10 Things Millionaires Won't Tell You

Source: http://www.smartmoney.com/10things/index.cfm?story=september2008-10-things-millionaires-will-not-tell-you
1. "You may think I'm rich, but I don't." While $1 million was a tidy sum three decades ago, you'd need $3.6 million for the same purchasing power today. So what does it take to feel truly rich? The magic number is $23 million, according to Fidelity.

2. "I shop at Wal-Mart..."

3.    "...but I didn't get rich by skimping on lattes." So how do you join the millionaires' club? You could buy stocks or real estate, play the slots in Vegas — or take the most common path: running your own business. That's how half of all millionaires made their money, according to the AmEx/Harrison survey. About a third had a professional practice or worked in the corporate world; only 3 percent inherited their wealth.

4.  "I have a concierge for everything.

What??

5. "You don't get rich by being nice."

6. "Taxes are for little people."

The wealthy tend to derive a higher portion of their income from dividends and capital gains, which are taxed at lower rates than wages (15 percent for long-term capital gains versus 25 percent for middle-class wages). Also, high-income earners pay Social Security tax only on their first $97,500 of income.

But the big savings come from owning a business and deducting everything related to it.

7. "I was a B student."

According to the book "The Millionaire Mind," the median college grade point average for millionaires is 2.9, and the average SAT score is 1190 — hardly Harvard material.

8. "Like my Ferrari? It's a rental."

Why spend $3,000 on a Versace bag that'll be out of style as soon as next season when you can rent it for $175 a month? For that matter, why blow $250,000 on a Ferrari when for $25,000 it can be yours for a few weekends a year?

9. "Turns out money can buy happiness."

It may not be comforting to folks who aren't minting cash, but the rich really are different. "There's no group in America that's happier than the wealthy," says Taylor, of the Harrison Group. Roughly 70 percent of millionaires say that money"created" more happiness for them, he notes. "People experience their day very differently when they have a lot of money," Stevenson says.

10. "You worry about the Joneses — I worry about keeping up with the Trumps."

"Millionaires are always looking up," says Schiff, "and think it's better up there."

Posted by Corey of Project Liberty

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How Do Companies Like Trump Realty and Wal-Mart Save Millions of Dollars on Taxes?

Loopholes of the Rich: What is Cost Segregation?

Steve Ruf and Darrell Weaver of Cost Segregation Authority joined us for a Master Mind last night to talk about how to enjoy enormous tax savings on your commercial properties.

Cost Segregation is a way to increase/accelerate depreciation and maximize tax deductions on commercial property. By performing a study, whereas they do a reclassification of assets to increase cash flow and maximize tax deduction, investors can enjoy benefits that are unknown to most investors.

Cost segregation is now approx.10 yrs old. How did cost segregation get into the main stream? The IRS put conditions on it to control how it is used. Surprise, surprise! Large real estate companies use this method, such as Trump Realty and the Bellagio. Small producers are usually not familiar with cost segregation. Darrell Weaver adds that it is essentially a “tool of the rich.”

Please add your two cents on cost segregation if you have some cents…!

Contact info for Darrell Weaver: dweaver@costsegauthority.com

Posted by Corey of Project Liberty

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As gas prices go down, so will food, right? No.

Consumers hoping for easing of supercharged inflation likely won’t see it
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26316365/

Corn and soybeans have dropped 24 percent and 17 percent, respectively, in the last two months but food prices have continued to go through the roof. If commodity prices have dropped, why are food costs still going up? This article says that retail prices for cereal, eggs, cheese and meat generally lag by several months or longer. With commodity prices being so high this past year, its no wonder that retail food prices in the U.S. have jumped on average 6 percent this year — triple the normal inflation rate of around 2 percent.

I thought it was just a rumor that food manufacturers have done such things as “shrinking boxes of cereal and bags of potato chips so they can sell less product for the same price.” The article also mentions a factor that is keeping food prices high: Although commodities prices have gone down, they're still well above historical levels. Corn and soybeans have dropped 24 percent and 17 percent, respectively, in the last two months but are still about double where they were two years ago.

Any comments on this supercharged inflation or what the future holds in regard to food prices?

Posted by Corey of Project Liberty

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Why is Florida gas cheaper??

My father in law has a home in St. Lucie Florida. I asked him yesterday what was the price of gas? $ 3.68 per gal. What’s up with that? How in the name of cents, can I be paying $3.98 up here in Kaysville, even up to $4.03. Any one out there have any ideas? A limo driver told me that us here in Utah should be getting gas cheaper, because is comes from Wyoming, and that Florida gas comes from over in Saudi or some where. I don’t know if this is true or not, but if it is, that’s pretty bad that, oil from Saudi is cheaper than our own right under our feet!


Back home in the Bahamas 3 weeks ago, gas was $6.27 per gallon and diesel was $6.72, lets hope it don’t reach that much here, it’ll be a whole lota people peddling to work.
 
Dino Read more!

What Is the Tytler Cycle? Where Is the United States In This Cycle?

What is the   What is the Tytler Cycle ?

Alexander Tytler, a Scottish historian who lived at the same time as the American Founding Fathers, who described a repeating cycle in history. He had found that societies went through this same cycle again and again, and that the cycle lasted roughly 200 years each time. Tytler said the cycle starts out with a society in bondage. Then it goes in this sequence:

Bondage
Spiritual Faith
Courage
Liberty
Abundance
Selfishness
Complacency
Apathy
Dependence
Then starting over with Bondage

Tytler organized these items in a circle:

So to give a little more on the sequence above, a society starts out in bondage, meaning no or very limited freedoms. Now faced with a very difficult situation (bondage), they turn to religion and religious faith. Through this they achieve the courage they need to fight for and win their freedom. Next, through the benefits of freedom, they achieve an abundance in material things.

Now we start into the other side of the circle/cycle. We get selfishness and laziness setting in. Then we get apathy and finally dependence. Then we arrive back up at the top with bondage again.
Most of Tytler's work has been completely lost. I found this cycle to be very interesting in relation to where we are in the United States today. Everyone has said we are somewhere on the left side of the circle. I think we are somewhere between Apathy and Dependence. Any opinions on this? Comments?

Posted by Corey of Project Liberty

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Is Now a Good Time To Do Some Real Estate Investing Overseas?

What should you look for in an overseas property investment? Now that investing in property in our economy has become a risky venture in itself, maybe it’s time to look overseas. I’ve heard that it is a drawn out process (also mentioned in the article) and don’t know if it is worth the hassle. Does anyone have any thoughts or is currently contemplating investing overseas?

http://www.realestateweblog.org/due-diligence-and-overseas-property-investment.php Read more!

Nouriel Roubini, Economics Professor, Announced Our Current Crisis Before it Happened and Lost His Job Because of it

People are finally paying attention to Nouriel Roubini’s thoughts on the future state of our economy. After being dismissed two years ago after envisioning the events that have caused this recession , economics professor Nouriel Roubini is being taken more seriously this time around. While others are announcing we have seen the worst of these problems, Roubini disagrees. (Quote in article: “We have a sub prime financial system,” he said, “not a sub prime mortgage market.”) But what does this mean? Any thoughts or answers to this question?


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/magazine/17pessimist-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin Read more!

Results From Simulated Options Trade From Last Month

For anyone that did a simulated option trade as we discussed at last month’s Stock & Options Trading Symposium, here are the results:


SLB closed at 91.41 on Friday Aug 15th, which was the options expiration day. Right at the bottom of the trading range. Therefore, both legs of the options strangle that we entered, closed OTM and both legs of the option trade closed profitable… ie… you would have made $2050 on a $5k investment in one month!!


Posted by Cary Valerio of Project Liberty Read more!

Slight Reprieve in Oil Prices Won’t Last Long

I observed an interview of Robert Kiyosaki this week in regards to oil/fuel prices and the long term forecast. Kiyosaki claims that the primary reason for our current oil price situation is the devaluation of the dollar. Oil is purchased in dollars and as the United States continues to print more dollars the value declines which directly results in escalating oil prices. There are obviously other factors that cause the price of oil to rise including demand and oil speculators, however, the primary culprit is the declining value of the dollar. Kiyosaki also says to enjoy the slight reprieve we've observed over the past couple of weeks because in the long term, if the dollar continues to decline in value, we can expect to see gas prices well over $6.00 or $7.00 a gallon.

Posted by Glenn Crawford of Project Liberty Read more!

Bush Signs Sweeping Housing Bill –The Looters Strike Again!

This article in the N.Y. Times brings to my mind a book by Frederic Bastiat entitled, ‘That is Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen.’ In this book, Bastiat discusses the implications of legislation such as this and its unseen effects on our economy and on the people as a whole. For example, its seems that this legislation will “keep more deserving American families in their homes,” as Mr. Fratto says. But what are the far reaching effects of this legislation?? The article hints on a few things such as the quote from Mr. Walker. What do you think???


Posted by Corey of Project Liberty

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/business/31housing.html?ref=washington

WASHINGTON — President Bush signed into law on Wednesday a huge package of housing legislation that included broad authority for the Treasury Department to safeguard the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies and a plan to help hundreds of thousands of troubled borrowers avoid losing their homes.

Mr. Bush signed the legislation, which Congress approved last week, shortly after 7 a.m. in the Oval Office, the deputy White House press secretary, Tony Fratto, said.

The law authorizes the Treasury to rescue the mortgage finance giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, should they verge on collapse, potentially by spending tens of billions in federal monies. Together, the companies own or guarantee nearly half of the nation’s $12 trillion in mortgages.

Partly to accommodate the rescue plan for the mortgage companies, the bill raises the national debt ceiling to $10.6 trillion, an increase of $800 billion. The bill also creates significant liabilities and risks for taxpayers, that are virtually impossible to calculate.

“We look forward to put in place new authorities to improve confidence and stability in markets, and to provide better oversight for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” Mr. Fratto said. “The Federal Housing Administration will begin to implement new policies intended to keep more deserving American families in their homes.”

Though the legislation was the product of months of intensive work by lawmakers in both parties and has been hailed as the most aggressive intervention by the government into the housing market in more than a generation, perhaps since the New Deal, no members of Congress were invited to the signing.

The enactment of the legislation comes in the same week that the administration announced that Mr. Bush would leave behind a record $482 billion deficit, which will probably grow substantially if home values continue to decline and if there are further reductions in corporate and personal income as many economists are forecasting for the rest of the year. Because of the growing deficit, Democrats said, the debt ceiling had to be lifted regardless of the housing bill.he budget office has estimated that 35 percent of the refinanced loans will end up in trouble again.

Mr. Walker noted that other government interventions in the private market, including a rescue of the Chrysler automobile company had provided an opportunity for taxpayers to profit. But when it comes to the mortgage giants, he said, there is no upside.

“The way this is structured,” he said. “It’s only a matter of how much the taxpayers are going to lose.”

Supporters of the legislation — including Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and Senator Richard C. Shelby, Republican of Alabama, the leaders of the banking committee, and Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, the main author of the legislation in the House — say the law represents the best way to help stabilize the housing market, potentially putting a solid floor under declining prices.

The bill includes an array of other aid for troubled borrowers, and about $15 billion in housing-related tax breaks. It also includes nearly $4 billion grants to local governments to buy and refurbished foreclosed properties, which Mr. Bush had opposed even as he signed the measure. The White House views that provision as a giveaway to banks and other lenders who own the seized properties.

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A Couple Useful Resources for Investors or Businesspeople

Remember the Milk: Task Management tool that lets you keep all your tasks organized in one place, but separated by as many categories as you need. TOTALLY BEATS OUT OUTLOOK - hands down!

Chandler 1.0: is a Serious, but Rough, To-Do Manager:an open-source, cross-platform scheduling app, was conceived back in 2002 as a potential Outlook-killer—a free organizer that would process all your email, calendar appointments and tasks into one smooth workflow, no matter what format or system they were on. Over its long and storied development, intriguingly chronicled in the book Dreaming in Code, Chandler morphed into a meekly-dubbed "Note-to-Self Organizer." There's a lot of neat ideas in Chandler, implemented in rough ways, and if you're a serious to-do hound, it just might find a place somewhere in your work flow. Check out some screenshots of this long-awaited Personal Information Manager and decide for yourself.  Click to check out the full article on Lifehacker.com

Jott.com: If you've ever been out on the road and remembered something you needed to do later, jott's perfect for you! It's free and you simply dial into your number, leave yourself a message and then get the email reminder when you get back to your computer.

Diarised Helps You Select The Best Meeting Time:  If you need to schedule a meeting and want to skip the hassle of emailing and playing phone tag to establish what time works best for everyone invited, a web-based schedule optimizer like Diarised will save you a headache or two. Visit Diarised and plug in information about the meeting, a description, the email addresses of the meeting attendees, and a list of potential meeting times. Diarised notifies attendees via email and they select the best meeting time. Diarised sends you an email summary of the optimal times. excerpted from Lifehacker.com



Posted by Bruce Ferre of Project Liberty Read more!

Upcoming Symposiums and Events in Salt Lake City

August Events:

* Investing: Oil & Natural Gas Symposium– Saturday, August 16th 2008, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Understand important variables unknown to most oil and gas investors, ask questions and receive feedback about industry-specific terminology from experienced professionals in the industry, and take advantage of an opportunity to engage in discussions with the experts. This is not a sales pitch for oil and gas investments but a valuable learning experience for anyone thinking of investing in oil and gas).

* Creative Real Estate: Mortgages & Contracts Symposium - Saturday, August 16th 2008, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Gain an in-depth understanding of the legal contracts involved in real estate transactions and the different types of real estate paper that are out there. Learn creative ways to structure your contracts and mortgages for better leverage).


* Investing: Intellectual Creations & Property Symposium - Saturday, August 16th 2008, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Learn from several experts about how to properly protect your ideas which are your most valuable assets).

September Events:

* Venture Capital & Hard Money Lending Symposium – Saturday, September 20th 2008, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Understand the games of Venture Capital and Hard Money Lending from several insider perspectives. This is not a sales pitch but an authentic educational experience you don’t want to miss!

* Creative Real Estate: Liquidations Symposium - Saturday, September 20th 2008, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (With a glut of homes on the market, learn creative tools and techniques for liquidating real property in a buyer’s market).

For information regarding upcoming Project Liberty events in Salt Lake City contact: corey@bray-conn.com

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Where is the best place in the US to invest for Appreciation?

PMI Summer 2008 Risk Index Indicates Risk Intensifying in Areas With Previous Rapid Home Price Growth

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., July 1 PRNewswire-FirstCall

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., the primary U.S. subsidiary of The PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE: PMI), today released its Summer 2008 U.S. Market Risk Index(SM), which ranks the nation's 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) according to the likelihood that home prices will be lower in two years. In general, risk continued to intensify in many of the MSAs where home price growth had significantly exceeded historical norms during the housing boom, but continued to decline in many other areas across the country.

A complete copy of the Summer 2008 PMI ERET report and an appendix that provides data for all 381 U.S. MSAs is available at: http://www.pmi-us.com/eret.

The highest risk of future price declines remains in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA (95.5), followed by Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL (92.2), and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, FL (91.9). The areas with the lowest risk of price declines are in Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX, and Pittsburgh, PA, each at less than a 1 percent chance. The risk of lower prices in two years declined in 35 of the nation's 50 largest MSAs, and among all 381 MSAs, 326 experienced a decline in risk. Among the top 50 MSAs, 16 ranked in the two highest risk categories, and among those, 15 were in California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona. Risk of lower prices in two years is greater than 50 percent in all of these MSAs.

Risk scores translate directly into an estimated percentage risk that home prices will be lower in two years. The Summer 2008 Risk Index is based on first-quarter Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) data.


                  PMI Summer 2008 PMI U.S. Market Risk Index

    Rank   MSA                                                                               Score

    1      Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario; CA                               95.5
    1      Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach; FL       92.2
    1      West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach; FL            91.9
    1      Orlando-Kissimmee; FL                                                      91.1
    1      Las Vegas-Paradise; NV                                                     88.1
    1      Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater; FL                                 86.6
    1      Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine; CA                                          85.8
    1      Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale; CA                            85.7
    1      Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall; FL                                      84.8
    1      Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville; CA                         82.2
    1      Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale; AZ                                            79.6
    1      San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos; CA                               78.0
    1      Jacksonville; FL                                                                 73.2
    1      Oakland-Fremont-Hayward; CA                                       72.8
    2      San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara; CA                                51.3
    2      Providence-New Bedford-Fall River; RI-MA                   43.4
    3      San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City; CA                  35.7
    3      Washington-Arlington-Alexandria; DC-VA-MD-WV      21.4
    3      Nassau-Suffolk; NY                                                          21.2
    4      Edison-New Brunswick; NJ                                              16.2
    4      Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News; VA-NC             13.8
    4      Boston-Quincy; MA                                                          11.8
    4      Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn; MI                                           11.1
    5      Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton; OR-WA                          8.7
    5      Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington; MN-WI                     8.2
    5      Newark-Union; NJ-PA                                                      6.5
    5      New York-White Plains-Wayne; NY-NJ                          6.0
    5      Baltimore-Towson; MD                                                    5.5
    5      Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills; MI                                   5.3
    5      Cambridge-Newton-Framingham; MA                             4.3
    5      Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta; GA                               2.0
    5      Seattle-Bellevue-Everett; WA                                          1.7
    5      Chicago-Naperville-Joliet; IL                                           1.5
    5      Philadelphia; PA                                                              1.4
    5      Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin; TN          1.3
    5      St. Louis; MO-IL                                                             1.0
    5      Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis; WI                            <1
    5      Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor; OH                                         <1
    5      Austin-Round Rock; TX                                                 <1
    5      Denver-Aurora; CO                                                        <1
    5      Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord; NC-SC                             <1
    5      Kansas City; MO-KS                                                      <1
    5      Columbus; OH                                                                <1
    5      Cincinnati-Middletown; OH-KY-IN                               <1
    5      Indianapolis-Carmel; IN                                                  <1
    5      San Antonio; TX                                                             <1
    5      Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown; TX                                <1
    5      Pittsburgh; PA                                                                 <1
    5      Dallas-Plano-Irving; TX                                                  <1
    5      Fort Worth-Arlington; TX                                               <1


SOURCE PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.
Any comments?
Posted by Dean Morgan of Project Liberty

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Gold,Peace and Prosperity by Dr. Ron Paul

For anyone interested in the topic of Gold, check out this book that discusses gold that I think everyone should read. It is called “Gold, Peace, and Prosperity” by Dr. Ron Paul. You can also watch the video on Youtube here:

Has anyone read it and would like to comment? Any comments on the video?

Posted by Dave Carlson of Project Liberty

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Irena Sendler -VS- Al Gore

Isn’t it wonderful what more we can accomplish when we stop caring what other people think. Any comments?
Posted by Jake Lewis of Project Liberty

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How Undervalued is Silver Compared to Gold?

A few things to consider when thinking about investing in Silver or Gold. Silver is way under valued compared to gold. First lets look at the silver to gold ratio. On average over the last 6 months the ratio has been 52:1. In other words it takes 52 oz of silver to purchase 1 oz of gold. The US mint calls it 50:1. On their one ounce silver coin is stamped "one dollar" and on their one ounce gold coin is stamped "fifty dollars". This alone is a huge deception! Now look at the actual physical supply of gold and silver in existence today. It is 17:1; this means for every oz of gold that exists there is 17 oz of silver. Now lets look at the highs of the 80's. Gold reached $850 per oz and silver reached $49.50. This is a 17:1 ratio. Now look at the current gold price of $910 an oz. This means silver should be $53.53; but it is not. The current price of silver is only $17.50. What an awsome deal!!! I highly recommend buying silver right now!



Posted by Eric Malachowski of Project Liberty Read more!

Master Mind Discussing Illinois Land Trusts with David Henderson

Creating a Win-Win-Win for Investors, Sellers, and Buyers

In the current real estate market there is a glut of two parties. You’ve got a glut of sellers who may or may not be in bad loans who all want to sell now. Then you’ve got a glut of buyers who, with the dramatic changes in the lending environment, cannot get loans to buy. David Henderson says, “As an investor, you don’t want to own property, you just want to control it.” The Trust is a tool that allows you to control (not own) multiple properties. David recommends the book, ‘A Fortune In Free Real Estate,’ for a more in-depth look at the Trust process.


Real Property vs. Personal Property: After Real Property is placed in a Trust, it ceases to be ‘real property’ and turns into ‘personal property.’

The Trust itself has 4 different documents:

1. Trust Document

2. Beneficiary Designation Document (defines each beneficiary’s interest in the Trust.

3. Assignment of Beneficial Interest Document

4. Occupancy Agreement (like a standard lease)

**All of these documents are closed at a Title Company.


What about the Due on Sale Clause? Trust does NOT trigger the Due on Sale Clause.

Good Market Opportunity: There is a glut of both buyers and sellers in the market right now. Buyers that cannot qualify for loans to homes and Sellers that cannot refi or cannot sell with so many homes on the market.

Seller Carries Note: David approaches ‘For Sale By Owner’ Sellers. Sellers must be willing to carry the Note until the Trust is terminated in 36 mo. when the buyer is able to refi the property. All of David’s buyers in his Trusts have been able to refi before the 3 yr deadline when the Trust is terminated.

Cash Down Returned to Buyer: Buyers for the property, or your ‘Resident Beneficiary’ must have 5% down plus 1st months rent. (No credit necessary but do they have the cash down to buy the home?) The selling point on this is that this 5% is returned to buyer when the Trust is terminated.

Terms are flexible: To make a deal work, all of the terms are flexible. Whatever the seller or the buyer needs to enter into the Trust with you, the investor, make it happen!

Leverage your Realtors: Realtors can bring people to you that cannot qualify for a loan if you are willing to offer them a commission. David says this is his best source of referrals.

How do you convince the buyer to become a resident beneficiary in a Trust?

Tax benefit given to ‘Resident Beneficiary’

5% down at inception of Trust is returned to buyer at time of Trust termination.

Can offer a split in future appreciation with buyer when Trust is terminated.

Terms of the deal are legally binding through the Trust documents (buyer is protected!)

For more information, contact David Henderson of Project Liberty dbhenderson8356@msn.com Read more!