Benjamin Franklins 13 Keys To Success

Benjamin Franklin, the man on the $100 Bill, the guy who invented the heated stove, the lighting rod and the odometer among a thousand other achievements in his life. What made Benjamin Franklin such an over achiever is that he lived a purpose driven life. At the age of 20 years old Benjamin Franklin laid out 13 key values for himself which he would go on to master and become the well known man in our history to this day.
Read on for a translated and updated version for the business world today of Benjamin Franklins 13 Key Values.

1. Stop wasting time

Then: ”Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.” Now: Life hackers and multitaskers will win the startup war every time.

 

2. Get a calendar app and use it

Then: ”Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.” Now: Your modern day business has a lot of moving parts. Devise a system for keeping it all in order.

3. Don’t screw people over

Then: ”Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.”Now: Shady business practices will come back to bite you.

 

4. Don’t bang your co-workers

Then: ”Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.“Now: To ensure a healthy atmosphere, office romance should be handled with care.

 

5. Stop blowing money on stupid things like Aeron chairs

Then:“Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.” Now: Forget the fancy office chair, save that scrap paper and remember to brown bag a lunch.

 

6. Don’t sweat the small stuff

Then: “Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.“ Now: When things go wrong, take a breath a relax. An occasional yoga class couldn’t hurt.

 

7. Bathe — and then dress for success

Then: ”Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.“ Now: Get it together, and dress to impress.

 

8. Don’t get drunk on the job. Or fat, for that matter

Then: “Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.” Now: You’ll work harder without a hangover. Skipping the fourth cup of coffee couldn’t hurt either.

 

9. Be straightforward with people

Then: “Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.“Now: Being straight forward is the best way to connect with customers and co-workers. Leave the slick sales talk at home.

 

10. Don’t just sit around thinking about what to do — actually do it.

Then: “Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”Now: Don’t let problems fester and follow through once you’ve set a goal.

 

11. Don’t obsess about one part of your business at the expense of others

Then: “Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.” Now: Don’t let one aspect of your business overwhelm all others. And when your competitors play dirty, don’t take it personally.

 

12. Stop wasting time gossiping with co-workers and start doing stuff

Then: “Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”Now: Don’t Tweet every random thought. Communication works best when you have something worthwhile to say.

 

13. Be humble

Then: “Imitate Jesus and Socrates.” Now: … or Warren Buffet, if you feel so inclined.

7 Ways To Be More Persuasive in Business

Have you ever had trouble closing a deal or convincing someone of your worthiness? Most people have this problem or at least have had this a few times in their life. In Business, mastering the technique of persuasion is known to be the key to major success and can be the difference between a pat on the back or a slap in the face, figuratively speaking.
Read on for a little insight into the art of persuasion in the world of business.

7 Great Persuasion Techniques To Use In Business

 

1. Give and you shall receive

When someone does you a favour, you know instinctively that you will have to do something in return in the future. Psychologists call this the reciprocity rule, and it can be very useful in persuasion.
Try it out next time a colleague or your boss needs help with something by being the first to stand up and lend a hand. Even better, think ahead and be aware of the deadlines and meetings your boss has to reach so you know to step in if they get called away. According to the reciprocity rule, they’ll be more likely to return the favour in the future.

2. Admit your weaknesses

People will never accept an idea or proposal if it sounds too good to be true, so one of the most effective ways to be persuasive is to admit a weakness.
Next time you’re trying to convince someone into giving you that job or deal, admit a small drawback before you go on to tell them that you are the best person for the job, or why your proposal will work. For example, point out that you have only two years experience instead of the required three, but then go on to explain the relevance of your past experience and how it puts you ahead of other potential candidates.

3. Emphasize potential loss

A study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior showed potential losses count far more in a manager’s decision-making than the same things presented as gains. What this means is that to be more persuasive, you should point out what they have to lose by not accepting your idea, as well as what they can gain.
So if applying for a job, or putting forward a proposal, make sure to emphasize what the company has to lose by not taking on your skills or suggestions. Just make sure you do so respectfully, and do your research on the company or your client first.

4. Highlight similarities

It is well known that people respect and listen to those who they believe to be similar to themselves. One way to influence this is by using what psychologists call mirroring. By mirroring the body language, tone of voice and interests of the person you’re speaking to, you’ll make them more likely to accept your suggestions.
Next time you meet a potential employer or client, do a brief background check on their company or personal interests. Find any similarities between them and yourself or your individual companies and bring them up in the beginning of your meeting – they’ll be more likely to say yes if they feel like you’re on common ground.

5. Appeal to their reputation

People are more likely to behave in a way that is consistent with their past decisions or beliefs, thereby upholding their reputation. This is what psychologists call labeling.
You can use this to your advantage by pointing out that someone has demonstrated a particular trait in the past, and then suggesting that their next course of action remains consistent with that label. For example, say, “Your company is cutting edge and cutting edge companies invest products like X.” This technique is tried and true and you’ll often see it used in marketing.

6. Use Social Proof

When people are unsure of which course of action to take or how to behave, they tend to assume that others around them are better informed, and will look to them for guidance. Psychologists call this Social Proof, and it is a powerful mode of persuasion.
If you’re trying to convince someone to hire you, mention that you have had interest from other potential employers. Or if you’re trying to sell an idea or product, highlight how the idea or product has been successful with other businesses. People will trust the decisions or behaviours of others and will be more likely to do the same.

7. Take it one step at a time

This is all about getting your foot in the door. If you’re pitching a proposal that’s a bit of a risk, if you throw it all on the table at once your potential employee or client is likely to say no to the whole lot. In order to build trust, you need to convince them one step at a time.
Try breaking down what you aim to achieve into small steps, and then gradually talking them into saying yes to each one – you’ll be more likely to persuade them into giving you what you want. This process can take time but remember small steps in the beginning can lead to big leaps in the future.

The Great Jim Rohn once said: “If you want more, you need to be more”. Something to think about.

50 Ways To De-Stress Your Way To Success

Stress is a number one killer and demotivator of success and productivity. We are all guilty of stressing out, even over the smallest of things so I have put together a list of 50 simple ways you can start de-stressing your life right now!

So we all know that it is always easier said than done however if you start small by implementing one or two things from this list a day to help de-stress your life then you are on your way and sooner than you think, you will be stress free and able to focus with more positive energy to reach your goals.

- Wake up 15 minutes earlier
- Prepare for the morning, the night before
- Don’t rely on your memory…write things down
- Repair things that don’t work properly
- Make duplicate keys
- Say ”NO” more often
- Set priorities in your life
- Avoid negative people
- Always make copies of important papers
- Ask for help with jobs you dislike
- Break large tasks into bit sized portions
- Look at problems as challenges
- Smile more
- Be prepared for rain
- Schedule  play time into every day
- Avoid tight fitting clothes
- Take a bubble bath
- Believe in you
- Visualise yourself winning
- Develop a sense of humour
- Have goals for yourself
- Say hello to a stranger
- Look up at the stars
- Practise breathing slowly
- Do brand new things
- Stop a bad habit
- Take stock of your achievements
- Do it today
- Strive for excellence, not perfection
- Look at a work of art
- Maintain your weight
- Plant a tree
- Stand up and stretch
- Learn to meet your own needs
- Become a better listener
- Know your limitations and let others know them too
- Throw a paper airplane
- Exercise every day
- Get to work early
- Clean out one closet or drawer
- Take a different route to work
- Leave work early (with permission)
- Remember you always have options
- Quit trying to fix other people
- Get enough sleep
- Praise other people
- Take each day at a time…you have your whole like to live.
- Take time out to just ‘be’ everyday
- Do one thing at a time
- Stop thinking tomorrow will be a better today

Advice From The Worlds Top Billionaires

Business advice from The Worlds Top Billionaires: Sheldon Adelson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Charlie Munger, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Jim Pattison, Charles Koch and Sunil Mittal.

 Advice From Billionaire’s

 

Sheldon Adelson (Net Worth 3.4 Billion) – Just do things in life the way other people dont do things, Change the Status Quo and then you’ll succeed.

 

Bill Gates (Net Worth 50 Billion) -Its surprising that the fundamentals of business are pretty straight forward, you should be trying to take more in as an income than you spend in your costs.

 

Warren Buffett (Net Worth 47 Billion) – Run this business like its the only business your family will own for the next 100 years, don't measure it by the earnings that where made in that quarter of the year, what gives it competitive advantage over time and if its widened or narrowed.

Investing your money basics

1. Over the long term, stocks have historically outperformed all other investments.

Stocks have historically provided the highest returns of any asset class -- close to 10% over the long term. The next best performing asset class is bonds. Long-term U.S. Treasurys have returned an average of more than 5%.

2. Over the short term, stocks can be hazardous to your financial health.

On Dec. 12, 1914, stocks experienced the worst one-day drop in stock market history -- 24.4% . Oct. 19, 1987, the stock market lost 22.6%. More recently, the shocks have been prolonged and painful: If you had invested in a Nasdaq index fund around the time of the market's peak in March 2000 you would have lost three-fourths of your money over the next three years. And in 2009, stocks overall lost a whopping 37%.

3. Risky investments generally pay more than safe ones (except when they fail).

Investors demand a higher rate of return for taking greater risks. That's one reason that stocks, which are perceived as riskier than bonds, tend to return more. It also explains why long-term bonds pay more than short-term bonds. The longer investors have to wait for their final payoff on the bond, the greater the chance that something will intervene to erode the investment's value.

4 Tips on Budgeting to Become Rich

How the rich budget to get richer

Poor dad said, “Live below your means.”
Rich dad said, “Expand your means.”
If you were to take a look at the difference between my poor dad’s budget and my rich dad’s budget, you’d understand the vast difference of mindset between the two statements above.
My poor dad’s budget focused on cutting expenses to meet his income. It was important for him to pay everyone else and then enjoy what was left—if anything.
My rich dad’s budget focused on increasing income. It was important for him to pay himself first and then taking care of his expenses. He said, “Most people use their budget as a plan to become poor or middle class rather than become rich. My budget is a plan to become rich.”

Here are four tips my rich dad taught me about budgeting to become rich.

#1 – A budget surplus is an expense.

One of rich dad’s most important lessons was, “You have to make a surplus an expense.”
What he meant is that most people view a surplus as an asset. They place their extra cash in the bank or they spend it on liabilities. Rather than view extra money as an asset, rich dad viewed it as an expense in the form of charity, investing and saving.
Most people want to give to charity, invest in assets and save money, but the problem is that they view it as something to do after they’ve paid their expenses. By making these things expenses in his budget, my rich dad ensured that he would make them a priority. He called it paying himself first.

#2 – Your expense column is a crystal ball.

If you want to predict a person’s financial future, you have to look no further than the expense column.
Here’s an example of two different expense columns:

Person A:	Person B:
Donation to charity	Six-pack of beer
Savings	New shoes
Books on investing	New TV
Seminar on real estate	Football tickets
Gym dues	(Another) six-pack of beer
Personal coach	Bag of potato chips

While that’s a humorous example, it’s not far from the truth. When you look at most people’s expense columns, they’re littered with payments to other people and for liabilities. In each case, expenses don’t go towards anything that will make money and only things that permanently take money out of your pocket.
Take a look at your expense column. What does it say about you?

#3 – Use assets to pay for liabilities.

My poor dad was frugal and thought that was a virtue. If he wanted a luxury item, he’d simply deny himself that item. He said, “We can’t afford it.”
My rich dad loved luxury and if he wanted a nice toy, he’d find a way to buy it. He wasn’t reckless with his money. Rather he was smart in how he made it work for him and used his financial education. He asked, “How can we afford it?”
By increasing his assets, which increased his monthly cash flow, my rich dad used this money to purchase his luxury items and liabilities. If he wanted a nice car, he’d invest money until the asset produced the cash flow required to purchase that car. Then he had a nice car and a great asset.

#4 – Spend to get rich.

Being able to execute on the first three tips on budgeting means building a mindset that says when the going gets tough the tough get going. Most people stop spending on charity, investing and saving when times get tough. The rich, however, figure out ways to make more money by spending more money on assets, even when times are tough.
By pushing through those hard times, you develop a mentality that will enable you to make more money no matter what the circumstances. And that will make you richer than you ever imagined.
How can you afford the things you want in life?


4 Tips on Budgeting to Become Rich

What Everyone Should Know at 20: Life Lessons That Nobody Teaches You

After embarking on a year-long spiritual journey, reflecting on my life, and reading the works of some of the world’s most influential thought leaders, I have compiled a list of twelve ideas that will make life a lot easier and more fulfilling if practiced in your 20′s and beyond. During my time as a hotel desk clerk, I had the opportunity to interview dozens of strangers (some over age 65) about their biggest lessons in life. Some were truck drivers. Some were war veterans. Some were cancer patients. These are their life lessons.
These are the 12 things you should know (but probably won’t do) in your 20′s.

 12 Life Lessons For Those Living In Their 20′s

1. Relax

Slow down. Take a deep breath. Don’t worry about the future, prepare for it. Life is lived in the present.
If you keep going at this pace, one day you’ll wake up and be 30!

2. Learn to love yourself now

You’ll never be younger, more attractive, more energetic, or more carefree than you are today.
Don’t waste your time being self-conscious. You’re hot! Enjoy it.

3. Take care of your body

You’re going to regret all of your smoking, drinking, and unhealthy eating habits when you’re older. I know what you’re thinking: “You’ve got to die from something, right?”, Wrong! I know that you secretly think you are going to die suddenly at around age 45 before you have to deal with your mistakes. I know you don’t really believe that you are going to live until age 60, and you may not, but what if you do?
The average person who reaches age 60 lives to be age 82. Don’t spend the last 20 years of your life in misery!

4. Stop caring about what other people think

Ninety percent of them, you’ll never see again. Ninety-nine percent of the remaining ten percent won’t even cry at your funeral! If everyone lived their truth, no one would have to pretend.

The 20 Richest American Sports Owners

Forbes put out its annual list of the richest people in America and it includes 28 people that own sports teams.These 20 people own a total of 24 teams in the four major North American sports leagues, including 10 NBA teams, 9 NFL franchise, 4 NHL teams, and just one MLB club. In addition, several own other teams in the WNBA and the English Premier League.
All of them, however, have made their money outside of the sports world.

#19t Herb Simon

Estimated Net Worth: $1.95 billion
Forbes Rank: 293
Age: 78
How he got his fortune: Real estate
Teams owned: Indiana Pacers (NBA), Indiana Fever (WNBA)
Championships: One (2012 WNBA Championship)

#19t Robert Pera

Estimated Net Worth: $1.95 billion
Forbes Rank: 293
Age: 35
How he got his fortune: Chief Executive Officer, Ubiquiti Networks Inc
Teams owned: Memphis Grizzlies (NBA)
Championships: None

Global population of billionaires exceeds 2,000

Being a billionaire isn't so special anymore.
A new study from Wealth-X and UBS finds that the global population of billionaires has surged past 2,000. Their combined wealth totals $6.5 trillion—more than the combined gross domestic product of France and Germany.
Previous estimates placed the world's billionaire population at between 1,200 and 1,600.
The World Ultra Wealth Report found that just under 200,000 people in the world are worth $30 million or more. The $30 million-plus group, labeled the "ultra-wealthy," grew by 6 percent in 2013 and have a combined fortune of $28 trillion.
Surprisingly, most of the growth in the number of ultra-wealthy was in the U.S. and Europe rather than in emerging markets. Luxury brands have been calling China, Brazil, Russia and other emerging countries the future of wealth. But economic slowdowns in China and Brazil led to a drop in their number of billionaires this year.
Wealth-X and UBS forecast that Asia will rebound, however.
"Asia will generate more ultra-high net worth individuals and wealth than the U.S. and Europe in the next five years," UBS said in the report.

15 Insights From The Man Who Taught The World To 'Think And Grow Rich'

Napoleon Hill, a Great Depression-era author and former advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, decided more than 76 years ago to figure out the key to wealth.
To do so, he interviewed more than 500 of the most successful men in the U.S. at the time, such as Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and Charles M. Schwab. 
The result of his findings, "Think and Grow Rich," became one of the best-selling books of all time and sealed Hill's reputation as a pioneer of self-help literature.

We've scoured its pages to come up with some of Hill's best insights about wealth, power, and overcoming the mental barriers needed to achieve them.

What is 'wealthy'? $5 million and plenty of cash

Everyone has their own definition of "wealthy." Some say it's $1 million, others say $100 million. Some say it means making more than your brother-in-law. Others say it means not having to work or having strong relationships with family and friends.
But a new survey from UBS shows that most investors say "wealthy" means $5 million—with at least $1 million of that in cold, hard cash.
The UBS Investor Watch asked 4,450 investors if they consider themselves wealthy. Fully 60 percent of those worth $5 million or more said they're wealthy, while only 28 percent of those worth $1 million to $5 million said they were wealthy (those were the only two categories given).
Half of the respondents said that, more broadly, being wealthy means having "no financial constraints on activities." Only 16 percent said it meant "surpassing a certain asset threshold" and 10 percent said it means "not having to work again."

Yet being wealthy doesn't just mean having millions in investments or assets. It means having plenty of cash on hand to handle any expense. Driven by the bad memories of the crisis, when many of the so-called wealthy were caught short of cash, investors currently have an average of 23 percent of their overall asset allocation in cash or equivalents. That's the highest number since at least 2010.

And they don't plan to draw down their cash anytime soon. About two-thirds of investors feel they have the right amount of cash. As long as they take risk with some of their money in equities, they want a large pile of cash to balance the risk.
"Current investor asset allocations tend toward the 'barbell' approach," UBS said in the study, "with more cash than the industry would typically recommend but also sizable equity holdings."
Among the top reasons to keep cash were to cover emergencies, to "give me peace of mind" and to "make large purchases without selling assets."

The Perfect Income for Happiness? It's $161,000

More than one study has tried to determine the financial price of happiness. Some look at wealth. Others look at income.
One well-publicized study last year put the optimal income for happiness at around $75,000. Rising income, it turns out, produces greater happiness until you get to around $75,000. After that, there are diminishing returns, with more income leading to little or no gain in real happiness.

This is a fraught question, of course. "Happiness" itself is not easily defined, and money, as the winners of this week's Powerball jackpot will tell you, doesn't always guarantee it. And the financial requirements for happiness usually depend on geography, peer groups and other external factors.

The Price of Happiness

They say money can't buy happiness -- but most Americans aren't so sure.

The latest to weigh in on the issue is Skandia International's Wealth Sentiment Monitor. It found that the global average "happiness income" is around $161,000 for 13 countries surveyed. The United States wasn't specifically measured.
But there was a wide range of answers depending on the country. Dubai residents need the most to feel wealthy. They said the needed $276,150 to be happy. Singapore came in second place, with $227,553, followed by Hong Kong, with $197,702.

The region with the most modest needs for happiness is Europe. Germans only need $85,781 to be happy, placing them lowest on the list. The French need $114,000, while the British need $133,000.
The survey doesn't ask about total wealth needed to feel happy. But it does ask about the amount of wealth needed to feel "wealthy." Globally, the average amount needed to feel wealthy was $1.8 million.
Singaporeans took the lead on the "wealth" needs, with $2.91 million needed to feel wealthy. Dubai ranked second with $2.5 million, followed by Hong Kong with $2.46 million.
Surveys show that among Americans, most say they need $1 million or more to feel wealthy.
All of this shows that wealth and financial happiness is not an absolute number, but is relative to your peers and surroundings. Living in Dubai, with all those oil barons and oligarchs, the needs are higher. In Germany, where wealth is more evenly distributed, the needs are not as high.
How much wealth or income would you need to feel happy?

Richest 1% earn biggest share since Roaring '20s

The gap between the richest 1 percent and the rest of America is the widest it's been since the roaring '20s.
The very wealthiest Americans earned more than 19 percent of the country's household income last year—their biggest share since 1928, the year before the stock market crash. And the top 10 percent captured a record 48.2 percent of total earnings last year.
U.S. income inequality has been growing for almost three decades. And it grew again last year, according to an analysis of Internal Revenue Service figures dating to 1913 by economists at the University of California, Berkeley, the Paris School of Economics and Oxford University.

Why invest

You're about to learn some things that most people don't know.
Many people think that young people shouldn't learn about investing. After all, very few adults were taught about investing when they were young. They might think that kids don't have much money and that there's plenty of time for them to think about investing later, when they're older.
But these people are wrong, because there's one thing that all kids have that adults don't have.
It's a very important thing, but it's usually ignored. It's something that adults, no matter how rich they are, can never get more of. What is it, you ask? Is it a love of chocolate-frosted Ding Dongs? The ability to see the same movie three times in one week? Well, no. It's time. If you don't learn about investing when you're young, you lose out on an amazing opportunity that you'll never have again. You're very lucky because you're getting a chance to learn some important things that most people don't figure out until much, much later -- if ever.

Passive Income

How to Earn More and Work Less

Do you want to continue working 50, 70, 100 hours a week the rest of your life?
Good! Neither do I.
Do you want to be able to take time off whenever you want to, without worrying about what's going to happen to your business?
So do I!
There's a saying in the corporate world: "Don't make yourself irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted." As an entrepreneur, this is still true in its own way. Let's think of "being promoted" as earning more and working less. You can raise your prices, but until you can remove yourself from being directly involved in doing the work that generates the income, there's always going to be a limit to how much you can earn, and it can only increase very slowly.
Passive income, on the other hand, is income that does not require your direct involvement. Some kinds of passive income you may be familiar with include owning rental property, royalties on an invention or creative work, and network marketing. If you want to earn more, work less, and have a decent retirement, you're going to have to start creating income streams that do not require your direct involvement. Whether you're just starting your business, or you've been running it a while, the sooner you start thinking about how you are going to shift your business model to create more passive income, the sooner you can achieve personal and financial freedom.
Let's look at two basic types of passive income, and a third type of income that, while technically not passive, is a key strategy for earning more and working less.
Residual Income
Residual income is revenue that occurs over time from work done one time. Some examples include:

• An insurance agent who gets commission every year when a customer renews his policy
• A network marketing or direct sales rep's income from her direct customers when they reorder product every month
• An aerobics instructor who produces a video and sells it at the gyms where she teaches
• A marketing consultant who creates a workbook and sells it in e-book format on the Internet
• A photographer who makes his photos available through a stock photography clearinghouse and gets paid a royalty whenever someone buys one of his images
• A restaurant or retail owner who has grown to the point of hiring a trustworthy manager

As you can see, there are many different ways to generate residual income across a wide variety of businesses. It may be recurring income from the same customers, or the sales of a product to new customers. It may require no personal involvement whatsoever, such as an e-book sold on a web site, or it may require some personal interaction, such as the insurance agent calling the customer to remind them about their renewal and ask them if they want to change any of their coverage. Often, it's something that you can delegate to an assistant.Note that this is different from merely recurring income. Recurring income may still require your involvement to earn the income, e.g., a coach or consultant on a monthly retainer, or a caterer who delivers lunch every Monday to the local school board. While this "active recurring income" offers welcome stability, it also tends to tie you down, and you still have limits on your earning capacity based on your own personal production capacity.
Leveraged Income
Leveraged income leverages the work of other people to create income for you. Some examples of leveraged income include:

• An e-book author selling her e-book through affiliates who promote the product
• A network marketer who builds a downline and receives commissions on the sales made by people in his downline
• A general contractor who makes a profit margin on the work done by sub-contractors
• Franchising your business model to other entrepreneurs (the ultimate leveraged income)

Again, there are many different models in many different businesses. The key is that you are making money off of other people's labor, rather than primarily your own. Note that leveraged income may or may not also be residual income. When you combine them, that's even better.Active Leveraged Income
This is a term I use to describe income that requires your direct participation, but that you can make more money by having more people involved. This generally involves a one-time event, such as:

• A seminar or class
• A conference or convention
• Concerts and dance recitals
• Raves and other parties

Although these require your direct participation, your earning potential is much higher than if someone were just paying you a direct hourly rate. Fill a room with 1,000 people paying $50 each and you can cover your facility cost, promotional cost, and staffing fees and still have a nice chunk of change left over.Applying It
Now is the time to think about how to apply this in your business. Can you create a product that people will buy over and over again? Can you engage others to sell your product? How could you make money off the work of others?
The sooner you answer these questions, the sooner you'll have financial and personal freedom.

Source: entrepreneurs.about.com

The Most Valuable Soccer Franchises

Real Madrid, from Spain's La Liga, is now the most valuable sports franchise in the world.
In Forbes.com's latest list of the most valuable soccer franchises, Real Madrid knocked Manchester United from the top spot. The English club had been the most valuable soccer franchise since Forbes began tracking soccer teams in 2004.
Real Madrid is valued at $3.3 billion, which is $1.0 billion more than the New York Yankees, the most valuable franchise in North America.

#10 Liverpool — $651 Million

Getty Images

League: English Premier League
Top Player(s): Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard
2011-12 Revenue: $296 Million

Why the Rich Get Richer - The Secret of Compound Interest

If you have ever wondered why the rich always get richer the reasons may surprise you. It often comes down to two things.

They spend less than they earn 

They earn interest on top of interest (compound interest) 

The first reason is quite obvious. If they spend less than they earn then they will always have more money. Hence, they will always get richer. The second reason more or less turbo charges the first reason. Say for instance you have $10,000 in an investment account. If that account has an interest rate of 10% then after one year you will have $11,000. If you don't spend any of that money, after two years you would expect to have $12,000 after the interest is applied. However, you will actually end up with $12,100. This is because you have earned interest on top of interest.  RightPane. the 10% interest was actually applied to the $11,000. This is an example of Compound Interest. Now I bet you are thinking 'so what. I only earned $100 more than I expected'. And that is correct, but what you need to consider is the long term effects of that extra money being compounded. The figures below show what would happen to that $10,000 if it was invested for different lengths of time at a 10% interest rate.

10 years = $25,937 

25 years = $108,347 

50 years = $1,173,909 

100 years = $137,806,123 

As you can see the amounts of money increase by a staggering amount over time. However, realistically, you are unlikely to invest your money for 50 or 100 years unless you are particularly keen on your descendants. If however you were spending less than you earn and you also invested say $500 per month on top of that original one off $10,000 investment, your money would grow as follows.

10 years = $126,742 

25 years = $730,393 

50 years = $8,535,637 

100 years = $1,009,366,604 

You are reading that correctly. After 50 years you would have over 8 million dollars, and after 100 years you would have over one billion dollars! This is not a trick. The maths is accurate. What is even more amazing is the huge effects a few small changes can have can have on the outcome  RightPane. If you use a 12% interest rate as opposed to a 10% interest rate in the example above, your money would grow as follows:

After 10 years = $143,195 - this is 13% more than before ($126,742) 

After 25 years = $1,022,004 - this is 40% more than before ($730,393) 

After 50 years = $18,226,138 - this is 114% more than before ($8,535,637) 

After 100 years = $5,282,730,057 - this is 423% more than before ($1,009,366,604) 

I bet you're now thinking, 'I wish I was rich, so that I can take advantage of it'. The good news is you don't have to be rich to benefit from compound interest. You could potentially gain from it by investing any amount you feel comfortable with. Try this out for yourself on a Compound Interest Calculator.

Source: FinancialKnowledgeBase

15 highest paid CEOs

Marissa Mayer sits pretty with her high Yahoo salary.

Which tech executives bring home the bacon? The New York Times put together a list of the 200 highest paid executives in the world. Twenty-eight of them run tech companies.
Marissa Mayer and Larry Ellison are some of the highest paid individuals. Activision Blizzard's Robert Kotick makes the highest base salary which exceeds $2 million, although he's not the highest paid overall. Surprisingly, Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg didn't make the cut.

The World's Youngest Billionaires: 29 Under 40

 Dustin Moskovitz,

There are 1,426 billionaires in the world this year. They are the wealthiest of the wealthy. But only 29 members of this elite list are under 40 years old, with that exciting combination of money and youth.
Those 29 have a total of $119 billion between them. Ten come from the technology sector, including four from social networking giant Facebook . Eleven come from the United States, the rest from countries abroad. Five are newcomers to the billionaire ranks. Read the full list below.

Youngest Billionaires of 2013 

9 Ways To Build Unbreakable Confidence From The Outside In

inShare46

There are a million different resources and pieces advice out there from “experts” on how to build confidence, particularly self-confidence. A vulnerable and anxious population consumes this guidance like they are starving for it… probably because they are. The dream of being able to overcome all fear and self-imposed limits by simply reading some advice is a very tempting dish indeed.
After lifetimes of being subject to images and ideals that they cannot possibly live up to, people start to feel like they are “less than”. This fear of being a substandard human being drives some of us to seek guidance, bringing us into contact with the murky, over-crowded world of self-help products and services.
Look, some of the stuff out there is good – I know, I’ve tried most of it. But some of it is very misguided and, frankly, delusional. People who lack self-confidence themselves can take a basic, theoretical knowledge of psychological research and use it to excrete volumes of garbage about how to build self-esteem and confidence. They then charge copious amounts of money for this drivel, which usually makes you feel great temporarily but does absolutely nothing to change your long term situation.
I’m not going to pretend I know it all. But what I do have to offer is that I have completed the full journey, from shy, “nice” and trying to please everyone, all the way through to where I am now. And where is that? What does being confident mean to me? It means that these things now occur in my life where they didn’t before:

• I regularly seek out opportunities to push boundaries and expand my comfort zone, running towards fear rather than away from it
• I can go into a situation full of anxiety and yet quickly push through that to enable me to feel competent and at ease
• I feel comfortable being honest in all situations. Rather than hide my views I express them, calmly and diplomatically where required, but also without compromise
• I place my needs above everything else. I am selfish about developing my life and inner-self because I know that ultimately the people in my life will benefit from me being a better person
• Most importantly from my point of view, I can’t remember the last time I felt jealousy or envy, and it’s been many, many years since I entertained the idea of wanting to be anyone else

So how did I get to this from being a “nice” guy that did all I could to avoid confrontation and anxiety-provoking situations? Well, it wasn’t easy! But in order to help others out there who are similar to me and serious about developing true, unbreakable inner confidence, I have taken some time to break down the steps I took to achieve this. See the secret is really no secret at all – it’s about constantly taking action in a way that pushes your comfort zone further out until you learn how to make any situation feel like it’s in your comfort zone.
Let’s have a look at the different things I have done that I believe contributed most to being as confident as I am today. I’m not saying these will work for you, but I am confident that you will improve your life in some way by trying these things, if nothing else.

A million more people join the ranks of the global super-rich

 

The super-rich are categorised as those with more than $1m in investable asset.

A million more people joined the ranks of the global super-rich last year, almost a third of them in Asia, as soaring stock markets helped bolster the fortunes of wealthy investors.
The number of "high net worth individuals" climbed by 10% in 2012, taking the total worldwide to 12m, according to research by Royal Bank of Canada and consultancy Capgemini.
Between them, these twelve million people owned assets worth $46.2tn (£29.5tn) – more than three times the entire annual output from the US economy, and a 10% increase on 2011.
A high net worth individual is defined as anyone with $1m (£641,000) or more in "investable assets". The definition excludes the value of a main home and of any "consumer durables" such as cars.

Why Do the Rich Get Richer?

If you want to know why the rich get richer, the answer was written down a few thousand years ago in what I consider to be the single most useful verse in the entire Bible.

“My people are destroyed because of a lack of knowledge”

When it comes to getting rich, the rich get richer because they have knowledge about money.  They understand how money works.  They understand finance.  They understand tax laws.  They understand what drives profitability. When the rich get richer, it is a symptom of their behavior, not the cause of some great cosmic mystery.  Trying to figure out why the rich get richer is like trying to figure out why athletes get in better shape over time or why painters become more skilled with each passing year. As Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, therefore, is a habit.”  The “rich” are those who bring in more revenue than they let go out the door so that the difference – the surplus – gets added to their net worth each year.
To put it more starkly: If you gave me total control over the finances of a young married couple around 25 years old, a police officer and a teacher, I’d be willing to wager a significant amount of money that I’d be able to get their net worth into the tens of millions of dollars by the time they retired at 65.  Why?  Because it took me about 5 seconds to calculate and solve for the “payment” variable of a net present value of an annuity formula assuming a return of 10% to calculate that it would require saving $22,600 per year.  With most decent employers, at least $2,600 of this would come from matching funds on retirement accounts so we’re now talking about $20,000 annually.  Saving that amount in the 25% tax bracket will lower your Federal taxes by $5,000, which effectively counts as the government transferring money from your tax bill to your balance sheet.  That leaves $15,000 in out-of-pocket cash that the couple would need to save.

Wealth Building: Beliefs To Avoid So You Can Build Serious Wealth

We all want to be experts at wealth building because we want to live life comfortably and we want to provide our families the best of things that life can offer. If you want to attain financial freedom so that you can enjoy the luxuries of life, you have to be well disciplined when it comes to handling money. In addition, you should also follow tips that are designed to help people build serious wealth.

Wealth building is not a very complicated process but it's hard to do for a lot of people because they lack determination and self-discipline. If you want to gain serious wealth in your lifetime, you have to avoid the simple mistakes that everyone else is committing. One of the most common mistakes people commit is that they stick to certain beliefs that prevent them from creating wealth for themselves. Let's look at these beliefs so that you can be well aware of them and in turn avoid them. The first erroneous belief that you should avoid would be the belief that someone else can make you wealthy. This is something that's really tempting to believe in. However, you have to know that if you want to create wealth, you have to do it yourself. You need to exert your own efforts instead of relying on someone else to do it for you. If you rely on others to produce money for you, then that's not your money at all. It's someone else's. People who tell you that they can make you rich will charge you a certain fee.

The next belief that you should avoid or get rid of in case that you have this stuck inside your mind, is the belief that you can create serious amounts of money overnight. There may be stories of people gaining huge amounts of money overnight but you have to face the truth by looking at their numbers. Only a few people have been able to do this and most of them just got lucky. Instead of focusing on hurrying things up, which will most likely cause disappointment later on, you should make yourself a 5 to 10-year plan on building wealth. Most of successful investors today have been able to turn their small capitals into millions within a short span of time because they planned how they were going to do things. In addition, most of them made use of the power of compound growth as well as a high return but low risk investment.

The last belief that you should get rid of would be that you have to exert serious amounts of efforts or you have to be really innovative in order you to be wealthy. You don't have to work hard. Instead, you have to work in a smart manner. Most of people who focus on slamming their faces every single day at working hard weren't able to make themselves filthy rich. Producing large amounts of money isn't about hard graft. It's about compounding your money and making it work hard for you.

Source: FinancialKnowledgBase

Wealth Building: Look At These Three Tips

 

Everyone wants to be a master of the wealth building process but most of us have no idea where to start or how to get started. If you don't have the slightest idea as to where you should start or what's the first thing that you should do, you don't have to worry because I'm going to end all of your confusions in this article.

This article contains three very simple but very effective and powerful wealth building tips that will help you attain financial freedom for yourself. The contents of this article are intended for anyone who's really interested to improve their finances and lifestyle. If you're wise, you won't run away from this great opportunity for financial growth. You don't have to worry because all of the tips that I'm going to show you in this article are both ethical and legal. Time is money so let's stop wasting your time and get on with the tips.

The first financial tip that you have to know about is learning restraint. Discipline is a very important ingredient of all types of endeavors and not only in the field of creating financial freedom. In the financial industry, it's really quite a challenge to discipline yourself if you have a credit card. However, this is a part of the challenge that you need to deal with. If you really want to be rich, you must start things right by avoiding unnecessary purchases. By doing this, you will be able to save yourself a whole lot of money. In addition, this will help you how to properly differentiate wise buys from unwise ones. As a result, you'll be a better decision maker, which will in turn allow you to have greater and effective control of your money. Don't drown yourself in materialism. This isn't something that's bad to do once in a while but you should never let your compulsion take over you because if this happens, you can bid your chance at being wealthy goodbye and say hello to endless number of debts.

The next tip that you should follow is learning to invest. Money doesn't grow on its own. Therefore, you need to need to invest it if you want it to expand or grow for you. When you invest, never ever place all of your money in a single pot or scatter it around without careful thought. Patience and wisdom are two important things when you're doing investments. This is so because you have to do careful research about the investment options that you're considering. By researching about your options, you will be able to determine which among them is the best one for you and which ones are unwise to go for.

Lastly, learn to manifest wealth. This involves manifesting wealth inside your mind. This is vital if you want to attain financial abundance. If you think and convince yourself that you're a poor person and that you have no chance at getting rich, then you will become or stay that way. However, if you think of yourself as someone who knows wealth and has expertise in wealth, then you will be able to magnify your chances on making yourself rich. 

Source: FinancialKnowledgeBase

Many female billionaires that pop up on Forbes list inherited their fortunes, but despite the wage gap that still persists between men and women, a few hard-driving ladies still managed to earn their own billions. Here's a look at some self-made female billionaires and what characteristics led them to the top.

1. Oprah Winfrey

 

After graduating from Tennessee State University, Winfrey started her broadcasting career in Nashville, then relocated to Baltimore and eventually settled in Chicago where Harpo Studios is located today. Her successful television show, magazine and TV network has earned her billions, with a net worth that's growing daily. She hit No. 400 on Forbes' 2010 World Billionaires list with a $2.4 billion net worth.

The 10 Richest People In The World

Forbes is out with its new billionaires list.
Here's the Top 10. Once again, Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Helu is #1.

Forbes

Largest Fund Managers.

GLOBAL – All of the world's largest institutional managers saw assets under management (AUM) increase over the last year, with AUM rising by nearly €1.2trn, according to research conducted by IPE.
Globally, the 10 largest institutional managers were responsible for €12.8bn in assets at the end of December, up by 9% year-on-year and ahead of the 8% increase witnessed across the IPE Top 400 Asset Managers 2013, published alongside the current issue of IPE.
While BlackRock remained the world's largest manager with €2.86trn in assets, Vanguard rose to second place after a nearly €200bn increase in assets to €1.62trn.
The company's 13% increase in assets was the largest total rise, beaten in relative terms only by the 19.4% increase seen by the UK's Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM).


























However, despite the €500bn in assets, LGIM remained in eighteenth place, not far behind BNP Paribas Investment Partners with €503bn.
With the exception of Vanguard's rise to second-largest manager, overtaking State Street Global Advisors, which remained third, the top 10 remained unchanged over the last 12 months.
Fidelity Investments stayed in fourth place, followed by Allianz Asset Management-owned PIMCO with €1.23trn.
JP Morgan and BNY Mellon's asset management divisions crossed the €1trn threshold in 2012, joining five other institutional managers in the club.
JP Morgan Asset Management saw assets rise by around €100bn to €1.06trn, while BNY Mellon's institutional business grew from €926bn to €1.05trn.
US-based Pramerica Investment Management saw AUM increase to €802bn, while Amundi and the recently renamed Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management were a distant ninth and tenth place, respectively, with €727bn and €607bn.
Greater upset occurred within the top 20, with Franklin Templeton Investments leapfrogging Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) and Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) to come eleventh, followed by NGAM and a gap of just over €1bn.
Despite a €20bn increase in assets to €563bn, GSAM fell to fifteenth, behind Northern Trust Asset Management – itself rising by several spots over last year – and Wellington Management Company.
Wellington's inclusion in the top 15 meant Axa Investment Management – with €553bn, up by €40bn year-on-year – ranked sixteenth, ahead of Invesco, BNP Paribas Investment Partners, LGIM and new submission Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank with just under 500bn.
The Japanese firm's first listing meant Legg Mason was forced out the Top 20, while Invesco's additional €40bn in assets meant the manager was up several places to seventeenth this year with €521bn, well ahead of BNP and its €503bn in assets.

Top 10: Largest privately held companies

The largest privately held companies in the United States last year were:

1. Cargill, food, drink and tobacco, including Horizon Milling in Chattanooga, $133.9 billion in revenues

2. Koch Industries, conglomerate business, $115 billion in revenues

3. Mars, food, drink and tobacco, including M&M plant in Cleveland, Tenn., $70 billion in revenues

4. Bechtel, construction, including contractor for TVA, $53 billion in revenues

5. PricewaterhouseCoopers, accounting firm, $31.5 billion in revenues

6. PilotFlying J, truck stop chain based in Knoxville, $29.3 billion in revenues

7. Publix Super Markets, grocery chain with four stores in Chattanooga, $27 billion in revenues

8. Ernst & Young, accounting firm with $24.4 billion in revenues

9. Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, $22 billion in revenues

10. C&S Wholesale Grocers, food, drink and tobacco, $21.7 billion in revenues

Source: Forbes magazine, "America's Largest Private Companies."