but it was a revolutionary piece of crap.”

16. Never Get a Real Job by Scott Gerber

If you’re ready to ditch your crappy 9 to 5 job and branch out on your own, this is the book for you.

For a 26 year-old boot strapping entrepreneur to stick it to the man to explore his own passions and make it makes this a must read.

17. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Both Mac and PC users mourned the loss of a true American innovator when Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer in October 2011.

Steve Jobs Biography

This biography, which was based upon over 40 personal interviews with Jobs himself and hundreds of interviews with those close to the founder of Apple, follows the incredible creative passion and drive of the man who wanted to “make a dent in the universe.” If you want to better understand just how innovation and ambition are intertwined, this is a must read.

18. The Dan Sullivan Question by Dan Sullivan

I joined the Strategic Coach program 3 years ago and I’ve been really excited to see what it has been able to do for me. Dan Sullivan the creator has written several books including this one.

19. ReWork by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Entrepreneurs can spend years writing their business plan, researching the competition, and chomping at the bit until they finally release their great idea. Or they can read this book.

How good is it? Heck, even Seth Godin says, “Ignore this book at your own peril”. Are you going to disagree with Seth?

20. Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim

If you’ve ever dreamed of leaving the 9-to-5 slog to go into business for yourself, this book is for you. Pamela Slim’s groundbreaking book was inspired by her blog of the same name (bloggers for the win!), and offers advice on both the emotional and practical issues of leaving the corporate world in order to launch a business.

Slim left her own corporate job as a training manager over a decade ago, and has been blazing her own trail ever since. She draws on her own experiences to help readers make the leap from working for a paycheck to working for themselves.

21The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

This book is a great read for those interested in starting a microbusiness: a tiny one- or two-person operation that maximizes freedom and generates a modest living (around $50,000 per year).

$100 Starup Chris Guillibeau

Rather than focus on unending growth and leverage, as most entrepreneurship books do, Guillebeau advises creative people with a passion on how to create a business from that passion. The author likes to say this isn’t a book about entrepreneurship, but one about freedom.

22. Linchpin by Seth Godin

According to Godin, a linchpin is someone in an organization who is indispensable and simply cannot be replaced. We all know individuals like this. The ones who come up with new ideas when everyone else is stumped and who enjoy the challenges of figuring out what to do when there are no precedents or rules to follow. This book explains how to become a linchpin, whether you’re working in the corporate world or are self-employed. Not only does this promise you a lifetime of job security, it also ensures that you are always master of your career and charting your own path.

23. The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalwicz

When Mike Michalwicz read about how pumpkin farmers grow their giant prize-winning pumpkins, he realized that their methods and process could apply to small-business owners, as well. Just like pumpkin farmers, entrepreneurs need to plant the right seeds—that is, focus on the product that they can do better than anyone else, rather than trying to be everything to every customer. Entrepreneurs need to weed out those customers who add no value and lavish attention on the ones who can help you grow, and the rewards will be as enormous as the giant pumpkins.

24. The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco

In this book, MJ DeMarco takes aim at the accepted wisdom about building wealth: getting a good job, socking away 10% each year for retirement, pinching pennies, and waiting for feelings of wealth in retirement are an impoverished mindset that will leave settling throughout your life. That is the slow lane.
millionaire-fastlane

Instead, DeMarco would like you to take the fast lane to wealth. Start a business that fills a need, and work your tail off for 5 to 10 years, and you will see incredible wealth in a short time. The fast lane isn’t an easy road, but it’s out there and it’s available to every entrepreneur.

25. From Good to Great by Jim Collins

Why do some companies never achieve anything better than mediocrity, while others make a leap from good enough to great? This question bothered Jim Collins, so he analyzed over two dozen companies to determine what separated the merely good from those that improved from mediocrity to greatness.

What he found was shocking—from what types of leaders are necessary for achieving greatness to how discipline and an ethic of entrepreneurship work together to create a company culture. Many of the important concepts Collins discovered fly in the face of what we assume to be true about business culture.

26. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

The vast majority of startups fail, partially because entrepreneurs think that they need to learn what works by experiencing expensive failures. Eric Ries wants you to know that there is a way to build a sustainable business without constant trial-and-error until you stumble upon a winning formula.
lean-startup

With methods for rapidly learning and shortening development cycles, this book will help entrepreneurs on the cutting edge ways to quickly adapt and adjust in the early days.

27. Art of Start by Guy Kawasaki

This is a great how-to guide for anyone interested in starting their own business. Kawasaki covers everything from creating business a business plan to identifying your customer base to building your brand identity. Each chapter starts with GIST (Great Ideas for Starting Things) and ends with FAQs, frequently avoided questions, to help you to really understand the dos and don’ts. This book is full of useful hints and specific advice for any beginning entrepreneur.

28. EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey

This book offers great insight, especially for the growing entrepreneur. With excellent tips on how to motivate and unify your employees and how to handle money to set your business up for success, Ramsey offers practical, step-by-step guidance on how to grow your business in the direction you want it to go.

29. Do More Faster by Brad Feld and David Cohen

Brad Feld and David Cohen founded the program TechStars, a mentorship-driven startup accelerator. After twenty-five years of seeing first-time entrepreneurs take their first steps, Feld and Cohen have identified some of the common issues startups will encounter, and offer proven advice for dealing with those issues.

30. Getting Things Done by David Allen

In the modern world, the old ways of organization and time management simply do not work anymore. David Allen has come up with a proven system for ensuring stress-free productivity. While Allen does sometimes get a little over-complicated in both his system and his explanations, the basis of all of his procedures can be reduced to a one-page flow chart that can be pinned over your desk to remind you of the correct way of handling your to do lists without going crazy. I also loved Allen’s Two-Minute Rule: if there is something that you must get done and it will take two minutes or less to complete, then just do it now, and free yourself from the constant nagging feeling of things undone.

31. Built to Sell by John Warrillow

Many businesses are inseparable from their owners. It may feel gratifying to know that you are your business and vice versa, but it sure makes things tough when you want to take a vacation, step away from your business for a short time, or even sell your enterprise. Warrillow enumerates the specific, actionable steps that entrepreneurs can take to ensure that their business is a valuable, sellable company that can thrive whether or not you’re at the helm.

32. If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails by Barbara Corcoran

You may know Barbara Corcoran as the real estate expert on The Today Show, but long before she became a nationally known real estate mogul, she was a diner waitress who had failed at 22 different jobs. But with a borrowed $1000 and the accumulated and hilarious wisdom from her mother, she was able to build a $4 billion business. Not only is this book incredibly entertaining, it offers great advice for how to stand out from the crowd (hence the ribbons) and how to grow a business from the ground up.

33. Creating Your Own Destiny by Patrick Snow

I was pleasantly surprised when Patrick sent me a copy of his book completely unsolicited. This book is an inspirational learner of how to fulfill your personal dreams and how to find true happiness in life.

Think it’s silly to have big dreams? Think again. Patrick’s dream is to have a NFL team in Hawaii and is raising money to try and make that dream happen. Tell him that it’s stupid to dream big. I dare you.

34.Who Moved My Cheese by Dr. Spencer Johnson

Do you like chasing the cheese? Then this book is for you.

This short but enlightening parable addresses something that all entrepreneurs must embrace: change. How well do you deal with change? If not well, this book is for you.

35. Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields

If there’s one thing that all entrepreneurs share is an uncertain future. We all like to take risks and have all the faith in the world that things will work out.

Unfortunately, many people never get a chance to live out their dreams and passions because of the fear of uncertainty. This is what Jonathan Fields tackles in this awesome book. If that’s enough to check it out, watch this book trailer. It’s one of my personal favorites.

36. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

There aren’t many books that can still give awesome and practical advice 6 decades after it was released. Of course, those other books aren’t written by Dale Carnegie.

Tim Ferriss has been quoted saying “Your network is your net worth”. Carnegie knew this and he shows you exactly build your network.

Glenn from Free From Broke and Mixergy CEO Andrew Warner both highly suggest this book. Turns out I forgot I even had this book (though I loaned it and never got it returned – Whew!)

37. Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins has had such a positive effect on so many people. Baker from Man Vs. Debt says reading this book , “Fundamentally changed my life. I read it while transitioning from poker into Real Estate and it shifted how I viewed myself and my life/business relationship. ”

All of the above listed books are great for anyone who would like to start their own business, or is just looking for a release from the conformist thought process of the majority of Americans. There are many differing viewpoints in the world today, and these books will give you some motivation as well as enlighten you on the thought process behind success.

Jeff Rose is a financial Planner, co-founder of Alliance Wealth Management author of the “Good Financial Cents” blog and a featured contributor here on the “CIF Blog”.

Posted in Featured Contributors, Jeff Rose, Self Improvement, Small BusinessTagged top business books

Mission Possible: Paying off $84,000 of Debt in 4 Years

May 14, 2013 5:47 ambcarndufLeave a Comment

Debt free zone. The next credit card statement arrives in your mailbox and you get sick knowing what’s inside. You begin to ask yourself when you let it all slip away.

You used to have control of your finances, but something bad happened.

Something terribly wrong.

All those innocent purchases and false reassurances that “you’ll eventually get ahead” were all just a lie.

You have over $100,000 of consumer debt and it’s only getting worse.

Travis Pizel found himself in this exact situation almost 5 years ago. Through reckless spending and always hoping that the next paycheck would allow him to get caught up, he found himself with $109,000 of consumer debt.

He could have waived the white flag and gave up. He didn’t

By working with CareOne Services, Inc, he has been able to payoff $84,000 of debt in just under 4 years.

Think it’s impossible? Think again. Here’s Travis’ story: