As promised (or threatened, whichever way you want to take it) I will be devoting a couple of blogs a week to financial "stuff". My hope is to show you a few simple concepts that you can take and apply in your life (if you so choose) to make a difference for you.

First of all, lets say I gave you $10,000 to do with whatever you wished. What are most people going to do with it? (besides spend it) If you said stick it in a bank (cd's, money market acounts, etc), you'd be right on track with 95% of America. Problem is that historically, banks give a very low rate of return on your money...usually somewhere between 3%-5%. And what do you think that bank is doing with your money? Are they going to just say "thank you, Mr. Brown" and band your money together and stick it in the vault for safekeeping until you decide to withdraw it? Of course not...they are going to invest it in the global economy and get a MUCH higher rate of return on it (usually 12-20%). One thing that my husband and I teach people is that you have to bypass the middle man (the banks) and go straight to the global economy to invest. Your money is working 24-7 for SOMEONE...why not make it work for you? Invest with a good mutual fund company...make it automatic so you don't have to think about it. In other words, have the payments set up to come out of your checking or savigns accounts on automatic withdrawal...you don't miss what you don't see.

Do you know about the rule of 72?

A simple concept that banks don't share with you that shows the dramatic effect of time and compounding. The Rule of 72 says that your money will approximately DOUBLE at a point in time determined by dividing 72 by the interest rate you earn.

The Rule of 72 illustrates the amazing way money can compound if you just give it enough time.

For Instance:
Your money will double in... 72 divided by 2% interest - your money will double in approximately 36 years. 72 div by 4% interest - 18 years 72 div by 6% interest - 12 years 72 div by 8% interest - 9 years 72 div by 12% interest - your money will double in approximately 6 years!!!

So take that $10K I gave you...would you rather put it in a bank at 4% interest and have $20, 000 in 18 years? Or would you rather invest in the global economy and have $60,000 at the end of the same 18 year period because you have three doubling periods at a higher interest rate? Make sense?

The earlier you start investing, the greater the growth on your investment. If you are 25 and you invest $200 a month for 35 years, with the rule of 72 and compound interest at work, it will grow to be about $1.3 million by the time you are 60. Could you live off of $100,000 a year in interest at that time? I think I could!

Okay...enough for today. I could go on, because I love this stuff....I wish everyone lived in the same area I do, because this can be such life changing information for folks. There is no reason why everyone in America that has a job or is working should not be millionaires when they retire! It just takes discipline...and somebody willing to show you how to do it.