How to Retire Today - A Simple Formula for True Wealth

By Garrett B. Gunderson

All too often people today are delaying their dreams for some future called retirement. They are contributing to 401(k)'s faithfully, yet not even working in the field they really want to be in. These people have fallen prey to the myth that "life will be better when I retire". What they're really doing is missing out on the rich memories and wealthy life available to them today.

Instead of locking up your money and investing in things you have limited knowledge or control over, why not start by investing in yourself? Why not invest in your own financial education, and become empowered about the many ways to invest? Why not invest in yourself and utilize your own expertise and develop your own abilities, rather than always be dependent on someone or something else that you have no control over?

This is how you minimize risk and maximize fulfillment. What would it take to live the life you want today? If you feel like you do not have the resources, what about your 401(k) or retirement accounts? Can you outperform on your own by investing in your passion and gifts in alignment with your values? With a little help, I am very confident that you can.

Ask yourself: What would it look like to fund your dream and build your life as if YOU were your own greatest asset (not your house or your retirement plan)? This is the business of YOU. How could you increase your individual wealth as if YOU were a valuable stock? What difference could you make in the world? How can you contribute and create value in a way that is consistent with enjoying your life today, rather than chronically deferring your happiness? Where do you have more control of what happens in your life in the business of YOU, or with a 401(k) and the hoax that it represents for uneducated investors?

If you are currently invested in areas that you don't understand-STOP! You are cheating yourself and your chances of getting caught up in a scam or fraud are much higher. Instead, use the money to invest in your own ability to be productive. You may think you do not have the time, but it's all about priorities. A little time now, can make a big difference later.

Think about this... How much time do you waste on a weekly basis? Could you commit to 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week for a year? What if you knew that this relatively small time commitment would transform your life?

The basic investing formula that most people have traditionally relied on in the past has resulted in failure. Money times rate times time (Money x Rate x Time) is limited at best. Handing money over to people you don't know, with complete uncertainty of the outcome, or how it will benefit you now and in the future, has lead millions to financial catastrophe. You can do better. Here are just a few ways how:

1- Find something you have interest in at a minimum, but hopefully passion in.
2- Spend time and money cultivating your ability in the area of interest you have chosen.
3- Donate your time and knowledge to people in order to build your ability to deliver value.
4- Get feedback from those you have served and capture their testimonials.
5- Consider starting a "fun" part-time or full-time business by:

a. Partnering with an existing business

b. Contracting with businesses as an independent contractor

c. Setting up ways to educate others in your field of expertise and charge them for that education (seminars, materials, CD's, DVD's, website, etc.)

d. Find or create a job within a firm that utilizes your unique expertise, abilities, and interests.

e. Work as an apprentice and study those that have gone down a similar path.

f. Consider network marketing that has a product or service that genuinely aligns with you.

Putting these simple suggestions into play will allow you to begin building your own valuable investment portfolio within yourself. It will allow you to live in a state of surety and happiness versus hoping that the stock market increases or that your financial advisor it doing the 'right thing' with your money. This simple "Retire Today" formula will give you complete control of your financial life, and allow you to do what you love - all at the same time.

Garrett B. Gunderson is a self-made multi-millionaire who has launched nearly two dozen companies. His latest book, Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity (Greenleaf Book Group, July 2008), debunks conventional wisdom in the areas of personal finance and retirement planning.

To find out more about Garrett or how you can duplicate his astounding success, get the free investors guide at: http://GarrettBGunderson.com

Garrett Gunderson Helps us Figure Out if Your 401(k) is a Scam or Fraud?

The financial industry has done a tremendous job of getting companies and individuals alike to heavily rely on 401(k) plans. But are you being sold a fraud or even a scam? Once you've seen the facts, you may agree that this is the case...

Ask yourself, why do certain sectors of the financial industry push 401(k)'s so much? Take a guess. According to financial expert, Garrett Gunderson, (who helped provide much of the information in the article) it may be that they get your money, the government's money (the money that would have been paid in taxes), AND they have the rules on their side to hold on to it for a very, very long time! This is what Garrett sometimes calls the "401(k) Hoax".

Even if your employer offers an irresistible "matching" program [where they match your contribution to your 401(k)], it's still not that great of a deal. Why? The stipulations and rules for how and when you use that money make it difficult at best to ever utilize your money.

Some people use the logic that at least they're saving SOMETHING, no matter how ineffective, for their retirement. Unfortunately, due to a lack of management and knowledge, people are hemorrhaging in these plans and it impacts their overall well-being, attitude, and is putting hard earned money at risk.

Below are some strong alternatives, but first let's look at some of the specific reasons why Garrett suggests that 401(k)s are usually a poor investment strategy for most people, and (more importantly) what to look for instead.

Here are our thoughts:

1. Poor liquidity - 401(k) investment money is so tied up with penalties and restrictions so numerous that it is very difficult to navigate them should you ever require access to the money. There may be ways to loan on part of the money or even certain stipulations for hardships, but overall there is very limited access to money along the way before those restrictions are lifted.

2. Your money is market dependent. - The performance of your funds becomes dependent upon market factors, which means that you have to be okay with losses in the investment if the market does not cooperate. Many times there are limited selections of funds to choose from. Most participants do not change the original allocation and therefore are not managing risks properly.

Do you have any control over what the market will do? Do you know what your investments allocations are and what type of stocks or bonds are in the funds that you have chosen? If not, then what you are doing is more like gambling, a fraud, or a scam, than investing.

3. Administrative fees - 401(k)s are subject to various administrative fees in addition to expense ratios and 12-b1 fees (for marketing expenses) for the funds your dollars are invested in. This is something that most people, and even many financial professionals, ignore. "Hidden" fees often substantially derail your projections and currently there is a minimal amount accountability when it comes to administration fees.

These fees are an all too often an unseen expense since you are not writing the check to pay them. Typically they are automatically being taken out of the account with you even realizing it! Ten thousand dollars invested for 30 years, at a 10 percent interest rate, would hypothetically grow to $174,494. If we add just two percent in fees it only grows to $100,627. That is almost a $75,000 difference!

4. Tax-free vs. tax-deferred - If you don't like paying taxes today, why would you want to pay even more in the future? The tax deferral aspect of 401(k)s, which is touted as a great boon, is actually a primary factor contributing to why most retirees let the money sit, even during their retirement years, for fear of triggering tax consequences. This may be the biggest scam or myth of all because if you just have to pay the taxes at a later date how is it a real tax advantage?

Think of it this way, when you defer things in your life: working out, getting gas in your car, a commitment you make to someone - how does that end up working out for you? If you merely defer taxes, that does not necessarily save anything- it merely defers it.

5. Higher tax bracket upon withdrawal - The general financial advice given in main stream media often fails to take into consideration the possibility of you being in a higher tax bracket during your retirement years than you were when you put the money into your 401(k). If you have achieved any measure of success accumulating money in your retirement plans, you would usually be in a higher tax bracket at retirement, which means that you'll be paying a lot more to Uncle Sam when it comes time to pay the taxes on your 401 (k) savings.

However, for some reason, most advisors project that you will be in a lower tax bracket, which doesn't make much sense. It's illogical to project healthy returns on a qualified plan while also simultaneously projecting that you'll be in a lower tax bracket at retirement.

There is always the chance that the government might lower taxes or you will have more deductions in the future, but do you want to count on that happening? Another consideration is if you are at an age where your kids are a tax deduction today, bu they may not be tax deductible when you pull the money out of the plan and have to pay the taxes.

These are just a few of the many issues surrounding 401(k)s and qualified plans in general. I could certainly keep pointing out even more limitations, but it comes down something more basic: YOU. Your investments should be about you-not just the future you, but you in the present as well. Are you building a nest egg and net worth at the expense of your current production and cash flow? Are you living an ideal life not only financially, but also by doing what you love, taking vacations, spending time with the people you love to be around, and creating time to take care of your health?

The difference between the Business of You vs. mindlessly funding a 401(k) is that the former is exhilarating and profitable, while the latter is uninspiring and uncertain. The bottom line is that there is a lot more risk involved in investing in 401(k)s than many people realize. YOU are a much better investment.

The truth is that you can save for your future AND have fun, AND be in control of your finances, AND increase your current cash flow. I've seen first hand that investing in YOU is always a smarter idea than investing in a 401(k). While writing this article, Garrett Gunderson and I discussed it, and you may be surprised to find out that we've never met someone who is truly rich because they invested in a 401 (K).

Without exception, all of the rich people we know made their money by investing in themselves and following their passions. If you're like most people, however, then you've been taught that you have to settle for less now in order to make it big in the future.

That is a destructive myth that leads to a mediocre and unsatisfying life NOW and LATER. Don't fall for this scam because it's promises are a fraud! Don't buy into the hoax that someone else knows better how to manage your life and money than you do!

To find out more about how to invest in yourself or out perform your 401(k) plan, check out Garrett's Best Selling Book here...

The Law of Importance...

Hey again,

I recently went to a movie permier with one of my best friends, Garrett Gunderson, for a great new movie called 'I-Ology'.

This is a great movie in a similar documentary type style as "The Secret", but teaches a very differently concept called, "The Law of Importance". The Law of Importance was discovered by Woody Woodard and explains, among other things, how to discover what makes you feel important and how this directly effects your happiness and your results in the world.

I think that you'll agree that if you could be happier and get better results in any area of your life that you desire, then learning this law is well worth the time.

I highly recommend the movie and personally know many of the people who are involved in it- I mention this because they are very high caliber people, and aren't just giving "Lip Service" to this newly discovered Law.

You can find out more about the Law of Importance at the website: http://lawofimportance.com/

Enjoy!

Investing in You- Your Greatest Asset

Hi again!

It's been a few days, but life has been busy, busy, busy...

I'm still playing a little catch up from the 4th of July show that my hard drive put on last weekend- so that's kept my hands full.

Anyway, I've been spending a lot of time investing in myself lately because- if you weren't aware- I'm in the process of switching my business focus. It's partially a chosen switch, and partially forced upon me- both of which has it's advantages.

As a quick summary, I've been doing Real Estate Investing full time for the last 6 ish years. Single family Rentals, Buy-Fix-Sell, Lease Options, etc. were my main focus, and life was good.

However, in my search for what would really make me happy and fullfilled (as well as pay the bills), I realized that Real Estate was not in line with my Soul Purpose.

The problem with this was that I looked down, and I was wearing some very stylish 'Golden Handcuffs'. This meant that although I was ready to look at expanding my future in a different direction, the 6 figure income that I was enjoying would take time and efforts to replace...

This might have been something for me to drag on indefinitely, except that the real estate equivalent of "Hurrican Katrina" hit the real estate market about 12-18 months ago. This quickly allowed me to shed the illusion of the Golden Handcuffs and seek my next path to fortune and adventure.

This meant a new line of work, new skills, new adventures, and new challenges.

I was going to have to invest some time, energy, and resources to get my train rolling on a different track and in the direction of my next destination...

Which leads me to investing in yourself. Ask yourself... Do you invest in yourself? If so, do you do it often enough? If not, why?

To give you an idea, I've probably averaged spending between $10-20,000 per year investing in myself over the past 5 years. Does that stun you? It proabaly sounds crazy, right? If so, let me explain why I do it, and what it has meant in my life...

First of all, I love learning about things that interest or benefit me or my loved ones. I learned a long time ago that anything that I invest in myself- be it books, tapes, seminars, trainers, or other professionals or mentors- I get to keep for the REST OF MY LIFE.

I learned this concept from a friend and mentor of mine Eric Lofholm (http:www.ericlofholm.com)- he calls it the 'Baseline Stragety'. Basically he says that if you take your current skills, talents, and experience (everything that you bring to the table) that is your 'Baseline'. Now if you invest in yourself and get even 1% better at any of your existing attributes, you are now that 1% better than your original baseline allowed.

This might seem elementary, but what most people fail to realize is that the 1% isn't just 1% better. It might end up being 10%, 100% or even 1000% better over the course of your lifetime.

This is because that 1% might get you an extra relationship, or an extra sale, or anything- but what does that relationship or sale lead to over time? Do you get referalls- which lead to more referrals- which lead to more... You get the picture.

Or perhaps the commisson from that 1 sale. If you used it to do more advertising, or buy a book that leads to increased sales- which in turn lead to more sales, commissions, advertising, books, etc.

So what is that 1% really worth? And why aren't you adding more 1% skills into your life? The results are incredible!

In my life, just growing from these 1%, 5%, or even 10% increments (due to investing in myself) has lead to massive results. Those tens of thousands of dollars invested have yielded several million dollars in profits already... and I get to keep those skills for many more years! I can't even imagine what they'll be worth in dollars or quality of life...

This is all because someone once taught me that YOU are your greatest asset. Everything that you invest into yourself is with you for the rest of your life:

• Eat better- you'll have better health from here on out. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll


• Communicate better- You'll have better business and personal relationships. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll


• Educate yourself- you will be able to apply those concepts in EVERY situation for the rest of your life!

So what are you doing to increase the value of your #1 Asset? If nothing yet- let me make a suggestion or two...

-Try reading at least 2 books per year that would help you in areas that are important and interesting to you- Books on health, finances, and mindset are all excellent choices.

-Commit to attending 1 new seminar or class that will help you improve one of the skills or weaknesses that would prove valuable in your life... learn better computer or communcation skills. Try something to open up your awareness in areas that interest you! It's amazing how much is available to us, if we only learn to see it!

-Pick one skill per year and focus on mastering it. Learn to speak another language, how to cook or throw dinner parties, or even how to dance! (If Jerry Rice can do it, so can you!) These skills will exponentially contribute to the abundance and enjoyment of your life.

So think about it- make your list and check it twice. Be realistic about what you undertake and be sure to realize that it's tough in the beginning, but once you start seeing the fruits of your labors- it is a great addiction!

Here are a few books that have helped me- check them out:

Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and M.D., Henry S. Lodge (Health)
Multiple Streams of Income by Robert Allen (Investing)
The Prosperity Paradigm by Steve D'Annunzio (Spiritual Prosperity)
Killing Sacred Cows by Garrett Gunderson (Finances and Wealth Creation)

Until Next Time!

Derick Van Ness