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Learn how to maximize your income, manage your money wisely, and build long-term wealth in this informative video. Discover strategies for advancing in your career, boosting your earning potential, and closing big deals. Find out how to make smart contributions to your 401K, HSA, and Roth IRA. Explore the power of dividend stocks, real estate investment, and other asset classes. Master time management to balance work, personal growth, and leisure. Take control of your financial future and start building the life you've always dreamed of. Watch now and unlock the keys to financial success.
Maximize your income
First and foremost, maximizing your earnings is crucial for building wealth. Your career should always be focused on reaching the next level. If there's no clear path for advancement, consider changing careers to increase your earning potential. I’ve always been in sales but knew tech sales was where the money was at, so I got in with a billion-dollar company selling enterprise software. This was the most lucrative path for me where I could ABC (Always Be Closing).
I’m constantly focused on closing big deals, exceeding quota, and maintaining a strong pipeline. Closing deals not only provides immediate commission benefits but it also increases your chances of being promoted and you’ll be valued as an asset within your organization. Make it known that you’re hungry for closed business and have an appetite for advancement. Talk the talk with your ambition and positive attitude but walk the walk with your numbers. Always brush shoulders with the elites. Find the veterans at your company and get some time on their calendars. Learn from their experience and what made them successful and offer boots on the ground, whether it’s prospecting new deals, sending emails, or making cold calls, find a way to provide value to them.
Not only will this help your pipeline, but they’ll appreciate the hard work and will likely vouch for you in the future if a new position opens up. Once you maximize your earnings and position yourself for advancement, the next step is managing the money as it comes in.
Manage your income
Every 2 weeks you ideally want to see as little paycheck as possible. To do this, you need to juice your contributions. First and foremost, max out your 401K, especially if your company has a match. The 401K is key because you don’t even see it unless you check your paystub so you’re not really factoring it into your net worth but it’s there in the background, growing linear in the shadows. Like the 401K any other contributions you can make pre-tax are crucial, I’m big on the HSA, which is historically for healthcare expenses but can be applied to more than just hospital bills. Even if it seems like you won’t need it, you eventually will, and it can provide padding to your emergency fund. Additionally, if your company is publicly traded, employee stock options are another opportunity to capitalize on. Not saying your company will be the next Netflix or Tesla, but all those early employees made out like bandits and the shares are often discounted. Last but most definitely not least is the Roth IRA, the crème da la crème. If your employer isn’t matching your 401k and you aren’t maxing out your Roth with 6k then consider reallocating some funds.
Now with the Roth, contributions are made with after-tax dollars, but it offers tax-free growth and exempts you from taxes on gains or dividends earned within the account. There are some stipulations here depending on your income. If your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) falls below $140k/year you can contribute without any issues, but contributions phase out gradually between 140 and 155k and when your MAGI does exceed $155k, you become ineligible for Roth IRA contributions. However, there are some backdoor strategies available for high-income earners, such as making non-deductible contributions to a traditional IRA and converting the funds to a Roth. Keep in mind that converting a Traditional IRA to a Roth requires paying taxes on pre-tax contributions or earnings in the IRA.
If you have other pre-tax IRA funds, the conversion may be subject to the pro-rata rule. In a perfect world you should just set it and forget it, and it will do its thing. I tend to trade within the fund which can be counterproductive at times but, I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge even if I tried. Either way, after effectively managing your income, it’s crucial to manage your spending.
Manage your spending
Managing your spending is critical because it’s human nature to spend more as your income increases but to build wealth, you must live below your means and save more than you spend or you’re ultimately not gonna make it. If you don’t have a decent idea of how much money is coming in and how much is going out each month, then it’s best you open up excel and plan out a budget to understand your income and expenses. You have to prioritize essential expenses, like housing and utilities, then come your contributions to your Roth, brokerage account, high yield savings account etc. and after taking care of these obligations you’ll have discretionary spending left over. When it comes to discretionary and recreational spending, striking a balance between frugality and distinguishing between wants and needs is essential. Yeah, if you’re spending $8 a day at Starbucks, get yourself a Keurig but in all reality that’s not gonna make or break you. Plus, being overly frugal kills your energy and it’s overall just not a good look. It’s easier to make an extra 10k a month than it is to save 10k a month.
Granted, you don’t want to spend lavishly when you’re trying to accumulate wealth but it’s the big-ticket items that really set you back or when you’re buying things you don’t need to impress people you don’t like. Ride your car until the wheels fall off and then buy used and avoid getting stuck with a car payment. Eliminate bad debt like high-interest credit cards and personal loans. Use credit cards wisely by paying off the balance each month and taking advantage of the cashback. I’ve carried a balance in the past and all it does is hurt your credit score and you’ll end up paying interest which is equivalent to going outside and lighting money on fire. When making purchases, prioritize those that enhance your life, align with your goals, or offer a return on investment. Expenses like a gym membership, healthy food, or a new camera for content creation can be worth every penny.
However, spending a bunch of money at the bar, or on lavish dinners or vapes from China isn’t conducive to your health or wealth. The people you’re ultimately up against aren’t blowing money and chasing cheap dopamine so all it does it set you back. Lastly, I’m a big proponent of traveling but I do it right, thoughtfully, affordably and with thorough planning. It’s better to be patient and realize luxuries, like travel, come as a bonus to years of strong asset management.
Manage your assets
Once you’ve started earning more and spending less you can look towards having that money work for you. Starting with my area of expertise, looking at stocks, and more specifically, dividends. Undoubtedly, every quarter you read headlines about large sums of money received via dividends from some of the most well-known investors. For example, in 2023 alone, Warren Buffet is expected to receive a total of $5.7 billion from the dividend paying stocks in his portfolio. Which begs the question: Is now the time to invest in dividend stocks? Well, it depends.
Right now, the 10-year yield is above 4% versus the S&P 500 dividend yield which is below 1%. Such a divergence has historically been resolved by either the risk-free rate i.e., treasury yields coming down or the S&P 500 yield increasing which is typically achieved by falling stock prices. However, there are stocks out there such as ATT, VZ, and MO which all have an annual dividend yield between 7 and 8.5%, more than you would receive at the risk-free rate. Consider this, Altria currently has an annual dividend rate of 8.18% so if you were to buy 266 shares at the stock’s current price of $45.98 it would cost you around $12,300 but you would receive about $1000 in passive dividend income for 2023. Then if you chose to reinvest those dividends in Altria you’d be able to buy more than 20 shares just with your dividend reinvestment alone which would result in you receiving even more than $1000 in dividends in 2024 because you’d now have more than 285 shares working for you instead of the original 266, it’s easy to see how over time dividend income can be an important investing tool for an investors focused on compounding growth. Right now, in my judgment, it would be well advised for investors to start to look at shifting to dividend stocks yielding over the risk-free rate as part of a diversified portfolio. If the Federal Reserve were to cut interest rates, you can expect capital to return to dividend stocks and a prudent investor may not only receive their dividends but price appreciation in these stocks.
However, it’s important to build the dividend yielding portion of your portfolio over time. The Federal Reserve could continue to raise rates if inflation remains sticky and employment numbers continue to show strength. If rates continue to rise, many investors may stick to receiving 4-5% risk free on government debt as opposed to the difficult task of selecting, purchasing, and monitoring the companies that would make up their diversified dividend portfolio strategy. When discussing assets, it's essential to address real estate as it's a well-known fact that 90% of millionaires have achieved their wealth through real estate ownership. Although current markets may be hot, and it’s hard to justify purchasing a house that’s doubled in value the past two years with a 7% rate, it remains the most lucrative investment once it cools off. Investing in multi-unit properties offers not only equity growth but also long-term appreciation; renting out these properties generates monthly cash flow, enabling mortgage payment reduction over time.
Additionally, utilizing a 1031 exchange allows for the sale of a property, capital gains tax avoidance, and reinvestment of proceeds into properties with more doors that generate even greater cash flow. There is no limit to how many times you can execute this strategy either, therefore savvy investors tend to rinse and repeat this process until they have a significant number of units providing monthly income.
Lastly, it's worth considering other asset classes such as precious metals, like physical gold, and silver, which act as true hedges against inflation. And in order to achieve optimal diversification, it is crucial to conduct thorough research (DYOR) and explore various options such as collectibles, intellectual property, and derivatives (including a personal preference for LEAPS or Long-term Equity Anticipation Securities) that can enhance your investment strategy. By utilizing your income to acquire assets across these different categories, you can transition from relying solely on active income to generating passive income, leading you towards financial freedom. It’s worth noting that effective time management skills are essential for successfully navigating this transition.
Manage your time
If you’re going out Thursday-Sunday, chances are you’re not gonna make it. You need to use weekends to build the life you want rather than escape the one you have. Embrace solitude and focus on your actual goals instead of constantly filling short-term voids. Be willing to make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. Choose one night, whether it’s Friday or Saturday and blow off some steam if need be but consecutive nights out, especially during the accumulation phase, will undoubtedly slow you down. Regardless of your ability to handle hangovers, your morning focus will be diminished, and you’ll be left with less money than you started with. Emphasize waking up early, being productive and creating greatness. Convincing yourself that you’re a night owl who pulls it off is a fallacy and you’d be more productive if you were to fix your sleep schedule. Aim for a 5:30 AM wake-up time. Take advantage of this early morning period with meditation, exercise, breakfast, caffeine consumption, and a cold shower if you’re really about it, then be sitting at your computer, ready to go by 7 AM. People take you more seriously when you’re up early. I’ve struggled with this throughout my life but I’m constantly trying to improve.
There’s a reason they say: “Early to bed and early to rise, make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”. This is because when you’re up early, you’re in control and can run the day as opposed to the day running you. You’re more in tune with what’s going on in the world. I like having a decent grasp of current events, major news headlines, global markets, futures, premarket moves, earnings, whatever. Having this edge without a doubt enhances my daily strategy. From there you can dedicate your core hours, from 8/9 AM to 5/6 PM, to your day job. Send emails, make calls when the important people answer, have a quick lunch, and fill your afternoons with meetings. Once your workday is over, maximize your after-work hours. If you didn’t have time for a morning workout, head straight to the gym after work. I used to get off work and consider my day complete, I’d mope around and swipe on tinder until I fell asleep and had I kept this up, I would’ve gotten nowhere. Utilize the valuable after-work hours to propel yourself beyond your professional realm. Dedicate this time to enhancing your value and versatility by pursuing certifications, acquiring new skills, developing your personal brand, and fostering creativity. Take the opportunity to brainstorm ideas for your next business venture, side-hustle, drop shipping endeavor, content creation, or e-comm venture. These hours off the clock are instrumental in expanding your horizons and seizing new opportunities. Start generating ideas, researching them, and developing a plan to foster growth.
Start building something bigger than yourself. If your sole focus is your day job, you’re putting all your eggs in one basket, and you’ll end up being a product of the matrix. Keep your head down and make progress each day. It’s gonna feel like a waste of time, but if you approach it correctly, it will be 10x. There is a reason they say: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now”. As you’re playing the long game here- you’re focused on delayed gratification rather than immediate returns.
The reason 90% of startups fail is because people dive in headfirst, without effectively managing their finances and time; inconsistent commitment and a failure to comprehend the concept of delayed gratification are also major contributors. Over 96% of all those trying to become YouTubers won’t make enough money to crack the poverty line and only .1% make over $1 million per year. To succeed with a startup, you need to start off by looking at it as charity work and be able to trust the process. If you have a good business idea and a solid plan, you’ll eventually make money but hyper focusing on things like revenue and monetization from the start will only discourage you before giving your venture a chance to take off.
Presented by House Enterprise and The Bullish Shark #ToTheMoon
*Invest with your own risk and with your own research.
TBS and House Enterprise is not a financial institution*
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