6 Tips for Simple and Successful Marital Finances

I think we can all agree that finances play a key role in our married lives. It’s the need to provide a quality life for our family that drives most of us to work, and we know that the way we spend our resources directly affects our lifestyle now and down the road.

Money stuff is important.
That is not to say that money is the center of life or that managing the family finances must be an oppressive burden. In fact, financial success is really just a matter of making good choices consistently.

The number 1 rule is to keep it simple.
These tips aren't earth-shattering and they're not original. In fact, it is the same advice we have heard from our grandmothers our entire lives. It’s not complicated, but it's effective.

6 Tips for Simple and Successful Marital Finances

1. Build a basic budget…together

The two key components of a meaningful family budget are: (1) to proactively plan ahead for how you will spend your money and (2) to create it with your spouse.

You and your spouse must create your budget together and you must agree to follow the same budget. When you take this approach, a budget can become a surprisingly valuable tool in your marriage. Real communication is needed to formulate a plan, and real trust is developed when you both stick to it out of respect for each other.

2. Work together from a single account

Do you and your spouse operate with separate bank accounts or a “yours, mine and ours” approach to your family finances? I would strongly encourage you to consider simplifying your life by consolidating everything into a single bank account. Not only will it be easier to keep track of, but you will benefit by shifting your mindset to one of unity with your money. As a bonus, you can expect that the openness and communication required to make a single account a success will carry over and enhance other aspects of your married life.

3. Eliminate your debt (very important)

None of us enjoy paying the car finance company or student loan office each month. In fact, I think we can all agree that it sucks to have your hard earned money spoken for before you even receive your salary. So, if we all hate the payments, why do so many families have them?

It’s a matter of mindset. If you are fed up with being normal (i.e., deeply in debt), you can shed the debt and achieve financial freedom. You set the priorities, and you make the decisions that will allow you to ditch the debt. My wife and I only have a mortgage as debt - our credit cards are paid off each month and we don't borrow a single penny for expenditure, and you know what? It's absolute bliss.

4. Stick with simple (and effective) investments

As a rule, if you don’t fully understand something, you should not invest in it. If you chase the latest hot trend and buy what everyone is recommending, you are almost assuring yourself of poor returns.

Instead, take a simple approach and focus your investing in areas with a long track record of success. Personally, I think it is tough to beat a diversified mix of mutual funds for retirement investing. They are not sexy or flashy. But they are very effective, low in cost and easy to understand. That’s a formula for long-term success. There are even no fee mutual funds on the market now that have given consistent and reliable returns - but don't forget to take advantage of your Share ISA to reduce your taxes.

5. Enjoy the simple things in life. Live within your means

At the end of the day, it really does come back to living on less than you make. I hope you make a lot of money and love what you do to earn it. However, the critical point here is that you really don’t need a ton of money to be financially successful.

The key is contentment. Quit placing your value in material things and trying to maintain a high-cost lifestyle. When you learn to appreciate your family and value the simple pleasures in life, your need to impress the neighbors really does start to fade.

6. Remember to pass it on

In my opinion, the best part of simplifying your financial life and finding contentment with your lifestyle is the impact it has on your relationship with your spouse and the example it sets for your kids. When you break the cycle of debt dependence and fights about money, you set the stage for financial success for generations to come. You literally have the ability to change the future shape of your family tree.

Were these suggestions brilliant, original and completely unexpected? Of course not. I’d venture to guess that you knew these things, but you may not be living them. The key is to take action.
Simplify your financial life and invite new success with your money and, most importantly, your marriage.

10 Warren Buffet Quotes That Should Guide Your Investment Decisions

If you are interested in the stock market, there isn’t a chance that you haven’t heard of Warren E. Buffet. He’s the second richest man in America with a net worth of $44 Billion - that's with a capital B!

Although very rich, Warren lives a “simple” life. He still drives himself to work every day and dines at Gorat’s, a standard, local steakhouse in Omaha. He is widely known for  being courteous, personable, and humble. Obviously, Warren Buffett is a genius when it comes to  investing and in life, so it pays to listen to his words. Here are ten famous Warren Buffet quotes that we can learn a ton from:

1. “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.” Sounds pretty simple, right? But when you’re buying or selling stocks, never losing money can seem impossible because prices fluctuate all the time. Warren, though, believes in buying the value of a company and not its stock price. He buys value at the right price, he doesn’t speculate or gamble. He makes sure that he knows a company’s value and that it will far outweigh the price that he paid for, and that is how he sticks to rule No.1.

2. “You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my life when I’ve had a bundle of ideas come along, and I’ve had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing.” Warren is a patient man. He would never chase prices or force any investment. He waits for the right moment (dictated by either price or market condition) to pounce, and pounce he will. This requires a great deal of discipline, and that is what separates him from the majority of unsuccessful investors. Indeed, patience is a virtue.

3. “Never invest in a business you can’t understand.” This Warren Buffet quote is probably an offshoot of rule No.1. He will only play a game that he is really great at to ensure that his chances of losing are slim. Understanding a business really well can help you smell trouble from miles away. Also, you can never have conviction in something you do not understand, and conviction is what enables you to pounce on a company when the time is right.

4. “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” Warren would always put more value in a great company with great products and management than a mediocre one that can be bought on the cheap. A company’s stock price moves with the whims and emotions of traders and speculators, and is never a good indicator of value.

5. “Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.” This is a great criterion in choosing a company to buy. Only buy stock in a company that will thrive, grow, and excel in the foreseeable future regardless of stock price. I only know one kind of company that fits that description, and that is the great kind.

6. “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.” Warren knows that the stock market is full of folly. He knows that emotions like hope, greed, and fear dictate stock prices rather than logic and value. When people are panicky or fearful (as in a bear market) he takes that chance to buy great companies at cheap prices. As long as he does his research and knows the real value behind a company, he doesn’t get scared of its price fluctuations.

7. “It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.” This Warren Buffet quote shows his humility and his infinite thirst for learning and improvement. He doesn’t have a huge ego; he doesn’t think of himself as superior than anybody else out there. Nor does he think that he knows everything.

8. “Our favorite holding period is forever.” Warren plays for keeps. He doesn’t buy a company that he wouldn’t hold or manage until a very long time. Making amazing gains, like his, takes time. Start young and go for the homeruns.

9. “Only when you combine sound intellect with emotional discipline do you get rational behavior.” Investors need these two ingredients to successfully parlay the investment game. The sound intellect comes from doing your homework. It is your research and analysis of a company’s business and value. Discipline on the other hand, refers to your ability to wait for the proper price to enter. You shouldn’t chase prices in bull markets and you shouldn’t get scared in bears. Practice emotional discipline and take your investing to the next level.

10. “Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.” Be passionate in what you do and do what you are passionate about. Passion will make you go to the ends of the earth to see a dream fulfilled. It will be your fuel in your journey. It will make you unstoppable. It will see you through when times get tough, and it will make life so worth living.

Took onboard these inspirational, time-tested and proven quote and they'll help both in life and in investing.

7 Secrets to Building Your Wealth

Here are my seven secrets to help you in building wealth for your future:

Secret 1: Start saving now

Spend only £9 out of each £10 earned. By saving one-tenth, your bank balance will start to increase, your debts will reduce and you will build a capital base for worthwhile investments in the future. You need to pay yourself first, before even paying expenses - so always put this 10% away into a savings accounts immediately.

Secret 2: Control your expenditures

You need to budget your expenses. No matter how much money you earn each month, make sure you have enough money to pay yourself first (remember, save 10%) and can afford the necessities - food, shelter, clothing, etc. Wealth building requires discipline and self-control

Secret 3: Make your saving money multiply

Once your savings build up, start investing that money so that it works for you. Look into mutual funds, stocks and property. At the very least, put it in an ISA and shelter it from the tax authority. Your money should work for you.

Secret 4: Guard your money from loss

Invest your money where the principal is reasonably safe and where you can get a good return. The first rule of building wealth is never to lose it!

Secret 5: Own your own home

This is simple. You should own your own home rather than renting and handing over money to a landlord. Owning your own home gives you a sense of pride and can enrich your life.

Secret 6: Ensure a future income

One day, you current earned income will STOP! Therefore, you must create wealth for your future. Contributing to a pension and investing in property are great long-term wealth creation strategies.

Secret 7: Increase your ability to earn

You can increase your ability to earn by improving your skills, experience and paying down debt. Becoming more wiser and skillful will help improve your positioning in life.

Top 8 Tips for Investing Your Income for Income

How do you generate a reliable income when interest rates are stuck at all-time lows?

Here are 8 tips to help you develop income growth from investments:

1. Look for sustainable long-term dividend growth

Investing in businesses when the growth potential is not reflected in the valuation of their shares not only reduces the risk of losing money, it increases the upside opportunity.

2. Inflation always matters

Always bear in mind the detrimental effect of inflation. Bonds offer higher yields than cash but returns can be eroded by inflation. Investment in property or equities are perfect vehicles to help achieve an income that rises with inflation.

3. Look to International diversification

A small number of UK companies account for approximately 40% of dividend payouts in the UK, whereas over 100 companies in the US, for example, can provide an opportunity to increase the longevity of your dividend growth.

4. Patience is a virtue

Investing for income is all about the compounding of returns for the long term. As a general rule, those businesses best placed to offer this demonstrate consistent returns on invested capital and visible earnings streams, so put your money in and leave it to grow.

5. Reliability is the most important

Choose sectors on the equity markets that do not depend on strong economic growth to you deliver attractive returns.

6. Growing cash flow

Look for companies with money left over after all capital expenditure, as this is the stream out of which rising dividends are paid. The larger the free cash flow, relative to the dividend pay-out, the better.

7. Dividend growth

In the short term, share prices are buffeted by all sorts of influences, as the last few weeks have been testament to, but over longer time periods fundamentals will always shine through. Dividend growth is the key determinant of long-term share prices – the rest is sentiment

8. Take a cautious approach

Be cautious of companies that pay a high dividend because they are likely at the end of their current growth cycle.

5 More Tips to Help You Succeed

If you have the feeling that success is elusive, then it might be time to try something new, so here are five more tips to help you find success in everything you do.

1. Forget about luck, take control

Though some things happen by chance, waiting for good things to happen is no sure way for success. When you live by chance, you live in fear and anxiety. But when you live by intent and capability, it doesn't matter what is happening, because YOU are in control.

2. Stop fixating on failures, they are just lessons

For someone committed to their ideals and dreams, there is no such thing as failure. If he falls down 100 times, he learns 100 lessons bringing him closer to his dream. If you commit yourself like this to creating what you really care for, your mind will work wonders in helping you achieve.

3. Start working with clarity

What every human being needs is clarity, not confidence. If you want to walk through a crowd and your vision is clear you will see everyone, and you can walk through the whole crowd without having to touch anyone. If your vision is not clear but you have confidence, you will just walk over everybody, which will only hurt those around you and your chances for success.

4. Be flexible and learn from those you dislike

Remain fluid and adaptable and you can change with grace. Learn from the personalities and situations you dislike and you will ensure you remain open and adaptable.

5. Forget about yourself and focus on the world at large

There is no need to actively aspire to greatness, you just need to focus your life on concerns that are bigger than you, and you will always be a great human being. Dropping this "What about me?" perspective and focusing on being the best person you can be, you will naturally look at "What you can do for the world around you" and so will naturally enhance your capabilities to match.

Top 10 Things To Achieve Success

10 things that hungry and unstoppable people do to achieve success: 

1. Never use excuses

We all have two voices. There’s the voice that tells us to work hard, to focus on the task at hand and to finish it before we move on to the next. And to finish it well.

We also have the voice that tells us to take a break, to think about what’s on TV, or to visit a site that we like to visit that entertains us – Facebook anyone?

In life we’re the victim of injustice from time to time. It could be a promotion that we deserve but don’t get. No matter who we are, we’re going to be treated unfairly at some point. We can either feel sorry for ourselves, or push forward and put it behind us – even use it as motivation.

  

Listen to your excuses. Understand why you have them. Then figure out how you can use them for good.

2. Make it about others

Material things can be a motivator and a reward, but they can’t be the ONLY motivator. The truly successful in life always get there because they created change in the lives of others, not just their own.

If something drives you that is greater than just the ‘ends’, you're going to work harder, longer, and you're going to give more of ourselves to our project. 

3. Put in the hours

People who have achieved true success in their lives have worked for it.

This might come at the detriment of other areas of their lives, such as family or social life, but their mission is first and foremost. Until it’s complete, everything else comes second. There’s literally no substitute for hard work.

4. The greatest commodity

Energy is a huge commodity that is often not talked about. I’m talking about our own energy levels. The fact is that the more energy we have, the easier it is to focus, and the higher the quality of our work is.

  

Keeping physically fit gives us greater blood-flow to our brain, enhanced alertness and improved focus. Make training a routine part of your life and increase your chances at success – in every meaning of the word.

5. Principles

What are your principles? All of us should have them, know what they are, and live our lives by them. Identify what principles you have that guide your life through tough times, and when things couldn’t be any better. They shouldn’t change, and at your core, neither should you.

6. Wavering, yet unbreakable faith

We all have moments of doubt. Even the best of us question if our dream is going to come true. The one thing that separates the truly successful from those who never reach their true potential is an unbreakable faith in the fact that what they’re doing is right.

Even if they have moments of doubt, they’re soon quelled, where other’s listen to that doubt and let it eat them up and finally they quit.

7. A reason

Many of the greatest accomplishments in the world were accomplished by insecure men and women, people who had something to prove to others. A desire to elevate their status and create change that was so strong, that failure is simply never and option.

Understand why you have that reason to work when others sleep, to sacrifice a safe life for a risky one with no ceiling. Find it by asking why, and not stopping until you hit your core, emotional reason for wanting to change your status, or the status of others.

8. Persevere when others give up

How does the guy who quit on his dream know how long it would’ve taken him to become a success? He doesn’t. None of us do. It could be tomorrow, or ten years from now.

What separates a lot of the great people we read about from those we’ve never heard of is the fact that they never quit. Quitting was never an option. They only stopped when they reached their dream. And even then, they created a new mission. 

9. Study your craft relentlessly

Being a drone that simply goes through the motions is no way to achieve greatness. Assuming success is something you want, you have to study your craft, whatever it may be. Learn it inside and out. Build a wealth of knowledge. It’ll help you create great, inspiring, and unique work.

10. Risk

No risk, no reward. Yes it’s an over-used cliché of a phrase, but it’s true. Those who have achieved real success have often risked the most to get there.

  

Your big, audacious dream might be to marry the girl of your dreams and have a family with her. Your risk might be to leave the career that you love in order to support her and family. Your dream might be to help millions live longer, healthier lives. Whatever your dream is, give it enough of a chance to be realized.

  

Find your dream. Then risk everything to get it.

8 Tips for Selling Your House

Many would-be property sellers believe others are to blame for the difficulties they face in trying to sell their homes. In fact, there's plenty home sellers can do to improve their chances.

Here are the essential tips to selling your property:

1. Get your home ready

Make sure your property is clean, tidy and clutter-free, with ‘kerb appeal’. Consider getting a survey done on your property - so you can either fix any problems, or use it to attract buyers by demonstrating how good the condition of your house is.

If you are selling privately, create an information pack with property details plus facts and leaflets about local amenities - including leisure facilities, transport and schools. Also take high-quality photos of your house that capture all its best features.

2. Decide on your house price

Set a realistic asking price by researching similar properties for sale in your area. See the page of this guide on your house price for more.

In a slow market, use price points or offers to attract buyers. For example, if your property is priced at £265,000, offer to pay the additional 2% stamp duty, or make sure that your property is the best value for its kind in your location.

3. Pick a good buyer

If several prospective buyers are interested in your home, pick the one who’s most likely to see the process through, not necessarily the one who makes the highest offer.

In order of preference, the safest buyers are buyers who’ve already sold their house, first-time buyers, buyers who have sold their home subject to contract and buyers who have not yet sold their home.

4. Be clear what’s included in the price

After you've attracted a buyer, make sure they understand exactly what’s included in the price. This means things like fixtures and fittings. What exactly are they getting for their purchase price?

5. Agree a completion date

Establish a likely completion date that suits both parties. This will avoid arguments further down the line. While this doesn't need to be set in stone, it will give both parties something to work towards.

6. Get it in writing

Although not legally binding, this will record your intentions on matters such as finance and date of completion.

7. Choose a conveyancer

Conveyancing is the legal paperwork to transfer the home to or from your name. Use a recommended solicitor or licensed conveyancer.  If you end up using a solicitor, make sure they’re a specialist conveyancer and have a good reputation for moving quickly.

8. Keep in touch

Keep communications going. Don't disappear on holiday for two weeks without informing all interested parties, such as your estate agent and the buyer.

More seller advice at Which?

7 Tips for Successful Real Estate Investing

Investing in real estate and becoming a landlord might not be the easiest investment option, but it certainly has its financial rewards, and with a competent property manager, you're sure to reap the highest rewards.

Here are 7 tips to help you successfully invest in the right real estate:

• Research the area where you’d like to buy. Is it in decline or on the way up? A good indication is if large stores like Asda, Tesco and Home Depot are moving in. These companies do a lot of work on demographics and income before deciding where to locate.
• Use a real estate agent who also is an area investor. Ask them to show you their properties and the rents. Ask for the names of other investors they have helped. Call them. Make sure they have a team of professionals you can use, such as property managers, insurance advisers, mortgage brokers, surveyors and accountants.
• Once you own more than four rental units, find a reliable property manager. You don’t want to take a call in the middle of the night. A rule of thumb is that you should allocate up to 10 per cent of monthly rent to a property manager. They will make sure your property is properly maintained and can help find tenants.
• Do not be in a hurry to rent a vacant property. Take your time to qualify any potential tenant, since it can take months to evict a problem tenant. Call all tenant references, ask for a current pay slip and speak to at least two prior landlords.
• Be careful with apartments and student homes. Although these properties can provide additional income, you must make sure that they meet all legal requirements.
• Buy and hold your property for the long term. This way, you have an income and slowly start to pay down your mortgage.
• If you are investing with others, have a partnership agreement. Problems may occur later if the friendship breaks down, especially if one partner loses their job and cannot pay their share of expenses, or if one partner wants to sell while the other does not. With a partnership agreement, you can provide what will happen in these situations in advance, without having to pay costly legal fees to figure it out later.

If you're looking for quality real estate investment advice, please do get in touch.