H.J. Chammas's Blog, page 2

Your Only Resolution... The Real You

It's not a healthy habit to resort to a new resolution to become a "New You" when you face challenges, not proud of your current life or career, or simply when it's that time of the year when such messages flood your social media channels and inbox.

Although this message feels promising and inspiring on the surface, there are two inherent problems this message might potentially create:

It makes you reconfirm a false belief that there's something wrong or faulty with the "current you". It makes you feel that your current version of yourself is the real reason for the current challenges or misery you might be passing through. For anyone feeling particularly insecure or vulnerable, this could lead to self-aversion, which opposes your self-acceptance and is the real cause of feeling not "being enough", a failure, or not getting anywhere in your life.It also puts you in a new challenge trying to reinvent your personality in the quest for happiness and success. We start to compare ourselves to the (apparently) super-successful individuals, and this puts a huge amount of pressure on us to unlearn the "current us" and learn by copying from others a "new us". For many people, this can be an extremely intimidating task that will make us drop the ball at one point and feel failure again!

Don't Fall a Prey!When we allow ourselves to be victimized and dream of the illusion of becoming another far-fetched version of ourselves, we become vulnerable to wanting an imaginary life that we think will make us happy. This puts us into vicious circles by following the advice of charming speakers from the personal development industry who make a living by inspiring us during an interaction with them or their content. We get hyped for a couple of hours, days, or weeks at most, and then we're back feeling more depressed about not being able to achieve anything of what we've envisioned for our lives.
I am not saying that you should not work on your personal development, what I'm trying to say is that you should follow a realistic patch to improve your life by taking baby steps, and possibly by taking the advice of others who are a few steps ahead of you and who are already achieving the next few steps you aim to achieve. Those can better relate to your "current you" because they've been there not a long time ago. Of course, seeing and doing things differently is required if we want to level up our lives. But it doesn’t mean you need a personality transplant or need to become an entirely new person to do so. It’s about going underneath all the social conditioning and patterning we've developed over time, and tapping into what is already there. The real you!
Related: How To 10X Your Results With The Help Of A Mentor

The Advantages of Being The Real YouHow many of you are hiding behind a façade trying to impress those around you with a false identity? We so desperately want to be liked, fit in with the crowd, be accepted, and appear accomplished.Why is this so important? It could be because society and media expect us all to act, think and dress a certain way and if you don't conform, you're an outcast. So we do what society tells us to do.
Related: Are We All Programmed? How To Unlock Your Truth And Pursuit Your Dreams
By just "being you", while taking those baby steps to improve your life, here's what happens:
The sooner you realize how magnificent you are, just the way you are, the more respect you will garner from those around you. Just be you!By just being you, people will be impressed with some of the real quality traits you have that you've been hiding for so long. And of course, some may not like who you are because they may be intimidated by your unique and wonderful personality and wish you went back to being that clone of the person they thought you were. They can't handle all your brilliance. Shine bright!Some people may be so impressed that you came out of your shell and are showing your true colors that they may want you to mentor them to do the same. You just may be someone's idol for being brave enough to finally do this.When we are real, we meet and connect with new others that we may have previously missed out on because we were too busy being someone else whom no one wanted or cared too much about.My simple advice: you are unique and have a special gift to share with the world. Do it!

Who Are You?After being an extroverted kid, I became an introverted young adult. This might have been to some experiences of rejection, which are due to happen to many of us. Becoming a coach and doing a lot of public presentations gave me plenty of opportunities to learn how to manage and overcome this pattern, and to tap back into my authentic, enthusiastic self. Of course, it still shows up occasionally in moments of stress, but it doesn't paralyze me like it used to. That is progress and that is all I can ask of myself.
I’m sure many of you can relate to situations where we subconsciously made positive or bad conclusions about ourselves (and others) based on other people’s reactions to us. We've learned how to adopt behavioral patterns that keep us safe from rejections and get us to be more accepted. Over time we mold into whom we think we need to be to get our needs met.
To explore what being our real selves means we need to:Identify our patterns when they show up, how they’ve worked for us, how they work against us and how we want to respond to them. This is about recognizing those patterns, appreciating how they’ve served their purpose, and choosing when to do something different. There’s no pushing against them or fighting them. It’s accepting they are there and choosing to move forward differently. Here are some of the most common patterns: people-pleasing, victim mindset, self-judgment, the judgment of others, delusional positivity, control freak, hyper-achiever, overly rational, always looking for something to go wrong, the need for being busy, and perfectionism.Remove the mask that we're hiding behind to protect ourselves. Explore who is behind the mask and what we need to do to remove it. When you like yourself, that’s when life changes in magical ways. Here are some questions to ponder on:What’s important to you? What do you stand for?What is missing in your life, which if you added it, would make you happier?What in life brings you the greatest sense of fulfillment?Does the life you’re living now allow you to experience what’s most important to you? Are you standing up for what matters most to you?What patterns or fears are hindering your ability to be your authentic self?

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Published on January 19, 2022 00:09

4 Important Questions That Will Transform Your Life

According to Socrates, "An unexamined life is not worth living". He realized that to live a complete life we must examine it truthfully. While some might question the worthlessness of an unexamined life, others agree that if we don't make time to examine our motives, it may catch up to us. But on the other end of the spectrum, you don't want to get caught in a rigorous examination of life and become entangled with it.

The thing is most of us are dictated by our unconscious desires instead of making conscious choices. We have a habit of reacting instead of responding to what is taking place in our lives. It is only when a situation does not play out as expected, that we evaluate our choices. This is not a good recipe for living because reacting to outside events is not empowering, since you are dragged by your circumstances instead of taking life into your own hands.

The bestselling book, The 4 Stages of Building Wealth, encourages readers to challenge their beliefs to realize their potential. This process is neither easy nor pleasant, but it is a necessary step to become experience intentional results in your life. Although not all the choices you make will result in positive outcomes, the process itself will get you closer and closer to a more fulfilled life and an empowering mindset.

Over the coming paragraphs are presented four fundamental questions to ponder on. You need to be honest with yourself on the first two questions and realistic with your vision of your future on the other two questions. I recommend you journal your thoughts to the questions below and then revisit them every year to note whether you're having more clarity on things you want out of life. This process will make you become your own mentor and coach, This is a process I use when coaching new clients to help them map out their vision board and put a plan to achieve the life they want.

1. Where Am I Now?

When you're introducing yourself at a social event or corporate training, what do you say? I bet you will recite your past, ethnicity, what you do for a living, or your marital status. While these labels do define us, what happens if you lose your job? What is the label used to define you then?

Maybe you’re just starting your career. Maybe you started your career years ago. You might have a modest amount of income that barely covers your expenses. You might have debt payments and bills that eat up all your income and leave you with nothing to enjoy the simple things in life. Or you might have climbed the corporate ladder with a decent income but with bigger ambitions. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, you have a certain type of income right now, most probably from your job. You might feel uncomfortable that you work quite hard but get left with little money and time.

Every one of us has ambitions for a better quality of life, a better career, and an abundant life. The thing is we often fall into the trap of imagining a better life, but without examining the current state of our finances and career. It's like you want to reach a destination using Google Maps but without having a starting point.

Before you can start the process of building wealth, you need to have a very clear picture of where you are financially, right now. To determine this, you will need to understand some basic financial calculations and assessments. You need to have a clear picture of how your cash is flowing and of your current net worth. This article is not meant to be a crash course on personal finance, but you can get all the resources and the step-by-step guide on how to do it with your free copy of The 4 Stages of Building Wealth.

The more you start making relations between your cash flow and your net worth, the more questions you start asking yourself about your financial health. This leads you to start pondering on the next question: Why am I there?

2. Why Am I There?

This important question needs to be answered to have a clear understanding of what brought you to your current financial situation. To answer this question, you will need to examine:

Your sources of income: do you depend on only a paycheck from your job or do you earn other streams of income from a cash-flowing side gig or income-producing assets? Your spending habits: where do you spend most of your money? on the essential things for survival (such as rent, mortgage, taxes, transportation, food, and clothing) or discretionary nice-to-have things? Your assets: do you own non-income-producing assets that don't pay you any form of income, make your money sit idle, and even make you incur taxes on them? Or do you own a portfolio of income-producing assets that keep on feeding your bank accounts irrespective of whether you work or not? Your liabilities: the type of debt you have tells a lot about your spending habits. Do you owe a lot of bad debt (such as personal loan, car loan, credit card loan,...), which have been used to purchase things or services that depreciate over time or already lost value after consumption? Do you carry good debt, which was used to purchase income-producing assets that pay you passive income? How wealthy you are: Did you ever ask yourself how many months you can survive if you ever lose your income from your job? In case you raised an eyebrow, let's be clear about something. Wealth is not measured by the number of dollars you have in your name. Wealth is a measure of the number of days forward you can survive without working.

Related: How Can Personal Finance Best Be Managed To Build Generational Wealth

This step is a prerequisite for any person seeking financial freedom. It is a preamble for both setting new goals (Where Do I Want to Be?) and creating a strategy to reach them (How Do I Get There?). If you don’t know where you are and why you are where you are, you can’t expect to get where you want to go.

3. Where Do I Want to Be?

Have you ever thought about your "big why" or your major definite purpose? This is the one goal that is most important to you at the moment. It is usually the one goal that will help you to achieve more of your other goals than anything else you can accomplish. From my own experience, your major definite purpose goes beyond financial goals. Your major purpose or goal is usually centered on personal matters, like home and family, health and fitness, personal development and education, social life and relationships, spiritual development, and life contribution. You will realize that your goals related to work, career, and finances will be the enablers to achieve your higher purpose.

At this stage, you might even start asking yourself powerful questions about what your life might look like if you had all the money in the world. What kind of career would you be pursuing? How would you spend your leisure time? What kind of passion would you be pursuing? How would you give back to your family, your friends, your community, your colleagues, your business associates, and your religious affiliates?

Once you have clarity on the above, you can start setting your own personal financial objectives. You cannot set objectives if you do not have visibility on your current situation and an understanding of the reasons you are where you are. As James Burke eloquently puts it: “You can only know where you’re going if you know where you’ve been.”

You could be asking yourself about the time horizon of your objectives, the recommended time horizon is five to ten years. In this very well-researched book - The Top 10 Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class - author Keith Cameron Smith found that poor people plan at best for weeks, the middle-class people plan for months, whereas rich people plan years in advance.

A powerful way to look at your goals is through the famous SMART model. SMART stands for the different criteria of a goal, which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

4. How to Get There?

Once you've identified where do you want to be, you need a plan and a process to get you there.

Why do you need a process?

Put simply, a process is a set of defined tasks needed to complete a given activity, including who is responsible for completing each step, when, and how they do so. Without having a clearly defined process, your wealth-building journey can’t grow to its full potential. Two reasons why a process is so important for success are efficiency and scalability. Having a documented process that you can use as a tool saves time, energy, and resources. Following a proven process will prevent you from losing the time and money expended on trying to reinvent the wheel. Moreover, a system allows you to replicate any task over and over with predictable results.

Related: Step-by-step process on building a rental property portfolio for retirement

Take It One Step At A Time

I recommend you go through the four questions in the order presented in this article. But do not try to do them all at the same time right out of the gate. Ease into them. If you take on too many new actions all at once it will be harder to get them all on track. You’ll probably get frustrated. So start with the first question in this article, get it up and running, smooth it out, learn it well, and then go on to another. Take your time. You’ll get to them all eventually.

Knowing where to start is important. Which step should you pick first? Think about what makes sense for you. Do you understand the numbers in your personal financial statement? Think about where you’re likely to get the fastest results. Where do you think the most low-hanging fruit is for your personal finances? How are you most likely going to reach your financial objectives? Where will you get the greatest ROI? If you’re still not sure after you’ve thought through these questions, we recommend starting with question one first. Once you begin building your personal financial statement and analyzing the numbers, you’ll gain confidence, and soon you’ll be implementing the more advanced strategies, too.

We’ve helped over 30,000 students implement these systems, and along the way have been perfecting every step of the process. Our training program, The 4 Pillars of Generational Wealth, provides step-by-step instruction on the entire system, as well as 1-on-1 support to ensure that our students succeed. You can check out this course on www.employeemillionaire.com/fourpillarscourse.

For more serious students looking for one on one guidance and mentoring on the entire process, we have been working with students around the globe, through our “inner-circle” coaching. After helping so many students implement this system, we’ve found that there are a few keys to successfully implementing and managing the process so that you get the results you’re after — a steady and dependable residual income from assets that grow your wealth! You can sign up for a complimentary strategy session at www.employeemillionaire.com/book-call.

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Published on January 11, 2022 23:44

Are We All Programmed? How To Unlock Your Truth And Pursuit Your Dreams

When I was a teenager, I always used to wonder why my parents were so adamant about their children seeking higher education so that they would get a secure, high-paying job. My parents themselves have spent their adult lives as employees going through the ups and downs of the employee life. They were at times put out of their jobs and then forced to work for less paying and less rewarding jobs. They worked very hard for money to provide the best they can for their family. When they retired, they woke up to the realization that neither their previous employer nor the government will look after them. My parent retired broke, and luckily enough I had the means to take care of their needs when they were out of money after their legal retirement age.

Back then during my childhood, I observed that the parents of my wealthy classmates did things quite differently from the route my parents selected for themselves. When I used to visit their houses for play days, even as a young child, it was obvious to me that my wealthy classmates’ lifestyle was quite far from the lifestyle our family was enjoying … or not enjoying!

When I grew a bit more mature, I automatically fell into the same “life-programming”, and as soon as I graduated, I started my career in the corporate world. I found myself trapped in the rat race, running from one paycheck to the next. My corporate life allowed me great exposure to working with my colleagues from the different corners of the world. I also have worked as an expatriate in different countries for almost 20 years. I realized that almost all my work colleagues, irrespective of where they fall on the corporate ladder, irrespective of which country they live and work in, all had accepted their fate and were trying to make the most out of the life program that their parents handed over to them.

Unlocking The Truth

When I started my wealth-building journey, my starting point was taking a proper inventory of my financial situation. When I had a look at my first ever personal financial statement, dozens of questions and ideas came to my mind. In some instances, I comforted myself with some irrational justifications about my financial ruin. It was like covering a bad story with another bad story. Finally, I had to face reality and objectively analyze what brought me to this situation. During this same time, I looked at Forbes’s list of billionaires and started to ask myself questions about how those billionaires and other wealthy people attract money like a magnet, whereas people like me and my colleagues, employees in general, seem to repel it.

Being determined to discover the answers, I talked to dozens of people, including ones who were poor, middle class, well off, and wealthy. As I met people who were low-, medium-, and high-paid employees, self-employed, investors, and business owners, I began to notice that people who depend on earned income, irrespective of their income level, have much in common. On the other hand, people who have acquired multiple streams of income from their income-producing assets also share a lot in common. The difference between those classes was astonishing.

Rewriting Your Script

People who have accumulated wealth have let go of an incredible number of misconceptions and limiting beliefs. In fact, the wealthy have managed to subscribe to a new set of empowering beliefs that contradict what the majority of the population still hangs onto.

It appears as if we are all programmed to believe in a set of false assumptions that become limiting beliefs. Too often the poor and the middle class hold tightly to a set of limiting beliefs about money and investing. Meanwhile, those same beliefs hold them captive and prevent them from achieving financial freedom.

When I first looked at my personal financial statement, I had the same set of limiting beliefs. It was only when I understood how those beliefs were enslaving me to a state of financial ruin that I managed to let go of them. I had to understand the personal truth about my negative thoughts to overcome them and replace them with empowering beliefs.

Free Book: How to Overcome The Limiting Beliefs That Make You Stand in Your Way to Becoming Financially Free

The poor and the middle class have adopted limiting personal beliefs, whereas the wealthy have adopted empowering personal beliefs. You’ll never embark on the road to wealth if you let such negative thoughts constrain you.

The poor and the middle class will most probably remain in the same financial situation if they conjure up any number of excuses for not choosing wealth—excuses that say more about their inner thoughts than about the difficulty of achieving wealth.

If you’re embracing negative thoughts, you need to understand what they really mean. It’s time to dig deep and unearth your personal truths. Jot down negative statements you whisper to yourself, and, after some honest soul searching, record the personal truth that lies beneath each. Once you become honest with yourself and accept that those beliefs are limited only to the extent you allow them to be, you will experience a transformation of those beliefs into empowering ones. Self-awareness is critical in this transformation.

Before you change your life, you need to change your mind. Your thoughts and beliefs are deeply entrenched, so deeply rooted that you may not even be aware of how much they’ve impacted your financial situation.

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Published on December 30, 2021 00:51

The Only Investment That Yields Infinite Returns

Heads up! Don't let the headline make you think this article is about giving financial advice. In fact, I want to talk to you about the most important asset you need to invest in.

You.

Your best investment ever is investing in yourself... in your personal development and your wellbeing.

With this mode of accelerating acceleration of technology development, we're expected to do much more with less time. This is making us overwhelmed and living a life of continuous peak stress levels!

Pause a bit take a deep breath. You're not supposed to lead such a hectic life.

Trust me, life could be as complicated as you make it. On the flip side, a life with a good balance of spiritual health, wellness, and wellbeing is simpler; happier, and more fulfilling.

Most people seek first their financial wellbeing, so they get too busy trading long hours for money. They end up with no time and energy left for their spiritual health and wellness.

A few years back, my wife and I went on a rural trip on top of the mountains for some time to disconnect from the busy pace of life. We met a farmer and his wife who were growing organic produce and producing some of the best ever organic honey, milk, and eggs for their personal use and then distributing the surplus to their family and friends. This couple was in their golden years and full of life and wellness. My business mindset made me inquire with the farmer on the reasons they don't scale up their production and sell their produce for profit. The couple laughed and answered me politely: "why would we want to do that?"

I replied that this business could be very profitable and that they would make money while doing what they love. Still, they answered me back: "why would we need more money?"

My voice started to soften a bit when I answered them they would retire stress-free and wealthier. I then added that they would have more time to spend together.

This is when it became very obvious to me that they were leading the life they wanted to themselves... a life with a balance of spiritual health, wellness, and wellbeing. They were literally leading the life that many of us would aspire to have in our golden age.

This story made me fully appreciate how taking better care of ourselves is always essential. We all need to work to provide for our families, but when taking care of ourselves we will be in a better state to support our loved ones.

This is the reason why we need to be financially smart earlier in our careers so that we can make sound decisions grow our wealth to become financially stress-free as we grow older.

Ask for More Support

When we see ourselves going into vicious circles and not able to have a good work-life balance, we should ask for more help. I understand that making time for asking for help is a major challenge. Again, this is not indulgent, it is crucial to your wellbeing.

For all of you hardworking employees, self-employed, parents, and single moms with families to support, hear me loud and clear: You must make your own "me time". This is not a want, it's a need. The keyword here is "making time", which means you must schedule time on your calendars for just doing nothing for others... time for your own wellbeing, wellness, and personal development.

If you don’t intentionally schedule a time for your own self, it will never happen!

You must make your own "me time"

Ask your partner to help you get that hour a day to spend with yourself. Maybe you want to spend this hour exercising, running, cooking, reading a book, watching a course, or talking to a coach... whatever might make you feel more fulfilled.

Don't let small obstacles become excuses. You can hire someone to help with the house or care for young children or an elderly parent a few hours a week. If you can't afford to do that, please consider spending less on discretionary expenses, so that you can afford to have this help. Investing in your well-being, especially in today’s stressful world, is essential.

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Published on December 08, 2021 00:19

3 Strategies To Pay Off Credit Card Debt Fast

If you have credit card debt, you're not alone. In fact, more than 60% of Americans have a credit card and cardholders carry an average balance of $5,525 in 2021. While it can be worthwhile to have a card that gives you the convenience of cashless spending and the opportunity to earn rewards, all of those perks are meaningless if you're rolling a balance every month and paying high interest.

If you've been suffering from carrying credit card balances month to month, paying off that debt fast might be easier than you think. The key is having a solid strategy with a plan that you commit to sticking to it.

Several strategies help you pay off your credit card debt, but not all might be the best fit for your situation. If you want to tackle your debt head-on, you'll need to consider the main factors of interest rates, fees, and how much you can afford to pay each month before settling on the best repayment method. These three strategies can help you decide which course of action best fits your current situation to quickly pay off any credit card debt you have.

Reprioritize Your Spending

Start by categorizing your monthly spending between essential and discretionary expenses.

Next, look for areas in your discretionary expenses where you can cut back. Then take the money you’ve freed up and apply it to paying down your credit card debt.

Related: How Can Personal Finance Best Be Managed To Build Generational Wealth

Target One Credit Card Debt At A Time

Do you carry more than one credit card in your wallet with an outstanding balance on more than one card?

If so, data shows that the majority of credit cardholders are paying the minimum on each card. This is the minimum requirement for not having your card blocked, but it keeps you in a vicious bad debt cycle. Remember credit card debt has one of the highest interests.

On top of paying the minimum payment on each of your cards; your focus shall be on paying down the total balance on one card at a time. You can choose which card you target in one of two ways:

Check the interest rate section of your statements to see which credit card charges the highest interest rate, and concentrate on paying that debt off first.Pay off the card with the smallest balance first, then take the money you were paying for that debt and use it to pay down the next smallest balance.

Related: Schedule a complimentary "debt pay off strategy" session

After paying off one of your card's outstanding balance, you can reallocate the same monthly payment to your other cards at paying more than the minimum on that next card with the highest interest. Every dollar over the minimum payment goes toward your balance, which means you pay less in interest. With this discipline, you kill off your outstanding debt one card at a time.

Consolidate And Conquer

Consolidating your debt can let you combine several higher-interest balances into one with a lower rate, so you can pay down your debt faster without increasing payment amounts.

Here are three common ways to consolidate debt:

Use a balance transfer credit card from high-interest credit card(s) to a balance transfer credit card that offers no interest for periods up to 6, 12, 18, and sometimes 20 months (depending on the card issuer policy). This strategy offers a long stretch of time to pay off your debt, but the trick is to pay off the balance transfer before the period with zero interest ends. After this grace period, interests go up high again in the vicinity of your current card that you're already struggling with. If you use this strategy, the best advice is not to use the new card (you used for balance transfer) for any purchase. In other words, keep this new card for the only purpose to pay off your credit card at zero interest within the time frame provided to you. It's important to note that you can't complete a transfer between cards issued from the same bank. Take advantage of a low-interest personal loan to pay off high-interest card debt. To improve your chances for personal loan approval, you should be lowering your debt to income ratio, which is one of the main criteria that determine your loan eligibility.If you have equity in your home, you may be able to use it to pay down card debt. A home equity line of credit may offer a lower rate than what your cards charge. Be aware that closing costs often apply, but an extra benefit is that home equity interest payments are often tax-deductible.

If you do consolidate, keep in mind that it’s very important to reprioritize your spending to avoid racking up new debt on top of the debt you’ve just consolidated.

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Published on November 24, 2021 00:32

Hedging Against Inflation? Here's What To Do

Hedging Against Inflation, Here's What To Do

As governments attempt to boost their economies with different forms of support or quantitative easing, inflation continues to hit record-highs, with the US witnessing the highest inflation ever in 30 years. On the extreme end of the spectrum, Lebanon has experienced a whopping 144% inflation rate in 2021.

This means savers are becoming losers!

If you keep your money idle in the banks (or stashed at home), its purchasing power is being lost over time. A dollar today will not buy the same value of goods in ten years. This is due to inflation. Inflation measures the average price level of a basket of goods and services in an economy; it refers to the increases in prices over a specified period of time. As a result of inflation, a specific amount of currency will be able to buy less than before. Therefore, if you're worried about inflation, you should find the right strategies and investments to hedge against inflation.

A disciplined investor can plan for inflation by investing in asset classes that outperform the market during inflationary climates. Here are some of the top ways to hedge against inflation.

Precious Metals

Gold and silver have often been considered hedges against inflation. In fact, many people have looked to precious metals as "alternative currencies," particularly in countries where the native currency is losing value. Gold and silver are real, physical assets, and tend to hold their value for the most part.
However, both gold and silver are not a true perfect hedge against inflation. When inflation rises, central banks tend to increase interest rates as part of monetary policy. Holding onto an asset like precious metals that pay no yields is not as valuable as holding onto an asset that does, particularly when rates are higher, meaning yields are higher.

CommoditiesCommodities are a broad category that includes grain, precious metals, electricity, oil, beef, orange juice, and natural gas, as well as foreign currencies, emissions, and certain other financial instruments.
Commodities and inflation have a unique relationship, where commodities are an indicator of inflation to come. As the price of a commodity rises, so does the price of the products that the commodity is used to produce.

Before investing in commodities, investors should be aware that they are highly volatile and investor caution is advised in commodity trading. Because commodities are dependent on demand and supply factors, a slight change in supply due to geopolitical tensions or conflicts can adversely affect the prices of commodities.

Income Producing Real EstateReal estate works well with inflation. This is because, as inflation rises, so do property values, and so does the amount a landlord can charge for rent or lease. This results in the landlord earning a higher rental income over time. This helps to keep pace with the rise in inflation. For this reason, income-producing real estate is one of the best ways to hedge an investment portfolio against inflation. Property prices and rental income tend to rise when inflation rises.

Like any investment, there are pros and cons to investing in real estate. First, when purchasing real estate, the transaction costs are considerably higher (as compared to purchasing shares of stock). Second, real estate investments are illiquid, meaning they can’t be quickly and easily sold without a substantial loss in value. If you are purchasing a property, it requires management and maintenance, and these costs can add up quickly. And finally, real estate investing involves taking on a great deal of financial and legal liability. For those investors who want to overcome the cons of investing in real estate and also be passive investors without the hassle of property management, they can choose to invest in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Real Estate Crowdfunding (REC).

REITs are companies that own and operate income-producing real estate. A REIT consists of a pool of real estate that pays out dividends to its investors. On the other hand, investors can enjoy fractional ownership of a property that's managed by a real estate crowdfunding company. In that way, investors earn their share of the income from the rent, lease, or capital gain to the extent of their ownership of the property. If you seek broad exposure to real estate to go along with a low expense ratio, consider CasaBayt.

Stock and BondsInvesting in stocks and bonds is considered to be a safe, if you select a conservative portfolio. Selecting the stocks and bonds to include in your portfolio requires proper analysis of each; otherwise, paying an investment advisor to assemble such a portfolio could help.
Investing in a conservative portfolio of stocks and bonds could be seen a straightforward, easy investment strategy. But like all investment plans, it does have some disadvantages. Compared to an all-equity portfolio, a conservative portfolio will underperform over the long term. It's important to keep in mind that a conservative portfolio will help you hedge against inflation (and keep you safer), but you'll likely be missing out on returns compared to a portfolio with a higher percentage of stocks.
Related: Which Assets Build Wealth – Stocks, Bonds, or Real Estate?

What about Cryptocurrencies?

It seems like almost everyone in our circles of friends and colleagues is into bitcoins, even though they don't understand what they're getting themselves into nor the high risk of investing in digital currencies. When they read how other investors were able to make thousands of dollars in a few days, during 2017, with the help of cryptocurrencies, they jumped on the wagon when the ride going up is smooth. Only time will tell whether the ride is still going up or if Bitcoin investors need to brace themselves for a downward ride at a speed that might make it derail and throw everyone out!

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Published on November 10, 2021 00:33

Borrowing With Pride Will "Up Your Game" With Little At Stake

Earlier in my career, I used to work for a giant multinational that was (and still) the market leader in all the categories it operates in. In business planning sessions, we used to follow one mantra - "borrow with pride". The leaders in this organization have been promoting a learning culture by borrowing ideas and best practices from its different categories and businesses and applying them to the others that didn't implement those best practices yet.

A successful business model or innovation does not have to be an all-new idea. Imagine the power of adopting another successful idea and fitting it into your business. This is how consulting firms get paid thousands of dollars to help out companies and executives. The question is: how can this principle be applied to your life and career?

I was once attending a regional conference in Singapore. While country headers were presenting their respective business performance with the learning, the conference head stressed on me that I "steal with pride" an idea that was working well for another country to address issues my business was facing in the country I operated in. A few months later, I wrote the conference head thanking him how his simple advice has turned around my business from being stagnant and not profitable to double-digit growth and a profitable one. This is the power of leveraging other peoples' ideas, knowledge, and expertise!

The key learning is to take something that's already working, adapt it to your business, improve on it, and then see the magic happen. This approach beats the thought process of "reinventing the wheel" and losing lots of resources to arrive at a point that has always been there. Isn't it much powerful to have a solid (and proven) starting point that you can build on it?

Later in my career, after acknowledging the power of leveraging other peoples' knowledge and experience, I was always seeking mentors in the areas of my life where I needed to improve. A mentor can 10X your results by sharing their experience and providing a trust relationship where you can borrow and learn from their experience and models so that you don't lose time and money by trial and error.

Lessons Learned from Borrowing with Pride

In my coaching experience, both as a student and a coach, here are the lessons learned from adopting a mentality of borrowing with pride.

1. Speed of execution: Having a proven system or strategy to model after it gives you the competitive advantage and the confidence to execute without hesitation and too much analysis paralysis. This speed of execution is crucial to getting the ball rolling, saving time, and growing your business.

2. Taking it to the next level: Great ideas don't have to be original. If you can use someone else's idea or system and then improve on it, you can take it to the next level. In many examples, we've seen many great ideas have originated from existing ones and still ended up being disruptive and creating a new niche. I've also witnessed many coaching students who have done much better than their coaches by following their models and improving on them for their specific situations. The bottom line doesn’t mind if the original idea wasn’t yours, if it works, it works!

3. Avoid the risk of trial and error: Many businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors approach problem-solving with multiple attempts until they reach a solution. In this process, they try a method, observe if it works, and if it doesn't, they try a new method. This process is repeated until success or a solution is reached (and if reached). As you can imagine, this is quite a lengthy process that involves losing a lot of resources (time and money) by trial and error. This is where most of the people drop the ball in the middle of the journey out of losing resources, energy, and interest. In brief, they give up. On the other hand, if you borrow with pride, you cut the chase for a solution by trial and error. You start from a solid and proven launch point and use all your energy and resources to get the results you want with much better ROI.

"I Already Know It" Syndrome

There is a natural tendency for us to think "I already know it" for any area of our business or life we would like to improve. This is a self-limiting mindset!

Whenever you catch yourself thinking or saying this, ask yourself these 3 questions:

Am I doing it?Have I mastered it?Do my results prove I am doing it and have mastered it?If you've answered "No" to any of the above questions, then obviously you need someone to guide you to achieve the results you want.

Next Steps

Now that you've appreciated the concept of borrowing with pride, I invite you to reflect on the following:

Which area in your life would you like to improve?Did you educate yourself on how to improve it?Did you take any action? What's stopping you?Did you discuss it with another person who has experience in the same area? Related: Book a Free "Up Your Game" Strategy Session

View more on H.J. Chammas's website »

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Published on October 27, 2021 08:59

Borrowing With Pride Can Will "Up Your Game" With Little At Stake

Borrowing With Pride Will "Up Your Game" With Little At Stake

Earlier in my career, I used to work for a giant multinational that was (and still) the market leader in all the categories it operates in. In business planning sessions, we used to follow one mantra - "borrow with pride". The leaders in this organization have been promoting a learning culture by borrowing ideas and best practices from its different categories and businesses and applying them to the others that didn't implement those best practices yet.

A successful business model or innovation does not have to be an all-new idea. Imagine the power of adopting another successful idea and fitting it into your business. This is how consulting firms get paid thousands of dollars to help out companies and executives. The question is: how can this principle be applied to your life and career?

I was once attending a regional conference in Singapore. While country headers were presenting their respective business performance with the learning, the conference head stressed on me that I "steal with pride" an idea that was working well for another country to address issues my business was facing in the country I operated in. A few months later, I wrote the conference head thanking him how his simple advice has turned around my business from being stagnant and not profitable to double-digit growth and a profitable one. This is the power of leveraging other peoples' ideas, knowledge, and expertise!

The key learning is to take something that's already working, adapt it to your business, improve on it, and then see the magic happen. This approach beats the thought process of "reinventing the wheel" and losing lots of resources to arrive at a point that has always been there. Isn't it much powerful to have a solid (and proven) starting point that you can build on it?

Later in my career, after acknowledging the power of leveraging other peoples' knowledge and experience, I was always seeking mentors in the areas of my life where I needed to improve. A mentor can 10X your results by sharing their experience and providing a trust relationship where you can borrow and learn from their experience and models so that you don't lose time and money by trial and error.

Lessons Learned from Borrowing with Pride

In my coaching experience, both as a student and a coach, here are the lessons learned from adopting a mentality of borrowing with pride.

1. Speed of execution: Having a proven system or strategy to model after it gives you the competitive advantage and the confidence to execute without hesitation and too much analysis paralysis. This speed of execution is crucial to getting the ball rolling, saving time, and growing your business.

2. Taking it to the next level: Great ideas don't have to be original. If you can use someone else's idea or system and then improve on it, you can take it to the next level. In many examples, we've seen many great ideas have originated from existing ones and still ended up being disruptive and creating a new niche. I've also witnessed many coaching students who have done much better than their coaches by following their models and improving on them for their specific situations. The bottom line doesn’t mind if the original idea wasn’t yours, if it works, it works!

3. Avoid the risk of trial and error: Many businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors approach problem-solving with multiple attempts until they reach a solution. In this process, they try a method, observe if it works, and if it doesn't, they try a new method. This process is repeated until success or a solution is reached (and if reached). As you can imagine, this is quite a lengthy process that involves losing a lot of resources (time and money) by trial and error. This is where most of the people drop the ball in the middle of the journey out of losing resources, energy, and interest. In brief, they give up. On the other hand, if you borrow with pride, you cut the chase for a solution by trial and error. You start from a solid and proven launch point and use all your energy and resources to get the results you want with much better ROI.

"I Already Know It" Syndrome

There is a natural tendency for us to think "I already know it" for any area of our business or life we would like to improve. This is a self-limiting mindset!

Whenever you catch yourself thinking or saying this, ask yourself these 3 questions:

Am I doing it?Have I mastered it?Do my results prove I am doing it and have mastered it?If you've answered "No" to any of the above questions, then obviously you need someone to guide you to achieve the results you want.

Next Steps

Now that you've appreciated the concept of borrowing with pride, I invite you to reflect on the following:

Which area in your life would you like to improve?Did you educate yourself on how to improve it?Did you take any action? What's stopping you?Did you discuss it with another person who has experience in the same area? Related: Book a Free "Up Your Game" Strategy Session

View more on H.J. Chammas's website »

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Published on October 27, 2021 08:59

What Life Changing Advice I Would Give My 21 Year Old Self

What Life-Changing Advice I Would Give My 21-Year-Old Self

21 is the age every one of us is just starting out. We’re full of ambitions and potential. We don't have many scars in our life that might hold us back. This is a very personal question. Everyone has different life experiences, backgrounds, shortcomings, and ambitions. My advice to myself probably will be a lot different than yours, but I'm sure it will trigger your thought process about what you'd tell yourself... what could you have done better or different?

At 21, I was doing my Master's Degree and at the same time working with night shift to be able to pay for my expensive tuition. I started doing the 9 to 5 grind before graduation and learned that a paycheck would never last till the end of the following month. I had no savings, but also I didn't have any debt. At that time, I did pretty well overall, but if I had a time machine, here is some advice for my younger self.

1. Networking

As a natural introvert, networking was one of my areas for self-improvement. It’s not my comfort zone to build relationships with new people, but I naturally tend to form lasting friendships with the people I already know. I would tell my younger self to put more effort into networking, working within a team, and learning from more experienced older people (or mentors).

I was always much more comfortable talking to my peer group rather than those folks with much higher positions and work experience. I think having mentors and role models early in my career would have accelerated my career growth in the long run.

When I was in my mid 30's and learned the importance of networking, working with teams, and seeking the guidance of mentors and coaches, my life has transformed. I was able to leverage other peoples' experience, knowledge, time, and connections to 10X my results. Of course, each of the people whom I worked with also benefited from our business relationship. It was always a win-win arrangement.

2. Learn How to Delay Gratification

We all kind of follow a script, which was handed over to us by our parents. We tend to value first and foremost a good job with a steady paycheck with good health and retirement perks. When our income increases, we start seeking comfort and want things that give us instant gratification. Who doesn't like to wear designer brands, drive luxurious cars, live in a renowned neighborhood, travel on vacations, and enjoy their hobbies?

Many times it's easy to give in to our desire for comfort. But if I can talk to my younger self, I would give myself the advice of sacrificing short-term gratification and prioritizing my goals. Most of us dream of having a great life and retiring wealthy, but we keep it as a dream or wish and never put it at the top of our goals. That’s because we all find refuge in the easier objectives of security and comfort instead of bothering with the effort and education required to become successful.

Both security and comfort are short-term thinking of the poor and the middle class where a paycheck, health insurance, retirement plan, a house, a car, entertainment, and travel all offer the feeling of instant gratification. On the other hand, the wealthy have developed the discipline of sacrificing short-term indulgence and invested their time into their financial literacy. As a consequence, they enjoy much better and bigger things in the future. Their delayed gratification is way more rewarding.

3. Become Financially Literate

When I first joined the corporate world, it was challenging to work at night and study during the day, but at the same time a lot of fun. I was like a dry sponge, learning everything about running a business from the ground up. I met many interesting and really smart people... and each taught me something about business, but none was able to teach me something about personal finance, just because it appears that most people are not in control of their personal finances.

The income was nice too, but I was never able to save and never knew where my income is being spent. I just knew that I was always waiting for the next paycheck to get out of financial stress, pay my bills, or make the minimum installment towards a loan or my credit card statement!

Earning good money before graduating was a nice start, but I think it was a mistake to never receive any financial education to control my cash flow. Now that I know more, I would tell my younger self to become financially literate before earning my first-ever paycheck to become a real pilot who's in control of his finances. We develop bad money habits from the point we start earning an income and never know how to spend it and invest it towards building our net worth.

4. Self Discipline

Most of us become disciplined in what we do because someone else is watching us. We learn this at school, at home, and even at our job. This is not self-discipline!

When you are self-disciplined, you do what you need to do even if you've only made your promise to yourself. Consistency is harder when no one is clapping for you. You must clap for yourself during those times. Be your biggest fan!

I will advise my younger self to never wait to get in the mood to start working on a new project or task. Here's the truth, you are never going to be in the mood 100% unless you decide that you will do something. Act on what you need to do. Don't give yourself enough time to reason or talk yourself out of the things that you ought to do.

5. Create Baby Steps Routine Towards Your Long Term Goals

I don't know why, as young adults, we tend to think that we can shoot for the moon, and even if we miss, we will reach the stars! With this thinking, we tend to set unachievable deadlines or goals, which most often lead us to failure. For some reason, we keep this mentality and repeat setting unrealistic goals until we fail too many times, and then we end up getting demotivated and losing our confidence.

A piece of life-transforming advice I will give my younger self is to think of his "Big Why"... this laser-focused strong thing that will make me move towards something I want in life. When this becomes clear, my younger self will realize that money is only an enabler to achieve greater things in life. What I learned is that my personal ambitions came first, before my financial ambitions. What I discovered is that my financial ambitions acted like enablers for me to achieve my personal ambitions.

Related: What is Your "Big Why"?

Look ahead to around 3 to 5 years from now... even dare to envision yourself 10 years from now. Think about how your life will look like. Are the actions you're doing today directing you towards your "Big Why"?
I will advise my younger self to set realistic, yet challenging, long-term goals. I will whisper a secret to my younger self to break every task into baby steps so that I don't procrastinate. Consistent actions towards our goals will transform into a habit or a routine to plan our work and work our plan. It's much better to do in one small step at a time than to try to do a lot and get stuck in the end.

6. Create Accountability

Be more accountable to your goals by letting other people know about them. Share your goals, ambitions, and even plans with someone you trust. This could be a colleague, friend, partner, mentor, or coach.

The simple act of sharing your goals and then trying to save face by simply making things happen - even if those actions appear overwhelming - will help you create self-accountability.

If this other mentor is more experienced, a mentor, or a coach who dares you do something beyond your comfort zone and that will take you closer to your goals, you've got yourself a healthy way of making things happen.

If you're passionate about your personal growth and ready to take your learning to the next level, join our newsletter to read more related articles and attend a future training.

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Published on October 13, 2021 00:46

How Does Credit Utilization Ratio Affect Your Credit Score?

In a previous article, we've covered how the debt-to-income ratio (DTI) can affect whether you get approved for a loan or credit. In this article, we will cover on credit utilization affects your credit score.

Your credit utilization ratio (also referred to as the debt-to-credit ratio) is a measure of how much credit you’re using compared with your credit limit. For example, let’s say that you have a $10,000 credit limit on your card and your current balance is $3,000, which makes your credit utilization ratio 30%.

Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is a calculation of how much of your monthly income is devoted to debt payments and certain other financial obligations. Lenders want to know you have the ability to pay back a loan.

Payments that should be factored into your DTI include:

Monthly rent or mortgage payments (including taxes and insurance).Minimum monthly credit card payments.Monthly auto and student loan payments.Monthly child support or alimony payments.Monthly payments on any other type of loan.

Once you’ve added up all these obligations, divide the total by your monthly gross (pre-tax) income to arrive at your DTI. For example, if your monthly debt payments and financial obligations add up to $2,500 and your monthly income is $6,000, your debt-to-income ratio is 41.7%. In general, a DTI that's lower than 49% makes you eligible for loans.

How Credit Utilization Affects Your Credit

Loans can be either secured loans or unsecured loans. Mortgages and car loans are secured loans, as they are both secured by collateral. Loans such as credit cards and lines of credit are unsecured, not backed by collateral. Unsecured loans typically have higher interest rates than secured loans as they are riskier for the lender. With a secured loan, the lender can repossess the collateral in the case of default.

Loans can also be described as revolving loans or term loans. A revolving loan is a loan that can be spent, repaid, and spent again, while a term loan is a loan paid off in equal monthly installments over a set period called a term.

Let's see how different loan obligations are categorized:

A line of credit is an unsecured revolving loan.A credit card is an unsecured revolving loan.A home mortgage is a secured term loan.A personal loan is generally an unsecured term loan.A car loan is a secured term loan.A student loan is generally an unsecured term loan.

Credit Utilization Ratio

Your Credit Utilization Ratio is influenced almost entirely by your revolving loans (credit card debt and line of credit). In general, it's best to keep your credit utilization ratio below 30% on any single credit card and across all of them. This also applies to any line of credit extended to you by your bank.

A whopping 30% of your FICO score, the scoring model used in most lending decisions, is determined by your credit utilization ratio. The lower the credit utilization ratio, the better is your credit score.

Why Lenders Use Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI) To Qualify You For a Loan

Although your debt-to-income ratio isn't used to calculate your credit score, you should know that it's a big factor lenders use to decide whether you qualify for a loan or credit because it indicates how able you are to take an additional financial obligation. In other words, lenders want to know how able you are to pay back your debt and financial obligation, including the new loan you're applying for.

Banks and other types of lenders set their own DTI standards, so an acceptable DTI with one lender might be considered too high with another. In general:

DTI of 35% or less: Green light. You are looking good, and your lender will favor your application. Compared to your income, your debt is at a manageable level. You most likely have money left over for saving or spending after you’ve paid your obligations. DTI between 36 - 49: Yellow light. You are still eligible for a loan, but you have an opportunity to improve your situation. You’re managing your debt adequately, but you may want to consider lowering your DTI. This could put you in a better position to handle unforeseen expenses. Your lender may ask you for additional eligibility criteria. DTI of 50% or more: Red light. You need to take action to get your finances in order. In the eyes of your lenders, you may have limited funds to save or spend. With more than half your income going toward debt payments, you may not have much money left to save, spend, or handle unforeseen expenses. With this DTI ratio, lenders may limit your borrowing options or even categorize you as not eligible for loans.