The Wealth Company

10/12/2008 December Dues and Blues

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

December Dues and Blues

Regular readers of this daily news blog will realise that suddenly the news stopped on the 28th November, and that is because my Mum sadly and suddenly passed away on the 29th November, so I have been with my Dad since then.

I am now back at home and at my PC but inspiration has temporarily left me and I have decided to take a break for December and start the new year afresh and hopefully with a little more enthusiasm.

My Mum was only 78 and went downhill and died very suddenly and although she started life very poor, I know that for the last few years she has everything that her heart desired, both financially and emotionally. She reached her 60th Wedding anniversairy last April and did loads of special things this year - she even had her very first manicure and pedicure last month.

So a sad time for my Dad, me, my two brothers and all her family and friends but the good thing was that I was able to drop everything and be with her at the end and to be with my Dad since then - and that's because I don't have a job and have enough money to do as I please - and never have I appreciated that freedom more than I do today.

So I wish you health, wealth and happiness - and I will be back with you bright and breezy in 2009.

Gill

28/11/2008 Money talks

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Friday 28^th November – Money talks

I got chatted up in the check out queue at Tesco’s at the weekend. He was nice enough and friendly but not really my type. Anyway what I found interesting about the experience is that he obviously felt that he could impress me by talking about the size of his wad (so to speak) and he went into great detail about how much he earns. He is a long distance lorry driver and earns good money there but he loves the winter because then he also becomes a snow plough stand by driver. Apparently when the temperature gets to 4 degrees or lower he spends the night on stand by waiting for the falling white stuff, at which time he will dive into his machine and start ploughing snow. For this fantastic stand by feat he and his mate get £500 each per night.

I will admit I was impressed. £500 seems a lot to be on stand by, but then he told me that he has to physically sit in the machine at the depot between 6p.m. and 6 a.m. for that money.

It begs the question why?

Surely we are smart enough to have reasonable weather forecasts that indicate when snow might appear and then to allow these drivers to stay in bed and then get alerted by phone as soon as the snow starts or just before if we get the forecasting accurate enough.

(On this particular topic we were in Florida when the hurricane hit last month and I was hugely impressed by the weather forecasting there – it constantly updated us all with the location and speed of the hurricane – and the forecast was so accurate that we were able to keep driving on our holiday whilst remaining exactly 150 miles north of the eye. Brilliant.)

Anyway back to my lothario friend from Tescos. There must be hundreds of people like him all over the country earning £500 per night from about October to March every year in the vague chance that snow will appear and need ploughing.

What a ridiculous waste of public money that is when a cheaper and more efficient system is available and it makes me think that the public sector is managed by morons. The ‘have them there at the depot’ option is obviously an easier one to introduce than the ‘have to think it through’ system of forecasting, alerts and phone calls. But boy how much cheaper would it be? I guess my friend would be quite happy for £100 per night to stay in bed – so we could cut that total cost down by 80% with a bit of planning and forethought.

I don’t normally care much about the management of the public purse at this level but when I hear about the pension’s shortfall and poor old grannies and vicars going to jail because they won’t pay their council tax, it makes you think doesn’t it?

Have a great weekend!

27/11/2008 Thursday Thoughts

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Thursday 27^th November – Thursday Thoughts

Life's Journey

Do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.
Do not set your goals by what other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.
Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life; for without them,
life is meaningless.
Do not let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past
nor for the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live all of the days of
your life.
Do not give up when you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
It is a fragile thread that binds us to each other.
Do not be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
Do not shut love out of your life by saying it is impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love.
The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly.
In addition, the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
Do not dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope.
To be without hope is to be without purpose.
Do not run through life so fast that you forget not only where
you have been, but also where you are going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured
each step of the way.

Anonymous.

26/11/2008 The old adage

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Wednesday 26^th November – The old adage

I read this weekend an interesting financial twist on an old adage that I often quote. The old version is about living in the moment:

“Yesterday is past, tomorrow is the future but today is a gift – that’s why it’s called the present”,

and the new version is:

“Yesterday is a spent cheque. Tomorrow is an IOU. Today is the only cash you have. Spend it well.”

I like that.

25/11/2008 Stock system

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Tuesday 25^th November – Stock system

Regular readers will know that I am fond of stock trading systems and my personal belief is that the best way to invest in equities is to stick to proven strategies. Its not that you can’t beat the system with flair and creativity but it does take a huge amount of effort, nerve, concentration and time which most of us don’t have

So a summary of tips by Jeff Randall of the daily Telegraph caught my eye this week, which I quote in full:

1. The Z-zone: avoid companies with major assets in a country that contains the letter z in its name – except New Zealand.

2. The 19^th hole: avoid any company with a boss whose golf handicap is less than his shirt size.

3. No, Minister: shun businesses with has-been MP’s on their boards.

4. Muddled thinking: reject any company whose boss cannot explain the business in plain English on one side of A4.

5. Own goals: give all football clubs the boot.

6. Jetset freeloaders: steer clear if managers behave as it they own the business. Watch for misuse of corporate planes.

7. Curse of status: beware if the boss becomes head of the CBI.

I can’t say it’s a system that is proven as successful but it might work!

24/11/2008 Sea change?

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Monday 24^th November – Sea change?

I have been fascinated to watch our current markets and the reporting of our economy at the moment. And I think at last we are getting somewhere with the public’s knowledge and awareness – so that’s brilliant!

There has been a sea change in the public perception.

Six months ago the public were screaming for interest rate cuts – they got them and now they are screaming for interest rate rises because now people get more or less nothing as a return on their savings. Six months ago the public were screaming about prices being too high and now they are worried that they may be to low – on the BBC this morning they even mentioned the word, ‘deflation’.

Now any person with a moments consideration can see that there are two sides to the economic arguments now, which wasn’t the case before. Many people are now asking me questions like – can interest rates actually be too low? And I haven’t ever been asked that question before.

So at last we are getting some public awareness of the ups and the downs, and that the economy has to be moving otherwise it’s stagnant. The economy is like nature – it needs to grow, it needs to move, it needs to flow – otherwise all the plants die, or the economy dries up. It’s a natural thing for the economy to expand, to consolidate and to contract from time to time. It isn’t natural for a plant or the economy to be the same all the time.

And the most brilliant thing about this is that now the public are getting a sense of that movement they may not be quite so traumatised by specific things any more because they may realise that it’s Ok for stuff to go up and down. The economy and our wealth is a balancing act – there are good things about the economy going up and good things about the economy going down.

All we need to do is to learn and understand what is going on and where the good bits are and we can then be secure and more relaxed in our own personal, and the countries, finances – hooray!!

21/11/2008 The Peas

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Friday 21^st November – The Peas

Many of you will know the peas approach to business planning – and that involves writing a basic paragraph about a selection of ’Ps’ – which are listed below.

People often get daunted by the thought of writing a business plan and end up overdoing it. The best business plans to me are the short and simple ones. Also the more you can get the feel of your product or service into the plan the better – so if you are struggling to do that, try to imagine the product or service as a person – is it Katie Price (Jordan), Joanna Lumley, Natasha Kaplinsky, Kate Garroway etc. When you read that list of names you can probably hear ‘product differentiation’ i.e. each one will conjour up a different look and feel, there are different market positions, brands, and distribution methods and so on.

So get clear about who or what your product is and then write paragraph on each of the following – and there’s your business plan! Remember not all questions or p’s are relevant to every business.

• Purpose – why are you doing it?

• Position in the market place – go back to the list of ladies above and spot where your business fits.

• Proposition – to provide employment – charity? Ethical? Body shop?

• Product – clear definition.

• Price – is it sensitive – test the price.

• Profit – all the financial stuff – do spreadsheets.

• Profile – the specific brand/marketing stuff – follows on from position in the market place.

• Place of distribution – where, how – local, national?

• People – who are going to do:

• Control the business

• Sell the product

• Do the transactions

• Report and record what goes on.

20/11/2008 Thursday Thoughts - Optimism!

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Thursday 20^th November – Thursday Thoughts

For today and in keeping with my determination to be upbeat I reproduce here the Optimists Creed – otherwise known as:

'Promise Yourself'.

Promise Yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only OF the best to work only FOR the best and EXPECT only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give EVERY living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Christian D Larson 1912

19/11/2008 `Interesting` post

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Wednesday 19^th November – ‘Interesting’ post

I have been away for a few days and I got back late Monday night, so yesterday sat down to open about 5 days post, and there were half or dozen or so letters from finance companies about mortgages.

So my Bank of Ireland mortgages have gone down from 5.15% to 3.64% and the mortgage payment itself on one of those (it’s one of my larger HMOs) has gone down from £1,402 to £904.84 per month – and I have two of those – so that’s an additional £1,000 of income just from that.

Then of course loads of letters from Mortgage Express and the interest rates I am now paying on those are mainly between 2.49% and 2.64% - and I actually now have a mortgage on a ‘cheap and cheerful’ property in Sheffield where the mortgage is £178 per month. The rent on that one is £495.

And so on.

Are we in recession? Credit crunch? Call it what you will but I know this – if you invest wisely and by following the principles and the formulas that I teach – it doesn’t matter if the market is going up down or sideways, you will always be able to make money.

In this case I wouldn’t sell any of these properties today as the values are slightly down on what I paid – but that doesn’t matter because I wouldn’t WANT to sell them today when they are making me so much income.

And in case you think I am being greedy – just be reassured that I am off to the Make A Wish charity ball on Saturday – all the spare money will go there!

18/11/2008 Wogan`s Woe

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Tuesday 18^th November – Wogan’s Woe

I was driving to Luton yesterday listening to Terry Wogan on the radio and he said, “why is it that when the BBC make a mistake (the Ross/Brand affair), it's all over the newspapers for weeks, and yet when the BBC do something right and raise over £20 million for children in need, its hardly mentioned in the press?”

Bloody good question that, and sadly I know the answer.

Our society and culture is based on negativity – we are not ‘happy’ unless we are having a good moan. As a generality we concentrate on what’s wrong, what’s bad, what won’t work and what can’t be done – and that’s the reason most people are not wealthy – and as we know only 1% of our population retire financially free – and that’s because they spend their entire life saying to themselves and others ‘it cant be done, and it wont work’. And of course that’s true for them.

Nobody ever achieved anything by saying, ‘I can’t do it’.

We achieve and become successful and wealthy and free buy saying ‘HOW can I do that’ and YES I CAN! Only by giving our unconscious minds a question to work on like, ‘how can I do that’ will our brains get to work. As soon as we say it can’t be done, the brain shuts down and concentrates on justifying the, ‘it can’t be done’, decision and builds up more negativity.

It’s scary how some people allow that to become their reality.

So Terry – I am delighted that you raised all that money – and its good to see such input and commitment from the BBC and I know that the money raised will do masses of good for kids all over the UK – WELL DONE MATE!

17/11/2008 Lost the Courage?

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Monday 17^th November – Lost the Courage?

There have been a couple of articles jingling around my head for a couple of weeks and they cause me concern. Firstly there was an article by Anne Widdecombe in the Express (Oct 29^th) talking about money being the last Taboo subject and the other was a piece by Libby Purves (Times 3^rd November) about the Welsh road sign that had been mistranslated. If you didn’t see it – the road sign was a basic No entry sign which had been translated into welsh as something like – “I’ve gone to lunch leave a message”.

Now on the face of it two different articles but both showing me something.

Anne Widdecombe is right – we don’t like to talk about money and her point is that she can ask people about diseases and about divorce and every other major ‘disturbance’ but she feels that she cant ask about finances and money – at a time when people are being made redundant, and apparently suffering financially - and she finds that she has to skirt around the issue because it is still socially unacceptable to say “have you got any money, how are you paying the gas bill nowadays”.

Libby Purves makes a good point in that the person who is responsible for doing this translation is Welsh or even speaks Welsh. The person works for the government and yet hasn’t checked the translation of a road sign and all the implications of that.

Both ladies highlight a tragic British disease – and that’s conformity. Everybody wants to keep within the lines, doesn’t want to rock the boat and that creates the ‘jobsworth’ mentality. At this time we need free thinkers, creators, people prepared to challenge and make a difference and come out of the standard box.

I am reminded of a quote by Earl Nightingale:

“The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it’s conformity”.

Let’s stamp out conformity immediately – it doesn’t serve us as individuals or as a country.

14/11/2008 Discount deals

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Friday 14^th November – Discount deals

Now I like a good deal – and nothing gives me more pleasure than getting a bargain so I am delighted to produce here a list issued by the Sunday Times last month with the top on line discounts! They are:

Play.com 20% off by quoting PLCINX08

Asos.com 15% off menswear and other goods by quoting STYLISHAUTUMN

Thorntons 15% off with NCW8

Sharp £250 off 37 inch TV with 32H2

Dominos pizza 20% off all orders with GLBRADB

Woolworths 10% off all toys with earlybird10

Ocado £60 off groceries if you quote VOU2584842

There are also some very good 2 for 3 items in the main stores – Boots, Waterstones, Smiths etc – so go and get all your stuff at discount prices this weekend.

Have a great weekend.