Is it Christmas or something?

I’ve had more surprises in my postbox in the last week than I think I’ve had all year.  A set of 8 “Prosperity Consciousness” CDs, a lovely new book, a very large tube of Aloe Vera gelly and not one – but two – boxes of organic chocolates – which as we all know are exceedingly good for you.

And then there was the rather intriguing postcard from Hollywood, LA.  The message is funny and it’s signed “Brad”.  And yet – though hardly anyone in the entire world knows my address nor do I know anyone visiting California – I don’t recognise the writing.  I can’t help but chuckle each time it catches my eye as I know I’ve been out-smarted.

I love all my presents and bless the generosity of the people who took the time to send them to me.  The postcard from Brad Pitt proves too that it really is the thought that counts and if by any chance you are still debating whether to go for a major Christmas credit card splurge you can’t afford, stop right now please.

The best gifts are often not the most expensive.  I know my son’s favourite Christmas memories are not of the TV set, the X Box or the laptop he’d been longing for but of the games of tiddlywinks, draughts or cards that we sit and play while the dinner is cooking.  And of course it’s not the little plastic disks he values but the time we spend together as a family.

I don’t mean to go all ‘Little House on the Prairie’ on you.  I’m not proposing hand-knitted ties for the men and crocheted tea cosies for the ladies.  Nor do I think that in these recessionary times, we should be giving practical gifts.  I’m reminded of the friend who received an enormous gift-wrapped box from her husband one Christmas and while her two children jumped up and down with excitement, she opened the box to find a large microwave nestled inside…

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A Week In The Life Of Another Wealth Coach: Philly

Well the pregnant Wealth Coach is back and still intact, with just 1 week and 2 days to go.

You will be glad to hear we are a bit more organised than the last time I wrote, my office has finally been dismantled and has turned into a nursery now looks as though it is ready to accommodate a baby.  My new office, the kitchen table, has been doing a fabulous job at keeping me working this last week and you will be pleased to know that I am going to take a week off to relax and get the final bits sorted before the big arrival.

I have just finished my coaching sessions with my clients for this year and there is one client who really “WOWED” me this week who I want to tell you about.  He is driven, focused and always achieves, sometimes even without realising it.  During the year that I have been working with him, he has had a clear vision of his financial goals and has revisited them every quarter to make sure that he is on track and always encouraging himself to increase his targets so that he can achieve even higher results.  This week he sent me an email with the subject “Back of the envelope requirements for a £1m business for JFC”, with the content of the email being short and to the point what he is going to achieve in order to create this £1m business in 3 years.  Wow…. that just shouts success to me.  The pure clarity and vision and not being phased by the figures or goals, I just know that this client is going to achieve what he has set out to achieve.  Woo hoo!!

In between my final coaching calls, hospital appointments, funerals, putting up furniture and crawling around on all fours trying to get the baby to turn, I have been busy training our new recruit this week.  We have found someone who is going to take over our Outbound calls from me and wow what a jam packed fun week it has been.  She, like many others, has just graduated from University this year and has been out there looking for work with the masses and finding it hard with little experience.  We are so lucky to have her on board.  She is bright, young, keen, very enthusiastic to learn and really motivated to get her teeth into something.  By investing some quality time with her to train her up and give her the confidence to take on the role, I know that she is going to produce some fantastic results for us and continue to keep our customers happy.

Many of us really want to outsource, but we either never have the time to train someone up or trust anyone to do as good a job as we do so we tend to end up doing everything ourselves.  I have really learnt something this week, by entrusting my faith in her and really training her properly, I know that she is going to do a brilliant job and the fact that she will be focused on one task will bring in much better results than I do.

So now it is time for me to wind down, put my feet up, catch up on my sleep and relax before the fun starts.  Wishing you all a wonderful festive season, I will be back with my arms full in January to fill you in on all the gory details!! Enjoy

Passive Investments Liquidation | Further Money Gym Statement

Last week the news broke about Passive Investments going into liquidation and Greg Ballard and Andy Shaw facing bankruptcy proceedings and one of the most difficult phone calls I had to make was the one telling my much-touring singing sister, Heather, about the news.   In my journey as a wealth coach, and the subsequent journey of creating and building The Money Gym, I don’t think I can remember such a difficult and horrid week.

As you know, I regard Andy and Greg as friends of mine, and they helped me so much, both practically and emotionally, when I was going through the difficult time with trying to sell the hotel, after the planning permission for change of use was refused.   I really could not believe that they had done anything wrong.

While all of my friends and family are grownups and able to do their own due diligence and make their own decisions, I still feel responsible that I have introduced them – along with my treasured clients – to something that I really believed at the time was good, even great, but now turns out not to be.

As more and more information comes to light about Passive Investments and the way they have treated some people, I am starting to feel very bad indeed about having promoted them, but I can only say that I (and then the Money Gym) did that in good faith, and the moment we started to suspect that they might not be delivering on the customer service in the way we would have liked, based on Judith’s personal experience as a client, we ceased to do so.

We were paid commission on referrals by Passive Investments. However, I can say, hand on heart, we never introduced Passive to anyone that we felt would not benefit from their service, and both Judith and I often actively talked some people out of it.   If an investment opportunity does not feel right in every way to our clients, we discourage them from proceeding with it.   We can honestly say that we have never introduced anything to our clients for the purposes of securing our introduction fee only; that is a bonus only.

Judith has educated me, over the weekend, about how Passive should have handled the client fees and how it seems they may not have complied with proper accounting procedures.

With hindsight, the statement we released last week was written hastily in response to the discussions on our private forum and comments on the blog and came from our hearts, but perhaps we should have waited for a few days before issuing it while the full story filtered back to us.

My position has always been that I (and The Money Gym) would only promote something that either I, or someone very close to me, had invested our own money in and were happy with.  The service that Passive offered was so attractive that nearly all my friends and family jumped on board, followed by a lot of our clients and subscribers.  However, in light of the developments last week, I feel that The Money Gym will be reviewing it’s stance on introducing anyone or anything at all, let alone quite so wholeheartedly, in the future.

I apologise unreservedly for my part in bringing the services of Passive Investments to the attention of so many people.

Nicola Cairncross

Note:  James Tickell, director of Portland Business & Financial Solutions, the insolvency practice chosen to disband the Passive Investments empire, says the matrix of firms will formally enter liquidation on 11 December.

Contact:  London Office, 43 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JG, Tel: 020 7925 2651 / Fax: 020 7925 2652 / Office email: post@portbfs.co.uk

A Week In The Life Of Another Wealth Coach: Like Sex and Magic

So you’d like an insight into a week in the life of another wealth coach??

This week certainly hasn’t been typical for me by any stretch of the imagination. However I fear it may be sign of things to come.

My father died recently. Although he hasn’t been a well man for many years, his death was very sudden and unexpected. It leaves me as carer for my sister Lynn. Now Lynn is exactly the reason why I began my journey with the Money Gym many years ago. I knew that one day I would need to care for an adult with learning difficulties and my expectations of “support from the system” suggested I should start to make my own provisions for being financially free and able to choose how I spent my time. Unfortunately the need has arisen a few years earlier than any of us anticipated so this week has been spent chasing solicitors, bank managers, filling in probate forms and inheritance tax declarations… tomorrow I’m getting advice on the legal and tax implications of being an executor of a Trust Fund…

What do I learn from this experience that I want to share with you?

Well, death is one of those things which although inevitable is usually unpredictable. My Dad has left his estate in a really very good state for someone to pick up on the important bits – and yet four weeks later I still find myself chasing information on tax paid, little sums of money in odd accounts and trying to identify the number of children born to my Dad’s deceased brothers and sisters.

Given that you never know the hour and that it’s almost certainly going to be when anyone least expects it,
- take time to get your affairs in order while you’re still fit and well,
- write a will and keep it updated
- have a conversation with your executors showing them where all the important documents are located…

My Dad filed all the routine stuff in files, wallets or filing cabinets. The really important stuff he kept in shoe boxes: it took us a little longer to locate these so I guess he figured that a burglar or casual thief would give up before they got this far!

Make me realise that I need to organise my affairs slightly more intuitively and, most importantly, leave something very nice and wicked, chocolates and/or alcohol, in a file to thank my executors for volunteering to do this on my behalf!

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Why I Have Sent Tudor Equity A Cheque For £2.5k With A Smile On My Face by Clare Hanbury

Money Gym Subscriber Clare Hanbury-Leu says: The relationship with Passive Investments was built on trust. I have trusted them to find the right properties – to renovate them to a high standard – to rent them out as quick as they can – to advise on the best mortgage deal – to re-mortgage and turn things around as soon as they can etc.

Most of us must be happy to accept risk to put so much trust into the hands of people we don’t know well. My friends, my financial adviser, my partner all felt nervous of the arrangement and advised against it but I pursued it – uncharacteristically ignoring their advice. My instinct felt strong on this one.

I have been involved with Passive Investments for 3 years and have two properties. The rental on one of these was a little slow in coming and the turnaround on the first mortgage again a little slow. I had one property fall through and lost a bit of money on legal costs and survey etc. All this said, I have been delighted with the results of the investments to date and delighted with every contact I have had with the company. I have felt totally supported by them. I like having them in my life. Every glitch, every query has been dealt with quickly, politely, humorously.  I have been happy to talk to two potential clients and chat through my experiences with them.

I have had some contact with Greg in the last few months and found him open and straightforward. He is an ideal business partner. Even prior to my contact with him there was no doubt in my mind that these are very tough times for the company with its peculiar business model that clients pay when we have done well and not until then! I am staggered that he has stuck at it as long as he has with no salary. I know he has worked for the future of his own properties (which is good thing) but he has also worked free for me too!

When the letter came though last week, the trust I had placed in them suddenly felt foolish. However after a few minutes indulging in panic…most of what I felt was what a WASTE of the talent and expertise that is this team. I felt upset that I would not complete the portfolio. I felt nervous about having to deal with the properties on my own and I felt frustrated to have to do so when they have a good system in place. I have a property in London too which I manage myself and would much rather it was in Passive’s care! Then I read that Steve wanted to keep things going with the team there and I was keen to know how I could help.

So…..there is this 2.5k (which is a LOAN) to help Tudor Equity capitalise – this is money that the very same advisers, partners friends etc will describe as throwing good money after bad – but I don’t think so. From a numbers point of view…Because the 15K back payment /property has been reduced to 10K this means that by the end of completing the portfolio of 5 properties, there will be a SAVING to me of 25K from the original agreement AND I’ll get the 2.5 loan back.

Hmnnn why is this a difficult one to agree to? I guess that it’s difficult because of trust. Do I trust them again? The way I see it is that they have ALREADY done so much for me re: my properties that they have ‘earned’ this AND if the team don’t think they can make a go of it because there are not enough of us signed up – we’ll get the money back anyway…and if they DO think they can make a go of it – well I am willing to give them an opportunity to do so.

My cheque is on its way to them with a smile on my face. I really want to help keep this business going and I am grateful to them for giving us a chance. I have not yet spoken to anyone outside of Passive and I have not looked on the internet to read what is being said so my words are unaffected by others’ opinions.

I don’t see any point in NOT supporting the team now. I feel the market is not only stabilising but strengthening – I think we all know this and what we also know is that we have a dedicated team and they will be even more so if this can go ahead. I really hope there are enough of us to give them a chance to navigate a path to creating a robust business again. I’m sure they can do it. The banks won’t help but I will.

Clare Hanbury B.Ed (Cambridge) MSc (London) MA (London)
International Development Consultant ClareHanbury.com

Passive Investments In Liquidation | The Money Gym

Read The Latest Money Gym Statement Here>>>>

Nicola says: Following the shocking news that Passive Investments have gone into liquidation, and that Andy Shaw and Greg Ballard are being made bankrupt by one of their larger creditors, many people are asking us to comment, both on the blog and in our private google group.

When I first met Greg and Andy, back in 2004 I think it was, they struck me as two highly intelligent, funny, energetic, successful guys, who had been in traditional business before, who thought very differently to many people and who had created a FANTASTIC model for investing in property. They were also helping their friends and family invest in the same way, on a fairly small scale, as well as building their own portfolios which numbered about 150 properties in those days.

I immediately knew that our Money Gym clients would love to meet them and hear about this method of investing in property, getting your money back out and going again, as the need to leave money in a property was frustrating many of our clients. We organised an Open Day at my hotel, The Acacia, and many of the clients who were there wanted Greg & Andy to do it for them, like they were doing for their nearest and dearest. Greg and Andy put together an offering, and I spread the word into the Money Gym group of clients and subscribers.

I introduced them to Gill Fielding, my first wealth mentor, who immediately invested with them, ditto Maria Davies. Gill then started presenting this opportunity for them. When Gill could no longer present, Maria Davies took over for a while.

Everyone loved the concept, especially busy professionals and people who wanted to invest in property but didn’t have the first clue about how to go about it. Most people really took to Greg and Andy too, as they shared their knowledge freely, helping many, many people make money along the way. I particularly remember one lunch where they helped a Money Gym client to negotiate a purchase, making him an extra £80,000 along the way. They then took him under their wing and mentored him for a while in his own property deals.

Pretty soon, they were so swamped with people wanting them to invest for them, that they had to create a company to handle the demand. Passive Investments was born.

We are also aware that they then developed a “private investor” scheme whereby people with money sitting idle in a low interest bank account lent the money to Greg and Andy personally for bigger property projects, and because I was not one of those people, I didn’t find out any further details and they never sought a public platform for that opportunity though the Money Gym.

My sister Sarah and brother-in-law Nick invested, my sister Heather invested, Steve Watson and I both bought a “place” each too. I would have happily bought more “places” if I could. The company still owe us for some of the second “place” so my family and I are all out of pocket as well as those of our clients who chose to invest alongside us.

One ray of hope is that those of our clients and family who have properties may make up the monies they have lost (by having paid a fee for a service that now won’t be delivered) AND may ultimately end up better off, due to now not having to pay Passive the agreed “back end” fee on the eventual refinancing of their properties.

Judith Morgan, ex-accountant, Money Gym client and now our business partner, invested the entirety of her inheritance from her Mother into her two “places”. This should have meant ten properties in the fullness of time but she only has three. Her portfolio could not be grown once it became impossible to achieve mortgages or re-finance.

I have heard some horrible stories going around about things that Greg and Andy are supposed to have said and done and while I have no personal knowledge of those things, I’m working on the “innocent ‘till proven guilty” theory. I have always liked and respected Andy and Greg, and I feel sure that most of the rumours are unfounded.

Only yesterday Andy’s website was apparently hacked into, allegedly by someone known to the company, and a personal message to members and investors was changed beyond all recognition to cast the worst possible light on Andy. Here is a link to Andy’s correct personal statement.   Remember to click on the Free User button and then the blue Download button.

We have also been re-educating our clients during the credit crunch to take a more active role in managing ALL their investments, including this one which was originally intended to be passive.  You might want to read about one of our clients (who is not alone by any means) who feels that she will go forward with Tudor Equity, the company that some of the management team is putting together to take the portfolios forward.

Feel free to comment on the blog here but be aware that we reserve the right not to publish any comments that are potentially libellous or are simple repeating content from other people’s blogs or emails.

Later Note: James Tickell, director of Portland Business & Financial Solutions, the insolvency practice chosen to disband the Passive Investments empire, says the matrix of firms will formally enter liquidation on 11 December.

Contact:  London Office, 43 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JG, Tel: 020 7925 2651 / Fax: 020 7925 2652 / Office email: post@portbfs.co.uk

A Week In The Life Of Another Wealth Coach: Annie Kaszina

Many years ago, when I was starting out along my own Money Gym journey, Nicola told me in that tone of hers that brooks no opposition: “You have to be bare assed in the Universe”.  (Why me?  She didn’t say that to all her clients!)

Being, naturally, a rather private person, I resisted, and Ms Cairncross was vindicated, as usual, when the seam in my trousers split dramatically from waistband to crotch in a very public place.  (I do think she had meant her words metaphorically in the first instance…)

This week, this Money Gym coach has been doing something she still doesn’t feel that comfortable with; writing, at some, length about herself.  Naturally, I blog, I write an ezine (or two) for a specific, long term, niche of mine– warning: this material is not for the fainthearted – and I use anecdotes from my life as a parable, but writing at any length about ‘my story’…Yuk!  Still, that is what I have been doing for Gerard Donovan’s forthcoming book about coaches and coaching,  ss well as being under the Wealth Strategies spotlight!  “Too much exposure”, I say.  It makes the trouser splitting option look quite attractive.  (It’s also a tried and tested way to empty a room!)

Nor does the writing stop here.  I’m also completing the final revision of the business book written with my wonderful business partner John ‘Bald’ Donnelly: “You Don’t Have To Know The Answers, Just Much, Much Better Questions”.  The antidote to conventional business books, this is fast, funny and goes straight for the jugular, faster than a Rottweiler with attitude.  It is, I guess,  the unlikely first fruit of the partnership between an ex-Fluffy Alternative Therapist and an ex-Corporate Soldier who served, allegedly, under the retail equivalent of Attila the Hun.
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A Week In The Life Of Another Wealth Coach: Marion Ryan

It’s been a good yet hectic week for this wealth coach, writing to you from Tipperary where today, the sky is blue, the sun is shining – and it’s pouring with rain.  Raining so hard in fact these last few days that roads round here are starting to get flooded and outside my very gate, a deep pond has appeared that is starting to look pretty threatening to me and my water-shy motor.

So I am blessed really that I can work from home and make money with nothing more than my laptop, my phone and my coffee pot.  And, er, some chocolate.
For those of you who don’t yet know me, I’m Marion Ryan and when I’m not coaching Gold clients in the Money Gym I’m running ReadySteadyBlog helping small business owners and entrepreneurs with many different aspects of their internet marketing, whether that’s creating their website, their ebook covers and Twitter designs or their Google Ads campaign.  Love found me in my native London and brought me to this wretched wet place which I’ve grown to love for its peaceful greenness and lack of traffic jams.  More likely to be stopped by a herd of cattle crossing the road than a red light where I live.

So what have I been up to this week?

As well as being contacted by one of my very earliest coaching clients for some more coaching – we last worked together in 2001! – I’ve also been catching up with Gold client, Suzanne Barnett which is always an opportunity for exploration, insights, business planning and some giggles.  Suzanne has recently found a new business partner – via the Money Gym – and they have been pouring all their creative juice into a new IT training business – we’re expecting the launch any day now.

Though Suzanne can be tough on herself, those of us who know her find her enthusiasm, energy and can-do attitude infectious and very attractive.  Apart from any other entrepreneurial, financial and marketing skills she has, her ability to connect with people, to get involved, to solve problems quickly and efficiently, make her someone you want to help and do business with.

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Strange Old Week (And It’s Only Wednesday!)

It’s been a very strange old week so far, but it really has highlighted the benefits of working for yourself, from home.  The benefits of not only being flexible with your time, but with your money, and getting the best help for whatever job needs doing at the time, in time.

I was SUPPOSED to be writing up the final three BlogTalkRadio live shows, where we showed three more people how to make £10k in 90 Days EXTRA from their new or existing businesses.

On each of those emails I was SUPPOSED to remind you that we have extended the deadline for expressing your interest and joining the Money Gym Boardroom, and securing your launch discount of 30% on the whole year.

More info here: http://www.themoneygym.com/boardroom

And in time to join us for a lovely dinner this Thursday night, and then at the first Boardroom meeting, the next day, this Friday 6th November.

I was SUPPOSED to be reminding you that all you need to do is email Judith by midnight, tonight, to secure that discount and your seat.

However, the best laid plans of mice and men…….and wealth coaches…….”oft gang astray”, in the words of the poet.

Monday was a day of broken hearted, love struck teenagers, living rooms full of handymen, the first visit of new math’s tutors, frantically ironing huge swathes of curtains for said handyman to put up, then in the late afternoon, of emergency doctors appointments and shocks to the system.

Tuesday was a day of more handymen, phone calls to insurance companies and doctors surgeries, contacting specialists offices and friends coming and going with large hugs and cups of tea.

Thank goodness for friends, tea and large hugs eh?

But here we are at Wednesday, and I’ve not had a chance to write a word, and I’ve not yet reminded you about tonights deadline.

Tut tut. Sorry guys.

But, as I say, being your own boss means being flexible. Looking after things including yourself and your family. And we want to help you become your own boss, or if you are already, to be the best boss for YOU, that you can possibly be.

So, here’s your reminder and, between mentoring calls today, I’ll write up the other radio shows and get them out to you and onto the blog.

Well worth a listen.

Just email Judith [at] TheMoneyGym.com before midnight tonight, if you want to secure that 30% discount no matter when you want to start OR if you want to come along to The Boardroom dinner on Thursday and then get stuck into your business on Friday.

I’ve seen the agenda, and it rocks!

It will rock your business, your money and your life.

See you there!

Nicola

A Week In The Life Of Another Wealth Coach: Philly Fuggle

As Judith mentioned in last week’s newsletter, between now and Christmas, all of us coaches will be sharing with you a bit about what we are up to.  Judith called on me to be the first, because I think she was a bit concerned that I would not get to do my bit before I got myself all tied up in dirty nappies and sleepless nights and before I started talking “Ga Ga” to you all.

Yes that is right, for those of you who did not know, I am expecting, due on 8th December and soon to be a Mum.  So as you can imagine life in Philly’s world is all go, along with the baby preparations, I am busy automating as many of my tasks as possible and getting things in place so our wealth creation activities keep building for us whilst we have a bit of time off to welcome our new family member.

This week has been an eye opening and exciting week for me with the start of a year’s relationship with a wonderful new Gold Client, being hit by the “Boiler Bang” and meeting a COMPLETE newbie to the internet.

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