Today, I want to give kudos to my brother in law and sister for making a wise investment. Their investment landed them on the Wall Street Journal. I need not say more. Check it out:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203707504577012154169591414.html
http://www.trepp.com/2011/11/02/zombie-properties-come-back-to-life/
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Journey to Becoming a Multi-Millionaire - DAY 169
I'm back by popular demand ... jk only about two people have asked me why i stopped my blog. Sorry. I've been busy. In my last blog, I said my next investment will be to hire another paralegal ... CHECK. DONE and DONE. NEXT.....
How can you make money work hard for you?
step one: don't blow $ on stupid things that you want and don't need ( i have to keep telling myself to not buy a new car even though I really want one. if it weren't for my husband, i probably would be stupid enough to get a new car right now and instead of having my money earn money for me, it would be depreciating in value).
step two: invest it in something that will earn you money. For example:
1. rental property that will eventually provide passive income). this is a great market to purchase a rental property if you can afford it. A $200K house right now will have only about a $1500 mortgage (including property tax and insurance) a month with a 20% down payment and will typically rent out for about $1700 to $1900 for a single family home - that's about a $200 profit
2. income property in your existing home: if you don't mind having a roomate or tenants, rent out the spare bedroom or mother in law unit. that's an extra 500-1000 (more or less) a month you'd have in your pocket that you can put towards other investments
3. lottery ticket. JK. NO. (my client gave me a lottery ticket for chinese new years...i haven't checked if i won, but if i win, i may have to edit my opinion on the lottery)
4. if you can hire someone to do something for you that will free up your time to make more money and would cost less to hire that certain someone to do work for you then you spending time to do the work yourself, then its worth it. did that make any sense? i.e., i hired another paralegal to free up my time doing paralegal things because i can bill more on an hourly basis doing lawyer work as suppose to paralegal work. the added bonus is my paralegal will bill clients out at higher rate than what i pay her so she'll be profitable for me. (i hope she doesn't read this - Katie: you are awesome.) ... eventually i will hire someone to do my house cleaning for me (although i enjoy cleaning the house when i'm free - it is not fun after a full day of work) because right now, it cost me $200 an hour to clean my house, because that's how much i could be earning (maybe more depending on the PI case) if i worked instead of spending time cleaning my house.
5. write and publish things: i.e., some people blog to attract more visitors to their business website, others write books that will pay royalties long after they finish working on the book, I write articles for local news papers. Articles i wrote months ago are still bring in clients for me.
6. For people who own their own business spend money to advertise yourself... the more money you spend to advertise to others what you do, the more business you will attract. Don't be stingy.
7. For those who are part of bigger businesses or firms, don't just focus on the big catch... focus on the small ones too because those small ones can eventually lead to a bigger catch.
anyway, those are just a few ideas to think about. sorry i have been MIA since my last blog. i'm working on a new money making project. will eventually disclose it in my later blogs. stay tuned.
I'm a step closer to becoming a Multi-Millionaire. =)
How can you make money work hard for you?
step one: don't blow $ on stupid things that you want and don't need ( i have to keep telling myself to not buy a new car even though I really want one. if it weren't for my husband, i probably would be stupid enough to get a new car right now and instead of having my money earn money for me, it would be depreciating in value).
step two: invest it in something that will earn you money. For example:
1. rental property that will eventually provide passive income). this is a great market to purchase a rental property if you can afford it. A $200K house right now will have only about a $1500 mortgage (including property tax and insurance) a month with a 20% down payment and will typically rent out for about $1700 to $1900 for a single family home - that's about a $200 profit
2. income property in your existing home: if you don't mind having a roomate or tenants, rent out the spare bedroom or mother in law unit. that's an extra 500-1000 (more or less) a month you'd have in your pocket that you can put towards other investments
3. lottery ticket. JK. NO. (my client gave me a lottery ticket for chinese new years...i haven't checked if i won, but if i win, i may have to edit my opinion on the lottery)
4. if you can hire someone to do something for you that will free up your time to make more money and would cost less to hire that certain someone to do work for you then you spending time to do the work yourself, then its worth it. did that make any sense? i.e., i hired another paralegal to free up my time doing paralegal things because i can bill more on an hourly basis doing lawyer work as suppose to paralegal work. the added bonus is my paralegal will bill clients out at higher rate than what i pay her so she'll be profitable for me. (i hope she doesn't read this - Katie: you are awesome.) ... eventually i will hire someone to do my house cleaning for me (although i enjoy cleaning the house when i'm free - it is not fun after a full day of work) because right now, it cost me $200 an hour to clean my house, because that's how much i could be earning (maybe more depending on the PI case) if i worked instead of spending time cleaning my house.
5. write and publish things: i.e., some people blog to attract more visitors to their business website, others write books that will pay royalties long after they finish working on the book, I write articles for local news papers. Articles i wrote months ago are still bring in clients for me.
6. For people who own their own business spend money to advertise yourself... the more money you spend to advertise to others what you do, the more business you will attract. Don't be stingy.
7. For those who are part of bigger businesses or firms, don't just focus on the big catch... focus on the small ones too because those small ones can eventually lead to a bigger catch.
anyway, those are just a few ideas to think about. sorry i have been MIA since my last blog. i'm working on a new money making project. will eventually disclose it in my later blogs. stay tuned.
I'm a step closer to becoming a Multi-Millionaire. =)
Monday, August 29, 2011
Journey to Becoming a Multi-Millionaire - DAY 20
My back hurts, my neck hurts and my shoulder hurts. I'm busting my butt at work and realizing that no matter how much i work, i have a cap at how much I can earn in a 12 hour work day and tomorrow i'm going to see my pain doctor which sets me back two hours of billing.
This brings me back to what i learned in the "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind" book:
"Wealth File # 15: Rich people have their money work hard for them. Poor People work hard for their money."
... and I think GOD DAMNIT!!!!!! am i "Poor People"? shit... gotta start somewhere right? Can't have money work hard for me when i don't have a ton of it YET... but YES there is some truth to this so called "Wealth File #15".
When i first started my law practice, i was frugal with advertising my business so I started with small quarter page ads and i had a crappy web page that i designed myself. Guess what kind of clients i got with these small low cost ads? BINGO - not as many clients and not very good clients (although i can't complain about how many clients I got because i was fortunate enough to have a good start). When I spent more money and switched to full page ads, front page ads, even multiple ads in each newspapers and a nicer webpage, i got better paying clients and lots more of them!
When i started out, i also started off in a small office space in an executive office with shared conference room space. I had decent clients but not what you would consider great paying clients... I slowly expanded to two rooms, but boy was the office crappy (with small windows - felt like i was in a prison cell in some tower on some isolated island overlooking southcenter mall)!!! not something i was super proud of, but when i started accumulating enough money to expand to a much larger office, i didn't because i was too frugal and didn't think i could afford the higher overhead... i held off on expanding to the larger office... in the mean time i LOST pretty good potential clients who were willing to spend mega bucks but weren't too impressed by my little shindig (they probably went to the lawyer in the nicer building down the street). I still pinch myself til this day for losing some of those clients because i was too cheap to switch offices when just one of those clients would have been sufficient to pay off an entire year of rent at my current office. When i finally got the courage to expand with my husband to a much larger and nicer office, guess what? BINGO - i got better paying clients and lots more of them. AND the added bonus of having a nicer office is no one really questioned my lawyering ability because of how young i look... they now just assume i'm doing something right because my office looks decent.
Around the same time, i had a discussion with an attorney (who has very successful med mal firm on the waterfronts of tacoma- you may know who he is)...he said "YOU'VE GOT TO SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY"... this is so true and so in line with "Wealth File #15". I embraced this advice and went even bigger on my ads, got customized logo cups,binders, presentation folders, post cards, thank you cards, christmas cards,PENS!....basically just spent a grip load of money investing in my business INCLUDING the biggest blessing EVER - hiring my new awesome legal assistant who i was afraid to hire because i wasn't sure i could afford the new overhead. Turns out my legal assistant is great. She frees up my time so i can focus on making money where i wouldn't have had time to before and she makes enough money for the firm to where she pays for herself and she is starting to be profitable for the office! With my new legal assistant, I'm now able to take on bigger case loads and make more money too.
so what is the moral of this story? SPEND AND INVEST MONEY SO THAT YOUR MONEY WORK HARD FOR YOU.
For me, i need to continue investing in my business - next investment will be another legal assistant or paralegal in our office....once i reach a certain level of financial stability... i'm going to start spreading out my investments on things outside of business (i.e., retirement funds - which i already started when i started work, rental properties with passive income, etc). If i rely on getting rich solely off of my income as a lawyer, i'm never going to be as rich as I want to be. I have to find ways to make my money work hard for me. I will discuss different ways of having your money work hard for you in my next blog.
I'm a step closer to becoming a Multi-Millionaire. =)
This brings me back to what i learned in the "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind" book:
"Wealth File # 15: Rich people have their money work hard for them. Poor People work hard for their money."
... and I think GOD DAMNIT!!!!!! am i "Poor People"? shit... gotta start somewhere right? Can't have money work hard for me when i don't have a ton of it YET... but YES there is some truth to this so called "Wealth File #15".
When i first started my law practice, i was frugal with advertising my business so I started with small quarter page ads and i had a crappy web page that i designed myself. Guess what kind of clients i got with these small low cost ads? BINGO - not as many clients and not very good clients (although i can't complain about how many clients I got because i was fortunate enough to have a good start). When I spent more money and switched to full page ads, front page ads, even multiple ads in each newspapers and a nicer webpage, i got better paying clients and lots more of them!
When i started out, i also started off in a small office space in an executive office with shared conference room space. I had decent clients but not what you would consider great paying clients... I slowly expanded to two rooms, but boy was the office crappy (with small windows - felt like i was in a prison cell in some tower on some isolated island overlooking southcenter mall)!!! not something i was super proud of, but when i started accumulating enough money to expand to a much larger office, i didn't because i was too frugal and didn't think i could afford the higher overhead... i held off on expanding to the larger office... in the mean time i LOST pretty good potential clients who were willing to spend mega bucks but weren't too impressed by my little shindig (they probably went to the lawyer in the nicer building down the street). I still pinch myself til this day for losing some of those clients because i was too cheap to switch offices when just one of those clients would have been sufficient to pay off an entire year of rent at my current office. When i finally got the courage to expand with my husband to a much larger and nicer office, guess what? BINGO - i got better paying clients and lots more of them. AND the added bonus of having a nicer office is no one really questioned my lawyering ability because of how young i look... they now just assume i'm doing something right because my office looks decent.
Around the same time, i had a discussion with an attorney (who has very successful med mal firm on the waterfronts of tacoma- you may know who he is)...he said "YOU'VE GOT TO SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY"... this is so true and so in line with "Wealth File #15". I embraced this advice and went even bigger on my ads, got customized logo cups,binders, presentation folders, post cards, thank you cards, christmas cards,PENS!....basically just spent a grip load of money investing in my business INCLUDING the biggest blessing EVER - hiring my new awesome legal assistant who i was afraid to hire because i wasn't sure i could afford the new overhead. Turns out my legal assistant is great. She frees up my time so i can focus on making money where i wouldn't have had time to before and she makes enough money for the firm to where she pays for herself and she is starting to be profitable for the office! With my new legal assistant, I'm now able to take on bigger case loads and make more money too.
so what is the moral of this story? SPEND AND INVEST MONEY SO THAT YOUR MONEY WORK HARD FOR YOU.
For me, i need to continue investing in my business - next investment will be another legal assistant or paralegal in our office....once i reach a certain level of financial stability... i'm going to start spreading out my investments on things outside of business (i.e., retirement funds - which i already started when i started work, rental properties with passive income, etc). If i rely on getting rich solely off of my income as a lawyer, i'm never going to be as rich as I want to be. I have to find ways to make my money work hard for me. I will discuss different ways of having your money work hard for you in my next blog.
I'm a step closer to becoming a Multi-Millionaire. =)
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Journey to Becoming a Multi-Millionaire - DAY 18
Personal matter: I know the journey to becoming a multi-millionaire isn't going to be an easy one. This includes dealing with people who don't get why I even have this goal. Eversince i've started this blog, i've encountered conversations with readers who tell me "money isn't everything...blah blah blah it'll lead to unhappiness...blah blah blah."
I personally think those who criticize my goal are those who have never been and will never be a multi-millionaire . ZING!!!
I like to work, i like to make money, i like to spend money and i also like to save money. My life is easier when there is an abundance of money and there's nothing wrong about admitting that. Does this mean that i'm consumed with making money right now? maybe, but so what? i'm young, i have engery and i have no kids - YET. =) and even if i'm consumed with making money, it doesn't mean that i'm miserable and have no life. I work hard but also enjoy life too.
Something I've learned from "Your Money - The Missing Manual": The road to wealth is paved with goals, and the same is true of the road to happiness. But for a goal to be worthwhile, it has to be related to your values and interests - it has to add something to your life.
Two and a half years ago, my husband and i created a five year goal list for ourselves. One of the goal is to GO TO ITALY for our delayed honeymoon. We're now going to France and Italy in a week for 16 days. This wouldn't have been possible without hardwork and earning money. I'm sure this experience will be a rejuvenating experience and i'll come back with more desire to become even richer...why because i want to live a life with rich experiences and most of the time it cost money to have these experiences!
Money to me is: experiences i can afford (i.e., traveling, eating good food), tools opportunities and experiences i can provide to my future children (i.e., educational activities, tutoring), my health my loved ones' health (i.e., healthcare), giving back to my parents in some way later and giving to charities that means something to me (Ginger's pet rescue)... all these things are things that have meaning to me and a lot of it cost money.
Bottom line: there is nothing wrong with wanting to make more MONEY so long as once i have MONEY, i make it WORTHWHILE. this leads me to my next blog...which will be about prioritizing.... stay tuned....
I personally think those who criticize my goal are those who have never been and will never be a multi-millionaire . ZING!!!
I like to work, i like to make money, i like to spend money and i also like to save money. My life is easier when there is an abundance of money and there's nothing wrong about admitting that. Does this mean that i'm consumed with making money right now? maybe, but so what? i'm young, i have engery and i have no kids - YET. =) and even if i'm consumed with making money, it doesn't mean that i'm miserable and have no life. I work hard but also enjoy life too.
Something I've learned from "Your Money - The Missing Manual": The road to wealth is paved with goals, and the same is true of the road to happiness. But for a goal to be worthwhile, it has to be related to your values and interests - it has to add something to your life.
Two and a half years ago, my husband and i created a five year goal list for ourselves. One of the goal is to GO TO ITALY for our delayed honeymoon. We're now going to France and Italy in a week for 16 days. This wouldn't have been possible without hardwork and earning money. I'm sure this experience will be a rejuvenating experience and i'll come back with more desire to become even richer...why because i want to live a life with rich experiences and most of the time it cost money to have these experiences!
Money to me is: experiences i can afford (i.e., traveling, eating good food), tools opportunities and experiences i can provide to my future children (i.e., educational activities, tutoring), my health my loved ones' health (i.e., healthcare), giving back to my parents in some way later and giving to charities that means something to me (Ginger's pet rescue)... all these things are things that have meaning to me and a lot of it cost money.
Bottom line: there is nothing wrong with wanting to make more MONEY so long as once i have MONEY, i make it WORTHWHILE. this leads me to my next blog...which will be about prioritizing.... stay tuned....
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Journey to Becoming a Multi-Millionaire - DAY 2
Yesterday, when I was on my way home from work with my husband, the song "I want to be a Millionaire" played on the radio station. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! ...it's my new theme song, except, i'd have to change some of the lyrics to "I'm going to become a MultiMillioinaire..."
Obnoxious? YES, VERY....but if it is something that's going to get me motivated, then i'm going to take it. Having a motivated mindset and spirit is key to achieving my goal. It gives me the drive and excitement i need to take actions necessary towards obtaining my goal.
I came home last night humming my revised theme song in my head and couldn't wait to pick up another book about money.
The book i had mentioned in my Day 1 blog is "Secrets of a Millionaire Mind". In it i learned education is key to wealth and maintaining wealth. My brother in law sent me a good article yesterday on how to make wealth. Check this out: http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html . I can definitely say my brother in law is wealthy and even he is still constantly reading and learning about wealth. Hence, moving forward, I'M COMMITTED TO CONTINUING EDUCATION. That's the only way i'll grow. I hope to share some of the things i learn on this blog as i continue to learn.
"I'm going to become a MultiMillioinaire...buy all the things i never had" I'm a step closer to becoming a Multi-Millionaire. =)
(BTW: thanks to those who commented on yesterday's post and for suggestions on what to read. I will definately check it out)
Obnoxious? YES, VERY....but if it is something that's going to get me motivated, then i'm going to take it. Having a motivated mindset and spirit is key to achieving my goal. It gives me the drive and excitement i need to take actions necessary towards obtaining my goal.
I came home last night humming my revised theme song in my head and couldn't wait to pick up another book about money.
The book i had mentioned in my Day 1 blog is "Secrets of a Millionaire Mind". In it i learned education is key to wealth and maintaining wealth. My brother in law sent me a good article yesterday on how to make wealth. Check this out: http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html . I can definitely say my brother in law is wealthy and even he is still constantly reading and learning about wealth. Hence, moving forward, I'M COMMITTED TO CONTINUING EDUCATION. That's the only way i'll grow. I hope to share some of the things i learn on this blog as i continue to learn.
"I'm going to become a MultiMillioinaire...buy all the things i never had" I'm a step closer to becoming a Multi-Millionaire. =)
(BTW: thanks to those who commented on yesterday's post and for suggestions on what to read. I will definately check it out)
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Journey to becoming a Multi-Millionaire - DAY 1
I want to become a multi-millionaire by the time i'm 36. I don't want to just be a millionaire ...i want to be a MULTI-millionaire so from now on I need to have the mindset of one. A few days ago I had to admit to myself that I'm a reckless spender and needed to change my habits so that I can retire early and have a home in some obnoxious country like the house hunters on HGTV's International House Hunters. I purchased a few books on money management from Borders' closing liquidation sale. My first book was millionaire Mind (i forget exact title, will update later). The point of the book was to be a millionaire, you have to think like one. The book outlines a number of principles by which I need to abide by to become a millionaire. One priniciple is to not be emotional when it comes to money. Today I encountered a situation where I had to bust out the principles that i recently learned and apply it to my situation....
Today was a battle of mind over emotion.
I settled a big case at work. Naturally, I thought ---- ooh, money to spend! I surfed the net to look for instant gratification on my normal favorite shopping website. I placed 6 items in my cart justifying the expenses as minor expenses and if I spend over $50, then it'd be free shipping - i'd be saving money!!! WRONG!
I had to tell myself, I can live without these clothes because cute clothes will exist when I'm in a better financial situation to spend. I AM DESTINED TO BE A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE...but only if i don't spend money on instant gratification today..... so comes the tough decision....either I make the decision of a forever poor person and spend emotionally to get instant gratification or I think like a multi-millionaire and instead of spending money on clothes, I will take the money that I would have spent on clothes and put it in my financial freedom account to invest in my future. -- that's a brilliant idea. I will do the ladder. I'm a step closer to becoming a Multi-Millionaire. =)
P.S. i'm a new user to this blogging forum and don't know how to respond to comments, so i'm just going to post my response directly back into my blog. If someone knows how I'm suppose to respond to the comemntsso that my response trails after comments, then please feel free to share the "how to" with me" as for now, i'm going to be technologically challenged and post my response this way:
Response to Already Multi-Millionaire:
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and for the comment. I will have to disagree on your first point. The book was worth the $8 or so dollars i purchased it for (40% off closing sale at Borders). It was very educational and i learned a lot of things i would not have had I not purchased the book. if purchasing a book to acquire knowledge is a mistake, then everyone who goes to school and pays tuition to further themselves in life is making a mistake. Knowledge is pricey but ingorance is more expensive. I'd rather pay for knowledge.
Also, who is to say that contributing to seomeone else's pursuit of becoming a Multi-millionaire will hinder my pursuit...as long as this other person is giving me tools to get close to where i want to be, i don't mind investing the $8 or so in his/her pursuit so i can save and make more than $8 for myself. it was a good investment if you ask me.
in response to your second point, LOTTERY TICKETS more often than not equals instant regret and purchaser ends up being a few bucks poorer after purchase.
i'm depositing the money i didn't spend on clothes into a financial freedom account to later invest in a passive income venture. (side note: passive income is another way of obtaining financial freedom - another tidbit i learned in the book i purchased)
Side Note: As for your Account ID and for "Already [being] Multi-Millionaire" GOOD FOR YOU!!! Very happy that you are in a good financial place!
Today was a battle of mind over emotion.
I settled a big case at work. Naturally, I thought ---- ooh, money to spend! I surfed the net to look for instant gratification on my normal favorite shopping website. I placed 6 items in my cart justifying the expenses as minor expenses and if I spend over $50, then it'd be free shipping - i'd be saving money!!! WRONG!
I had to tell myself, I can live without these clothes because cute clothes will exist when I'm in a better financial situation to spend. I AM DESTINED TO BE A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE...but only if i don't spend money on instant gratification today..... so comes the tough decision....either I make the decision of a forever poor person and spend emotionally to get instant gratification or I think like a multi-millionaire and instead of spending money on clothes, I will take the money that I would have spent on clothes and put it in my financial freedom account to invest in my future. -- that's a brilliant idea. I will do the ladder. I'm a step closer to becoming a Multi-Millionaire. =)
P.S. i'm a new user to this blogging forum and don't know how to respond to comments, so i'm just going to post my response directly back into my blog. If someone knows how I'm suppose to respond to the comemntsso that my response trails after comments, then please feel free to share the "how to" with me" as for now, i'm going to be technologically challenged and post my response this way:
Response to Already Multi-Millionaire:
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and for the comment. I will have to disagree on your first point. The book was worth the $8 or so dollars i purchased it for (40% off closing sale at Borders). It was very educational and i learned a lot of things i would not have had I not purchased the book. if purchasing a book to acquire knowledge is a mistake, then everyone who goes to school and pays tuition to further themselves in life is making a mistake. Knowledge is pricey but ingorance is more expensive. I'd rather pay for knowledge.
Also, who is to say that contributing to seomeone else's pursuit of becoming a Multi-millionaire will hinder my pursuit...as long as this other person is giving me tools to get close to where i want to be, i don't mind investing the $8 or so in his/her pursuit so i can save and make more than $8 for myself. it was a good investment if you ask me.
in response to your second point, LOTTERY TICKETS more often than not equals instant regret and purchaser ends up being a few bucks poorer after purchase.
i'm depositing the money i didn't spend on clothes into a financial freedom account to later invest in a passive income venture. (side note: passive income is another way of obtaining financial freedom - another tidbit i learned in the book i purchased)
Side Note: As for your Account ID and for "Already [being] Multi-Millionaire" GOOD FOR YOU!!! Very happy that you are in a good financial place!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)