Debt | Part 10 | Debt Consolidation

Many people ask me if they should consider debt consolidation which is where they consolidate their debt by re–mortgaging or taking out another loan to pay off old loans/credit cards or those with higher interest rates.

There are many, many advertisements on television encouraging you to do this and the arguments are powerful. When you are under pressure to make payments and desperate for a fresh start, the logic seems overwhelming.

The question I always ask my clients first is ‘have your circumstances changed from those in which you incurred the debt’?

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Debt | Part 8 | Repairing Your Credit Record

So you may have a negative entry on your report. A default or a CCJ perhaps. There are two things to know about the effect that this will have on your financial future.

1. You may be able to have it removed. You can have it removed if it is incorrect and the law defines incorrect  as that which you ‘reasonably believe’ is inaccurate or incomplete, information that can’t be verified or information that is obsolete. Consider your entry, does it come under any of those headings? If so, get it removed. If you can’t get it removed, you may be able to put a short explanation on your record, explaining the circumstances. Be careful with this one as it can be a double edged sword.
2. If you have one negative entry, you will still get credit if you have several positive entries and they are more up to date. Lenders are so desperate to lend (because, if they don’t, they don’t make money) that they will assume one old negative entry is out of date, a dispute, or otherwise not to be trusted; if, and only if, the rest of your credit report is exemplary. So if you can’t get the old entry removed within the six years that it has to remain, even if cleared, then work on your exemplary current credit record.

How can you build up an exemplary record?   Borrow and pay back. Borrow and pay back.

My old nan was actually refused a Damart catalogue because she had always paid cash for things, never owing anything to anyone.  So she had never built up a credit record!

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Debt | Part 9 | 10 Reasons To Pay Debt Off

Now remember we are talking about bad (consumer/unsecured) debt here, not “good” debt.

1. Simple survival. If you are carrying a load of debt, even the slightest shift in your circumstances can leave you vulnerable. Think of the man travelling up the escalator the wrong way, with a briefcase, a suitcase, a knapsack, several carrier bags, a bunch of flowers, a hat, bag, coat and newspaper. All it takes is for his shoelaces to become undone, or for him to trip or get tired and it’s all over.
2. Debt is very stressful. It can cause immense worry, sleep problems, feeling like a rabbit caught in the headlights, lack of control, the need to overwork, inability to enjoy time off, alcoholism, overeating, depression, inability to communicate with others, feelings of shame, powerlessness. Need I go on?
3. To protect your future. We have already said that every debt repayment is eating into your future wealth. It’s not just the lack of money now, it’s what you could be investing that money in, that would generate an income, that you are sacrificing.  There’s an opportunity cost here as well as the stress.

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Debt | Part 7 | Your Credit Record & Report

Many of my clients say to me, ‘But I couldn’t do that, my credit record is terrible’. I ask them ‘how do you know?’ and they always answer that they have been turned down for something in the recent past. Or they have a county court judgement against them that they either settled years ago or are still paying off.

The same day that I was turned down for a credit card with a £1000 limit was the day I got the offer letter from my bank regarding the £300,000 loan to buy my hotel.

You just don’t know what the criteria are, for each lender. No two are the same. They have certain things in common that they look for and I’ll go into those in more detail tomorrow.

Did you know that most people are turned down for credit because they are not ….

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Debt | Part 6 | Paying Off Your Debt

So we had some fun yesterday with other people’s money.

But today we are back to our own accounts and looking at the consumer debt we have run up over the years. A couple of credit cards here, a personal loan there, oh! and a nasty little storecard there lurking about hanging it’s 27.5% APR head in shame.

Just how do you go about paying it off?

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Debt | Part 5 | Good Debt – Other People’s Money

So, enough about bad debt for a moment and let’s talk about good debt, how you can use other people’s money to pay for your assets.  Let’s assume that the mortgage market gets back to normal one day for a start!

Imagine you have £60,000. You want to buy a one bedroom flat to let out and can’t decide whether to get a mortgage or buy it outright. Why would you even consider getting a mortgage if you could buy outright?

If you have one flat worth £60,000, and if it appreciates at 8% per year (conservative estimate) how much would it be worth in 1 year? 10 years? What about any positive cashflow?

Let’s assume that your plan is to build up a ‘stable’ of buy–to–let properties and your goal is to generate income now, rather than create a nest egg for the future.

If you have six flats worth £60,000, and they appreciate at 8% per year, would you be six times better off? How much would they all be worth in 1 year? 10 years? What about any positive cashflow?

Would it be six times as much?

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Debt | Part 4 | Compounding – 8th Wonder Of World

Albert Einstein described compounding as the eighth wonder of the world and if you need any more reasons to get rid of your debt, this segment should convince you. We are going to go into compounding in much more detail in Module 5, but you need to know what it is (don’t laugh, I didn’t really know for years) and how it impacts debt.

Compounding is paying interest on an outstanding amount, and then paying interest on that interest, and then paying even more interest on the whole lot of interest, and so on.

Imagine you buy a computer on a credit card or using store finance. It cost £2000 (or $2000) and the terms are 17.8% for argument’s sake with minimum repayments of 3% of the outstanding balance.

At that rate it will take you (wait for it) 13 years and 9 months to pay the total price tag of £3759 (or $3759).

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Debt | Part 3 | You & Your Debt

In the same way that Michael E Gerber maintains in his book ‘E–Myth Revisited’ that there are three kinds of people when it comes to starting your own business, Mary Hunt, in her book ‘Debt Proof Living’ maintains there are three kinds of people when it comes to attitude to debt and she describes them as follows.

The Revolvers: A typical example is Debt Ridden Dexter and he rides the escalator of life. The only problem is that he goes the wrong way, trying to climb UP the down escalator. This sounds like fun at first (watch kids at the mall or shopping centre!) but swiftly gets tiring and stressful. Initially he can keep up but every other debt added is like an extra shopping bag, rucksack, suitcase, briefcase and box to carry. It gets harder and harder and he eventually becomes unable to keep up the momentum of the escalator. Eventually he ends up at the bottom, battered and torn; he possibly gets himself sorted out, but always he starts to climb again.

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Debt | Part 1 | Good Debt v Bad Debt

I’ve been watching the news just like anyone and I realise that there are tough times out there.  People are being thrown into debt, through no fault of their own, by facing redundancy out of the blue, with no other income streams and no financial cushion.  So I’ve decided to publish the Debt Busting chapter of my book in serial form, to hopefully help those many more people who find our website, having searched the key words “debt” and “get out of debt”.

But before we talk about what to do about debt, and whether you should look to pay it off quickly or go for debt consolidation, let’s look at debt itself, how and why it happens, and what, exactly it is.

Anyone who has read ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ knows that good debt is defined by Robert Kiyosaki as debt that someone else is paying for you (a mortgage on a rented buy–to–let property for example) and bad debt is debt that you are paying for yourself.

Mary Hunt, in her excellent book ‘Debt Proof Living’ has a slightly different slant on it, which adds to the above definition, I think.

She says that good debt is debt that is secured on something of value thus decreasing the risk for both lender and borrower. Ideally secured on something that will increase in value, not decrease. So in the event that you were ever unable to repay the debt, you would have something to sell, something of more value than the debt.

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Doing The Easy Bits First & Then Living Your Life On Purpose

As I said in my “Note From Nicola” this week, Judith and I have been discussing via Skype what The Money Gym looks like for the rest of this year and next.  We love to do this “blue sky” thinking and like to do it before board meetings because Steve prefers more practically orientated chat.  We are having an interim board meeting on Monday to confirm it all in terms of strategy and then hammer out a “to do” and “who to do” list.

We also ask Money Gym students to do this, but more gently, in the form of the “Tuesday Exercise” which you can find in the Money Gym book.  This asks the reader to imagine what a normal Tuesday would look like, from the moment you wake up till the moment you go to bed;  who you are with, what you spend your time doing, which country you are living in, what you see out of the windows, and we encourage them

I started to write an article about it all, and why it’s important to design your business to suit you, your life, your strengths and skills and then I suddenly thought…….hang on, Judith will have written about this more eloquently than I ever could, especially as I’m not feeling 100% this week.  And she didn’t let me down!

Judith says : “I’m doing the easy bits first.  The easy bits are those which just flow, things I can’t wait to tell you or share with you, arising from thoughts I have been saving for just this moment.

I suggest you notice when things “just flow” for you – what are you doing, and how can you do more of it?

It’s All About “Creating a Business to Love – Your Primary Aim”

“It never fails to amaze me how disconnected people can be from what should be the central issue of their lives, which is of course… LIFE .”

“A business without life is no business at all.   But I can easily imagine a life without business.”   Michael Gerber

As you know, Michael Gerber’s “The E-Myth Revisited” subtited (scarily) “Why most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What do Do About It” is just one of my main coaching tools.

For a long time, it was my business bible, and I have been to the first all-women Leadership Intensive in California with the E-Myth Worldwide.

I want to share with you the importance of having a “Primary Aim” for your life, with which your business is aligned.

It’s About Your Life.

Your Primary Aim is about leading a life that is consistent with your innermost desires, core calues, and beliefs.   A life that “feels right” every day, that gives you a deeper sense of fulfillment and meaning with every year that passes.   A life you live intentionally rather than randomly.

In that simple statement lies the key to living a happy, fulfilled life.   A life that is meaningful to you.   A life in which your business plays a significant role, but far from the only role.   A life of joy.   And probably not the life you’re leading now.

Your Primary Aim is your innermost driving force.   It’s the source of the vitality, the commitment, the vision you need to get the most out of your life and to create a remarkable business in the process.   It is that which, more than anything else, gives you a sense of direction and purpose, motivates you to your highest levels of energy, and sustains you over the long haul.

What’s yours?

Here’s how to find it.   Ask yourself:

What would you like to be able to say about your life after it’s too late to do anything about it?

How do I wish my life to be on a day-to-day basis?

How would I like to be with other people in my life – my family, my friends, my business associates, my customers, my employees, my community?

What would I like to be doing two years from now?   Ten years from now?   Twenty years from now?   When my life comes to a close?

What specifically would I like to learn during my life – spiritually, physically, financially, technically, intellectually? About relationships?

How much money will I need to do the things I wish to do? By when will I need it?

Your Primary Aim provides you with a purpose, it provides you with energy.   Live your life with intention.   People may not remember what you say but they will definitely remember how you made them feel.

Once you have worked out what your Primary Aim is, does your business serve it, chime with it, or fight against it?

Thanks to E-Myth and Michael and Michele from http://www.successmadefun.com I know what my Primary Aim is and I share it with you here:

* I honour my own light first and I illuminate the way for others.

This is my purpose.   I am on fire!

Would you like to feel this way about your life, about your business?

Without it, how will you have a successful life or business? How would you know what first step to take? How would you measure your progress? How would you know where you were? How would you know how far you had gone? How would you know how much farther you had yet to go?

All you need to do is take your life seriously, begin living it as if it were important.   To create it intentionally and actively make your life the life you wish it to be.   Create a Business and a Life to Love.

Simple?   Yes.

Easy?   No.

I am grateful to the E-Myth Worldwide for this material.   I remember where I when I first read this powerful book, how it told my life story, how I resolved to change it that day and help as many others through spreading its message far and wide in the business community.

The E-Myth Revisited is just one of the books we recommend as essential reading in our Money Gym Silver program and is easily obtainable and affordable via www.amazon.co.uk though!

Other books we recommend around this topic are

“Synchronicity: The Inner Path Of Leadership” by Joseph Jaworski
“The 4-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris

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