I’ve been wanting to do a review on Bo Sanchez’ Truly Rich Club for quite some time but I’ve been putting it off due to busy schedule at work.  When I read about Bo’s recent article “How To Be a Billionaire”, I thought people need to find out more about this.

Before I say anything else, please bear in mind that I am (well, technically I am not, but my wife is) a member of the Truly Rich Club, and if you sign-up to the Truly Rich Club by clicking the link at the upper right side of this site, I (or my wife) earn a little income as an affiliate commission.

That being said, this review is not to persuade you to do something you don’t want to do.  My hope is that by sharing my personal experiences with the club, it will help you decide if joining the club will be of help in achieving your financial goals.

How did you find about the Truly Rich Club?

A couple of years ago, I was an OFW working as a Mainframe Test Lead for a credit card company in Malaysia.  When I came home to the Philippines for a 2-week vacation, I came across Bo’s 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich book.  At that time, I was really trying to find out ways on how I can grow my hard earned money.  After reading the book, I realized he was actually holding Truly Rich Seminars in the Philippines.   Since I only had a few days left in the country before going back to Malaysia, I was not able to attend the seminar.

A few months after, I learned that Bo created the Truly Rich Club.  Because I wasn’t able to attend the seminar – I was very eager to try out the online club!

Since my wife was the one who has a credit card, I talked my wife into joining the club.  I am very blessed to have a very supportive wife.  She agreed to join in. The next month, we received the 2 months worth DVD videos and Audio CDs we ordered from the club.

Why did you join the Truly Rich Club?

I was in a foreign country.  My options were limited.  I couldn’t attend any seminar in the Philippines because I was out of the country.

I didn’t know anything about investing in mutual funds, stocks or internet businesses, especially in the Philippines at that time.  Yes, I learned a thing or two from various blogs and personal finance sites.  In most cases the specific advise on these sites were only applicable to other countries such as the U.S.  I didn’t know if the same thing can be done in the Philippines.

So when I came across the Truly Rich Club, it was like a dream come true.  Joining the club allowed me to learn how to grow my money in the Philippines! Moreover, through the monthly DVDs, I got to watch Bo Sanchez’ interviews and talks.  It was like attending the Truly Rich seminars virtually.

What did you like about the the Truly Rich Club?

The content is simply amazing.  When I started, I was looking forward to the next month’s issues.  My wife and I would always checkout the mail box just to see if the DVDs for the month have already arrived.

What I really liked are the very specific information shared through the various interviews on very successful businessmen.  You can see how they view money, their mindset in terms of relationships and on building businesses and character.

The club products are full-packed with information.  I can’t keep up.  There’s a lot of information to learn.  I’m still catching up with the rest of the power talks.

Bo also sends out a weekly Newsletter where he provides stocks update, business advise, and more.  The content is really overflowing, I only wish you could also learn from those DVDs and Audio CDs and get the financial information first hand.

One thing I really appreciate was the smooth transition of delivering the DVDs after my wife and I finally decided to come home to the Philippines last year. We wanted to have the audio CDs and DVDs delivered to our home in the Philippines instead.  We only had to email them our new address and voila! We received the products to the new address.

What I didn’t like about the the Truly Rich Club?

When we first started with the club, there were times when the DVDs arrived late.  Since we were always very eager, waiting for the next issue was a torture.

It would also be a great idea to have a forum exclusive to club members where lessons can be discussed or shared with each other.  The feeling of being in a community would certainly help boost members’ confidence when they start to struggle in taking action on those valuable financial tips.

Why I recommend joining the Truly Rich Club?

I honestly believe that in today’s world, information is king.  If you are not informed, you will be left out.  You will always be wondering how come others are getting financially ahead while you’re still stuck working at a dead-end job you really hate.

There were a lot of times when I wanted to share the incredible products I’ve watched or heard from the club, but it’s hard because there are copyright issues.  I don’t want to go into the business of piracy.  More importantly, I don’t want to profit from stealing other people’s products.

Thankfully, there’s one “legal” way to help share these products to you.  That is, if you decide to be a member of the club as well.  The Super Gold Package (DVD video +  Audio CD) costs PhP 997 ($37 for International Membership) monthly at the time of this writing.  The Gold Package (Audio CD only) costs PhP 497 ($39 for International Membership) monthly.  The Audio CD is basically a recording of the same DVD video so if you are interested only in listening to the presentations, you can take the Gold Package.  What I do is I copy the audio over to my iPod and I listen to it while working.  The great thing about it is that I can listen to it over and over again.

Bo Sanchez is a preacher so a lot of his talks contain references to passages in the bible.  While I don’t mind since I am a Catholic, others may not be as forgiving.  So if you don’t like hearing the word “amen”, please bear this in mind when you join.

How has the club helped you so far?

After my wife and I finally came home to the Philippines to settle for good, we immediately attended Bo’s Truly Rich seminar.  Even though he was discussing the same basic concepts from his book and the club, it’s still refreshing to see Bo presenting the ideas with my own eyes.  It’s a bit surreal. You can learn more about my experience on the seminar here.

My wife and I also attended the financial coaching program a few weeks after.  After the seminar, I was really excited to finally get started.  Here are 3 things I’ve been exploring since I started taking action on the many lessons from the club and the seminars:

• RTBs – my wife and I finally started investing in RTBs.  You can learn more about how we opened an account. Here’s an update after we received our first interest income.  And, only a few days ago, we already received the 2nd quarterly interest income.  Yey!
• Stocks – I’ve started investing in stocks.  I’ve invested through EIP for a couple of months now.  These are small (PhP 5,000) monthly investments on the most stable companies listed in the Philippine Stocks Exchange.  My basic strategy is to take advantage of the dollar cost averaging.  I’ve also learned another strategy from Bo’s Stocks Update that I may try out soon – that is, Super EIP (I think this was coined by Bo himself).  If you want to find out, you can sign-up to the Truly Rich Club or wait for my updates by subscribing to this blog via RSS or Email. Subscription to Rich Money Habits blog is FREE!.
• Internet Marketing – I am a techie. Having spent the last 8 years of my life working in IT, I am very fluent in more than a dozen languages. Unfortunately, only 3 of them can be understood by human.  No, I am not an alien.  Most of the languages I know, only computers are able to understand.  I can communicate (i.e. program) in Visual Basic, C, Mainframe Languages, Assembly Language, and more.  Which brings me to my point.  I want to be able to communicate to fellow human beings as well as computers.  I want to find out how to present an information product on the internet in a way that the other person will be able to know exactly what he is getting into.  If it is something that will solve his problem, well and good!  If not, at least he doesn’t have to waste his time digging deeper, seeking clarification on that specific product.

What will you get when you join the club?

While reading Bo’s newest book “Choose To Be Wealthy: 8 Habits of the Happy Millionaire” which was launched last Saturday at SMX Convention Center, I got the most updated list of the 11 Big Blessings you will receive if you decide to join the Truly Rich Club.  The list is so much more now than when we signed-up more than a year ago.  It’s really great that Bo is giving away so much.

Here’s a sneak peak of what you will receive:

2 Powertalks every month (instant access via MP3)

Bo’s Success Mentors Collection every 3 months

4 Wealth Strategies newsletter every month

Daily God’s Whispers email

How To Be Truly Rich Seminar

How To Conquer Your Goliaths Ebook

How To Turn Thoughts Into Things Ebook

My Maid Invests in the Stock Market Ebook

Monthly update of what Bo invests in

Earn passive income by becoming Bo’s affiliate in the Truly Rich Club

Earn passive income with Bo’s other internet work

There’s even an amazing “wow experience” guarantee. Here’s how it works.  Should you decide to cancel your membership during your first month of membership, after receiving the stuffs above, the money will be returned to you no questions asked.  You even get to keep all the stuffs that have already been sent to you – an amazing $251.50 value.

That’s all I can share for now.  If you do decide to join the Truly Rich Club, congratulations to you!  My hope is that you become Truly Rich in every sense of the word and share your blessings to other people!  Good luck!

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What to read next?

1. Bo Sanchez’ Truly Rich Club Review: Problems?
2. Bo Sanchez’ Truly Rich Seminar and Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program this June
3. Bo Sanchez’ How To Become Truly Rich Seminar this coming August 7, 2010
4. Jomar Hilario Internet Marketing Workshop Club Review
5. Bo Sanchez’s Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program (Day 1)

Welcome to the third edition of Rich Money Habits Carnival – The Psychology of Money.  The top picks of this edition all share the same common theme – discovering the psychology of money.

How is Warren Buffet, one of the richest people in the world, different from the rest of us?  Why is it that some people make excuses and others continue to blast their way to success?  How can you get what you want by also giving someone else what he wants?  Find the answers out by reading through our top picks for the month of March.

Rich Money Habits’ Top 5 Picks

• Your Best Library presents 10 Signs You’re a Financial Disaster posted at Your Best Library, saying, “If you show these 10 signs, the chances are high that you’re a financial disaster.” [RMH] Hilarious! I couldn’t stop myself from nodding my head at the 10 signs of being a financial disaster.  Witty, funny and definitely spot on.
• Silicon Valley Blogger presents Basic Business Advice from an Accidental Entrepreneur posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “My own story on how I became an online entrepreneur.” [RMH] This article is an honest take on the life of an accidental entrepreneur.  The author said it best in “it’s (NOT) enough to say that your business is filling a need…you should actually be good at filling that need.”
• Joe Plemon presents Are You An Opportunity Seizer or an Excuse Maker? posted at Personal Finance By The Book, saying, “Some find opportunity when it seemingly doesn’t exist. Others make excuses when opportunity knocks. A great rich money habit is to learn how to seize those opportunities.” [RMH] Great article on why we need to stop making excuses and take advantage of opportunities that come our way.  While reading the post, I remember the movie “Yes, Man” starring Jim Carrey.  It’s a feel good movie about saying yes to opportunities that life has to offer you.“
• Writers Coin presents Warren Buffett’s Investment Advice: Why It’s So Hard to Follow | Wise Bread posted at Wise Bread, saying, “I almost made a ton of money and then almost lost a ton of money in the stock market. Just goes to show you how hard it is to follow Warren Buffett’s advice on being greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.” [RMH] Great article on why it’s so hard to invest like Warren Buffet.  I totally agree that investing is more than money – sometimes it is also about handling your own emotions.  As Warren Buffet said ’be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.’  Unfortunately, working with these 2 emotions is precisely the reason it is not easy to invest and go against the crowd.
• Learn Save Invest presents Know your position posted at Learn Save Invest, saying, “A personal story of how I saved money on truck repairs just by realizing my position, and asking for a break.” [RMH] Inspiring story on how it pays to know what the other person wants when you try to ask for a discount.  In the end, the goal should be to have everybody win.

Other interesting articles in this edition

On Taxes

• BackTaxesHelp.com presents When you Should File a Late Tax Return of Request a Tax Extension posted at Back Taxes Help.
• Wenchypoo presents Your Tax Bill Would Need to Double to Close the Deficit posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
• Praveen presents Free Ebook: Capital Gains Tax Tips for Traders and Investors posted at My Simple Trading System, saying, “Capital gains tax tips for traders and investors”
• Alex presents What can I deduct on my Taxes? posted at Claiming Tax Back, saying, “This post highlights some uncommon tax deductions which people fail to claim back from the IRS.”
• PeakPersonalFinance presents Are You Eligible for These 5 Tax Breaks? posted at Peak Personal Finance, saying, “Five tax breaks you may not be aware of.”

Investing

• BWL presents Should You Convert To A Roth IRA In 2010? posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, “A look at some of the great benefits of converting to a Roth IRA this year…”
• Jen E. presents How to Analyze a Stock posted at Stock Tips, saying, “Learn how to analyze stocks by using an easy stock analysis test.”
• ABC presents Reasons For A Roth Conversion From 401K Or Traditional Roth posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Reasons for and against doing a Roth conversion.”
• Patty Pedersen presents eBook Readers: Stock Investing Strategy to Profit from Disruptive Technology posted at AlphaProfit MoneyMatters – Investing Blog, saying, “The number of eReaders sold is expected to ramp to 6 million this year and grow exponentially from hereon. To profit from eReaders with growth and value ideas, read eBook Readers: Stock Investing Strategy to Profit from Disruptive Technology.”
• Larry Russell presents Evaluating Roth IRA Conversions posted at Best Personal Financial Planning Software, saying, “The Roth puzzle for asset conversions, as well as for annual Roth contributions during working years, is one of the most complex decisions that the ridiculously complex US taxation and retirement planning system forces upon individuals.”
• Hussein Sumar presents How to Calculate Return on Invesment (ROI) posted at Accounting, saying, “Return on Invesment as the name suggests is a financial valuation method that determines the percent of return investors are getting from their portfolio of investments. Return on Investment is probably one of the most important ratios that companies need to keep track of in order to determine the viability & continuity of their business.”
• BeaBu presents Cut Profits Short and Ride Losses posted at BeaBu.com, saying, “One often quoted investing and trading rule is “Cut your losses short and ride your winners”. While this is a good thing to do in most situations, there are some kinds of market conditions when it’s not as simple as it seems. With finance, no rule is 100%.”

Banking and Credit Cards

• BankShout presents Health Savings Accounts Q & A posted at BankShout.
• Nathan Bishop presents HECM Reverse Mortgages posted at Online Banks Blog, saying, “The home equity conversion mortgages or HECM Reverse Mortgages is a way a senior can have an income if they have enough equity in their home. There are US federal governmental backing for these loans if a FHA approved lender is used.”
• chuck machado presents Medical Bills Lower Credit Scores posted at Raise Credit Score, saying, “The biggest obstacle to raising credit report scores is the lack of credit card debt management. Your credit report shows not only how much you’re spending, but how much you’re paying toward reducing your debt. If you are making minimum payments, lenders can see this and they figure your are either not too bright or are struggling.”
• The Dough Roller presents Chase Freedom Credit Card | 0% APR 12 Months | 3% Cash Back posted at The Dough Roller.
• The Dough Roller presents Does Canceling An Old Credit Card Hurt Your Credit Score? posted at The Dough Roller.
• Four Pillars presents Use Your Cell Phone Apps To Manage Your Money posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Some cell phone apps to help track your finances”
• PT Money presents Best Online Checking Accounts posted at Prime Time Money.
• LivingInVol presents Fixed versus Variable Loans posted at Living in volatility.
• Bruce presents Government Mortgage Help for First Time Buyers posted at Government Mortgage Help, saying, “Mortgage Help from the Government to assist you in keeping your home from mortgage foreclosure during this recession.”
• Control your Cash presents Let’s see how he does with Other People’s Money posted at Control Your Cash, saying, “This is about spending money – a finite resource for most of us – in the right places. Brown, or at least Brown’s garage, represents something we like to style controlled frugality for lack of a better term.”
• Billeater.com presents Use Twitter to Save Money posted at Billeater.
• David presents American Express Preferred Rewards vs. Premier Rewards Gold Card posted at Credit Card Offers IQ.
• Aaron presents Green Dot Prepaid MasterCard® posted at Prepaidcards123.

Personal Finance

• nissim ziv presents How to Negotiate a Salary: Negotiation Tips, Questions & Expectations posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Negotiation skill is a skill that not many people possess. In general, negotiation is an art. Every word you say is important in the end results And when it comes to negotiating the salary offer, things become even harder .”
• Tisha Dotson presents 100 Best Blogs for Women in Business posted at Accounting Degree.com.
• Money Infant presents My 2010 Personal Finance Goals posted at Money Infant, saying, “Goal setting is a necessity if you want to get where you need to be financially. Here’s my plan for 2010.”
• Debra Jacobson presents How To Be Frugal: Saving Money on Eating Out posted at All Things Frugal, saying, “In lean economic times, eating at restaurants is generally avoided. However, there are ways to eat out without breaking the bank.”
• Jerry Rogers presents Easy, Key Phrases to Impress Business Clients Abroad posted at Online Colleges.net.
• Mariana Ashley presents 100 Business Experts You Should Follow on Twitter posted at AccreditedOnlineColleges.org.
• PT Money presents Affordable Auto Insurance: How I Saved posted at Prime Time Money, saying, “How I saved on my auto insurance.”
• KCLau presents Bad Debt and Good Debt posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “How do you distinguish between good debt and bad debt?”
• Erel Kiko presents The Secret To Attracting Money With Affirmations posted at Law of Universal Attraction.
• Nash Dadameah presents Top 5 Ways To Save On Life Insurance posted at nil2million.com, saying, “Let’s save money by having our life insurance premium cheap”
• Elaine Murphy presents 100 Personal Finance Posts Every College Student Needs to Read posted at Career Overview.
• Zach Scheidt presents Home-Based Healthcare is Good Business posted at ZachStocks, saying, “The healthcare reform bill will affect industry for years to come. LHC Group Inc. (LHCG) continues to expand and could be a takeover target in the next few months.”
• Stephen Dean presents Secrets To A Champagne Product Launch posted at Copywriting Dean.
• Heidi presents Saving Money with a Cheap Designer Wedding Dress posted at Budget A Wedding.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rich Money Habits Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: rich money habits carnival, blog carnival.

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What to read next?

1. Rich Money Habits Carnival – Frugality and Success
2. Rich Money Habits Carnival – Summer Edition
3. Be featured in the 1st ever edition of Rich Money Habits Blog Carnival
4. Rich Money Habits Carnival: First Edition-Best Money Stories To Jumpstart Your Year!
5. Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 4: Leveraging Your Money

Welcome to the second edition of the Rich Money Habits Carnival!

In this edition we will highlight the top 5 frugality and success articles out of the tons of money stories we’ve received during the month of February.  May these articles inspire you to live a wealthy and successful life.  Enjoy!

Rich Money Habits Top 5 Picks

• Steve C presents Why Being Frugal Can Only Take You So Far On Your Path To Wealth posted at MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. RMH – A great read on the age-old dilemma of going too cheap.  Steve argues that raising your income by working on your business gives back way bigger returns than the measly saved income you gain from cutting back  expenses.
• Faizal Nisar presents Secret of Success: YOU | Be Truly Happy posted at Be Truly Happy, saying, “Creating money begins in the mind. Once you learn that success is a mindset, you can become rich in any industry.” RMH – Inspiring article on taking responsibility for your own success.  The question at the end says it all, “will you take responsibility for your success, or blame others for your failure.”
• KCLau presents Focus: Achieving Goals posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “A guest post by Sayeed, a senior manager in a large MNC in Penang on how he achieved his financial goals.” RMH – Interesting article on why we should keep on dreaming.  Sayeed offers 5 tips on how to focus on your dream and achieve it.  My personal favorite – “get 15 minutes a day to read a book, best before going to bed. Develop the habit from there…”
• FIRE Getters presents A Simple Budget That Works? posted at FIRE Finance. RMH – Very helpful tips on how to make your budget “actually” work.  The article aptly describes the problem of budgeting as being “too complex and rigid” while real life demands “flexibility and simplicity.”
• Wenchypoo presents Ending Bureaucracy posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket. RMH – Great article explaining what bureaucracy means.  While reading the article, I couldn’t help but compare it to how big companies “bureaucracies” disguised these things as “processes”…in reality, all these “processes” do is delay you from doing what you really need to do in the first place.

Other interesting articles in this edition

Money Stories

• tristin presents This Is Me ? I Will Become a Millionaire posted at tristinaugustus.com.
• Nathan Bishop presents 100 Best Companies To Work For 2010 posted at The Debt Hawk, saying, “100 Best Companies To Work For 2010″
• MyMaria presents Debt Snowball: Making Progress posted at Frugal Homesteading Blog, saying, “We’ve paid off more than 75% of our debt since we started doing the debt snowball. Here’s how.”
• Credit Shout presents Credit Cards From A College Students Perspective posted at CreditShout.

Business

• Frank Goley presents Why a Business Plan is so Important to your Business Success posted at Business Success Strategies, saying, “The business success strategies blog is written by small business success expert, Frank Goley, the chief business consultant for ABC Business Consulting. Frank has more than twenty years experience helping companies start, grow, turn around and succeed.”
• Eadwine Walter presents Why Are College Students Dropping Their Business Majors? We Give You the Stats. posted at Online University Data, saying, “Ironically, while the economy is in the tank, statistics reveal that the percentage of college freshmen who plan to major in business is at its lowest level since the mid-1970s.”
• Martin Russell presents My Biggest Mistake Starting Off posted at Martin Russell.
• Glory Scott presents Maruti Suzuki to roll out Sports Car ‘Kizashi’ in India posted at Breaking News Online, saying, “Maruti Suzuki India is all set to roll out its sports luxury car, ‘Kizashi’ in the Indian market. The car is expected to be priced at Rs 10 lakh – 13 lakh. It will give a tough competitions to brands like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Skoda and Volkswagen.”
• John Paul Aguiar presents Why You Need To Be A Affiliate Marketer Today posted at Money Dummy Blog.

Personal Finance

• Lazy Man and Money presents Seven Things You Must Do to Prepare for An Emergency posted at Lazy Man and Money.
• Roshawn Watson presents Americans Have Loss Financial Hope posted at Watson Inc, saying, “A recent study highlights how Americans have loss hope for getting rich”
• Kathleen Gaga presents One of the most effective ways to energetically attract money posted at Daily Awareness, saying, “You must expect nothing in return. Not from where you give your money nor from any other source. Simply give because you want to give.”
• CreditCardAssist presents Card Issuers Step Up for Haitian Relief Efforts posted at Credit Card Assist, saying, “Credit card issuers have stepped in to assist with Haitian relief efforts by waiving interchange fees on relief donations and donating money to international relief organizations.”
• youngandthrifty presents youngandthrifty joins the ?Million Dollar Club? posted at youngandthrifty, saying, “Youngandthrifty takes the plunge and joins Budgetsaresexy’s Million Dollar Club- whereby members pledge to have rich money habits in order to reach a net worth of a cool million.”
• JJF presents IRS Imputed Interest Rules | IRS Tax Advice posted at The Personal Finance Blog.
• Patrick @ Military Money presents Which Types of Insurance Do You Really Need? posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “This article covers some of the basic types of insurance needed by most people, young and old.”
• ABC presents Income Tax Brackets And Marginal Tax Rates for 2010 posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Complete list of income tax brackets and marginal tax rates for 2010.”
• Four Pillars presents Complete Tax Return Myself Or Should I Hire An Accountant? posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Should you complete your own tax return or hire an accountant?”
• PT presents How to Cook a Better Steak for Less posted at Prime Time Money.
• FMF presents What Your Boss Wants You to Do posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Your career is your #1 financial asset. This post tells how to make the most of it by delivering the results your boss wants delivered.”
• Colin Robertson presents Making More than the Minimum Payment on Your Credit Card posted at The Truth About Credit Cards.com, saying, “When the new credit card rules go into effect on February 22 (Credit Card Bill of Rights), perhaps one of the most exciting changes will be the way payments are allocated.”
• Joel Ohman presents CARD Act | Credit CARD Reform Act of 2009 | Credit Card Accountability Responsibility & Disclosure Act posted at Credit Card Chaser, saying, “A 5,000 word guide to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, & Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD).”
• Weddings Affordable presents Wedding Help From Friends and Family posted at Affordable Wedding Planning, saying, “A great way to save money on your wedding is to enlist help from your friends and family.”
• Cathy Stucker presents Finding Money posted at Cathy Stucker, saying, “Know that cool feeling of reaching into your pocket and finding a $20 bill you forgot about? Multiply that feeling by 10′s or 100′s with the tips in this post.”

Investing

• BeaBu presents Are You a Bear or a Bull? Or a BeaBu? | BeaBu posted at BeaBu.com, saying, “Investors, short sellers, and the others – why you should trade on both sides. BeaBu.com is a blog about risk taking, macro trading, and alternative investments.”
• MoneyNing presents Avoid These Five Investment Mistakes posted at Money Ning, saying, “Don’t make the same mistakes I did and avoid the pitfalls with these simple but important points.”
• Abdulrasool Sumar presents How to Retire as a Millionaire with your 401k Plan and 7 Strategies to Achieve Growth of your 401k Plan posted at 401k, saying, “Learn the story of Knute Iwaszko who saved $1 million in his 401k plan with a $60,000 annual salary and paying the costs to raise 5 kids. You do not have to be a Goldman sachs CEO or a whiz kid on Wall Street making millions!”
• Gracie Turner presents The Heaviest Price Tags In Higher Education posted at Online Colleges.net.
• Jasmine Hall presents 100 Best RSS Feeds for Your Financial Literacy posted at Accounting Degree.com.
• Hoven Keith presents Ultimate Guide To Biotech ETFs posted at ETFdb, saying, “ETF investors looking to gain exposure to the biotech sector have a number of options to consider–five to be exact. While there are some similarities between these funds, there are also some significant differences that result in unique risk and return profiles and diverging returns. In this article, we profile each of the ETF options, highlighting the pros and cons of each.”
• Honeypurple presents 100 Important Personal Finance Posts for Women posted at Accounting Degree.com.
• Debt Hawk presents Best Mutual Funds 2010 posted at Best Mutual Funds Now, saying, “The Best Mutual Funds 2010 will be determined at the end of the year. What needs to be evaluated is which ones have the best prospects of having the greatest returns and which one will be consistent.”
• The Investor presents Rebalance your portfolio for your benefit, not the tax man’s posted at Monevator.com, saying, “Rebalancing your portfolio between stocks, bonds and other assets can boost your returns and reduce risk over the years – but don’t reduce the benefits by increasing your tax bill.”
• The Smarter Wallet presents Peer To Peer Lending Sites: Lending Club vs Prosper vs Kiva posted at The Smarter Wallet.
• Steve Patterson presents FastSwings – Blogs – Netflix (NFLX) Continues to Move Higher posted at FastSwings, saying, “If analyst nudge their expectations higher again, the stock should move accordingly. Look for this increase as a chance to buy or look for a slight sell off for your chance to trade the stock long.”
• Patty Pedersen presents Seven Ways to Invest in Auto and Auto Part Stocks posted at AlphaProfit MoneyMatters – Investing Blog, saying, “Auto stocks are a favorite of the momentum crowd. Assets in Fidelity Select Automotive have swelled 20 times from a year ago. This article presents five prudent auto plays including Autoliv and Penske Auto.”

Other

• nissim ziv presents Career Goals: Examples of Career Goals and Objectives posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Every now and then we come across people who are unhappy with their jobs. The reasons of their unhappiness may vary – they do not like their work schedule, or they do not like a particular colleague in their office, or even that they do not like their boss. However, these vague reasons actually serve as a cover for the underlying reasons of all dissatisfaction with jobs – the employee is unaware of or has not given thought to his or her career goals and objectives”
• Peak Personal Finance presents Advantage of Having a Tax Professional Do Your Taxes posted at Peak Personal Finance, saying, “It can really pay to hire a professional.”
• Joe Johnson presents How to Be Fashionable on a Budget posted at Fashion Merchandising, saying, “About saving money and resisting impulse purchases when buying clothes.”
• Silicon Valley Blogger presents Balance Transfer Credit Card Tips, Facts and Traps posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Find out how balance transfer credit cards can help you out.”
• Four Pillars presents How Many Years Should You Keep Tax Paperwork posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “If you have just filed your taxes – then keep your paperwork for a while.”
• Deposit Accounts presents How to Build a CD Ladder (Infographic) posted at Deposit Accounts.
• Rugbygirl Crosby presents Top 50 Sports Business Blogs posted at Sports Management Degree.
• MatthewPaulson presents Tips to Repair Bad Credit posted at Fine-Tuned Finances.
• Billeater presents Foreclosure – Should You Walk Away From Your Home posted at Billeater.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rich Money Habits Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: rich money habits carnival, blog carnival.

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What to read next?

1. Rich Money Habits Carnival – The Psychology of Money
2. Rich Money Habits Carnival – Summer Edition
3. Be featured in the 1st ever edition of Rich Money Habits Blog Carnival
4. Rich Money Habits Carnival: First Edition-Best Money Stories To Jumpstart Your Year!
5. Building Rich Money Habits 101: My personal finance story

Today, we are launching the first ever edition of Rich Money Habits Blog Carnival.

This edition is now accepting submission of the best money stories and articles showcasing money habits that make people rich through personal finance, business, investing, stocks, mutual funds, bonds, real-estate, internet marketing, and more.

Submission of entries is until January 26, 2010, at 12 midnight Pacific Time.

So hurry, submit your stories and articles now and be one of the chosen few to be featured to the first ever edition of Rich Money Habits Blog Carnival.

Let your story be heard.  Be featured.  Be Inspired.

What is a Blog Carnival?

“A Blog Carnival is like a magazine. It has a title, a topic, editors, contributors, and an audience. Editions of the carnival typically come out on a regular basis (e.g. every monday, or on the first of the month). Each edition is a special blog article that consists of links to all the contributions that have been submitted, often with the editors opinions or remarks.” – blogcarnival.com

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3. Rich Money Habits Carnival – Summer Edition
4. Rich Money Habits Carnival: First Edition-Best Money Stories To Jumpstart Your Year!
5. Rich Money Habits Gets Featured!

As I’ve mentioned in one of my recent articles describing my financial journey last year, my wife and I were pretty lucky in 2009, being able to transition back to working as an IT professional in the Philippines even in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

As a consequence, our financial situation at the start of 2010 is relatively OK as summarized below:

• We don’t have any debts.
• We have an emergency fund.
• We have a little bit of savings on top of the emergency fund.
• We both have Life Insurance.
• We have started investing in RTBs.

As you can see, our financial situation is relatively safe. However, we are still slaving ourselves into the 9-5 job.  We still need to wake up early in the morning, go to the office, sit in front of a computer, think & type on the keyboard the whole day and then go home to take a rest.

We have cash, but we don’t have TIME.  I want to have both cash AND time.  And I won’t get that if my cash is sitting idly doing nothing while I am working hard the whole day.  I want my cash to work hard too, so that someday I don’t have to work as hard anymore.  That’s why I want to learn to invest my money.  That’s why I want to get into the money game.

I understand that aiming for financial freedom will take some time.  And I’m ok with it.  It will require that I learn more and more each day how the money game works.  And I’m up to the challenge.  I will probably lose some money along the way.  And although I think it will be painful actually losing money, I’m looking forward to the lessons it will teach me.

Here are my 3 financial goals for 2010:

I originally planned to list 10 goals, but I realized it’s too much.  I’m really not a big fan of remembering things so I’ll just keep it short this time.

1) Buy a House

Ever since I got married, my wife and I have been planning to buy a house.  We worked in Malaysia for two and a half years and we were able to set aside at least a down payment for a decent house.  The only problem is, we have NOT found our dream house yet.  Worse, we don’t even know where we want to live.

Our work and my in-laws are both located in Mandaluyong.  Naturally, we would want to live somewhere near to save on cost and for convenience.  Unfortunately, Mandaluyong is not the most tranquil and home-friendly-neighborhood place often portrayed in movies.  It is a busy commercial area and business district.  So all you see are tall buildings, noisy buses plying the busiest highway in the Metro they call EDSA, and lots and lots of busy people going to their work everyday.

We want a nice single-detached home with enough backyard to have a little garden where our kids could play.  We want a house where the air is fresh and we could walk along the neighborhood while watching the sunrise.  We want a safe community for our kids, where they can play around with other kids, much like what we both used to do when we grew up.

The two pictures are contrasting to say the least.  But there’s no other way to be closer in making our dream house a reality than to actively checkout the houses for sale now.

2) Invest 20% of My Money

As I’ve said earlier, our money is hardly working for us.  Last Monday, my wife was shocked when she heard that the 180-day time deposit interest rate is currently at 0.25%!  What??! Only 1/4 of 1%!??  I think I’d rather keep my money with me, thank you.

Yes, we’ve started investing in RTBs. We got 7% interest on a 7-year tenor bonds.  But it’s hardly enough when you take into account the 20% tax on the interest as well as the rising inflation.  I’d say it’s just a little bit over breaking even.

So this year, my goal is to invest the 20% of my money in something that will earn at least 10% per year.  I’ve already opened an online stock brokerage account, but I have not bought any stocks yet.  So my goal is to finally start investing.  I’ll probably start actually investing in mutual funds, businesses, and more this year as well.

This is precisely the reason why I described my goals this year as “getting into the game”.  It’s easy to read about the different vehicles on where to invest your money.  But it’s another story to actually do it.  You haven’t actually learned anything until you’re already doing it.

3) Be consciously alive

I spent my birthday last weekend having a nasty cold & cough.  Hardly a great way to celebrate a birthday.  On top of that, most of my holiday vacation was spent in my room trying to recover from another cold & cough I got a few days before.  It’s very hard to celebrate when you’re getting sick all the time.

I want to enjoy life, while I’m young and even when I’m already old.  Who’s to say that we should sacrifice now for the future, when what we have is only today.  Yesterday is gone. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or the next day.  Or even the next year.  What we have is NOW.

So I’ll start enjoying the present.  I realize that we can and should enjoy today and prepare for tomorrow.  My problem has been always thinking about the future that along the way I forgot to appreciate the blessings I have today.

That’s not to say I should be spending like crazy.  My goal is to start consciously living day to day with the energy of a young kid.  Be amused.  Be inspired.  Be wondering.  Be excited, once again.  Be alive.

Yes, I will still think about my future. I will still try to learn from my past experience.  But this time, I’ll try to be more conscious of the present moment.  Just like now.  I’m having a conversation with you, and having a great time.

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What to read next?

1. Financial Goals 2010 Mid-Year Update
2. Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 4: Leveraging Your Money
3. Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 5: Improving Your Financial Information
4. Rich Money Habits Carnival – The Psychology of Money
5. Rich Money Habits Carnival – Frugality and Success

Today, you will learn Financial IQ #4 – Leveraging Your Money.  This article is part 4 of Rich Money Habits’ review on Robert Kiyosaki’s book Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money.

To read parts 1 to 3 of the book review, you can checkout the following links.

• Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 1: Making More Money
• Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 2: Protecting Your Money
• Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 3: Budgeting Your Money

Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 4: Leveraging Your Money

According to Robert Kiyosaki, leverage, in its simplest terms, is basically “doing more with less”.  It could be in the form of leveraging other people’s money like acquiring a loan for your house. It could be leveraging other people’s time by hiring employees for your business.  Or it could be leveraging technology like putting up an online store to reach out to more people, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Things to note when applying leverage:

1. There are many types of leverage: leverage of debt, leverage of financial intelligence, leverage of technology and more
2. Most investors have little control over their investments such as savings, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, index funds.  Without control, the investment becomes risky.
3. Higher returns does not mean higher risk.  The key to minimizing risk is applying financial intelligence.
4. Most financial advisors are sales people – NOT investors.
5. To gain control of your investments, you need to take control of your own financial education.
6. Leverage can work in two ways – it can work for you, or work against you
7. Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the world, says “diversification is a protection against ignorance.”

Investing for capital gains vs investing for cashflow

Some people invest only for capital gains.  Their motto is “buy low, sell high”.  When you purchase a house for PHP 1 Million in the hope that you can sell it for PHP 5 Million after a few years, you are investing for capital gains.

Others invest only for cash flow.  They want to receive a steady fixed amount of income every month.  When you invest in Retail Treasury Bonds and receive a regular interest earnings, or invest in stocks that give dividends, you are investing for cashflow.

To invest for both capital gains and cashflow, you need to increase your financial intelligence so you can control the investment and increase its value at the same time provide a steady stream of income for you.

More tips on taking the first step to apply leverage

1. Don’t let your problem of not having enough money stop you from becoming rich.  Take that first step, make mistakes.  Continue learning even if you fail. The experience will increase your financial intelligence.
2. Start small and take baby steps.  Take the time to read books, attend seminars and learn from great financial mentors before you invest.
3. Dream BIG.  Instead of living below your means, let your BIG dreams inspire you to learn and invest carefully to allow you to magnify your income and go beyond your means.

Rich Money Habits Review Notes:

Leverage is a very powerful tool.  But it can work both ways.  It can make you money or it can work against you. Be careful. I experienced the other side of leverage when I got into credit card debt.  To know how I managed to pay for it, you can read my personal finance story.

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What to read next?

1. Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 5: Improving Your Financial Information
2. Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 1: Making More Money
3. Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 2: Protecting Your Money
4. Increase Your Financial IQ Book Review – Part 3: Budgeting Your Money
5. Rich Money Habits Carnival – The Psychology of Money