Retirement Planning & 401K

Hope you all are doing well, I'm gearing up for a hectic week and decided to give you the retirement planning post early (you never know...I might get to like posting more often)!

Some of you are still wishing & dreaming that when it comes to age 65, you're going to be a multi-billionaire, living on a beach somewhere with all the golf you can stand. Unfortunately, you have no plans on how to make that happen and some of you, me included have no plans to be retired from life.

But that doesn't mean we don't think about where our money will come from when all the hustle and bustle of operating a solo enterprise slows down either! Studies show that people don't save for retirement because they're confused by all the different types of accounts.

I'm not only talking about your 401K from your employer, social insecurity or passively waiting to see what happens. I like a good adventure as much as the next person - except when it comes to money, I have these personality disorders if money gets funny - it must be right!

For those of you who are too young to understand what it must be right means - here it is in plain language: You can pay every single bill you have, go to Vegas for 2 weeks, gamble away $500 a night and not worry where you're going to live when you get back home!

Since I'm not an expert on retirement planning and there probably are many who claim to be and are not, I'm just honest about my inexperience in this area. So I went looking for retirement resources to get answers specifically tailored to the solo entrepreneur and small business owner.

Here's what I think are some of the best places to start weeding through the confusion about what's available:
1. Finish Rich
David Bach is the guy who wrote the book, Start Late - Finish Rich. The site has tons of solid advice on pre-retirement planning and getting started without getting overwhelmed.

2. 401K Help Center
Need help with 401k plan rules and other issues? This is the place to get answers and it's free, unbiased and many plan small business plan sponsors come here to get started.

3. National Assn of Financial Estate Planning
NAFEP is the education portal for attorneys, CPAs and financial planners to get what's available for financial and estate planning, trust and private annuity information. You can learn what financial estate planning professionals are offering before you hand your money over to someone who knows less than you do!

4. 401K Brokers
A Vanguard sponsored company, Craig Gillooly is an attorney who specializes in administering Solo 401k's for the self-employed. The site is a comprehensive resource for the Solo 401k, Individual 401k & Company 401k, contributions, loans, plans, ROTH, direct at Vanguard tailored to the individual & self-employed.

5. The Motley Fool
Everything you could want to know about investing, including stocks, annuity, DRIPS and everything in between. One of the best consumer financial sites yet.

Instead of spending days looking for retirement planning information, I've included the link for you to get The Motley Fool's new FREE report, "The Smartest Way to Build Your Dream Retirement". You'll need to leave your email address but you'll learn which retirement accounts may best fit your needs.

As I said, these are good places to begin your early retirement planning. These are the few I found that can help you get clear on where you might need more knowledge about your options.

Whatever you decide, make sure the road you're traveling towards retirement isn't a shopping cart with all your worldly possessions in it.

That's it for today and I leave you with this

"Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now."~ Alan Lakein

Real Estate - Novice Opportunity & Resources

Like you, I've been watching the talking-heads with their chicken little, the sky is falling commentary on the current real estate shake out. That's what this is really all about, and if you don't believe me, have you seen Donald Trump or Robert Kiyosaki dumbing their holdings?

What you and I as solo entrepreneurs want to create income for down the road and a lifestyle that doesn't include a job. We must see this as an opportunity to reach our goals (right here and right now) that may not come around again for another 10 years or so - and the market hasn't even hit bottom yet!

If you are the least bit interested in adding real estate to your solo income stream, and have about $100 to go along with your dream, it's not too late to get started. Granted, you may need a little more than $100 in some cases, but you don't need $100,000 either! There's always resources to do what you want if you want it bad enough.

With that said, this current real estate shakeout started in seriousness in 2005 but only recently has the mainstream media decided to scare hell out of people. The sky isn't falling.

For those willing to learn what to do with the opportunities around, now is the time to begin putting your massive wealth building plan into action and begin hoarding money like Midas! Good times are coming......

Remember with any sources I recommend, they all require you do your homework and get all your questions answered before you invest real money. Real estate investing comes with its own risks, so think carefully about what you plan to do as a real estate investor.

I'm listing places to point you in the direction to start - it's up to you after that.

Do you have very little money, decent credit and willing to follow instructions for a short time? Then give Lease Purchase Options some attention. The courses fit the smallest budget (you can start one for about $100) but all are well worth the price. I'm currently taking one of these!

A. Claude Diamond, Lease Purchase Mentor

B. Bill Bronchick, LegalWiz

C. Jeff Beaubien, Lease2Purchase

Lease purchase options not your thing? Check these resources to find out where all this is headed and how you can possibly get in while the timing is right.

The Ultimate Real Estate Guide Learn how you can get unsecured lines of business credit to use for investing in real estate.

Massive Passive Income Reduce your investing risk by getting involved in small apartment buildings.

Flipping Deals This is ideal if you know how to swing a hammer and these are the real estate transactions that require little cash or credit.

Want to find out about Carlton Sheets, Ray Alcorn and other real estate pros that you've heard about? REI Club has one of the best online forums for real estate investors. As a beginner, get feedback from those who are doing deals every day and have been in the business longer than those gurus you're going to find online.

Real estate investing isn't for everybody, no matter what the pundits (pundits = can't find their butt with a map and both hands) say. Only you know if you have the personality, time and patience to add this to your income stream.

Next post I have some resources on retirement planning. If you're in your 20's, fine you have plenty of time to keep dreaming (hopefully) and all the best to you. But if 40 is staring you in your face or 60+ is tapping you on your shoulder - it's time to get busy!

That's it for today and I leave you with this

"Wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take shape within the problems."~ Nelson Rockefeller

Taking Care of Business

Work smarter. Get a Calendar!
I'm finding that my calendar is becoming my best friend when it comes to personal management. This past week has been multiple tele-seminars, prospective client interviews and doing all those other little tasks that come up when you're a solo entrepreneur.

Here's a tip: If you want to work smarter and manage tasks, get a wall or desk calendar. Screw the blackberry, I didn't have the time to scroll down, go sideways, click this thing here or anything else - it was look at the calendar and speed dialing for dollars!

People who swear by time management and their planning calendar are routinely some of the highest achievers, from working soccer moms to the CEO of Starbucks. Using an electronic version of a desk calendar to get these things done means you have a tendency to fill up your waking hours, but you also accomplish more in less time.

At the end of the day, I had 2 new clients - four articles completed - met a friend for an hour lunch - planned a teleconference for next week - participated in 2 teleseminars - confirmed tickets to two real estate seminars in different cities and all by 3pm. Oh, did I mention this was accomplished while getting on and off public transportation? In the middle of all this, my car went to the shop.


As solo entrepreneurs we often spend more time during the day in a frenzy of activity, instead of getting any real work done, because there always seems to be more to do than there is time to do it. With a calendar system, you are only concentrating on results, without the stress of playing beat the clock.

Found a couple online resources that may be useful. Let me know, comments are turned on for now.

Open Coffee Club
This networking site was setup to complement an off-line networking group that seems to be taking off. It's a way to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organize informal meetings in their city to chat, get together for brain storming and grow.

Not all the cities listed have scheduled events yet, nor are all cities represented. Who knows, you might have the time and want to get your city in the mix - even if you live outside the U.S. Check it out.

B-2-B
Before you roll your eyes in disgust, take a look at this site because it does have potential. The premise is to offer business-to-business content on marketing strategies from actual business marketers.

It works by putting the most useful marketing articles with links to the source on the front page - since readers vote on the articles that are 'most useful', you can take that with a grain of salt.

But take a look and see if you can find a tip or two to ramp up the marketing for your solo enterprise. Even better, if you do quite a bit of marketing online - submit an article and link back to your site.

That's it for today and I leave you with this

"People should know what you stand for. They should also know what you won't stand for." ~ Author Unknown

Coming Next Week:
Real Estate Investing Seminars
Retirement Planning Tip - It's Never Too Early or Too Late