The Tak Team Blog

Let me ask you a very simple question. Do you want money? Of course you do!

Everybody wants money. You might think my next question is even sillier, but I’ll ask it anyway. Do you really want money?

You see what I am asking you, by adding the word “really,” is do you actually want the money itself or do you want the freedom it can buy you? Ahh. Now you see what I am getting at. What you really want is the freedom that the money represents. What you really want is freedom.

Lots of money = lots of freedom.

What would be the point of being a millionaire or even a billionaire if you were serving a prison sentence for the rest of your life? Your loss of freedom would render your prime use for that money next to useless.

So, how do we get money? There are many ways. We can work for it, receive commissions, receive royalties and we can accrue it from things like interest and investments. We can even steal it, much as I dislike even mentioning such an option.

In reality there are only two basic ways of accumulating money:

For most people, it is not how much they earn, it is how much they are able to keep. That is the single most important difference between becoming wealthy and staying poor. Spending more than we earn is the recipe to certain financial disaster. Yet most people do just that.

The answer to becoming wealthy is financial education and discipline.

There are many ways to educate yourself better in the ways of handling money. However, by far, the easiest is to gather the knowledge through the wisdom contained in appropriate books. In my opinion, there is no better general resource than George Classon’s timeless classic, “The Richest Man in Babylon”. I highly recommend it.

I know from experience that those who desperately need the knowledge this excellent book contains will never read it - even if it were placed in front of them every day for a month. That is why they are poor. They think poor and do nothing to change it. What is in their wallet or purse is a direct result of what is in their head, or, more correctly, what is not in their head.

The poorest people are the people who spend the greatest amount of money on trash. They would never think to buy knowledge or invest in their greatest asset - their brain!

There is another very powerful thing that you can do to prepare yourself to handle money wisely. If you want to have money, I suggest a good place to start is with your own discipline. This is another area where poor people fall well short.

If you want to elevate your self esteem and improve your discipline both at the same time, try the following:

Go to your bank. Withdraw the biggest single denominational note you can (say $100). Put the note in your wallet or purse then, and here comes the most important part, DO NOT SPEND IT!

Nothing will give you greater self esteem and nothing will build financial discipline stronger than doing this.

I have been walking around with three $100 notes in my wallet now for over a month. I refuse to spend them. I go into shops, I look at things I want, I think, “Gee, I’d really like that!” then I turn around and walk out. How much money do you think I have saved by not giving in to impulse buying?

My $300 gives me a great lift. It gives me tremendous self esteem to know that I can afford to buy lots of things if I want. I am in control of that money. It is not controlling me. I am exercising my discipline not to spend it.

I have other money in my wallet. It’s just that the $300 is what I call my “quarantine money.” The other money is my budget money.

If you want money you need to learn how to control it. You need to improve your financial education and build your discipline. I have just revealed to you how you can do both. Now that you know, will you do anything about it? Hmm.

[If you like this article and would like to use it on your own website or ezine you may do so ONLY if the article is not changed in any way and the final paragraph: “About the author”, with all links intact, is included.]

About the author: Gary Simpson is the author of eight books covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem, affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles appear all over the web. Gary’s email address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click here to go to his Motivation & Self Esteem for Success website where you can receive his “Zenspirational Thoughts” plus an immediate FREE copy of his highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book “The Power of Choice.”

It has always been a puzzle to me when an object, somewhat aged, can be termed an antique.

Must it be really very old- perhaps in excess of 100 years to be called an antique? Or just when can we call an object an antique?

After all, we very loosely use the term antique for any object that has lived past its popularity. A lady’s coach handbag that was in vogue in summer, is now called an antique in winter!

In the days of the British Empire where the British had their conquests in far away worlds and colonised many territories, they left behind many legacies of worth. British systems of government, british designs and most of all british products and goods which now can rightly be called antiques and their systems “antiquated” at this time. Thus when I discovered a really old looking lock with the logo of the maker stamped onto it and marked “Warranted Best English Made” and ” Warranted Secure” amongst some old belongings inherited from my deceased father who lived through the colonial period, I thought the lock must really be an antique.

So when is an antique really an antique?

The definition of antique varies from location to location, product to product and year to year.

In any case, universal common definitions of antiques adopted worldwide consider an item which is at least 75 years old and has unique features to enable it to be collected or kept as desirable due to it being rare, or useful is considered an antique.

Generally, cars are considered antiques in the U.S. if they are older than 25 years. In Kansas, however, I learnt that cars are eligible for an antique tag after 30 years. Guitars are only considered vintage if they were made before 1972.

In the UK anything over 75 years old generally qualifies as an antique. A car is known as a collectible “classic” rather than an antique after 25 years.

There is an understood line between antiques and collectibles in the United States as well. An item is tagged as an antique by most reliable commercial antique dealers if it is more than 100 years old, even though the universal common understanding is 75 years, and anything less than 100 years is called a collectible.

It is not always the antiques that carries a higher price tag. Collectibles can be worth many times that of an antique. It all depends on the eyes of the beholder.

Peter Lim is a Certified Financial Planner. For more interesting details about antiques, and how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles, visit his website on Antique Resources at http://antique-classics.revenuemonitor.biz.

Here’s how to find out: If…

* you have absolutely no outstanding debts of any kind

* your investments are such that you can easily live off the
earnings without ever touching the principal,

* you have complete control over your time, giving you the
freedom to enjoy your income with your family and friends,

* where your stress levels relating to financial concerns are
virtually eliminated.

…then you are financially independent.

(above list -modified - courtesy of www.acrisp.com)

If you’re not, the first step to wealth is to
believe that you can achieve it. Believe that you deserve to be wealthy. Desire it and then state your desire to
be free of financial worries. Write it down - declare
your intention to yourself and the universe. Get clear
on your goal: is it just to become debt-free, just to get
by financially or is it to be financially independent and
free. In other words, is your goal to become wealthy?

Next step is to find out the things that are keeping you from
being financially free. Do you spend unneccessarily? Are you
in debt? Are you ignorant of what to do? Financial illiteracy
keeps many people stuck in a rut when it comes to managing their
money. Bad money habits and mindsets do the same too. You must sort these issues out in advance otherwise you might sabotage your efforts and lose whatever wealth you acquire (think of those unfortunate lottery winners you’ve read about).

Then you need to plan action steps to take you from where you are
to where you want to be financially. Think of investments,
building your assets, creating multiple income streams etc.
Learn about these different wealth-building strategies, pick
one that suits you and get to work on it.

Replace harmful attitudes and habits relating to money with helpful ones. Educate yourself on financial matters. Find out how
to make your money work for you instead of spending your whole
life working for your money. Seek professional advice from a
financial advisor if you need to, but do something today to
move you towards your financial goal.

The whole time be determined and disciplined about your decision.

Take things one step at a time. With a clearly stated goal, the
right information and a well-thought-out plan of action, you will
eventually become financially fr*ee.

Dr Kem Thompson is a Wealth & Success Coach, Speaker, Author. She teaches individuals how to create wealth with integrity, and achieve true financial freedom. Financial freedom starts with financial intelligence, so begin your education by signing up for the FREE newsletter, ‘Reset Your Wealth’ here: http://www.resetyourwealth.com