Category Financial freedom

Financial freedom

May 14 2013

Are you a slave to consumerism?

ConsumerismToday I’d like you to start thinking differently about your purchases.  In an attempt to accomplish this feat, I’ve decided to take one very simple scenario that typically occurs in most people’s lives and showcase how dramatically this can impact you in the future.

The scenario we’re going to explore today is the simple purchase of a vehicle.  Bob and Jennifer are both 30 years of age and they’ve both decided to purchase a vehicle.  Bob desires a slightly more luxurious vehicle and purchases a new one every four years, while Jennifer is happy with a more modest vehicle and holding it for a few years longer.  If this trend continues until they are both 60 years old, what will the end result be if Jennifer simply puts her savings into a simple index fund investment and receives an average annual return of 7%?

Name

Spent on Cars
(over 30 years)

Amount Saved with
Investment Returns
Bob $240,000 $0
Jennifer $120,000 $397,561.10*

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Jan 14 2013

Start working for yourself without quitting your job!

Early RetirementWouldn’t you love to work for yourself?  Are you afraid to quit your job?  Surprisingly, you don’t have to!  You don’t even have to work any additional hours!  What am I talking about then?  It’s simple.  Start saving today!

Alright… at this point I’ve lost a solid percentage of my readers, individuals who simply aren’t willing to sacrifice their own “perceived happiness” just to save.  But hold up one minute there… what exactly is a sacrifice?

When I used to have to wait to purchase something I thought of it as a sacrifice as well, but as time has went on and wisdom has slowly creeped into my head I now realized that I had a threatening disease known as first-world slavery and that making the actual purchase is the sacrifice.  What?!  Am I completely nuts?  No, in fact I’m not!

Recover from these words, regain your composure and then continue reading my blog please.   It’s okay… you can do it.

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Nov 19 2012

Counter-Intuitive Real Estate Investing (reposted from Dr. Bruce M. Firestone’s Blog)

REPOSTED FROM DR. BRUCE M. FIRESTONE’S BLOGGuest post by Brent Mondoux, Founding Partner, Amplified Investments; CEO, N-VisionIT Interactive

I’ve been an entrepreneur for the last fifteen years of my life—my motto is ‘Once Today is Gone You Can Never Get It Back’.

How can a person ensure that once today is gone that their time was wisely invested towards achieving their goals? Well, first they need to figure out what their goals are before they can reach them.

People are capable of extraordinary feats if they’ll just focus on completing one ordinary task at a time.

Brent Mondoux
Brent Mondoux, The Future is NOW

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Oct 2 2012

Quit gifting your financial freedom to the government

Financial freedomWhat if I told you that there is a legal way to pay less tax every year?  What if I told you that there was also a way to retire earlier and with more money than you would have if you continued down the path you’re on right now?  Would you take advantage of this?  Of course you would!  Well then keep reading and let’s get started…

Almost every individual has a tough time saving.  In fact, almost half of all individuals are living paycheck to paycheck… and sadly, this includes thousands of people making $100,000+ salaries!  Terrifying!

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Sep 26 2012

Change The Way You Think About Purchases, Quit Being A Slave To Your Possessions

Slave to MoneyLast week one of my friends was talking to me about her weekend filled with her perceived much needed bout of “retail therapy”.  She talked about all the new clothes and shoes, and even more clothes that she bought!  She upgraded her iPhone to the latest version and she even managed to go out to both lunch and dinner twice!

We both know what happened after.  I completely lost it!  “Are you nuts?!” I exclaimed, “I cannot believe my ears!”.  She smiled and retorted in sarcasm, “I know… I know… I went a little overboard, but I work hard so I deserve it!”.  Ironies abound, what she didn’t realize was she was about to start working even harder just to cover the costs of all of these material possessions.  Believe me, I was once in this trap for several years of my life… I know this situation all too well.

After some coaxing I convinced her to reveal the details of her purchases over the weekend so that I can create a case study to present back to her (I got her permission to post it to my blog as well).  I just couldn’t take it that she was about to set herself up for decades of suffering and I had to at least try to pull her out of the trap of first-world slavery (self-inflicted by the lust for unnecessary physical possessions).

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Sep 24 2012

Want to Achieve Financial Freedom? Stop Spending So Damn Much!

Saving moneyOver the past several months I’ve had dozens of discussions with family, friends and colleagues surrounding various topics related to investing in order to achieve financial freedom.  These discussions have blurred a number of different topics – What are the best investments?  What exactly is financial freedom?  How do I approach an opportunity?  How do I get over my fears?  And the list goes on.

Today I’d like to cover one of the most important topics to achieving financial freedom.  This topic in particular revealed both significant discomfort and resistance from the majority of my colleagues during our conversations – saving for financial freedom!

Saving for financial freedom isn’t a new concept.  It’s not even a complicated one, it’s simple, spend less than you earn and save the rest; optimally save as much as you can.  After all, if you aren’t capable of saving, you won’t have very much money to invest towards achieving your financial freedom!  Ironically, in almost every instance where the topic was brought up, the reactionary comment was something along the lines of “I can’t save any more money; I’m already barely getting by!”

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Aug 8 2012

Want to invest in real estate but don’t know where to start?

Ottawa real estate investingA solid start to learning about real estate investing starts with attending courses and events, reading books and building a network of experienced colleagues who have already succeeded in real estate investing through reputable and trusted organizations.

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Jul 27 2012

How can I become financially free?

Financial freedomAlthough people often confuse the two, financial freedom isn’t the same as being rich.  One individual could be completely financially free earning just $20,000 annually, while another could be trapped even with millions of dollars of annual income.

So then, what is financial freedom?
Financial freedom is a state of mind achieved within an individual by no longer needing to worry about money.  Money is no longer the dominating force behind the personal or professional decisions within an individuals’ life.

Why is financial freedom more important than wealth?
While many individuals can consume a limited amount of food, once they’ve reached their limits, individuals will discontinue eating and their thoughts will no longer be occupied with eating.

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Jun 8 2012

Real estate investing is based on facts, not emotions!

All of our investments go through a vigorous multi-step process including ensuring that our properties meet all of our crtieria, including the following main ones:

  • Cashflow positive even after contingencies (vacancy and repair allowance)
  • Can deal with mortgage rate fluctuation and a degree of risk
  • Attracts and maintains lower risk, lower maintenance tenants
Apr 17 2012

OREIO Event Recap: Don R. Campbell, President of REIN

Ontario Real Estate Investors Organization (OREIO)Last night, my business partner Reid and I attended the Ontario Real Estate Investors Organization (OREIO) monthly event at the Travelodge Hotel on Carling in Ottawa.  This month I was very excited, because this month the presenter was one of my mentors and educators and the catalyst which brought me out of the phase that many investors get into known as “analysis paralysis”.  The presenter was none other than Don Campbell himself!

For those of you who don’t know Don Campbell, he is one of Canada’s most experienced real estate investors.  He wasn’t born into riches, didn’t have a silver spoon, he started when he was working at a customer service desk at Sears and worked his way to where he is today, one accomplishment at a time.  It wasn’t an easy ride, there’s no such thing as easy money, but he worked through the challenges as he faced them and any real estate investor can save themselves thousands or even millions in mistakes learning from his experience.  He is a realist at heart, and isn’t afraid to share both the successes and challenges he’s been through.

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