Do You Dream of Financial Freedom or Lay Awake at Night Worrying About Money?
Are You on the Trail to Financial Freedom or the Path to Financial Failure?
A Warning About Your Financial Future and Essential Personal Finance Skills to Protect You...
Do you and your spouse quarrel about money?
Many experts believe that 90% of divorces are rooted in financial problems.
Are you burdened with debt?
In 1980, US household debt stood at 65% of annual disposable income. Now it is 100%.
When your credit card bill comes, are you ashamed and afraid to open it?
How much savings do you have?
The life savings of the average 50-year-old is $2300!
Contrast your lifetime savings to your lifetime earnings. You will be shocked when you realize how much money has passed through your hands, yet how little of it you have kept.
Are you and/or your spouse working so much that you have to outsource the care and raising of your children?
Can you afford a college education for your children? For even one of them?
Is your job secure?
How long can you sustain your current lifestyle if you lost your job due to a:
• Merger
• Bankruptcy
• Downsizing
• Layoff
• Outsourcing
• Health Problems
Is money a daily struggle? Is it so tight that any unexpected expense is a burden to your family?
Do you pray that the furnace/roof/car/refrigerator will last a little longer because you have no idea how to pay for it when it fails?
Are your financial pressures so bad that you're considering giving up and declaring bankruptcy?
Current U.S. bankruptcy rates are higher than during the Great Depression.
Each year, more Americans declare bankruptcy than graduate from college! These bankruptcies put an even greater burden on everyone else.
According to a "USA Today" survey, the biggest fear in America is running out of money in retirement...
Face the Facts:
"You and No One Else Are Totally Responsible For Your Financial Situation!"
If you continue much longer on your present path, not only will you never achieve financial freedom, but financial ruin lies ahead.
Many people are dangerously close to financial disaster!
What about your retirement? Do you dream of financial freedom for your golden years?
You, not anyone else or the government, are totally responsible for how well (or poorly) you live in your golden years.
Are You Depending on the Government for Life Support?
Are thinking that the government will take care of you in your retirement?
If so, then you are headed for a rude awakening and a major downgrade of your lifestyle!
The days of expecting the government to take care of us are over!
Are you counting on Social Security?
Even if Social Security exists in the future, it will certainly be something less than it is now.
Medicare, if it still exists, will be limited also.
How reliable are corporate pensions? Just ask the hard-working folks at Enron or United Airlines.
Do you dare wager that your employer will still be there to take care of you for 20, 30, or 40 years after retire?
You probably have a long list of things you're looking forward to do it when you retire:
• Travel
• Visiting grandchildren
• Going back to school
• Moving
• Starting a small business
• Playing golf
• Buying a boat and fishing
• Pursuing earlier dreams they were quenched or forgotten by the busyness of life
Whatever your dreams are, they will take money...
This site is about actions you can take now to make your financial position as strong as possible.
We will show you the path to financial freedom.
The Shocking Reality About “Retirement” in America...
When Americans reach age 65, after working hard for 40 or more years, only 1% will be wealthy.
Only 4% of retirees will have adequate investments or savings to actually retire at some level of comfort.
Do you really think you'll be in the top 1% or 4%? ...
...Or will you be in the 95% that is Vulnerable?
You don't want to be in this 95% !
Of this unfortunate group, almost two thirds, 63%, will be forced to depend on Social Security, relatives, or charity to house and feed them.
Even with help from Social Security (as it exists now) and pensions, a recent study found that the average American is on track to replace just 60% of his or her current income in retirement.
Think of that statistic this way…How long could comfortably live if you suddenly lost 40% of your current income?
3% of retirees must keep working, often in minimum-wage jobs alongside of teenagers! Do you aspire to be a Wal-Mart greeter at age 80?
Both U.S. Department of Labor and insurance industry statistics show that these numbers have been consistent for the last 50 years.
What is the one thing that these unfortunate 95% all have in common?...
...They never thought they'd end up like this!
The ignorance and denial of this problem is so prevalent that 74% of American baby boomers believe they are financially prepared for retirement!
While they believe they are on the right track, here’s the reality:
• 59% expect to carry debt into retirement
• 46% have less than $50,000 saved
People are living a lot longer now, which only makes matters worse.
The Smart Question to Ask Yourself is: “What Can I Do Now to Make Sure I'm in the 5% Group and Not the 95%?”
This site will answer that question for you. It contains the steps to put you in the very best financial position possible.
We will show you how to make it happen- how to achieve financial independence.
What Everybody Should Know...
About How To Achieve Financial Freedom
Financial Freedom means that ultimately you are in control of your money, rather than it controlling everything you do.
Think about it, there are really only two options, either you take control of your money...
Or, if you are like the vast majority of people, your money controls you...
Which is true for you?
Does money control you?
You will never achieve financial independence without taking control of your money.
If you need to take control of your money, you've come to the right place.
The Essence of Personal Finance and How To Achieve Financial Freedom...
To achieve financial freedom, you have to live according to a basic truth. It is a simple equation:
You Must Spend Less Money Than You Earn!
This gives you margin.
Having margin, regardless of your income level, will give you financial freedom.
The difference between what you earn and what you spend will determine how much financial freedom you will experience.
If you spend all the money that you earn, you are on the brink of trouble. You will live in constant stress.
If you spend more money than you earn, you are in trouble. You live will be in a constant state of distress.
Our culture and easy consumer credit have many people spending more than they earn, not less.
Most Americans have 4% negative margin. Every month, they spend an average of 4% more than they earn!
How does that happen? How can they be so ignorant of their perilous position?
Here's how (this may be true for you)...
They believe that they have a good “feel” for where their money is going, so they never track their expenses or have a spending plan. (We will teach you how to do those things).
They think that they are “OK”, but the reality is quite different. (See "Using the Right Map" below)
Even with this 4% negative margin, they continue to overspend by using their credit cards.
Then, the credit cards get maxed out, so they either consolidate their loans or refinance their homes to "start over".
But, if people never change the bad habits that initially got them into this dangerous position, it only gets worse…
The cycle begins again with them going even deeper into debt.
Because of living in negative margin, many people are only one or two paychecks away from financial disaster.
Then, when the storms of life come, people with no margin are in real trouble.
Are You Prepared for the Inevitable Financial Setbacks?
...Financial Curve Balls
Life is messy. There are going to be troubles in your life. No one is immune from the curve balls that come your way.
Any of these can make you fall into financial disaster…
• Loss of job
• Divorce
• Medical problems
• Children
• Automobile accidents
• Death or disability of the income earner
• Pay cuts
• Retirement plans eliminated
• Corporate downsizing or reorganization
An event like any of these can quickly place a person in a position where he feels he is drowning financially.
Unfortunately, most people aren’t prepared to deal with these curve balls.
The curve balls also pay a toll on our families.
Finances are the leading cause of fights in families. That leads to marital breakdown and divorce. Divorce only makes the financial situation worse.
When these troubles come, and they will, it is much better for you to be on the Financial Freedom Trail than if you weren’t.
If you have adequate margin in your finances, you will be in a much better financial position to weather these storms.
This will lower the impact of these events and reduce your anxiety. Your savings (we’ll show you how to build an emergency fund) will give you time to deal with it.
Personal finance is all about manipulating, or controlling your finances to give you the greatest degree of margin.
No matter where you are right now on your financial journey, the information on this site, if applied, will move you further in the direction of financial freedom.
Even if you are in Distress or Stress, we can help you move to a place of margin.
Each step you take along the Financial Freedom Trail will put you closer to your goal to achieve financial freedom.
That way, when you encounter any of life’s inevitable setbacks, you will be better positioned to endure them.
The site is unlike any other, because we will help you with all these areas.
Within the pages of this site, you will find proven steps, skills and strategies that will enable you to…
• Spend less and save more, thus giving you more margin.
• Make more money, thus giving you more margin.
• Reduce, and ultimately eliminate debt. Eliminating your debt burden reduces your expenses, thus giving you more margin.
• Know where you stand financially and effectively manage your money to continue to gain more margin.
• Create or increase your savings so you can weather life's inevitable financial storms
These key ingredients will help to achieve financial freedom.
Why Financial Freedom Trail is Different…
For the first time on the Internet, personal finance and financial freedom expert, Dave Briggs, is sharing his wisdom and ”Keys to Financial Freedom” curriculum.
Coming for a prestigious corporate finance position, Dave has spent the last 20 years teaching financial freedom seminars, training leaders, writing and counseling people on personal finance.
Combining with him is Paul Myers, home and Internet Business consultant.
Together, we will share our years of knowledge and experience to show you personal finance skills. These tools and skills will enable you to gain the greatest margin possible and thereby achieving financial freedom.
What this Site is Not…
• How to Get Rich Quick. That doesn’t exist.
• Easy Directions to Easy Street. This takes discipline and work, but Financial Freedom is attainable.
Most People Are on the Financial Disaster Trail and Don't Even Realize it!
Most people are on the wrong trail!
Warning: If you are on the wrong trail, no matter how fast you have been traveling, you'll never arrive at the desired destination.
We'll help you achieve financial freedom by giving you the right map...
Using the Right Map
Most people have the wrong mindset about money and don’t even realize it. Their relationship with money is not based on reality.
Here’s a good illustration to help grasp this concept…
Imagine yourself driving in Philadelphia, on a dark, rainy night. There is lots of traffic and you are tired. You are using a map, but you know that you are lost.
Things just aren’t making sense. 9th Street isn’t where it is supposed to be. The map shows the street you are on as a through street, but you just reached a dead end!
Despite your best efforts using the map, you are still hopelessly lost and can’t seem to get your bearings anywhere.
If you had the sense to look up at the corner of the map you were using, you would have discovered the problem…
You have the wrong map!
You were using a map of Pittsburgh and trying to navigate from it in Philadelphia!
You were trying to navigate a different reality and didn’t even realize that you were using the wrong map.
Financial Freedom Trail is the Right Map.
Proof that many people (especially Americans) are using the wrong map...
Look at the percentage income that people save in different countries:
• China........30%
• India.........20%
• France.......11%
• America.....-.5%
See the negative margin in the U.S?
Financial Freedom Trail is the Right Map.
As a personal finance counselor, one if Dave’s greatest frustrations is that people come to him that are literally bleeding to death financially, and don't even realize it. They seek a band-aid while they really need a tourniquet and major surgery.
For years, they were on the wrong path and didn't even pay enough attention to see all the warning signs. That path leads to disaster, and they don't know it.
The good news is that this is preventable and reversible.
This site is your resource to get you on the right track and keep you there.
"Financial Freedom Trail...
You've Finally Found the Right Path, Let's Get Started!"
You now have the right map pointing you to the right trail.
That trail, if you choose to follow it, is the best path to achieve financial freedom.
Some things here will challenge your thinking and habits. After all, it is bad thinking and habits that have people trying to live in negative margin.
Changing thinking and habits will bring you out of the pit and into financial freedom.
This process will grow and stretch you. That's a good thing. It's a process, a journey.
One step at a time, we will help you down the Financial Freedom Trail. By walking with us down the Financial Freedom Trail you will become a different person. You will change your perspective on money along with your habits. Your priorities will change, leading to prosperity and financial freedom.
An added benefit is that you will become a person who can help others in this journey and leave a legacy for your family.
Your stress level will be significantly reduced. No more sleepless nights worrying about money.
After you master these skills, even if you lost everything, you would have the confidence and ability to gain everything back. That gives you real freedom and peace of mind.
In life, things have a tendency not to happen. While we will teach you how to achieve financial freedom, it's up to you to make it happen.
A Chinese proverb wisely states: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
We'll help you with the steps.
The sooner you get on the Financial Freedom Trail, the more likely you will have financial freedom in the later years of your life.
Let's take the first step and begin your journey on the...
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