An invitation to a journey of sound financial planning

There will be poor always, pathetically struggling …”.  This quote from the movie Jesus Christ Superstar suggests that there will always be poor people. I do not agree. I believe that we can eliminate poverty through education, specifically financial education. I know! I worked hard, saved and invested and built wealth that I can now pass on to my children. My goal is to eliminate or dramatically reduce poverty through financial education. I believe that true compassion is more than throwing a coin to a beggar or donating to a favorite charity. I want to teach you how to break the chains of poverty and earn your way to financial freedom. In a world where data is literally at our fingertips, the level of ignorance of financial matters is sky high! Many people don’t understand the basics of the time value of money and the power of compound interest. Many are afraid of banks and, as a result, have very superficial relationships with them—they are underbanked. They leave their ‘dumb money’ sitting earning very little. And I was one of them.
 
It does not have to be like this. You need to understand that financial health is not determined by how much you make, but by how much you keep. And, more importantly, how you invest to build passive income. You need to become familiar with investments including real estate, treasury bills, stocks and bonds. For example, my father rented all his life when he could have been paying a mortgage as opposed to rent. After 40 to 50 years, he had nothing to show for it. I bought my first house at 24 and was able to continually upgrade as I benefited from the capital gains. I want to help you understand the simplicity and beauty of dollar cost averaging, time-in the market as opposed to timing the market, passive income and mutual funds. I want you to understand the difference between good debt and bad debt. I want the man and woman in the street to understand basic financial concepts so that they can make informed decisions about how to use their hard-earned money.
 
Small businessmen are constantly complaining that banks do not like dealing with them. They need to look in the mirror and ask if they would lend to themselves. You do not go to a bank with credit, you go with credibility. If you are not credible, if you do not understand what your product is for and who it is for no one will believe you. If you do not understand your cash flows, the cost of materials and labor and your profit margins by product or service, why should the bank trust you? If your friends and family will not invest in you, why should the bank?