LEVERAGE

A PANDEMIC WAKE UP CALL

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Surviving 2020-21 for many of my colleagues, friends, and family was a wakeup call.?A lot of them rarely reference the time period today. It’s as if they believe that not talking and evaluating the events will allow the scab to heal without a scar. My point in rehashing the events is not to tear at a scab, but rather, to enhance the potential lessons we can apply going forward.

Prior to this time period most of my clients, family, friends, and colleagues were well above water in their finances, careers, and potential retirement. Eighteen months later the numbers were almost reversed. Most now were scrambling in all three arenas, many having to restart careers and retirement accounts. Between the layoffs, cutbacks, drop in consumer spending, and inflation, security had “left the building”. To a tee, they all had only one TYPE of income. Many had two incomes, yet they were the same type.

I refer to Robert Kiyosaki’s book Cash Flow Quadrant. He identifies the four ways to make money: Employee, Self Employed, Business Owner, and Investor. The group of folks above had either employee or self-employed income. And only a handful had both. I started writing articles for my LinkedIn timeline in 2018 regarding Kiyosaki’s belief that 90 percent of the country are on the “left side” of the quadrant, employee or self-employed, while only 10 percent are on the “right side” as business owners or investors. He cites that the 10 percent control 90 percent of the money in the country and vice versa. Having worked as a financial advisor/CFP for over two decades, I would agree.

In the articles I encouraged folks to seriously consider having multiple income streams and more importantly, multiple TYPES of income. I used various analogies, but my message was simple. If most millionaires have multiple types of income and if the right side of the quadrant has most of the money, get another income stream and get it on the right side of the quadrant. I addressed the many reasons most don’t make the choice with the bottom line being the fear of leaving their comfort zone was greater than the many “reasons” to do so.

February 2025: inflation is still much higher than income increases, credit card debt topped 1 trillion in '23, housing and food costs are still on the rise, and yet the majority of the folks mentioned above………..still only have one type of income. We have more gig side hustles than ever, more opportunity to get into the Business Owner quadrant than ever.?The pandemic rules shrunk most comfort zones to “getting by”. So, I will make another plea to the reader “please get multiple types of income” and do it asap. Please consider the concept of LEVERAGE found in the Business Owner quadrant!

Believe it or not, implementing this is not difficult. For some it will mean starting a side gig doing something they “always wanted to do” and they will end up with a self-employed income. For some they will simply find a side gig they can do, same result. There is nothing wrong with self-employment as a second or third income. ?Consider though, leveraging your time and money by finding a way to get into the business owner quadrant. Creating an income that eventually doesn’t require your time and if you choose, can match your employee or self-employed income. They exist more so today than ever. Leverage is the key as you most likely are already time poor and maybe just above water on your budget. Imagine starting a side hustle for less than $500 including a proven educational system and mentor who has skin in the game. Some even offer that with a money back guarantee and they are proven businesses grossing billions of dollars. Imagine being able to leverage your time and money as slow or fast as you wish and being able to pay it forward.

Most in my industry simply want to help you get a better return on your existing “financial pie”……….a few of us understand the best solution is to GET MORE PIE! My suggestion is to get a piece of the leverage pie, where you can exponentially grow your income and free up time.

Its always your choice……..I pray you choose more pie and leverage it.?Blessings on ya

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PS. Jeanie and I have used a side biz for over ten years that has seriously leveraged our time and money. It fits the description above and the best part is being able to pay it forward.?If you don’t have a “goto” solution, feel free to contact me for info on the one we have chosen.

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