Become Financially Independent-How to Spend

Morne Lubbe - Personal Financial Coach


Become Financially Independent - How to Spend

Jim Rohn says to walk around different neighbourhoods and decide how you'd like to live.
If you want to live in a better neighbourhood then follow these principles:

Never spend more than 70 cents of every Rand/Dollar earned.

What to do with the other 30 cents:

1.   10 cents give away

This is called giving back to the community. This is where we learn to be generous and generosity teaches us character. This principle also free us from the hold that money can have on us.

2.   10 cents for Active capital

Any project you can think up to invest your money. This can be investing in yourself such as studying or learning new skills.
You need to invest into a project that will bring you profits and will work for you.

Wages make a living, profits make a fortune - Profits are better than wages.

Look for opportunities to create profits.

3.   10 cents for Passive Capital

Invest in companies to pay you interest. This is where the power of compounded interest comes into play. If you keep on reinvesting the interest you receive, you'll earn interest on interest.

Poverbs 22:7 says : 'The borrower is servant to the lender'. Be the lender not the borrower.

Please feel free to add or comment below.

For more information or assistance please feel free to contact me at morne@blueline.pro.

For all the nutrients your body needs drink moringa

www.fodstrand.co.za

Become Financially Independent-Value

Morne Lubbe - Personal Financial Coach

Become Financially Independent - Value

'The number one question asked this week was how to start investing with little or no money. Please hear this as this is the hardest thing for people to understand: you do NOT invest with money! You invest with your mind! No matter what the field, your biggest asset is your mind. Once you have knowledge, you find deals, find your team and use other people’s money. You sell the deal and your team to get investment money'. Robert Kyosaki

Change

The definition of insanity is to continue doing the things you've always done and expecting a different result...
Have a look at what you've been doing for the last five years and stop doing it.

Jim Rohn said that it's not the strength or the direction of the wind, but the setting of your sails. Setting a good sail is of utmost important.

Value

There are various levels of determining someone's value. Family member's have a certain value for/to each other, we are all equally valuable in the eye's of God. A third value is the value we bring to the market place.

We get paid according to the value we bring to the market place. We do not get paid according to the time we give. With this in mind it's vitally important to improve yourself, improve your work-,language,-communication, and/or personal skills. Become more competent in what you do.

The environment will most probably be the same in five years time, the politics and difficulty of work might not change, but you can change yourself and improve the value that you bring to the market place.

Learn from personal experience, from other's failures and successes and from listening and reading as much as possible.

While you're learning and improving on your own competency, keep a daily journal of your adventure.


In the next blog I'll write about setting goals.

Please fee free to comment or ask questions.

Become Financially Independent - Coach

Morne Lubbe - Personal Financial Coach

Become Financially Independent – Coach

If I could generalise, most people don’t know how to do a budget, not to mention actually physically setting one up.

For those who get as far as drawing up a budget, it becomes a list of income and expenses and has no value other than being able to tap one-self on the back for ‘having’ a budget.

If you want to reach above average success, there are certain principles that need to be adhered to.

Coach

A coach is a person who objectively looks at your situation, your goals, your dreams and walks alongside you to reach those dreams.

If you want to reach above average success, you need to employ a person (coach) whom you’re accountable to. You can have all the information, but not act on it, and this becomes useless. In sales we have a saying: ‘A product without sales equals junk’. Knowledge without action is useless.

Discipline is crucial in reaching your goals and a coach will be the one to lead you in this.

Coaches come in different shapes and forms. Even a bad coach will do more for you in reaching your goals that you trying to achieve it on your own. The best you can do is to pay someone to coach you- so they have to do their job, which increases the possibility of your reaching those amazing dreams, or assisting you in dreaming again.

If you have any questions, please post below in comments. The comments will only be displayed if you choose so.

Cash for Emergencies

Morne Lubbe - Personal Financial Coach

Cash for Emergencies

I received this email from a friend saying:

‘Dear Morne, I am stressed out due to the fact that I’m not getting through the month with my current income and the company I work for doesn’t seem to be very stable which creates huge uncertainty about receiving an income for the next couple of months’.

The statistics in South Africa would suggest that 90% of South Africans are 6 weeks away from bankruptcy.

It is critical that we have six to twelve months cash available in case of an emergency. Job security seems to be far removed from reality in today’s market.

Let’s have a look at the benefits of having an Emergency Fund and how to create one.

Benefits of an Emergency Fund

·         Cash available for unforeseen expenses such as an unexpected breakdown or a geyser that popped. Some of these sudden unforeseen expenses can be huge;

·         Cash available should income stop or reduce for 6 to 12 months due to retrenchment or illness;

·         No need for using debt;

·         Security;

·         Relationship benefits;

·         Good financial stewardship.

How do I create an emergency fund?

·         Start small;

·         Be consistent with monthly savings;

·         Don’t use debt-mortgage or credit cards or any other form of debt;

Creating an Emergency Fund is an absolute must.

Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.

www.kubunye.co.za

Love Letter to my Wife

Morne Lubbe - Personal Financial Coach

LOVE LETTER TO MY WIFE

I learnt about this love letter in a series on Authentic Manhood presented by Dr Robert Lewis (2010)

Having your house in order involves more than just housekeeping. Acknowledging that we're not going to live forever and planning around this can be very daunting.
Getting your house in order entails having a last Will and Testament in place as well as making provision for our loved ones left behind. An Estate that has all the necessary documentation in order can take at least six months to wind-up.Six months doesn't sound long, but try going without food for one week...
 

This Love Letter is a bit different than your standard love letter as it is from the Husband to his Wife explaining where all the documents etc are, but more importantly leaving a love letter as a last word from the grave. She’ll treasure your thoughtfulness long after you left.

Shortly after the death of a loved one, finances are the last thing on anybody's minds and usually is left till about two weeks after the funeral. Planning the day of the funeral is also very daunting and you can assist your wife in making this a little less stressful by making use of this Love Letter Format.

For a free template of a Last Will and Testament email morne@blueline.pro

This  Love letter should contain the following:

Expression of love

·          What would you want her to hear as your last words to her? (Hopefully this isn't your only Love letter)


Location of will, living will, and power of attorney.

List of assets

·         Account numbers

·         Names and addresses

·         Values

·         How to gain access

List of major Liabilities

·         Account numbers

·         Names and Addresses

·         Amounts outstanding and interest rates

·         Due dates

·         Collateral

Name and contact information of adviser(s)

·         Trusted financial and personal adviser

·         Investment adviser

·         Accountant

·         Lawyer

Insurance policies – names and addresses of agents, assets covered, and to what degree

·         Life/Disability cover

·         Home/car and other

Special funeral preferences (music, speakers, Scriptures and so on)

·         Contact persons and documentation (if pre-arranged or prepaid)

Your wife needs to know where this letter is located.

If you need assistance in constructing this letter or a free template of a Last Will and Testament, please feel free to ask. You can email me at morne@blueline.pro

Please feel free to add any additional comments below.

Becoming Rich

Morne Lubbe - Personal Financial Coach

When am I rich?

Is there a line that I cross whereby I can positively say - I’ve arrived, I’m rich…

In my travels I’ve been fortunate to assist various customers from all walks of life. When meeting with a family with a combined household income of R700 ($100) per month, they say an extra R200 will make all the difference. To be rich, R3500 per month will be enough for them. A R10 000 in the bank will be way over the top.

Then again, when meeting with families with a combined household income of R7000 ($1000) per month, they often consider R15000 per month as sufficient and maybe R50000 per month as being rich.

An interesting phenomena is that individuals with a household income exceeding R700 000 ($100 000) per month don’t consider themselves to be rich at all. Even at R700 000 per month, there is a higher income and capital which is considered as “being rich”.

So then, where do we draw the line?

Statistically speaking, if you earn more than R5000 per month, you’re in the 10% of the richest people in South Africa, quite possibly in the top 3%. We don’t consider R5000 to be even closely sufficient for all our needs. Yet, if you’re earning more than R5000 per month, then you are rich.

Some of the things I’ve heard about people who are considered to be rich: They

·         have a room in their home for their car to sleep in;

·         have a room for in case of an unexpected visitor to stay over;

·         use perfectly good, clean water (from a tap) to throw out on the grass or

·         don’t go to work for a month each year and get paid for it.

What is it we’re really chasing after when we consider more money as the answer to our problems? Is fear driving our decisions  - fear of the future, fear of security of our assets/family, fear of what people will think of us? Is greed the motivator? - Money can get me all the things that my eyes desire.

Is there a way I can be content with what I have and live a joy filled, peaceful life with my loved ones, in good health? Can true wealth be available to me today?

Please feel free to join in this discussion by commenting at the bottom of this page or join us in our online personal financial coaching sessions. www.kubunye.co.za

Debt is a Symptom

  






  Morne Lubbe Personal Financial Coach

Debt is a Symptom and not the Problem 

For the 'common cold' we visit the doctor and receive medicine which makes us feel better. What the doctor will tell you is that there is no cure for the 'common cold' and the medicine is there to ease the symptoms and prevent further infection.

We treat debt in very much the same manner. We make use of long-term debt, such as mortgage loans on our homes, to pay credit card debt etc or we go for debt-counselling to manage the repayments of our debts, etc etc.. 

Have you ever considered the reason why you made debt in the first place?

Overspending, under budgeting, no planning, no vision, impatience, greed, lies, jealousy, shame and pride are but some of the real issues.

• No Vision/Planning - If I do a quick calculation I can afford the R200 a month on the furniture account for 5 years, but I don't really know the detail of my finances.
• Impatience - We live in a society of instant gratification. I want a new LCD TV with High Definition and 3D compatibility, and I want it now. The Plasma TV can go into the kids room.
• Jealousy - My arch enemy at work has a brand new Mercedes and my Toyota just doesn't make the cut.
• Pride - I don't want people to know my real situation so I drive a nice car and wear expensive clothes to create an image which hides the real truth.
• Greed - Get rich quick schemes, lottery or I just want it now. I want a new fridge even though the 5 year old fridge is working just fine.

Most of these issues are emotional and stem from much deeper issues than what we realise or wish to admit, for example: low self-worth, fear, low self-image, lack of courage, no identity, no purpose in life, to mention but a few.

We live in a society where our value is determined according to the amount of 'things' we have. Sayings such as: 'he who dies with the most toys wins!'.

Advertising also plays a significant role in our lives which we should realise and acknowledge. Clever and aggressive marketing from companies are aimed at enticing us to purchase their products. Our children are targeted through advertising from a very early age for example:  Mc Donald’s - The reason for the big M is that children recognise it long before they can read, and little children want a Happy Meal when they drive past McDonald's even when they're not hungry. Advertisers know how to induce greed and create a desire which wasn't there before.

Real life examples

In the past when I was stressed out, I'd eat. My favourite meal was a KFC burger and chips. In order to buy KFC I needed to use my available cash or my credit card. In either case I used funds that were intended for something else. Eating the food never really helped for the fact that I wasn't hungry, but it made me feel better. Once I realised that there was a direct correlation between my eating and my stress, I could re-evaluate my reaction to stress and save some money in the process.

My worth was also directly proportionate to the amount of cash I had in my pocket. If I had no money I pretty much felt a failure. Having a credit card facility I had money and therefore had significant value, even if it was only short lived.

 So then how do we address the real problem?

Please feel free to join in this discussion by commenting at the bottom of this page or join us in our online personal financial coaching sessions. morne@blueline.pro