there was once a boy, who did not like doing homework. he was very intelligent, always truthful to his mother and father. and was always thinking of others.
but he very much did not like doing homework.
he was enrolled in a chinese bilingual program and by grade two, he would have to face about two solid hours of school work when he got home that would take away from his beloved playtime in the comfort and security of his bedroom.
homework became stressful for the young boy. his father, an entrepreneur at heart, never did homework when he was young and had no other advice for his son other than to "just do it" and get it out of the way. his mother was always diligent in her school days and never had a problem finishing her homework and she could not understand why her son had so much trouble finishing his.
the young boy's homework sessions often ended with crying and frustration. both parents were at a loss and were feeling almost helpless and of course feeling the pain of their son.
they did not want school to be like this for the boy. they wanted school to be easy and fun, not filled with anger, pain and hopelessness.
they turned to their family for help and told the story of their treasured son's dilemma and begged everyone for insights to help him. even the teachers offered their "assistance" which was to give him more homework.
then the young son's uncle had an idea. he approached the parents and offered to pay for the son's good grades. meaning he would pay the son X amount for A's, B's and so on.
the parents thought it would be a good idea and the son certainly liked it!
the parents knew that it did not solve the homework problem though, but it was a good start. the young son did his best to get A's for Reportcard time.
when the report card came, the son was disheartened, because even though he put his best efforts to the test, he did not get as many A's as he would have hoped and more C's than he would have liked.
however, he got paid by his uncle and became animated! he realized what money could do for him. he began to save most and buy precious things for himself.
but it still did not solve his homework problem.
getting paid by his uncle was only teaching the young son to do "good enough" and still get paid.
after giving it much thought and watching the animated process of his young son getting paid, the father had an idea.
after one successful evening of homework completion, the boy now understood how doing the homework led to the a, on the report card. and the boy said to his father that he wished that he could get paid more often.
the father told hin son about his idea: he told his son that he never did homework. he only did the exams in school, but when the teacher was grading homework as part of the mark, he asked what teachers what he needed to complete in order to pass.
he asked his son if there were kids in his class who did the same thing? his son said yes there were a few. his father asked if there were more kids in the school who did not do homework as well, and the son said yes, that there most likely would be.
the father suggested jokingly that the son should sell his homework to the students who do not want to do it and to whom would be able to pay for it. because, the father said that he would have paid for it in his day and it would be a good idea.
they discussed lightheartedly how this could be done, mostly talking to alleiviate the often stressful homework drudgery. making up funny ways that this absurd notion could could actually work. even discussing the moral perspectives of the customer, the seller and the school.
then it was forgotten about by the father. this is why: the son began to have his homework completed in spare class time in school and started to come home with no homework. there was no more drama centered around the homework.
when asked, the son would say that the homework was completed in class. when the parents spoke with the teachers, they said that yes he does complete his homework in class now - what did you do?
the parents told the teachers that the son's uncle was paying the young boy for his grades. this was always met with disapproving looks, but the parents knew that it was working and they had a happy son at home.
six years went by and the son was now in grade nine. he is an honors student and all his friends are honor students as well.
the issue about the homework has faded completely until one day the son says to his father that he has some homework he needs to get done.
this surprises the father. his son almost never has home work and never does he tell about it. curious, he checks on his son and sure enough, he is in hes room completing a lengthy assignment.
when finished his homework the son exits his room in search of food as all teenage boys do. when he does his father is at the kitchen table waiting. he wants to know more about why his son made a point of mentioning the homework (and the odd behavior of bringing homework home).
the son sits and tells his dad that he needs to have it finished before first class. the father asks why before the first class? the assignment is not for the first class in the morning the son admits, the assignment is for the first class after lunch in the afternoon. the young son needs to get the homework out to his "customers" first thing in the morning so they can use it.
the son explains that there are three different grade nine classes in his school and they all get essentially the same assignments from the teachers. he completes the assignment, goes to his first class and electroncally mails it to his customers.
the father asks how many "regular" customers he has and four regular customers a week and more when there is a big assignment. this last one was a big assignment and he has 8 people waiting for his next installment.
the father asks the son how long has he been doing this, and the son replied since grade 5.
now, perhaps many would look on this situation with disdain. about how the young son is handicapping the "customers" from achieving their own academic success.
the father is an entrepreneur and businessman. he has given his son many opportunities to get a job to make money. he has always stressed to his son about how important it is to have a business and to help as many people as you can.
the young son figured it all out on his own. he solved a problem. people who need to have homework done and will not do it.
these skills are what will get him further in life than anything they can teach him in school. and if his customers are smart they will understand this too. perhaps in time they will.
however, until they figure it out, they will be paying someone else for their laziness and lack of foresight, as many who are now struggling in this economy are.
i am sure that many of the kids that my son sells his homework to, have enjoyed a new sense of relationship with their parents. i am sure that they no longer have to face the negative put downs about bad marks in school. i am sure they can now spend some positive time with their families and friends without having the weight of unfinished homework and nagging teachers at their back.
i know this because this is what i suffered.
i know this too, and it was difficult for me to motivate my son when he was having trouble with his homework:
good grades do not translate into good money, when you enter the adult world.
nobody cares about your report card when you grow up, they only want to see your financial statement. ask anyone with a university education and debt up past their eyeballs when they leave school and enter the workforce.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
never say you can't
how about this for a nice little story....One day, a son asks his dad, "Daddy, would you like to run a marathon with me?
The father says, "Yes". And they run their first marathon together.
Another time, the son asks his dad again, "Daddy, would you like to run a marathon with me?
The father says, "Yes son".. And they do.
One day, the son asks his father, "Daddy, would you run the Ironman with me?
The Ironman is the most difficult triathlon ever; 4 km swimming, 180 km biking, 42 km running?
His father says, "Yes".
The story looks simple until you watch this DVD clip. Amazing, how much love CAN achieve....
This clip is worth a thousand words... Just click on the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMbk9dtpdY
The father says, "Yes". And they run their first marathon together.
Another time, the son asks his dad again, "Daddy, would you like to run a marathon with me?
The father says, "Yes son".. And they do.
One day, the son asks his father, "Daddy, would you run the Ironman with me?
The Ironman is the most difficult triathlon ever; 4 km swimming, 180 km biking, 42 km running?
His father says, "Yes".
The story looks simple until you watch this DVD clip. Amazing, how much love CAN achieve....
This clip is worth a thousand words... Just click on the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJMbk9dtpdY
Sunday, November 1, 2009
how to get your own free house
i have a friend who has been expressing that he would like to buy a home for his wife and kids. yesterday i finally had a talk with him about this.
i asked if he was 'dead-set' on buying a home in the near future and he said yes. i then asked if he would like some advice from a homeowner? meaning me.
he said yes, he would be grateful for the advice.
i said "ok, thank you for listening. the first thing i will tell you, is that my house is my biggest liability and that the mortgage is literally eating me alive. i have spent the last two years becoming more financially literate because of this."
he looked confused after i said this, and i know that what i had just said contradicts everything he has been told about owning your own home.
"i will tell you how to get your own free house."
he looked even more confused, but replied "i like the sound of that!"
ok this is how it works. you are renting right now and have never had a mortgage. the bank will give you certain incentives to get your first mortgage. it is called a 'first time homeowner's mortgage'. this means that your down payment and interest rate will be better than if you were to buying your second home or applying for another mortgage. the down payment will be 5 or 10 percent down usually, where if it is your second time, it usually has to be 20 percent.
"yes i know this and this is why we are considering of buying a home now, also because rent is almost the same as a mortgage would be." he told me.
after hearing this, i told him that these were the same reasons my wife and i became homeowners. our rent was actually MORE than our mortgage payment. at that time it made sense to us as well.
and now, five years and fifty thousand dollars later, we have only paid down ten thousand dollars on our mortgage.
i told him that this did not make sense to me, even when we signed the mortgage deal, but i did not have any other alternatives at that time so we signed on the dotted line.
"we now know that it would have been better to have someone else pay for the house." i continued. "i do not care how good of an interest rate we get, i now understand that the bank is making hundred and fifty percent on this mortgage. i would much rather have someone else pay for it"
"what do you mean, 'get someone else to pay for it'?" he questioned.
"buy your first home and then rent it out." i smiled.
"i don't get it, where do we live?" he asked confused."do you mean, rent out a room to a stranger or something?"
i said to him that you could do that, i mean i have had friends who have done that. but that is not what i mean. i am trying to make the point to stay renting where you are, but also rent out the the house that you are going to buy.
you will always have a monthly payment in order to live somewhere, whether it is rent or for a mortgage, this way though, you now have someone paying for a house for you.
when you rent, you only have a monetary commitment from month to month. this is a small monetary commitment. when you sign a mortgage, you have a 25, 30, or even 40 year commitment now. this is a much larger monetary commitment, and it is better to have someone else take on that big of a risk for you.
besides, you will only buy a property that cashflows positively and this way, you will have extra money because of that. as well you have the equity that is building, instead of just the equity.
when you buy a house and move into it, you only have the equity that you are "hopefully" building, and remember: you are signed into a lifetime agreement with the bank. i mean how many people in your family do you know that have gone out and bought their first home, or even worse, moved "up" into a more expensive one and had to take on a second job just to get by.
whereas you could be renting and have a free house on the side.
you would be able to say to those people: "look who is smarter! i have a free house!"
when you do this they will probably say you are crazy, but you will also not be the one with two jobs just to pay for your house.
"but, isn't the money i pay for rent, just money i am throwing away then?" was his next query.
i said no, you have to pay to live somewhere no matter the situation. i mean, you are paying for someone else's property when you are renting, and it is working for that person. why not do the same? i mean, it works doesn't it? why not get it to work for you too?
if you want to talk about throwing money away, i have just spent fifty thousand to pay down ten. THAT is a losing situation.
with the extra money and equity that you are building, you can get a second one quicker and then a third one, by which time you may not even have to pay for it because of the rent money you are making from the other houses may pay for the one you want to live in.
by then you will have two, three, or even four free houses.
houses that someone else is paying for.
that is a winning situation,
but, it is unconventional thinking. look around and see where people are with conventional thinking; they are unemployed, married to a mortgage they can't pay for and are broke while working forty hours a week for the next forty years.
he stood silent and thoughtful for awhile. "i understand what you are saying." he admonished finally."what you are saying makes sense, and goes against everything i have been told."
yeah, i wish i would have been able to understand this too before i bought my own house. but i am also glad that i was able to learn this and be able to pass it on to someone else.
this is something you can teach to your children. this is something i can teach to my children.
i think of it this way, before they leave the house when they grow up, they can have one, two or three rental properties on the go, then buy their own home. this will teach them better financial literacy than what the school or the bank will teach them.
thank you,
Ryan Ossevorth
i asked if he was 'dead-set' on buying a home in the near future and he said yes. i then asked if he would like some advice from a homeowner? meaning me.
he said yes, he would be grateful for the advice.
i said "ok, thank you for listening. the first thing i will tell you, is that my house is my biggest liability and that the mortgage is literally eating me alive. i have spent the last two years becoming more financially literate because of this."
he looked confused after i said this, and i know that what i had just said contradicts everything he has been told about owning your own home.
"i will tell you how to get your own free house."
he looked even more confused, but replied "i like the sound of that!"
ok this is how it works. you are renting right now and have never had a mortgage. the bank will give you certain incentives to get your first mortgage. it is called a 'first time homeowner's mortgage'. this means that your down payment and interest rate will be better than if you were to buying your second home or applying for another mortgage. the down payment will be 5 or 10 percent down usually, where if it is your second time, it usually has to be 20 percent.
"yes i know this and this is why we are considering of buying a home now, also because rent is almost the same as a mortgage would be." he told me.
after hearing this, i told him that these were the same reasons my wife and i became homeowners. our rent was actually MORE than our mortgage payment. at that time it made sense to us as well.
and now, five years and fifty thousand dollars later, we have only paid down ten thousand dollars on our mortgage.
i told him that this did not make sense to me, even when we signed the mortgage deal, but i did not have any other alternatives at that time so we signed on the dotted line.
"we now know that it would have been better to have someone else pay for the house." i continued. "i do not care how good of an interest rate we get, i now understand that the bank is making hundred and fifty percent on this mortgage. i would much rather have someone else pay for it"
"what do you mean, 'get someone else to pay for it'?" he questioned.
"buy your first home and then rent it out." i smiled.
"i don't get it, where do we live?" he asked confused."do you mean, rent out a room to a stranger or something?"
i said to him that you could do that, i mean i have had friends who have done that. but that is not what i mean. i am trying to make the point to stay renting where you are, but also rent out the the house that you are going to buy.
you will always have a monthly payment in order to live somewhere, whether it is rent or for a mortgage, this way though, you now have someone paying for a house for you.
when you rent, you only have a monetary commitment from month to month. this is a small monetary commitment. when you sign a mortgage, you have a 25, 30, or even 40 year commitment now. this is a much larger monetary commitment, and it is better to have someone else take on that big of a risk for you.
besides, you will only buy a property that cashflows positively and this way, you will have extra money because of that. as well you have the equity that is building, instead of just the equity.
when you buy a house and move into it, you only have the equity that you are "hopefully" building, and remember: you are signed into a lifetime agreement with the bank. i mean how many people in your family do you know that have gone out and bought their first home, or even worse, moved "up" into a more expensive one and had to take on a second job just to get by.
whereas you could be renting and have a free house on the side.
you would be able to say to those people: "look who is smarter! i have a free house!"
when you do this they will probably say you are crazy, but you will also not be the one with two jobs just to pay for your house.
"but, isn't the money i pay for rent, just money i am throwing away then?" was his next query.
i said no, you have to pay to live somewhere no matter the situation. i mean, you are paying for someone else's property when you are renting, and it is working for that person. why not do the same? i mean, it works doesn't it? why not get it to work for you too?
if you want to talk about throwing money away, i have just spent fifty thousand to pay down ten. THAT is a losing situation.
with the extra money and equity that you are building, you can get a second one quicker and then a third one, by which time you may not even have to pay for it because of the rent money you are making from the other houses may pay for the one you want to live in.
by then you will have two, three, or even four free houses.
houses that someone else is paying for.
that is a winning situation,
but, it is unconventional thinking. look around and see where people are with conventional thinking; they are unemployed, married to a mortgage they can't pay for and are broke while working forty hours a week for the next forty years.
he stood silent and thoughtful for awhile. "i understand what you are saying." he admonished finally."what you are saying makes sense, and goes against everything i have been told."
yeah, i wish i would have been able to understand this too before i bought my own house. but i am also glad that i was able to learn this and be able to pass it on to someone else.
this is something you can teach to your children. this is something i can teach to my children.
i think of it this way, before they leave the house when they grow up, they can have one, two or three rental properties on the go, then buy their own home. this will teach them better financial literacy than what the school or the bank will teach them.
thank you,
Ryan Ossevorth
Friday, October 2, 2009
why? why? why such a big deal about the why?
WHY WHY WHY
my wife and i were sitting in our van, we just picked up some coffee and we were on our way to a meeting. she told me that the training she and her team were at last night was about their WHY.
i said that is pretty good training that you guys have if you are discussing your WHY. she then told me her why and continued that her mentor said it should be some thing you cry about when you think about it, or get very emotional about, it should be that strong because that is what carries you through the "tough spots".
i said that it was ironic that you brought that up because i was reading about it in a book last night and it has been on my mind.
in the past bunch of seminars this year, the WHY has come up often and one seminar in particular i was at, the speaker made a big deal about it and actually assigned me homework!
to be honest i have not been focusing on it because i have become a little "comfortable". you see, i have just hit and completed a bunch goals and have been complacent and "resting on my laurels" so to speak.
so we have been working on my WHY.
what is a WHY?
a WHY is the motivating factor behind every action and decision you make in order for you to live your life. the stronger it is, the stronger your determination is. the more passionate it is, the more passionate you are in what you do.
your WHY should be focused so that you are focused.
for a few days i asked people about their WHYs and thought about mine some more and it never really brought up the emotions that the group had been talking about. i mean after talking in the van that day i was able to bring hers up and she cried. it was emotional. mine wasn't.
it wasn't until i needed to unload some negative emotional baggage towards the end of the week while we were driving that she burst out and said "that's your why!!!"
in my tirade about what i was talking about, i listed exactly what it was that was motivating me to do what i am doing.
they were the reasons that i get up every day and look fear in the face
and act in spite of it.
and act in spite of it.
they are the reasons i work in the face of resistance.
they are the reasons i look at my shortcomings as honest as i can
and do something about them.
and do something about them.
they are the reasons i get up in the morning and rejoice the fact
that i have one more day to to better.
that i have one more day to to better.
what is your WHY? what will make you act in the face of adversity? what will drive you to act in the face of adversity, consistently, every day?
what will get you to jump off your seat and cause you to fight for the life of your dreams?
because that is what i am really talking about, i mean i could give up any time and give in to the words of the masses and give-up my dreams like everyone else. i could do 9-5 for the next 30 years of my life and then live on a tiny pension like everyone else.
but i choose to live my dreams, just for the fact that i can be that one beacon of hope, the one beam of light that proves it CAN BE DONE so that anyone else can see it and say "hey! if he can do it, i probably can too!"
instead of living a life of quiet desperation, live a life filled with adventure, learning, prosperity, friendship, generosity, wonder, abundance, excitement and more.
it sounds silly perhaps, but i have come to understand that life can be like this, if you want it to be and are willing to work towards it.
you just need a strong enough WHY.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
the faithful little dollar story.
i remember i was tired,
i don't think i had even showered yet. i had returned home after another long hot hard day contracting and was sitting in a lounging chair in front of our house. i do this to reflect on what went good and what we could change to make the business better. my wife was on her way out and excitedly ran up to me with a piece of paper in her hand.
"here honey look!" she passed me the paper, and i had a look at what was on it.
i was a small financial statement almost like a cheque stub. i read to the bottom where the calculation ended. it showed $1.20 to the positive.
i stopped for a second and read the statement again, it still said $1.20.
"you get a dollar and twenty cents every month as passive income?" i asked slowly.
she replied yes, and i thought some more. $1.20 does not sound like much, but then i thought what does my passive income cheque look like? i realized that after all this time investing and doing business...
Since i first learned about passive income in 2006 after reading the book rich dad poor dad, i began a study of prosperity, and a journey of learning. the first thing i did was to quit my job, and start a business that i (we) could learn the most we could in the shortest amount of time.
i sat there in my chair looking at the cheque, we had spent over $100,000.00 on the business, various investments, seminars and courses. all of this relating directly personal growth, freedom and unlimited income potential.
it is almost three years later now, and i did not even have one passive income cheque... but she did... $1.20. it does not sound like much, but when you compare that number to zero, it is an enormous amount of money, and she did it with only two months work.
asked her if this was truly passive, and she said it was.
i asked if she had to do any regular maintenance to keep this coming in, she said she didn't.
i asked if she died tomorrow, would this $1.20 keep coming month after month?
BOY! for the next three days this was all i was thinking about. my mind was racing. i was saying things to my self like:"is that how easy it is?", "what have i been doing all this time?"," i don't even have a dollar a month!". i was talking to almost anyone who would listen.
somewhere along the way i forgot to focus. i forgot that it was easy. i got lost in the learning.
you see, i like to learn something new. perhaps it is just the immediate gratification part of me that when i see something new, i want to learn more about it and this is why i got lost.
i phoned a few people and talked to them about the cheque and what it means to them and tried to relate what it meant to me because i did not know what it was about the cheque, because i was floundering for meaning.
i went to talk with my brother in law to set me straight. you see he built a multi-million dollar business that was in a terrible mess of a breakup. he was headed back out of the country the next day and i wanted to hear what he had to say about this tiny little $1.20.
i asked him if after all he has been through with his business, and now sitting here with me if he has a cheque waiting for him every month. he said no, he did not build this business for that reason, he built it for the payday at the end of everything. after explaining why i was making such a big deal about the cheque, he said yes, it is that easy and now it is time to move on to the next step.
you see, it was both he and i who gave the compounding lesson to my nephews a couple of months earlier and it was based on the fact that you send a dollar out 'there' and have it come back with another friendly dollar, and those two go out and bring back two more and so on.
here i was sitting with the faithful little dollar in my hand that my wife had trained to come back to us every month. she had done what i and my brother in law could not do. all she did was work hard learning how to do it for a couple of months and apply her training and wait for the dollar to come back.
this is something that i forgot about and would like to pass on: ' the more difficult you may think something is, it will be and the easier you think something is, it will be.'
i don't think i had even showered yet. i had returned home after another long hot hard day contracting and was sitting in a lounging chair in front of our house. i do this to reflect on what went good and what we could change to make the business better. my wife was on her way out and excitedly ran up to me with a piece of paper in her hand.
"here honey look!" she passed me the paper, and i had a look at what was on it.
i was a small financial statement almost like a cheque stub. i read to the bottom where the calculation ended. it showed $1.20 to the positive.
i asked what this was, and she told me it was her passive income cheque.
i stopped for a second and read the statement again, it still said $1.20.
"you get a dollar and twenty cents every month as passive income?" i asked slowly.
she replied yes, and i thought some more. $1.20 does not sound like much, but then i thought what does my passive income cheque look like? i realized that after all this time investing and doing business...
i did NOT have a passive income cheque.
Since i first learned about passive income in 2006 after reading the book rich dad poor dad, i began a study of prosperity, and a journey of learning. the first thing i did was to quit my job, and start a business that i (we) could learn the most we could in the shortest amount of time.
i sat there in my chair looking at the cheque, we had spent over $100,000.00 on the business, various investments, seminars and courses. all of this relating directly personal growth, freedom and unlimited income potential.
it is almost three years later now, and i did not even have one passive income cheque... but she did... $1.20. it does not sound like much, but when you compare that number to zero, it is an enormous amount of money, and she did it with only two months work.
asked her if this was truly passive, and she said it was.
i asked if she had to do any regular maintenance to keep this coming in, she said she didn't.
i asked if she died tomorrow, would this $1.20 keep coming month after month?
she said yes, it would.
BOY! for the next three days this was all i was thinking about. my mind was racing. i was saying things to my self like:"is that how easy it is?", "what have i been doing all this time?"," i don't even have a dollar a month!". i was talking to almost anyone who would listen.
my wife and i had set out three years ago to buy and build income producing assets, with the intention of replacing my income.
somewhere along the way i forgot to focus. i forgot that it was easy. i got lost in the learning.
you see, i like to learn something new. perhaps it is just the immediate gratification part of me that when i see something new, i want to learn more about it and this is why i got lost.
i phoned a few people and talked to them about the cheque and what it means to them and tried to relate what it meant to me because i did not know what it was about the cheque, because i was floundering for meaning.
i went to talk with my brother in law to set me straight. you see he built a multi-million dollar business that was in a terrible mess of a breakup. he was headed back out of the country the next day and i wanted to hear what he had to say about this tiny little $1.20.
i asked him if after all he has been through with his business, and now sitting here with me if he has a cheque waiting for him every month. he said no, he did not build this business for that reason, he built it for the payday at the end of everything. after explaining why i was making such a big deal about the cheque, he said yes, it is that easy and now it is time to move on to the next step.
you see, it was both he and i who gave the compounding lesson to my nephews a couple of months earlier and it was based on the fact that you send a dollar out 'there' and have it come back with another friendly dollar, and those two go out and bring back two more and so on.
and my wife actually did it.
here i was sitting with the faithful little dollar in my hand that my wife had trained to come back to us every month. she had done what i and my brother in law could not do. all she did was work hard learning how to do it for a couple of months and apply her training and wait for the dollar to come back.
i write this only to let you know that it is easier than you think, always.
this is something that i forgot about and would like to pass on: ' the more difficult you may think something is, it will be and the easier you think something is, it will be.'
Thursday, September 24, 2009
the greatest little penny story
considered by many to be the greatest mind our world has ever seen, Albert Einstein, was once asked:
let me give you some background information on this. my nephews are always asking me for a job so that they can make money. i have been hesitant because i know that a job does not solve money problems and i want them to understand this before they enter the "real world". i wanted to make sure that paychecks were not positively reinforced and that a job was negatively reinforced. because when i asked them why they want to make money, they replied that they wanted to be rich. i told them flat out that working at a job does not make you rich, it makes you broke. they did not understand ......YET, but they did after their first job!
the chat at our lunch times often turned to 'how do i make money?' as my nephews were very curious now that they were learning that a "job" is not all it is cracked up to be. you see they wanted a new Xbox and this was the motivation for them to make some money. after they received their first paycheck, they went out and bought one, but now they did not have any money left and needed more for their upcoming vacation. sound a little familiar?
they often complained about waking up TOO EARLY in the morning (on their summer holidays), working TOO HARD in the hot sun ALL day, and most af all: TOO TIRED to play their brand new Xbox that they purchased with their first paycheck!
the question was this: what would you rather be paid?
my youngest nephew did not hesitate and chose the cash...
his older brother hesitated and knew something was up. he said that he wanted the penny a day ONLY because he thought we were trying to trick them!
a great big smile spread across my younger nephew's face! he said he was definitely taking the cash, but his brother still held out for the pennies.
carlos and i said good, now do the math. let's all find out what we have to pay you.
we broke out the calculators, pens, paper and this is what it looked like:
first week
1) 0.01
2) 0.02
3) 0.04
4) 0.08
5) 0.16
6) 0.32
7) 0.64
by this point it was not looking good for my older nephew. 64 cents a day is not very much money, especially if you never get to play your Xbox! my younger nephew was starting to make fun of his brother.
second week
8) 1.28
9) 2.56
10) 5.12
11) 10.24
12) 20.48
13) 40.96
14) 81.92
now, this is starting to look promising to both of my nephews. they are realizing the power of doubling, but the younger one still was poking fun at his older brother because 8000 dollars is 8000 dollars.
third week
15) 163.84
16) 327.68
17) 655.36
18) 1,310.72
19) 2,621.44
20) 5,242.88
21) 10,485.76
this was the point where the youngest lost his smile and the oldest broke into a giggle.
fourth week
22) 20,971.52
23) 41,943.04
24) 83,886.08
25) 167,772.16
26) 335,544.32
27) 671,088.64
28) 1,342,177.28
both of my nephews were dumbfounded. they were both speechless at seeing these numbers. they could not comprehend that this amount of money came from pennies. i reminded them that this was per day, not per month or year and their jaws dropped!
final two days
29) 2,684,354.56
30) 5,368,709.12
when i said that the total for the month would be over 10 million dollars ($10,737,187.84 to be exact ) the oldest said "OK pay up uncle!" and the youngest said "I want to change my decision to a penny a day uncle!"
carlos and i said to them that we did this to prove a point, and the point was that trading dollars for hours, like at a job, will not make you rich.
we then got them to think some more by telling them to exchange the pennies in the lesson to actual dollars. and change the "days" to years.
"that's a lot of money if it is in dollars!" is what they both said "but it wiull take 15 years to make just 327 dollars, we still need something to pay the bills before the time we are making the millions don't we?" we told them that yes, they do, and we do not have the answer. all we have is our experience that working at a job forever is not the answer to money problems.
i looked at carlos and he looked at me and i said that most people who enter the workforce and get jobs for their money are on a 45 year plan. this means that they will start working at about 20 years old, work at a job (or jobs) for 45 years and retire around 65. so, instead of thirty years like in the lesson, change it to 45 years and you are now on the same plan as most everyone else. but if you learn to have your money work for you, you will be rich... and far into money this planet does not even have yet.
- what is the most powerful force on earth?
- the law of compounding.
let me give you some background information on this. my nephews are always asking me for a job so that they can make money. i have been hesitant because i know that a job does not solve money problems and i want them to understand this before they enter the "real world". i wanted to make sure that paychecks were not positively reinforced and that a job was negatively reinforced. because when i asked them why they want to make money, they replied that they wanted to be rich. i told them flat out that working at a job does not make you rich, it makes you broke. they did not understand ......YET, but they did after their first job!
the chat at our lunch times often turned to 'how do i make money?' as my nephews were very curious now that they were learning that a "job" is not all it is cracked up to be. you see they wanted a new Xbox and this was the motivation for them to make some money. after they received their first paycheck, they went out and bought one, but now they did not have any money left and needed more for their upcoming vacation. sound a little familiar?
they often complained about waking up TOO EARLY in the morning (on their summer holidays), working TOO HARD in the hot sun ALL day, and most af all: TOO TIRED to play their brand new Xbox that they purchased with their first paycheck!
my brother in law, carlos and i asked them a trick question to make a point.
the question was this: what would you rather be paid?
- 1. i could pay you 20 dollars an hour for 50 hours a week for four weeks, 1 month's worth of paychecks (they were being payed 10 dollars an hour). for a Grand total of 4000 dollars CASH, no deductions. this is guaranteed money in your pocket and is more than twice what you are currently being payed.
OR
- 2. i could pay you a penny a day compounded daily for 30 days (one month). this means you get payed 1cent the first day, 2 the second, 4 the third, 8 on the fourth and so on for 30 days.
my youngest nephew did not hesitate and chose the cash...
after all, cash is king!
his older brother hesitated and knew something was up. he said that he wanted the penny a day ONLY because he thought we were trying to trick them!
so i upped the ante.
i said i would double the 4000 dollars to 8000. which would you choose?a great big smile spread across my younger nephew's face! he said he was definitely taking the cash, but his brother still held out for the pennies.
carlos and i said good, now do the math. let's all find out what we have to pay you.
we broke out the calculators, pens, paper and this is what it looked like:
first week
1) 0.01
2) 0.02
3) 0.04
4) 0.08
5) 0.16
6) 0.32
7) 0.64
by this point it was not looking good for my older nephew. 64 cents a day is not very much money, especially if you never get to play your Xbox! my younger nephew was starting to make fun of his brother.
second week
8) 1.28
9) 2.56
10) 5.12
11) 10.24
12) 20.48
13) 40.96
14) 81.92
now, this is starting to look promising to both of my nephews. they are realizing the power of doubling, but the younger one still was poking fun at his older brother because 8000 dollars is 8000 dollars.
third week
15) 163.84
16) 327.68
17) 655.36
18) 1,310.72
19) 2,621.44
20) 5,242.88
21) 10,485.76
this was the point where the youngest lost his smile and the oldest broke into a giggle.
fourth week
22) 20,971.52
23) 41,943.04
24) 83,886.08
25) 167,772.16
26) 335,544.32
27) 671,088.64
28) 1,342,177.28
both of my nephews were dumbfounded. they were both speechless at seeing these numbers. they could not comprehend that this amount of money came from pennies. i reminded them that this was per day, not per month or year and their jaws dropped!
final two days
29) 2,684,354.56
30) 5,368,709.12
when i said that the total for the month would be over 10 million dollars ($10,737,187.84 to be exact ) the oldest said "OK pay up uncle!" and the youngest said "I want to change my decision to a penny a day uncle!"
carlos and i said to them that we did this to prove a point, and the point was that trading dollars for hours, like at a job, will not make you rich.
you have to have your dollar go out and make more dollars for you
in order to get rich.
in order to get rich.
we then got them to think some more by telling them to exchange the pennies in the lesson to actual dollars. and change the "days" to years.
"that's a lot of money if it is in dollars!" is what they both said "but it wiull take 15 years to make just 327 dollars, we still need something to pay the bills before the time we are making the millions don't we?" we told them that yes, they do, and we do not have the answer. all we have is our experience that working at a job forever is not the answer to money problems.
i looked at carlos and he looked at me and i said that most people who enter the workforce and get jobs for their money are on a 45 year plan. this means that they will start working at about 20 years old, work at a job (or jobs) for 45 years and retire around 65. so, instead of thirty years like in the lesson, change it to 45 years and you are now on the same plan as most everyone else. but if you learn to have your money work for you, you will be rich... and far into money this planet does not even have yet.
that is the power of compounding.
if you don't want to be broke, you need to understand this lesson.
and they agreed that it was a good lesson on their first job.
by ryan ossevorth
Monday, June 29, 2009
someday all this can be...mine?
are you in control of your future, of your present?
i just heard a little story, and i immediately needed to share it with you.
picture this in your mind:
it is 5:00pm and you are getting off of work, you head outside and there as you exit the doors to the parking lot, is a brand new swanky looking Jag.
it is a wonderful car and looks very, very nice. it is shiny in all the right places and standing beside the car is your boss. your boss calls you over and and tells you he just picked it up this morning and spent all day showing it off... he seems really proud of it.
so what?
he then tells you to sit inside of it, so you do. you have a seat on the fine soft leather and look at the wonderful decor.
your boss gets in the driver's seat, and fires up the engine. he asks you to take note of the finely tuned engine and the excellent workmanship inside of the car.
OK, so what?
he starts driving down the highway and is talking about how well it drives and hugs the road. you are now also taking the time to notice all the cool gadgets and features like the GPS, and titanium touches to the console.
so what... "big deal, this is not my car." you say to yourself.
your boss turns off the highway, and just a little ways down the road, stops in front of a large house.
he asks you to get out and look. he tells you it is a huge house and very beautiful and it is.
so what? it's not yours.
he asks you to notice the details like the gables and the quality of the windows. you see them and say again "so what?" he shows you the massive deck where he can sit with his family and friends, he even tells you the house comes with support staff because it is so big.
so what?
he asks if you can see the swimming pool and how nice it would be to have one, and shows you a big square peice of concrete in the middle of the lawn.
so what? what does any of this have to do with you anyways? you are never going to be able to buy any of this with what this guy pays you!
he pushes on with the conversation; and asks you if you saw the big square of concrete there, you tell him yes you seen it. he says to you that it is a helicopter landing pad, and how cool that is.
so what?
he then says at the end of all this: "if you work hard, put in lots of extra hours, produce and perform, meet your quotas and are loyal to my company for the rest of your life... some day, all this will be mine."
after listening to this, i found that the truth of it was startling, and to some i am sure that it is frightening.
if it is upsetting, then you should be getting educated. time invested in yourself always pays off in dividends.
thanks,
Ryan Ossevorth.
have a look at the joint venture experts: http://www.dollarmakers.com and start building pillars of wealth today.
i just heard a little story, and i immediately needed to share it with you.
picture this in your mind:
it is 5:00pm and you are getting off of work, you head outside and there as you exit the doors to the parking lot, is a brand new swanky looking Jag.
it is a wonderful car and looks very, very nice. it is shiny in all the right places and standing beside the car is your boss. your boss calls you over and and tells you he just picked it up this morning and spent all day showing it off... he seems really proud of it.
so what?
he then tells you to sit inside of it, so you do. you have a seat on the fine soft leather and look at the wonderful decor.
your boss gets in the driver's seat, and fires up the engine. he asks you to take note of the finely tuned engine and the excellent workmanship inside of the car.
OK, so what?
he starts driving down the highway and is talking about how well it drives and hugs the road. you are now also taking the time to notice all the cool gadgets and features like the GPS, and titanium touches to the console.
so what... "big deal, this is not my car." you say to yourself.
your boss turns off the highway, and just a little ways down the road, stops in front of a large house.
he asks you to get out and look. he tells you it is a huge house and very beautiful and it is.
so what? it's not yours.
he asks you to notice the details like the gables and the quality of the windows. you see them and say again "so what?" he shows you the massive deck where he can sit with his family and friends, he even tells you the house comes with support staff because it is so big.
so what?
he asks if you can see the swimming pool and how nice it would be to have one, and shows you a big square peice of concrete in the middle of the lawn.
so what? what does any of this have to do with you anyways? you are never going to be able to buy any of this with what this guy pays you!
he pushes on with the conversation; and asks you if you saw the big square of concrete there, you tell him yes you seen it. he says to you that it is a helicopter landing pad, and how cool that is.
so what?
he then says at the end of all this: "if you work hard, put in lots of extra hours, produce and perform, meet your quotas and are loyal to my company for the rest of your life... some day, all this will be mine."
after listening to this, i found that the truth of it was startling, and to some i am sure that it is frightening.
if it is upsetting, then you should be getting educated. time invested in yourself always pays off in dividends.
thanks,
Ryan Ossevorth.
have a look at the joint venture experts: http://www.dollarmakers.com and start building pillars of wealth today.
Friday, April 17, 2009
is the bar too high or are you aiming too low?
Aiming too low?
i was watching a T. Harv, Ecker video about his millionaire mindset. in there he makes a reference to goals.
we all know about goals. goals are something you want to achieve. perhaps it is just a set of "new years resolutions" to lose weight, make more money, or spend more time with your kids.
goals represent a target. something for you to "hit".
what are your goals?
did you know that to this day, this very moment, you have nailed all the goals you have set out to hit?
you have achieved everything you could dream up, and visualize with absolute clarity.
are you living "the dream"?
is it your dream?
you better be grateful because you have received everything you have asked for.
it's true, you manifest your own reality.
if it not what you had hoped it to be, perhaps you should have a look at your goals. where are your targets set?
at what point do you start to believe "the dream" is possible? and where it is unbelievable.
did you know that humans once thought getting to mars was impossible? or even to the moon?
did you know that everyone knew at one time, that humans would never fly?
hmmmm..... maybe they were the ones who set their bar too low?
if sombody comes up to you and says that you could be a millionaire in one month! do you believe them? or say to yourself that it is impossible.
how about retiring in less than one year, whether or not you have a job?
do you say yes, i know i can do that. or do you say you can't do it in one year.
i don't know where you have your bar set, but mine is set pretty high because i know that i will make it happen. i will hit my targets.
and so will you.
where are your targets set? too high or too low?
how about you meet the guy who retired in 7 months. Patrick Giesbrecht.
http://patrickgiesbrecht.posterous.com
is your biggest fear holding you back?
is your biggest fear holding you back?
keeping you from reaching your potential?
is the little negative voice in your head telling you "you can't do it?"
do you fall apart every time someone says about your idea: "that's impossible!"
yeah, me too.... (sigh..)
i even let it kick me in the proverbial ass for a while...about thirty years worth of while.
and it still comes around, you know what i found out though?
i would like to share it with you.........
a short while ago i decided to begin a life of learning.
i finally said to myself "i don't know everything!!!" (this went straight to my heart....and ego) and WOW! did my world open up!
i decided to take on problems, instead of hiding from them. i began to create more intimate relationships with those i love, and drop the relationships that were dysfunctional.
my life has grown leaps and bounds. i am full of life, love, time, energy and money.
but it all started by asking myself: "why am i so afraid?"
"because i'm scared" was the obvious answer.
in this moment, when i asked this question, i looked back to when i was younger. i did things that i was absolutely terrified of.
i went back to the time i was sitting on the dirty floor of a noisy, loud and wind whipped interior of a prop-driven airplane and was staring out of the open door at a few fluffy white clouds and a whole lotta land that looked VERY far away.
i was the next to climb out onto the wing, and all i had was this large peice of fabric strapped to my back. i began to question how good was the guy who folded it in the pack. will it open ok? will it fail? will i even stay conscious? i was thinking of everything that could go wrong.....
i even came to terms with my death. i was NOT under any curcumstances, going to let fear kick my ass on this one even if it did mean i was going to die. i was going to do this, face my fears and live to tell the story, i was determined.
the instructor then motioned to me. it was time. i climbed out, the wind was trying to rip me from the plane, i grabbed hold of the wing and hung down.
oh my! to my exasperation, hanging onto the wing of that little airplane was one of the best memories of my life! the air was chilly and fresh, crisp and clean. you could see forever, and all i could think about was " i am actually hanging onto the wing of an airplane!"
i was supposed to give the instructor the signal that i was ready to go and he would deploy my tiny chute as i let go, but i wanted to hang on for a bit because i was loving it.
after a while, i gave the nod and let go! whooo hoooooooo hoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!
a short free-fall and a couple of grunts, my chute snapped open. it was very abrupt.
it had been raining all morning and only began clearing up when our class stared jumping, so the clouds were still around and i had the privilege of flying through them in my parachute.
i was blessed to have clouds touch my face.
this was truly an eye opening experience, an evolution of mind body and spirit. i am sure that all of us have had an experience like this. maybe not jumping out of a plane, but a point in your lives where fear is pushed to the side for a moment and BLAM! you see clearly.
after thinking about this experience, i started thinking: "why not?" instead of "should i?"
everyone has these fears.
mind numbing, limb freezing, bone chilling fears. i think we will have them until the day we die.
have a look at any person you think as successful, and they will exhibit a certain trait.
this trait is acting in the face of fear.
it is getting up with your hands shaking, the pit of despair in your stomach and your rubber knees somehow holding you up enough to grab a hold of that wing long enough to let go.
this is life isn't it? these are the moments that define us.
it's not the 9-5 drudgery. it's not the morning commute.
it's about how you handle it. are you running scared or are you following through even though you are absolutely terrified.
henry fonda "tossed his cookies" before every performance until his death.
so does everyone you see "up there on that stage of success"
have a look at this:
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