I knew at a relatively young age that you needed to be prepared when opportunities presented themselves.  This preparedness along with the flexibility to go where the opportunities were, and the desire to reach higher, allowed me have a relatively successful career in corporate America.  It also helped that I had an absolutely terrific boss (leader) who I trusted and respected.  In fact, I probably would still be in corporate America if CSC hadn't bought DynCorp.  DynCorp was a wonderful entrepreneurial and somewhat flexible environment to work in whereas CSC was highly procedure driven and I really didn't feel at home there.

It was my entrepreneurial side that sent me searching for something that would add more purpose and satisfaction to my working life.  After spending more than $130k and attending endless hours of seminars and trainings I've learned some truths that I am sharing with you, our readers, this month.  

1. Relatively few people will ever achieve financial independence working for someone else.  Financial independence is defined as having enough money coming in every month to cover all your bills even if you don't go to work.  How many people working for someone else do you know that have achieved this?
2. It isn't how much you make, it is how much you keep.  A couple of interesting sub life lessons learned here are:
   1. Employees pay the highest percentage of what they make in taxes whereas business owners can write off many expenses as a cost of business that employees cannot.
   2. Don't spend more than you earn.
   3. Save at least 10% of what you make to have any chance of a good retirement.
3. Corporate America offers little job security.  I recently had a friend who is very well educated and highly skilled and one of the nicest people I've ever met who is being laid off for the second time in his career.  I also witnessed a person I highly respected, and still do, get demoted.  I knew this person to work exceptionally hard, be an effective leader, and always run a highly ethical productive operation.  If it could happen to these people it can happen to anyone.
4. Your saved money should work for you as hard as you worked to earn it.  You're money must earn at least as much as the inflation rate, after taxes are taken out, (at least 4% right now) or the purchasing power of that money is going down and you are actually losing money.
5. Doing something once and getting paid on it over and over again is the best way to achieve financial independence.  This is why Mary Jane and I love real estate investing and direct marketing. 

Many people do the same things day after day and wonder why they have not achieved different results.  We must change to achieve a different result.  Many of the guru's tell us that if we will do what others will not do for 3-5 years we will be able to do what others cannot do for the rest of our lives!

Let me ask you this: If you do not change what you are doing now what will your life be like 3-5 years from now?

Here is another quote from Steve Jobs. "When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

We live in a country and a time where we are largely captains of our own ships.  Where is your ship sailing?  Are you happy with the destination or do you need to change course?

What the Heck is Going On With The Stock Market? 

(by Kevin) 

Last month I mentioned that we attended Note School where we learn about investing in mortgage backed notes.  As part of that training Kevin Shortle (twitter accounts @kevinshortle and @noteschool) presented information as part of the state of the industry overview that I feel is very important to share with our readers.

• Investors pulled money from stock mutual funds in 2012 for the sixth year in a row, despite the stock market's strong performance.
• A net $90 billion was withdrawn from U.S. stock mutual funds last year, industry consultant Strategic Insight said on Monday.  This is the most since 2008.
• The total included $26 billion pulled out in December, the tenth month in a row that withdrawals have exceeded deposits.
• Bond funds attracted the most cash since 2009, another illustration of how conservative investors have become with their money since the financial crisis.

From USA today to read more click here. 

As I looked at this slide I had to ask myself why then is the stock market going up?  

Kevin then presented this next bit of information.  Taken from an article titled "Proof the Fed is Juicing the Markets" published March 4 by Fox Business. I've included several of the paragraphs from this article directly below.

Charles Brady, senior editor of the FOX Business Network, has put together a remarkable chart that clearly shows the Federal Reserve's monetary easing policies are not going into the U.S. economy, but instead into the stock market.  

The chart here compares the Dow Jones Industrial Average with the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank's adjusted monetary base.  It shows the effect of Fed purchases of mortgage-backed and Treasury securities from Fed dealers, whereby the Federal Reserve buys $85 billion total every month from the big banks, hastening the growth in the Fed's balance sheet to more than $3 trillion. 

The central bank has been creating bank reserves out of thin air since September 2008, making it an official enabler to the federal government's massive fiscal expenditures that now has the federal deficit at more than $16 trillion, with about $6 trillion added since the president took office, more than any other U.S. president combined.

The adjusted monetary base is the sum of currency (including coins) in circulation outside Federal Reserve banks and the U.S. Treasury, plus deposits held by depository institutions at Federal Reserve banks.

You can see how hooked the market is to the central bank's money printing - the correlation in fact is rather astonishing.  It shows the government and the central bank's power to create money, manipulate market prices, and transfer wealth.  The market is powered ahead by a growing strength in corporate profits, too.

To read the entire article click here .

As I took in the information from both slides it occurs to me that the recent rise in the stock market is not necessarily due to increased corporate profits but could be a reflection of inflation to come. What do you think?

Laughs and Interesting Stuff 

3 Men and a Woman in a Lifeboat

Three men and one woman were stranded on a lifeboat for several days.  Finally after days of hardship, a helicopter spots the people and lets down a rope ladder to have them climb up into the helicopter.   

All four people started climbing the rope ladder at once when the helicopter pilot yells down , "There is only enough room for three people.  Somebody is going to have to let go."  All of the men immediately refused to let go.

The woman bravely says, 'My entire life men in my life have sacrificed for me.  My father worked hard to put a roof over my head, my brother protected me from bullies and my husband has always been there for me.  This time I am going to sacrifice for the men and I will let go."

The men were so touched by her speech that they all clapped!

Mrs. Sanders, please?

The phone rings and the lady of the house answers, "hello."

Mrs. Sanders, please?

"Speaking"

"Mrs. Sanders, this is Doctor Jones at Saint Agnes Laboratory.  When you husband's doctor sent your husband's biopsy to the lab last week, a biopsy from another Mr. Sanders arrived as well.  We are now uncertain which one belongs to your husband.  Frankly, either way the results are not too good."

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Sanders asks nervously.

"Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's and the other one tested positive for HIV.  We can't tell which is which."

"That's dreadful! Can you do the test again?" questioned Mrs. Sanders

"Normally we can, but Medicare will only pay for these expensive tests one time."

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?" asks Mrs. Sanders

"The folks at Medicare recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town.  If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him."

Amish Humor

Sign behind an Amish carriage:

"Energy efficient vehicle. Runs on grass and oats.

Caution: Avoid exhaust!"

Instructions Not Included

Men complain that women don't come with instructions.

What's the point of that, have you ever known a man to read the instructions?