How do you acheive financial freedom?

Everyone dreams about being financially free and having the choice to not work for money. But how exactly do you strive towards that? I'll try to give a few examples and explain on what and how should you go towards the goal of financial freedom.

First, you have to understand financial freedom is a result of the choices you make. Your financial intelligence will influence your choices such as your spending habits, how you create multiple sources of income and how you invest your money. Your financial education will determine the level of your financial intelligence.

Financial Education -> Financial Intelligence -> Choices

Financial Freedom = Passive Income > Expenses

The only way to reach financial freedom is to create passive income. Passive income is money that you don't have to work for.

Examples of passive income:

1. Rental from properties
2. Royalties from intellectual property (books, music albums etc)
3. Dividends from stocks
4. Businesses that generate cashflow for you

To create passive income, you will need high levels of financial intelligence. You need to know how to run a business and how to invest. This is the passive side of the cashflow quadrant which is discussed in my previous blog post video by robert kiyosaki. We will need to shift from the active side of the cashflow quadrant of the E and S (Employed/Self-employed) to the B and I(Business/Investor) which is the passive side.

By now, you should see that working hard all your life in a corporation will not make you financial free if you're not able to shift your life from one quadrant to another. It is not how much money you can make but how much money you can keep and what you do with the money you keep. Do you spend more than you earn? Do you invest your money or you just leave it in the bank? Do you invest more than you spend?

Start today by determining where are you now. Are you in debt? If you are, then start setting goals to get out of debt. Reduce your spending and pay off your debts slowly. Start saving up your money. Are you able to save at least 10% of your income every month? If you have been saving up but do not know what to do with the money you have, then start reading up and find ways to make your money grow. Lastly, use the money you have to buy assets that generate passive income for you. You will be financially free very very soon.

Imagine not having to work for money any more and you're able to do the things you like. You do not have to worry about money any more and able to retire without worries. I do not believe in retiring with your savings. Money will devalue over the years due to inflation. Many people find that after they retire, their money becomes lesser and lesser and in the end they have to go out and work again.

In my subsequent blog post, i'll do my best to discuss on subjects related on financial education. I hope to increase your knowledge on finance and help you achieve the dreams you have. Feel free to comment and feedback to me what you want me to discuss about. Drop me an email at sgyounginvestment@gmail.com and i'll answer your queries. All the best to everyone and hope you achieve success in life.

Robert Kiyosaki explains the cash flow quadrant

Robert Discusses Inflation

Robert Discusses Inflation: Robert talks about inflation and his predictions for the future.

Bernanke Stays Course, Says Fed Will Consider Move in Sept.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve stands ready to use additional tools to help the US economy in its nascent recovery, but he stopped short of explicit talk that another round of monetary easing is forthcoming.



The central bank chief's hotly anticipated remarks at Jackson Hole, Wyo., did not entail promises of more quantitative easing —QE3 in market parlance—nor did he discuss specific measures on whether the Fed will make any other attempts at intervention.



Citing "a range of tools that could be used to provide additional monetary stimulus," he said the Fed "will continue to consider those and other pertinent issues, including of course economic and financial developments, at our meeting in September, which has been scheduled for two days instead of one to allow a fuller discussion," Bernanke said in the speech.



As the economy languishes in low growth and stock market endures a summer correction, Bernanke's speech was considered a bellwether for what will lie ahead.



Instead, he mostly reiterated language already used by the Federal Reserve , in which it has expressed concern about the pace of economic recovery.



"It is clear that the recovery from the crisis has been much less robust than we had hoped," he said.



But the chairman seemed to put an end to talk that the Fed was willing to react simply because the stock market was in correction mode and worries have intensified that the economy could be heading for another recession.



"We heard from Gentle Ben rather than Hurricane Ben," Robert McTeer, former Dallas Fed president and distinguished fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, told CNBC. "The choice in monetary policy isn't between QE3 and doing nothing...No QE3 does not mean the Fed is just backing away and not doing anything."



Bernanke also said he expects growth to pick up in the second half. Should signs fail to materialize soon, the Fed's Open Market Committee will consider additional policy tools at its Sept. 20-21 meeting, which has been extended to two days.





He said inflation is likely to stay below 2 percent, which would meet Fed expectations and its mandate for price controls. However, that only pertains to so-called core inflation, which excludes food and transportation costs and is around 1.8 percent on an annualized basis. Headline inflation, which includes the more volatile measures, is at 3.6 percent.



Dissenters on the Fed in part fear that the Fed's policies, which have driven down the US dollar against the world's currencies, are in turn pushing inflation higher.



Markets sold off sharply but briefly following word that the Fed would not deliver on QE3 expectations, with the Dow industrials sinking more than 150 points.







However, the selloff was short and orderly and quickly calmed, with the market eventually turning positive on indications that investors were far from unanimous in their quest for QE3.



"Bernanke didn’t play the panic card and throw another QE program at the economy," said Keith Springer, president of Springer Financial Advisory in Sacramento, Calif. "This will ultimately instill confidence in investors as they will be pleased by his non-action because if more stimulus was needed he would have applied it."



Bernanke used his Jackson Hole speech last year to tip his hand about QE2, sparking a sharp move higher in the stock market. The Fed did not actually begin the round of easing until November with a series of purchases amounting to $600 billion in Treasurys.



On the jobs front, Bernanke said economic growth is not sufficient to bring down the 9.1 percent unemployment rate. He called on Washington to develop "good proactive housing policies" to address a real estate market at depression levels.



"Even as tight credit for some borrowers has been one of the factors restraining housing recovery, the weakness of the housing sector has in turn had adverse effects on financial markets and on the flow of credit," he said.



But when it came to specific language regarding Fed action, he remained vague.



"The Committee will continue to assess the economic outlook in light of incoming information and is prepared to employ its tools as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability," he said.



- 2011 CNBC.com

Market update 25 August 2011

Dow jones index rallied 143 points to close at 11,320. If you've read my previous post on Singapore companies were late in commercial payments, then you should have realized that we're really standing at the edge of the cliff now. Companies late in payments will result in lawsuits, which will in turn become court case then many companies will declare bankrupt. The problem will always start with companies. Tomorrow will be the Fed meeting everyone Is waiting for. Let's see what will happen.

More than half of Singapore commercial payments late

SINGAPORE, Aug 23 (Reuters) - More than half of the commercial payments made by Singapore companies were late in the second quarter of this year, adding to concerns that the economy may be falling back into recession, the Straits Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.



The paper cited a report by the Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau that 53.1 percent of all payments were late in the three months to June 30, up from 42.5 percent in the previous quarter.



Less than 40 percent of transactions were paid for promptly, the lowest level since the agency introduced the report in 2007. The report describes prompt payment as when at least 90 percent of all bills are paid within the payment period.



The construction sector has the worst record with 65 percent of transactions being classified as late, followed by the retail sector with a 62 percent late payment rate.



The city state's economy contracted 6.5 percent in the second quarter on a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis, while the government has narrowed the growth forecast for 2011 to 5-6 percent compared to an earlier estimates of 5-7 percent.

Market update 24 August 2011

US market rallied 300+ points yesterday. If you read the news, there are many analyst who comment on why the markets are rallying. In channel news Asia, it says: US market rally on hopes of economic growth. On CNBC, ex Fed reserve chairmen alex Greenspan says EURO is in big trouble and is slowing down US growth. As reported, New home sales fall to five month low in July. If the report is bad, then what is causing the rally. In Asia, most stocks are up yesterday. With so many news and comments, how will you analyse the situation?



In my view, I think the economic situation is still very unstable. People are hopping that the Fed meeting on Friday will produce new stimulus to boost the economy. I do not believe that they will cone out with any and thus may cause the markets globally to tank again. People are buying on hopes and if that hope is dashed, then there will be another round of panic selling. In Singapore, CPI rose 5.4% which indicates the rise in inflation. We're in a ballooning situation which may burst anytime. Prices are rising rapidly but salaries have nit been rising as much. Worst still, many young people are living in debt and credit. If the global situation worsen and Singapore is affected, then those who are caught unprepared will suffer the consequence.



We're now in a very similar situation as what happened in 1930s, the great depression cycle. What caused the great depression was also the austerity measures which is the cutting of spending. Before the great depression, the government was also trying to stimulate the economy by injecting huge funds which send the markets up. After that, they thought that the markets is quite stable so they stopped the stimulus which send markets going sideways for a period of time. Just before the depression, the government introduced various measure to cut spending and then it happened.

Market update 23 August 2011

Asian markets were mostly lower yesterday with the STI closing flat. Investors seem to be waiting and staying on the sideline. US market was marginally higher indicating that the confidence level in investors is still low. Most are anticipating the FED reserve meeting this Friday to see if there's any good news. Analyst comment that even if there's another round of QE, it will not last. QE1 worked, QE2 was not lasting and did not contribute to any growth in the economy. I doubt QE3 will be of any help also. If globally, countries are still reporting week economic data and contracting GDP, we may be heading into recession. Most countries previous GDP report shows contraction including Singapore and Germany. If one more quarter of contraction, we'll technically be in recession.

Sales Excellence - Effects Of Beliefs On Sales Performance

Watch this video. Although it talks about sales, it gives us the most important ingredient to success in anything.

Increasing your financial education

In life, most people will say go to school, get a safe secure job, save money, invest for the long term, buy and house and plan for retirement. However, all these do not really work now in our society. One main reason is because of inflation. Inflation is getting higher and higher these few years, hitting as high as 7% per annum. This means that for every $1000 you save, $70 is being eaten up by inflation. Imagine 10 years ago you could still find food in hawker centres at $2. Now, it's at least $2.50-$3. That's a 25%-30% increase.

How can you make sure you can beat inflation so that your money does not depreciate yearly?

1) You need to invest and have returns more than the inflation rate.

- If we calculate inflation over the last 10 years, it'll be an average of 3% year on year. This means you need to have a return of investment of more than 3% yearly.

There are many ways to do that and to be able to know how to do it, you need financial education. If you're thinking right now about how you can do it, then you really need to start learning.

Our school system teaches us 2 types of education.

1) Academic Education

2) Professional Education

They do a good job training us on language, mathematics, science in academic education. Schools also train us to become lawyers, doctors, engineer and equip us with the necessary skills.

But they do not teach us one thing which is very important. That is financial education. That is why so many people cannot manage their finances and are constantly living in debt. There are also people who work so hard and then still do not have enough money to retire.

So, start increasing your financial education now. You can really achieve financial freedom and retire early. Money is not everything but everything is money. If you have money, then it will give you the choice to do the things that you love, give your family the best and make a difference in this world.

Current Economic Situation

The top 6 economy in the world:

1) USA

2) China

3) Japan

4) Germany

5) France

6) Italy

If you've realised, all the top 6 economies in the world are facing problems now. US has got debt problems, china is fighting super inflation, Japan is in recession, Germany just reported a contraction in their GDP last week, France and italy both have financing problems.

It's a major problem now we're seeing. Let's see which country will collapse first and send the global economy crashing down. It's only a matter of time.

Invest Fair 2011 and Wealth Academy Expo 2011

It has been an interesting journey learning investing so far. The market has been really volatile and in fact dropped sharply these few months. Lucky i manage to get out of the market before the 100 plus point drop in the STI and the 600 plus point drop in Dow Jones. Although i lost money cutting my losses, but at least i saved myself from the panic and maybe sleepless nights if i didn't get out. Losses are still manageable for now.

Went for the invest fair last weekend. Attended Adam Khoo's seminar and conrad alvin lim was there at the AKLTG booth. He was there talking to people and me and my cousins manage to ask him some questions and also attended his so called preview on the market and his WAT program. In the end, i signed up for the WAT program since there was a special price. Wanted to sign up for it in july but i delayed and was thinking whether it was worth it to go for it. The volunteers there really inspired me to sign up as they attended the course and benefited from it. Now they say they volunteer themselves to help conrad because they wanted to give back something to him. So looking forward to the course. Even though it will be tiring since its 7pm to midnight every tuesday and i still have to go to work the next morning but i believe it will be the start of my exciting journey as a trader and investor. So excited and trust that i'll really learn alot from conrad.

Next up will be Wealth Academy Expo this weekend at Singapore Expo Hall 3 organised by adam khoo. Manage to get the gold ticket for free. Looking forward to the weekend of learning and inspiration from all the successful businessman, traders and investors.

NAAS eForms Now Active

The NAAS eForms have been updated for the 2011-12 term, and are now all active. All buttons are live with the exception of Scholarship Watch.



The new NAAS Student Forum is also active. We will be uploading and adding new content. Be sure to leave a message on the board if you have any questions, suggestions, or inquiries.