Be Wealthy & Smart

Learn the truth about money and wealth building. I'm going to push back on experts who write about how to build wealth! The articles usually go something like this: Budget yourself silly. Don't spend any money. Don't live beyond your means. Pay off all debt. Contribute to your 401k. Have a great life! Lol! Some of these have merit, but some don't. I'll go through each point in a minute. I'm going to give you a step-by-step plan. There are two different financial scenarios - one scenario for people that have massive credit card debt and one for those who don't. Credit card debt and student loans are a real problem that need to be taken care of first. High interest rates compound and grow quickly so the debt will grow fast unless you vigorously attack it. Make them Priority #1! Student loans may be at low interest rate, but it is not excusable in court even in bankruptcy. It's a permanent weight around your neck that has to go! Let's revisit the points I mentioned earlier. 1. Budget yourself silly. 2. Don't spend any money. Budgets can be hazardous to your wealth! Like diets: feel restrictive, want to go off them, can give you a bad relationship to money. Don't live beyond your means - Obviously! Don't get yourself into consumer debt except a mortgage. Pay off all debt - wrong! A mortgage is ok, tax deductible. You need to establish credit. Pay off debt that's not mortgage debt or business debt that you are successfully using to grow your business. Contribute to your 401k - yes, but it's not enough if that's all you do to save and invest! Have a great life! Lol! How can you spend nothing, try to pay off a huge mortgage, pay for kids to go to college and have any money left to enjoy life? The second financial scenario is for people who earn more than they spend. For them I have advice that I call the 6 Steps to Wealth. 1. Create a wealthy mindset Work on a positive mind, thoughts, goals. Repetition. 2. Save a nestegg Save money to invest, need capital to start. 3. Find a mentor Follow people who have successfully made millions, not starving journalist. 4. Invest in a money engine Must invest to create wealth! Can be a business, stocks, real estate, etc. No one way is right, but be smart about valuations you are paying! Money moves in cycles and peaks in bubbles. 5. Compound at a high rate Let your money compound. Try to improve your rate of return. Bank vs. stocks 6. Protect your wealth Don't lose the wealth you have created. To get "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth", go to www.lindapjones.com.

Learn the world's most affordable housing markets (8 out of 10 are in the US). Source: 13th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey Looked at "affordability in 92 major housing markets in nine countries found 11 affordable areas - all in the US." "The survey used Q3 2016 data to gauge the 'median multiple', the ratio of median home price to median pretax income." Ratio of median home price to median pretax income, with 3.0 or below being "affordable." For example, if median pretax income is $100,000, you can afford a $300,000 home pretty easily so it's deemed "affordable". According to CNN, the world's most affordable housing markets are: 1. Racine, Wisconsin, US 2. Bay City, Michigan, US 3. Decatur, Illinois, US 4. Elmira, New York , US 5. East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, US 6. Karratha, Australia 7. Lima, Ohio, US 8. Moncton, Canada 9. Peoria, Illinois, US 10. Rockford, Illinois, US (Source: 13th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey) It's interesting to note that housing inventories are at 17 year lows, indicating a possible peak of a bubble? Listen to podcast 228 for the most affordable housing markets in the U.S. On my website www.lindapjones.com, I will post a link to the entire report. It's quite interesting and I think it's worth your time if you're interested in real estate. Go to www.lindapjones.com/worldsmostaffordablehousingmarkets Here is the link to the full housing report: http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf If you enjoy the show, I'd love to have your review on iTunes or Stitcher Radio! It's the one way I get to hear from you what you like about the show and a way to give back if you have received knowledge from listening to the show. I'd so appreciate it, thank you in advance! For more information, go to www.lindapjones.com.

Learn the least affordable housing markets in the world. Investor's Business Daily report, week of 2/6/17. "The survey used Q3 2016 data to gauge the 'median multiple', the ratio of median home price to median pretax income." Source: 13th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey Ratio of median home price to median pretax income, with 3.0 or below being "affordable." Ratio of median home price to median pretax income, with 3.0 or below being "affordable." For example, if median pretax income is $100,000, you can afford a $300,000 home pretty easily so it's deemed "affordable". The 13th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey covers 406 metropolitan housing markets (metropolitan areas) in nine countries (Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States) for the third quarter of 2016. A total of 92 major metropolitan markets (housing markets) --- with more than 1,000,000 population --- are included, including five megacities (Tokyo-Yokohama, New York, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Los Angeles, and London). "Overall, there are 29 severely unaffordable major housing markets, including all in Australia (5), New Zealand (1) and China (1). There are 13 severely unaffordable major markets in the United States, out of 54. Seven of the United Kingdom's 21 major markets are severely unaffordable and two in Canada." - NewGeography.com Hong Kong, Sidney and Vancouver are the 3 most unaffordable housing markets in the world. 1. Hong Kong 18.1 2. Sydney, AU 12.2 3. Vancouver, Canada 11.8 4. Auckland, NZ 10.0 5. San Jose, CA 9.6 6. Melbourne, AU 9.5 7. Honolulu, HI 9.4 8. Los Angeles, CA 9.3 9. San Francisco, CA 9.2 10. Dorset, UK 8.9 Interesting to note, Vancouver BC put a 15% foreign buyer tax on housing which reduced foreign purchases dramatically. The city of Vancouver also instituted a 1% vacancy tax on the assessed value of an empty property, as many foreign buyers let houses sit empty. In response, many Chinese buyers have moved to the Seattle market. China spent a record $33 billion on foreign real estate in 2016, according to global real estate group JLL. Hong Kong median home price $5,422,000 and income $300,000 vs. San Jose, CA $1,000,000 and $104,100. Prices in Australia, Vancouver, Seattle seem to be inflated from Chinese buyers - are they dependent on the Chinese economy? On my website www.lindapjones.com, I will post a link to the entire report. It's quite interesting and I think it's worth your time if you're interested in real estate. Go to www.lindapjones.com/leastaffordablehousingmarkets Here is the link to the full housing report: http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf If you enjoy the show, I'd love to have your review on iTunes or Stitcher Radio! It's the one way I get to hear from you what you like about the show and a way to give back if you have received knowledge from listening to the show. I'd so appreciate it, thank you in advance! For more information, go to www.lindapjones.com/podcasts

Learn the most affordable housing markets in the U.S. Graph printed in Investor's Business Daily report, week of 2/6/17. Source: 13th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey Looked at "affordability in 92 major housing markets in nine countries found 11 affordable areas - all in the US." "The survey used Q3 2016 data to gauge the 'median multiple', the ratio of median home price to median pretax income." Ratio of median home price to median pretax income, with 3.0 or below being "affordable." For example, if median pretax income is $100,000, you can afford a $300,000 home pretty easily so it's deemed "affordable". The 13th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey covers 406 metropolitan housing markets (metropolitan areas) in nine countries (Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States) for the third quarter of 2016. A total of 92 major metropolitan markets (housing markets) --- with more than 1,000,000 population --- are included, including five megacities (Tokyo-Yokohama, New York, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Los Angeles, and London). 1. Rochester, NY 2.5 2. Buffalo, NY 2.6 3. Cincinnati, OH 2.7 4. Cleveland, OH 2.7 5. Pittsburgh, PA 2.7 6. Oklahoma City, OK 2.9 7. St. Louis, MO 2.9 8. Grand Rapids, MI 3.0 9. Indianapolis, IN 3.0 10. Kansas City, MO 3.0 The United States scores 3.9 on the index. On my website www.lindapjones.com, I will post a link to the entire report. It's quite interesting and I think it's worth your time if you're interested in real estate. Go to www.lindapjones.com/affordablehousingmarkets http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf If you enjoy the show, I'd love to have your review on iTunes or Stitcher Radio! It's the one way I get to hear from you what you like about the show and a way to give back if you have received knowledge from listening to the show. I'd so appreciate it, thank you in advance! To get "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth", go to www.lindapjones.com.

Learn how to run your family finances like a Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Interview with author of Family Inc., Doug McCormick.

Learn how much the Dow Jones Industrial Average has changed and why it is a poor indicator to gauge stock performance. I decided to research changes in the DJIA. How many companies from the last 20 years are the same and how many have changed? I researched the companies in the DJIA from 1997 - 2017. In the last 18 years, the Dow doubled from 10,000 to 20,000. That's an average of a 4% return. How many companies in the Dow are the same today? Are we comparing apples to apples? For example, if I go to the grocery store and pick out 30 different cans of food - olives, soup, green beans, peaches, etc. and add up the prices for each can, then twenty years later I change 10 cans and compare the prices to the original group of 30 cans from 20 years ago to today's group of 30 cans, what is that telling me? All we know is 66% of the cans are the same. That's what the Dow Jones Industrial Average is like. Only 66% are the same companies from 20 years ago. The DJIA lost these 10 companies: Sears AT & T Eastman Kodak General Motors Goodyear Hewlett Packard International Paper Philip Morris Union Carbide Allied Signal There's only one original company still in the 100 year old Dow: General Electric So don't get caught up in rah rah! Dow 20,000! It means nothing! OK, it means two thirds of the companies have probably increased in value. That's all you can presume! Use the S & P 500 as your indicator. It changes too, but covers 65% of all stocks in the stock market. Professional money managers are paid based on the S & P, not the Dow. Be savvy. Don't be fooled by marketing ploys. For more savvy investing, to to www.lindapjones.com

Learn about ETFs and mutual funds Listener question - Are ETFs or mutual funds better? What they are: ETF's: Fixed basket Trades like a stock, continuously priced throughout the day Transparency Low fees Broad index or sector Long or short Mutual funds: Funds pooled together Professionally managed Priced at the end of the day Decisions made for you Only know what stocks are in it quarterly Don't need a brokerage account, can go direct to the fund Higher fees Can cause unwanted capital gains Manager is paid to beat the indexes, but they don't always accomplish it. Can invest regular deductions from your bank account ie. $25/mo. Question is which one will provide better performance? Use ETF's for indexes. Use mutual funds for good manager's track record. Asset allocation model - core + satellite, creating a combination portfolio To get "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth", go to www.lindapjones.com.

Learn the 3 secrets about financial education that most financial experts don't tell you. This show is all about financial education! Specifically, how to make it understandable and interesting, even if you're usually bored by financial topics! 1. Financial management is very doable on your own. It takes a bit of learning a few concepts and terminology, but it can be done. The truth is, most advisors put you into an asset allocation model and look at it quarterly. They are not watching your account like you might think. Why not learn how to do your own asset allocation and save 1 - 3% annually? 2. Financial advisors think their best service is to hold your hand when you are scared by market volatility. Perhaps if you understand what to expect, you can do that for yourself. Rather than hoping deep dips and wild swings won't happen, you have to accept them as part of investing and learn what to do because the stock market drops about 10% every 11 months on average. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 20% 12 times since the end of WWII. That's about every 6 years. We are now overdue for such a dip. Do you have a plan? Do you have cash set aside to buy? I certainly hope you weren't buying at Dow 20,000, an all-time high! Liquidate some things, trim positions a bit to raise some cash. You can keep all your positions but have smaller ones. Prepare for maximum fear - the time to buy. You can watch the VIX or watch consumer sentiment. When the VIX hits a high, consumer sentiment a low, or relative strength is below the bottom of the chart on stockcharts.com you could have a bottom. 3. Keep learning. Keep listening to this podcast and your other favorites and keep learning. Be cautious of certain stock hawkers on TV and of so called "traders" on TV. They have more incentive to be confusing so that you keep watching and giving them ratings, than to actually educate you. Remember, moving opposite the crowd is usually the smart move and the TV is the crowd. To get "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth", go to www.lindapjones.com.

Learn if the economy can get to 5% GDP growth quickly or not. Weakest GDP since 2011 - went from 3.5% to 1.9% in one quarter! Lower earnings reported by Chevon, other energy companies, Google, Colgate-Palmolive and Starbucks. Even with some disappointing corporate results, fourth-quarter earnings are expected to show growth of 6.8 percent, which would mark the biggest increase in two years and second straight quarter of growth, according to Thomson Reuters data. Dow hit 20,000 for the first time. Took 18 years to double - that's a 4% average annual return. Is most of the good news already baked into 2017? Consumer spending is up .5% in December, largest jump in 3 months, which is 2/3 of the economy. Good news there. Pending home sales up 1.9%, 17 year shortage of housing. Trump growth of 5% is going to take a while and won't happen right away. Cycles are showing massive swings up and down in the market this year. FED may raise rates 3 times - inflation is flaring up. IMO, we have the EU break up to look forward to, a European bank failure, and a lot of cash flowing into our markets as a safe haven from China and Europe. Other countries have been moving their funds here from China, Russia and Europe and that will likely pick up. Cycles are showing some extreme volatility and since this is the second longest bull market ever, I wouldn't be surprised to see the economy weaken even to the point of recession and the stock market have a meaningful pullback. Increased volatility. Rather than try to short it, I suggest you get your shopping list ready to buy the dips, when there is real fear. Look to corporate bonds for income and stay away from bond funds. It will take time for President Trump to turn the economy into a faster growth GDP. In the meantime, there will be wild swings as the dollar and other currencies fluctuate. To get "11 Quick Financial Tips to Boost Your Wealth", go to www.lindapjones.com.

Learn key economic signs to follow. For the election, GDP grew over 3%. FED raised interest rates, now GDP is 1.9%, markedly lower. Where do we go from here? FED wants to raise rates 3 times next year. Housing prices are in a bubble - inventory is at a 17 year low! Housing moves in an 18 year cycle. Trump has policies to grow the economy, jobs, cut regulations and cut excess spending. Will have massive stimulus from infrastructure spending and the wall. Taxes being massively cut. The spending + reduced taxes will help GDP but growth must happen, so we need job creation badly. The FED controls interest rates. If they continue to increase rates, that's a strong headwind against the economy. There's a battle happening here! We'll watch and see what happens.