We can all agree that starting a business is a lot of work. The end result of business we all strive for is simple but getting there is the hard task. There a way around this, you can streamline your processes so you only have to make a few decisions a day to improve the quality of your workday. When you have the systems and processes in place. Having your business working for you and not you working in your business.

One thing that many business owners do not take account of is managing their personal life. The day to day decisions you make in your personal life affect your business life as well. If either your personal or business life is in chaos then the other can not be simple. Make an effort to take a grip on both aspects of your life. It’s not an easy task but it’s required to be successful.

Before you give up or start on your business. You have to do your research. There are many questions you want to be able to answer if you want to be successful:

Who is your target marketing?

What are their needs?

What do they want from you?

Also, when going into business ask yourself these following questions:

What is my passion?

What do I do well?

How can I bring my passion to the forefront?

These past three questions will determine what products or services you should offer to the world. Business is going to be hard and it’s going to test you. If you’re doing something that you love and you do well, it’s going to increase the chances of you staying on the path and grind through those tuff times.

Don’t just start a business out of the blue and off of a hutch. Most people that do that will not be successful. That is taking a shot in the dark. You need to do your research and have these questions answered.  These answers are proof of the concept that your business idea could work.

When I started my bookkeeping company, I knew there was a demand for the service because I started my business with a few referrals from people I knew. Not too many people thought of outsourcing their bookkeeping back in those days. I was one of the few people thought to do so.

During this time of starting your business, how are you going to support yourself? Are you going to be able to fund your business while still supporting your daily lifestyle?

Just because you start a business doesn’t mean your bills are going to stop coming in. So, because you make a big jump and take the plunge, make sure you have the financial means to fund your business.

When you do start your business, do you have the right business structure in place in terms of taxes and legal? Here are a couple of questions to ask regarding this:

Do you have a business bank account and credit card?

Are you able to separate your personal and business finances on paper?

Do you have all the legal business paperwork due for the state, local, and federal government?

If you reached this point, you’re probably asking now “how hard should I wait to assess myself if I am successful or not?” This is a very good question. What I tell every business owner that is going into business is that you need to be going at it for two full years to determine if you’re successful or not. You need to give yourself a time frame of two years before you can make an assessment of your business.

All these questions tie down to four things. Research, prepare, structure, and timeline.

These questions are just part of the first battle. Next, once you have all these questions in place. Be prepared to put in a lot of hard work. There are going to be long days and long hours. There will be self-doubt. If you’re able to put in the hard work to answer these question then you’ll be in a great position to be successful in the long run.

Here are some boundaries to have in your personal finances to keep more of your hard-earned money.

Boundary 1

If you know you’re in an emotional state of any kind (good, bad, happy, sad, etc.) do not spend any money. When you’re emotional, you are very prone to buying something you don’t want or need.  Emotional spending goes hand to hand with regret. The best thing to do is to take money out of the equation and figure out why are you in the emotional state you are in and work through it without spending any money.

Boundary 2

Put some distance between you and your money. Put some barriers between you and your money. For example, if you see something that you want online, put your debit card in another room. Another example, don’t take your debit card with you when you go out and carry a set dollar amount of cash. This slows down the emotional spending

Boundary 3

Research what you are buying. Researching what you are buying will do a couple of things. It can solidify what you are buying, you may find another product out there you like better, you’ll find out if you really need or want that item. Research takes out most of the emotional spending away. Once you are at an emotionally stable place, you’ll be able to make a much better decision. Also, this can prevent buyers remorse.

Boundary 4

Be aware of your own issues before you go out and buy something. Focus on yourself and your triggers. What past experiences in your life caused your money spending habits. Often times, you’ll not even notice your triggers.

Is Health Insurance Really Necessary

So, one of the toughest topics that I want to tackle and I don’t know where the future is going on this topic of medical insurance. I really think it’s a misnomer to call it health insurance, it’s almost like sick insurance, people don’t use their insurance to be well. They use it in times of trouble and emergencies, in a situation where they feel really ill and they haven’t been to the doctor in a few years.

People aren’t using their medical insurance for health, they’re using their medical insurance when they’re sick. People are afraid to go to the doctor because of the bills, they’re afraid to like rack and stack a bunch of medical bills and then not have an answer. So, what’s happened in this country is that people don’t go to the doctor for wellness.

The important part of this situation is that is medical insurance costs us too much money it takes a big chuck out of our paycheck every month and we don’t see to get the coverage we used to. I can give you an example back when in 1980 when I had my youngest child he was born prematurely by 111/2 weeks he was in the hospital for a long time. We had great medical insurance I think it was through Prudential I don’t know if Prudential does it anymore.

Our bill was $30,000, 3 weeks no 6 weeks stay and all of his ophthalmologist and specialists that came to see him at the hospital and he was there 6 to 8 weeks and went from 21/2 pound to 41/2 pounds and came home. But the bill was $30,000 I had an emergency C-section, of that entire bill we paid $600. Now they audited that bill and they kept us on the phone making sure that every med that they had on there he got and everything service they said was on the bill that he got.

Once it was all done it was 30 grand and we paid $600, there’s no such thing anymore, even with good coverage having a baby you’re going to put out of pocket as much money as 3to 4 times money that I put out to pay for my daughter when she was born with just $3000 cash there’s no such thing anymore and people are afraid.

So, I’m going to explain really quickly this may be a 2 partner I’m going to try. You need medical insurance, medical insurance is supposed to cover that catastrophic illness you may have. In the old days, there was a cap on the catastrophic illnesses in the Affordable Care Act, they can’t cap you. So, let’s say you have a cancer situation where you reach a million dollars on your deductible or partial deductible you’ve reached a million dollars.

They can say to you okay, we will no longer cover, anything for you in your health care. So, if you had AIDS, which a friend of mine did, he had AIDS and he reached his million dollars and the insurance company canceled him, and his brother who was a very powerful lawyer went and fought and said no you can’t continue his health coverage.

So, let’s be honest the insurance companies have always been in charge of your medical care they don’t want to put out for sick people. They do not want to cover you if you are ill, they want healthy people only. Back in the early 90s, I applied for insurance through Kaiser and I had fibrocystic breast disease which is benign breast tumors. They wrote me a letter and said you’re not the kind of person we want on our health care.

So, I was refused insurance back in the 90s because if that particular illness, might have been a little later than the 90s I’m a little blocked on that but I didn’t get health insurance from them they refused because I had a preexisting condition. What are preexisting conditions when you apply for medical care? Anything that they consider to be something that’s life-threatening or dangerous or expensive they can turn you down because of it.

So, let’s say you’ve had a mild heart attack when you were 42 and you’re now healthy in 46 in the old days and possibly coming in the future they can say to you no, you had a heart attack we are not giving you insurance. Or if we give you medical insurance we are excluding anything that has to do with your heart.

So, there are millions of people, millions and millions I can’t even tell you how many that have existing conditions that medical insurance can turn you down for. Diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, female problems, breast cancer, prostate cancer, urinary tract cancer, there are throat cancer, skin cancer.

They have been giving the go-ahead in the past to deny you coverage for any of those things when the Affordable Care Act came through it said hey! Do not discriminate against preexisting conditions and that’s where the rub comes in, everybody’s premium went up higher, why? Because what the insurance companies did is built in a little bit into each person’s premium and amount to cover preexisting conditions across the country.

So, maybe I don’t have any health conditions but I would be paying for someone who has diabetes, someone who gets pregnant somebody who has a heart attack. It’s built into my premium it’s not like mine record my health record gives jump up on health insurance premiums. They do it by age so they will say gosh! I was 39 I turned 40 and my health premium went up, why did my medical insurance go up? Well, you’ve now entered 40 the 40s are where these medical problems show up so they charge you.

When I turned 50 years old, oh my gosh, my premium went up 27% why because you’ve now entered the premiums for 50-year-olds who now start getting diabetes and for sure strokes, heart attacks. Then you’re like me you enter your 60s and when you enter your 60s you’re not considered a problem so your health insurance premium even goes higher.

So, stop thinking it’s like auto insurance, where oh! I haven’t had any accidents or tickets so my insurance premium is low. They still charge you auto insurance by your zip code. So, when you have your auto insurance and you live in zip code 90066, and 90066 has a lot of car thievery and burglaries and stuff your car insurance is going to be fit in with all the people that live in 90066 same with your health insurance. It goes by your age and where you live and what health insurance cost in your area.

I have talked to so many people and I feel that they’re very naïve about how medical insurance works. It is not about oh! Well I never had surgery and I’ve never had a heart attack and I’ve never had this or that no, based on where you live and your age you’re paying for everybody else in your age group and the fact that there are risks all of the medical insurance is about risk factors.

We need to understand that when we are debating the medical insurance premium issue and what health care will really cover I am saying that health care should cover you to be well. You should get regular checkups, everybody in this country should have blood pressure, affordable blood pressure machine to check their blood pressure.

If their blood pressure is continually high and even a resting blood pressure which means even sitting at a desk with your feet on the floor and your arms open, palms up and you are sitting there for 5 minutes very calmly breathing and then you take your blood pressure. If it’s high when you do that, you should be at the doctor but most people won’t go.

So, I think that the health insurance issue is going to be the biggest issue in 2017 and I want to be able to explain it I want to be able to get people on that can help you make a choice and I  want the American people to be healthy happy and using their insurance the right way. The fact that you can’t afford it makes it the biggest issue around, be healthy, be happy to know what you’re doing understand how it works. We can do this together I promise, I’m 65, I’m on Medicare and I’m finding out a lot so go on this journey with me.

When you become an employee of a company they hand you what is called a W4.

The W4 is what determines how much tax is taken out of your check based on if you’re single, married with 2 dependents, 4 dependents, or no dependents…

They want you to fill out your name, address, social security number, and pertinent information to determine your tax bracket. 

The highest tax bracket is single 0. If you’re a single person and you have a job with a company that pays you a W2 and you say I’m single and I have no dependents.

They will tax you as though you’re carefree and fancy-free and they will take the most tax out of that. Most people take a single 0 on their W4 so that they can get the most amount of tax taken out. Then the next year they file their taxes and they get a whole bunch of it back and they feel like “oh! Look I just got $4000 in taxes back.”

So, what are you saying when you get your $4000 back of the $10,000 you paid into tax? You are saying you let the government hold onto your money all year long when you could have been living off it.

So, I usually advise that you take a single 1 and then if you feel you’re going to come in short… use a tax calculator and find out if you need to do single 1 plus an additional $50 per pay period, that’s better than doing single 0.

People ask me all the time, why do they get to determine how much tax is taken out?

Well, they don’t really, if you do your homework and figure out your taxes with a tax calculator… you might find out that you don’t owe as much tax as you think. 

So, I’m going to encourage you to be more proactive about your W4 before you just put single 0 hands it back in, look at what it says, ask yourself “do I want to give the government more money all year and then get it back in April, or do I want to take my money and use it every month and maybe pay down expenses with it?  

I want you to be a cheerleader for your life…

You’re in the business of life. If you’re getting up every day hitting the ground running accomplishing things during the day even if it’s just keeping your head above water you are a business person. You are in charge of your life and probably along the way you’ve taken on a partner, a husband or wife, children, aging parents, and best friends.

You are in the business of life and nobody addresses that, nobody addresses how successful you are when you get up every day and make that day work. Even if at the end of the day you say that was the crappiest day I’ve spent in a long time… but I did my best. Then you are wonderful, you are running your life. I think we have this idea that if we are wealthy we are happy and if we are poor we are unhappy.

But the truth is we can be just barely making it and be one of the happiest people on earth, why? Because we’ve surrounded ourselves with people we love, and we are figuring life out through trial and error. Let me give you an example a young teacher gets out of school… she has some school debt but she gets up every day and in the lives of her 3^rd graders she is the most amazing, most important person from 8:30 in the morning till 3:00 in the afternoon.

She is a successful person, she is in the business of teaching children.

And that’s true of a nurse, of a stay home parent, of a student who goes to school every day and tries to do their best at school even if they have a cold, a headache, or even if they’ve had a fight with their best friend but at the end of the day they did their best.

You’re a successful human being and you need to surround yourself by people who think that as well.

I am honored to be featured on The Dating Den podcast with Marni Battista. Feel free to give it a listen below, it just might save your relationship!

Did you know that 90% of startups, whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a small business, will fail? Studies have shown that without the proper strategy in place, entrepreneurs don’t really stand achance of success. Think about that! Out of 10 entrepreneurs that enter the market, only 1 will find success. And by the time you realize your weak points it might already be too late! We see this every day in the market place… just look around you.

Did you know that the average founder’s salary is less than $55,000 a year and they work about 66 hours per week? That means that not only do you make less than you deserve, you also end up working insane hours.

Did you know that if you do succeed, you will have more money than you could ever have at a 9-5, the flexibility of being your own boss, control over decision making, a team you want to work with, and a legacy ? There are specific ways to to minimize your chances of failure… and even RADICALLY improve your odds of success to the point where it’s basically guaranteed. That means you can pursue a deeper meaning and build long lasting wealth from your passion.

This is not fantasy talk. This does not require a countless hours of courses, boatloads of money, or gimmicks. And, this works for anyone, male or female, and works at any age. 35, 45, 55, 65, 75… you name it. The concepts are exactly the same.

My years as CEO of accounting firm Independence By The Book have allowed me to peer into the secret routines of wealth building experts. Over the years, I have picked up SO many tips, tricks, and strategies that have allowed me to literally use my passion to create a long lasting sustainable business. That means my business thrives, fulfills, and creates more wealth than a 9-5 ever could.

I’ve taught these concepts to countless men and women over the years, and it always begins with these 3 key principles you must apply in order to STOP bleeding money, and make more while you work less.

That said, I have to warn you: What you are about to hear may sound baby simple or obvious yet it’s important that you do it. That’s because the world has, to be utterly frank, become lazy! Self help books, motivational speakers, business software all of these are just fine, but they won’t equal success on their own, and they certainly will never stop you from losing money while saving you time. No way!

These 3 steps reveal the things
you absolutely MUST AVOID if you want to make
more money, work less hours, and have a
deeper more fulfilling life.

What you need is a splash of cold water, a touch of reality, and the honest truth.
Sound good? Let’s dive in!

Step 1. STOP Your Emotional Purchases

Being an entrepreneur tends to bring on more challenges than your daily 9-5 grind, even though it’s well worth it in the end.

Let’s say you’ve having a bad day, so you go shopping to calm you down, it relieves stress and takes your mind off your problems. But you must realize that this is all temporary and will make matters worse in the long run.

Or perhaps you’re someone who likes to go out, have a few drinks to destress… only to wake up slightly more broke and more exhausted the next day.

One thing you’ll notice about the most successful entrepreneurs is that they’re frugal with their spending, no matter how rich they are.

I recall an episode of Shark Tank where Daymond John was visiting one of his entrepreneurs and this guy was LIVING LARGE. He had a big mansion, expensive cars, extravagant clothing, trips… you name it.

Daymond’s protege was really happy to show off his newly acquired toys and thought Daymond would be thrilled and impressed with it. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

After a bit, Daymond sat him down and started talking to him. He told him he was worried that he was spending too much money, and living a lifestyle that was not sustainable. He then went on to say that even after the success he’s been fortunate to have as a Shark, he’s still paranoid with his money and careful with it… he still fears that it could go away one day.

“If you’re not paranoid as an entrepreneur about your money, you’ll never make it.”

That stuck with me to this very day. And there are countless stories where I’ve seen people go from having a lot of money to having none simply because they were spending emotionally and recklessly. Don’t be one of those people.

So be careful with your money and don’t let your emotions get the best of you.

Step 2. START Tracking Your Spending

Now, it really doesn’t matter if you’re Jeff Bezos or a freelancer who is just starting out. You have to track your money and be aware of what you’re spending your money on. It’s essential that you create a budget and stick to that budget.

You might or might not know that Jeff Bezos is known for extreme attention to detail.  He’s said to even respond to customer emails about packages going missing because he understands that if they’re not delivering one package correctly, then there must be other packages that are also not being delivered correctly.

And of course he pays the same kind of attention to detail to his cash flow.

So don’t let small purchases go by the wayside either, these tend to add up really quick. If you feel that you’re paying too much for your cell phone, renegotiate that bill. If you feel that you could refinance your credit cards for a lower interest rate, then do it… now. The same goes for your student loans if you have any. And if you’re paying for any subscription services that you’re not really using, cancel them.

Don’t spend more money than you have to.

And remember, as you make more money, that doesn’t mean you should spend more or that you can start living more extravagantly. If Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, is still being cautious with his money, you should too.

Step 3. STOP Striving for Perfection

We’ve all done it. We strive for perfection and will accept nothing less of ourselves… even though we all know that perfection is impossible.

We hold ourselves to unrealistic standards usually because we compare ourselves with people that are where we would like to be. But remember, they didn’t get there in 1 day or 2 or 3. It is a journey that they had to go through and they have worked hard to get there.

And always remember that perfection is the enemy of progress. It is infinitely more important that you take action as opposed to trying to achieve perfection. The important thing is that you do it.

And don’t get me wrong, it is perfectly normal to strive for perfection, you wouldn’t be an entrepreneur if you didn’t have that in you… we want to be our best selves. Yet don’t let it take control over you and don’t let it paralyze your progress. You have to know when your work is good enough and accept it for what it is. Besides it’s better to fail fast and get the necessary feedback to improve your work than to attempt to put out a masterpiece that will probably fail in the end… consuming your time, energy, money and spirit.

Simply begin with these simple steps that you can take today to regain control of your money.

In this video we discuss how your emotions and logic impact your financial state…

Mortgages seems to be one of those issues that can be easily misunderstood by homeowners and those looking to buy a house. In this video we break it down and make it easy for you to understand…

I’m sure you’ve heard “Oh! my goodness I need to buy a home because that’ll save me money on my taxes,” that’s true sometimes.

However, please do not fall into the category of people that do not read their mortgage statements, do not look at their mortgage agreements. 

Here’s the scope: there are several kinds of loans, the bank wants you to invest more in your house than they have.

The reality is that it is unfortunately case by case and you have to look at it. For example I have a friend who made up draft tax returns for a couple of years to see if owning a home would actually save her money! And what did she discover?

She discovered that it would not save her any money at all…