Education

Here you will find all sorts of tips and tricks when it comes to the following: Budgeting, Retirement, Real Estate, Debt Elimination, Collections, Wealth Building, Investing, Blockchain, NFTs & Cryptocurrency

Budgeting 

The Importance of Creating and Sticking To a Budget:

• It’s difficult to build wealth without the use of an effective budget. It’s easy to spend all of the money you have coming in, which can trap you in a paycheck to paycheck cycle.
• To break out of that cycle or avoid it entirely, start tracking all of your income and expenses on a monthly basis. Every dollar coming in and every dollar going out. When you do this, you are also able to highlight areas where adjustments can be made. Making those necessary adjustments will help you reach your financial goals.
• The key to budgeting is sticking to it. Chances are you will continue to make adjustments and might have a surprise or two. That’s okay! You’re getting it dialed in. Stick to it, make the necessary adjustments, and keep your financial goals in sight.

Retirement

Planning for Retirement:

• Married? --> Have a dream meeting with your spouse and discuss what you’d like your future to look like.
• Single? --> Have a dream meeting with your accountability partner. Be strategic. What are some things that you want to do?

Real Estate

5 Reasons to Invest in Real Estate:

1. Potential for appreciation - Real estate can increase in value over time. A few examples include if the property is located in an area experiencing economic growth, or if improvements are made to the property such as adding additional bedrooms and/or bathrooms.This can lead to a substantial return on investment for the owner. 
2. Income potential - Renting out a property can provide an income stream for the owner through short term and/or long term rentals.
3. Diversification - Investing in real estate can help diversify investment portfolios, which can help reduce risk and improve overall returns. 
4. Leverage - It’s often possible to use leverage when you purchase real estate. This means that the investor is able to control a large asset with a relatively small amount of capital.
5. Inflation hedge - Real estate can potentially serve as a hedge against inflation, as the value of the property is likely to increase over time along with the cost of living. 

Debt Elimination

Getting Rid of Debt Using the Debt Snowball:

List all of your debt in order from smallest to largest. Pay minimum payments on everything but the smallest debt. Put every spare dollar and every resource towards paying off that small debt. Increase your income, sell things you don’t need, and only buy things that you absolutely do need. The idea here is to put every dollar towards that small debt until it’s paid off. Once you pay off the smallest debt followed by the next one and then the next one, you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It lights a fire under you and shows you that eliminating debt can be done. If you stick to it, all of your debt can be paid off and that weight will be off your shoulders.

Collections 

Practical Steps to Handling Debt Collections:

Wealth Building

How to Build Wealth Using Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps:

1. Build a $1,000 Starter Emergency Fund
2. Pay Off All Debt Using the Debt Snowball Method (smallest to largest)
3. Increase Emergency Fund to 3-6 Months of Expenses
4. Invest 15% of Your Income Towards Retirement
5. Save for Your Children’s College Fund
6. Pay Off Your House Early
7. Build Wealth & Give

Investing

The Big 3 Variables to Investing:

1. Time --> You can control when you do or don’t start investing 
2. Money --> You can control how much you invest
3. Return --> You can control the opportunity to earn a return (how and where you invest)

Blockchain

What is a Blockchain?

There are many ways to describe what a blockchain is. Most are very complicated and cause people’s eyes to glaze over. I’m going to describe what a blockchain is in two simple words followed by a short explanation: Digital ledger. Transactions are recorded on this digital ledger and placed into what’s known as a “block” of data. Many transactions are recorded in these blocks and once it reaches it’s capacity, the block closes and attaches itself to the one before it. This process repeats itself and forms a chain of blocks. Hence the term blockchain.

NFTs

What is an NFT?

As a non-fungible token, NFTs don’t have a set in stone value. The value is determined by its holder and what someone else is willing to pay for it. The amazing thing about NFTs is that they can almost be anything. People most commonly know NFTs as pictures of cartoon apes, but they are so much more.

NFTs are truly revolutionizing industries. For example, musicians now have the option to own their music. Typically, record labels and streaming services profit big while paying their artists pennies on the dollar. Now, if an artist releases a song or album as an NFT, they have full control. They can set the terms, price, and so much more. For the first time ever, a fan can own a song or album from their favorite artist. The music will forever live on the blockchain and ownership can be publicly verified. The artist can also give full rights to the owner and instead of breaching copyright, the owner can use the song or album however they want!

Since these are digital assets, NFTs offer even more programmable options. What if the artist wants to introduce royalties and every time their song or album sells, 5% of the revenue is paid back to them? This can be done! There are so many applications when it comes to NFTs. We have only begun to scratch the surface.

Cryptocurrency

Not Your Keys, Not Your Crypto:

This is a common expression in the cryptocurrency world, but what does it mean? Cryptocurrency can be held in a digital wallet that is controlled by its creator. YOU! Cryptocurrency can also be held by someone else, like a third party custodian or exchange. When you allow your crypto to be held by someone else, there are many risks associated with it. What if they are making false promises? What if they don’t actually hold and secure your crypto? Bottom line is that this is risky. To avoid losing your crypto in situations like the Celsius or FTX debacle, investors can self custody their coins. By having their crypto in their own wallet and by controlling their own private keys and passwords, they truly own their crypto. When you let someone else hold your crypto or your private keys, they can do whatever they want. Thus the term not your keys, not your crypto.