Retire Before 25

“A company is run on cash…”

These words have forever changed the way I think about money. Yes, a business is run on cash and so is your personal life. Far too many people are living on credit instead of cash.

This article will show you 10 ways to save money. They are practical and they work!

1. The Piggy Bank

This is the classic way to save money and you know what? It still works. When I was saving to buy my wife’s engagement ring I had an envelope marked “Engagement Ring”. I would deposit my paycheck each week and hold back a certain amount to stick in my “Piggy Bank” (envelope).

Advantages:

• Cash is immediately accessible
• No risk (of accidentally spending or value fluctuations)
  

Disadvantages:

• Could get stolen / lost easily
• No potential for growth through interest

Summary: This is the single most “liquid” way to save.

Liquid: fluid: in cash or easily convertible to cash; “liquid (or fluid) assets”

2. Money Market Funds

This is the ideal way to save if you are looking to pull your money out in a short amount of time with a potential for great interest and low risk. My personal money market fund can yield as high as 5% interest.

Advantages:

• Low Risk
  
• Potential for High Interest
  

Disadvantages:

• Potential for Low Interest
  

Summary: This is a very liquid asset that is safe and secure and should be used for short-term investments. (1 year or less)

3. Mutual Funds

Mutual Funds are a collection of stocks and/or bonds that you “buy into”. The portfolio is already diversified for you so you don’t have to be an expert at picking the right stock(s).

Advantages:

• Potential for High Growth
  
• Portfolio Already Diversified for You
  

Disadvantages:

• Not Very Good for Short-Term Investments
  
• Hidden Fees & Charges

Summary: This type of investment is good for long-term stable growth. There isn’t a lot of risk in most portfolios but you need to watch for hidden fees and charges or your fund can end up costing you money rather than making more for you.

4. Young Stocks

If you think a company is going to boom, why not invest in it? Imagine if you had purchased WalMart stock when it was brand new. If you see a market trend you might want to consider investing in a young stock.

Advantages:

• Potential for High & Rapid Growth
  

Disadvantages:

• Potential to Lose it All
  

Summary: This is an exciting but dangerous way to save. As they say, the greater the risk, the higher the reward!

5. Individual Stocks

If you like the idea of a mutual fund but want to choose your own stocks for a more personal sort of diversification you will love saving this way.

Advantages:

• You Can Be as Safe or as Risky as You Want
  
• More Diversification = More Stability
  

Disadvantages:

• Time Consuming & Tedious
  

Summary: This is the kind of saving that the “do-it-yourselfer” will love. It is a lot of work but can be quite rewarding in the end.

6. Certificate of Deposit (CD)

A CD is a fixed-term savings account. Your money is secured by the FDIC (that means no risk of loss). Most CDs also have fixed interest rates.

Advantages:

• Money is Guaranteed by the FDIC
  
• Potential for Fixed-Rate Interest
  

Disadvantages:

• Your money is not accessible until maturity
  

Summary: This is another great way to save. Talk to your current bank first, most offer CDs with decent terms and rates.

Maturity: The date a debt or investment must be paid in full.

7. Savings Account

This is what most people think of when they think of saving money through their bank account. Most banks offer savings accounts that you can open alongside your current checking account.

Advantages:

• Funds Are Easily transferable to Your Checking Account
  
• Funds Are Accessible & Liquid

Disadvantages:

• Generally Low Interest
• Watch for Small Usage Fees and Minimum Amounts
  

Summary: This can be a very simple and straightforward way to save money through your current bank.

8. Bonds

You’ve probably heard of bonds as “low-risk and low-growth” funds. This is basically true. The bond holder (that’s you) is the lender and the issuer of the bond is the borrower. Bonds must be payed back at fixed interest rates on fixed terms.

Advantages:

• More Stable Than Most Stocks
  

Disadvantages:

• Generally Low Interest

Summary: Most people seek to diversify their portfolio by incorporating both stocks and bonds. This is typically a good idea.

9. Home Equity (Real Estate)

This is an interesting way to save money. Let’s say that you have $60,000 that you want to save -  you could buy a house and sit on it until the market increases. Turn around and you may be able to sell it for, let’s say, $75,000 a few years from now.

Advantages:

• You’ll Always Have a Place to Stay When You’re In Town!
  
• Quality Homes Retain Their Value
  

Disadvantages:

• Real-Estate Tax, Maintenance, etc. that Cost You Money
  

Summary: All in all this is not a bad way to save some money but it is risky. You never know what the market is going to do, and what if a natural disaster strikes your “investment”?

10. “Way to Save” or “Keep the Change”

Many banks offer unique savings accounts such as Bank of America’s “keep the change” or Wachovia’s (Now Wells Fargo) “Way2Save” account.

Advantages:

• Simple and On-Going Savings
  
• Doing Business With Your Main Bank
  

Disadvantages:

• Different Restrictions & Rules for Each Bank
• Low interest, if any
  

Summary: A simple way to save some extra spending money. Not good for higher amounts of money.

Remember, a business and a life are run on cash, not on credit.

It doesn’t matter exactly how you save your money, just SAVE!

Are you looking to make extra money from home?

Contact: Cody Miller at 214.682.5331 or cody@retirebefore25.com

If you’re like most young entrepreneurs, if you’re like me, you’ve chased some people around before. You like what you have to offer and you believe in working for yourself, so naturally you want others, especially family and friends to feel the same way.

Well, stop.

Amateurs “sell”, Pros “sort”. Amateurs try and convince people of why they ought to purchase their products, invest in their company or start up with them, while professionals walk right by.

Why do pros sort? Sorting is much easier than selling. I don’t have to convince anyone of anything. I simply share the information with them if they’re “open for more information”. Practice that phrase, “Are you open for more information?” If they are, give them some, not too much but just enough to satisfy them. If they aren’t interested, Rejoice! You’re one person closer to someone who is interested. Move on and stop bugging the same people time and time again.

Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about, you’ve stalked people around like Godzilla, you’re the person they pretend not to be home for! Knock it off! Most of the people you’re trying to convince to do something wouldn’t be any good as an entrepreneur (or they wouldn’t enjoy your product) anyway. So leave them alone and start looking for people who are interested.

The reality is, out there, somewhere, there is someone who is looking for exactly what you have to offer. Your job is to find them and give them more information. That is, if they are open for more information.

Marketing is a numbers game. Expose as many people as possible to your business and sooner or later someone will be interested – it’s the law of averages and it works, every time. It’s all a matter of “sooner or later”. Just keep going, keep working, keep promoting and keep believing.

Everyone has a number. This is not a magic number but a very practical number. You see, everyone has an exact number of people that they need to talk to in order to reach their income goals. For you it may be 1,000 people, for some it may be 1,000,000. It all depends on how big you dream and… chance. Yep, dumb luck. No one knows what their number is until after the fact. So keep count and let me know what your number is once you’ve achieved your dreams.

Looking for a network of young entrepreneurs to link up with? You can start your very own company for just $99. So shoot me an email if you’re… open for more information. cody@retirebefore25.com

Cheers,
Cody

I watch Heroes on NBC. As a matter of fact it is one of my favorite TV shows. (One of the only ones I’ll watch all season long.)

And Heroes had a lot to teach me last night.

(If you’ve never watched the show before don’t worry, I’ll explain everything you need to know.)

Last night’s episode focused on Hiro Nakamura, one of the central characters on Heroes. Hiro can “bend space and time”. He is able to slow everything down or freeze time itself; He can teleport through time as well. Hiro wants to use his powers for good, so He begins a service called, “Dial-a-Hero”, and in this week’s episode he receives a disturbing phone call from a man named, “Tadashi”.

Tadashi is going to jump. He is humiliated, he has dishonored his entire family. Suicide is the only way that he can see out of this mess. You see, Tadashi has done something that most of us have wanted to try at one point or another. He has photocopied his butt. Of course his butt-copy became famous around the office and before long he was fired from Nakamura Industries.

Hiro, wanting to make things right decides that he will go back in time and stop Tadashi from photocopying his butt. If Tadashi had never done this, Hiro thinks, he would not have lost his job, and if he had not lost his job he would not be standing on the ledge of a very tall building threatening suicide right now. Simple, right? Easy, right?

Wrong.

Hiro returns to the “new future”, the one where Tadashi was prevented from photocopying his butt. Mission accomplshed. Good job, Hiro. Suddenly the phone rings, it’s Tadashi, he’s on the ledge again. It seems that although Hiro prevented Tadashi from photocopying his butt the first time, Tadashi still managed to find the time to sit his bottom on the scanbed and press, “Start.”

As the episode continues we learn that Hiro attempts to stop Tadashi from copying his butt a total of 47 times. Each time Hiro saves him from making this mistake he finds another way to make it happen. It’s as if he is bent on photocopying his butt, no matter what.

But that isn’t the real issue here. The real issue here is that Tadashi was prevented from learning from his mistakes. Of course he is going to photocopy his butt! He wanted to the first time and since he does not have the experience of the consequences of that action he is going to continue to plot that course for his life.

Experience builds character. Sometimes God lets us go through things, horrible things even, so that we learn from our own mistakes and establish stronger character. God is not responsible for you photocopying your butt and getting fired from your job! But oh how many souls will stand upon the ledge of life and blame him for all their own problems.  God wants to  help you grow in character through your successes as well as through your failures. Each experience (the good and the bad) is important in your journey towards success.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity take a quick look around. What could you learn from this circumstance? What might God want to reveal to you through this experience? It doesn’t matter what your circumstance is and it doesn’t matter whether it is easy or difficult, simple or complex, good or bad. What is going on in your life right now and what can you learn from it?

So, the next time you photocopy your butt, don’t worry about it! You have an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and help others along the way. Don’t you bet that Tadashi wishes someone had come to him and said, “Tadashi! Do not photocopy your butt! I tried that once and lost my job…”?

“Embrace adversity and you will rise above it,  fear adversity and you will sink beneath it.”

Cheers,
Cody Miller
214-682-5331
cody@retirebefore25.com

As you may know, my (soon-to-be) wife and I are Christians. We also feel called to full-time ministry, possibly working overseas teaching English or maybe even translating the Bible into some obscure language. We don’t really know. But what we do know is that we are called to GO and we need to start fundraising now so that we can be a part of whatever God wants us to do in the future.

This is one of the biggest reasons why I’m working a full-time job at the church and working my personal business as an entrepreneur an additional 20 hours a week on the side.

While owning your own business isn’t right for everyone, it can be a powerful fundraising tool. The type of income you will generate with our company will continue to pay you every single month, even if you’re overseas somewhere in a tiny hut or jungle.

There is no required cost to stay in business, either, which is another thing we like about being in business for ourselves. We have some monthly expenses now that are related to our business (like websites) but as soon as we find ourselves overseas we can eliminate those expenses and simply enjoy God’s work without being financially stressed.

Lastly, (this is seriously one of my favorite things) we have one product in particular (electricity service) that is FREE to sign-up for and saves people money. So if our friends and family can’t afford a “donation” every month to support our efforts we can ask them to see how much they’re paying for electricity. If our service is cheaper (which it usually is) they may be willing to switch to our company and support us in this way. They save and we get funded! Does it get any better than that?

If you’re interested in fundraising for Christian missions work then give us a c all at: 214.682.5331 or ask how you can support our work by switching your electricity service to us. It is 100% FREE and will usually save you quite abit of money. (We don’t want you to switch to us if it ends up costing you more.)

Cheers,
Cody Miller
214.682.5331
cody@retirebefore25.com

Are most entrepreneurs young people? While I couldn’t find any exact demographic statistics to answer this question, I did find an interesting one:

“70.9% of teens say they are interested in becoming entrepreneurs; up from 64% in 2004.”
- Junior Achievement Worldwide, August 2006

Wow! Almost 3/4 of all teenagers say they want to become entrepreneurs. Now, certainly this statistic covers a wide range of entrepreneurship – from restaurants and bed and breakfasts to hair salons and online advertising. These teens may want to open up their own dance or recording studio, television station or car company. And of course we can’t forget that of this 70.9% we are unaware of exactly how many go on to actually achieve or attempt business for themselves.

Here’s an even more interesting and revealing statistic:

“When asked, “What age do you think it would be too late to start your own business?” 60% responded “never too old.”
- Yahoo! Small Business/Harris Interactive, April 2006

And I agree. No matter how old you are it is never too late to begin doing something you love and making a financial investment towards your future. I always tell people, “being an entrepreneur is not right for everyone”, but it’s never too late.

Some may worry that they won’t have the skills or presence to succeed amidst a market of “young guns” but the truth is, going into business for yourself actually levels the playing field. See, in a traditional business setting you have to worry about being replaced by the “new guy”, the “young gun” or the “up and comer”. But when you own your own business, you’re the CEO, you’re the “head dog”, you’re the “big guy”, you’re the “boss” and you aren’t going to fire you, are you?

Entrepreneurship levels the playing field between genders, races and age. It’s the beauty of Capitalism! It’s the freedom of America and it may be right for you.

If you’d like more information on becoming an entrepreneur please call Cody at: 214-682-5331 or email me directly at: cody@retirebefore25.com

Cheers,
Cody Miller

P.S. It’s never too late to get started. Follow your heart.

Contrary to popular belief, success is not measured in dollars signs. As far as I am concerned you can be making more money than Bill Gates and still remain unsuccessful as an entrepreneur. What am I talking about? I’m glad you asked. You see, some people are so interested in money, money, money that they miss the entire point. The point of success as an entrepreneur is freedom. Period.

If you’re trying to become an entrepreneur to show the world how “successful” you can be, then I am sorry friend but you’ll never be truly successful in life. In the words of John Candy from the movie “Cool Runnings”, “the thing about an Olympic gold medal is… if you’re not enough without it, then you’ll never be enough with it.”

Money doesn’t make people successful – successful people make money. Success is a mind-set, a worldview, an outlook on life. Success is that part of you that always wants to believe that the glass is, indeed, half-full. It is belief in yourself and others.

So, What are the Qualities of a Young Successful Entrepreneur?

• Determination – Never quit but be willing to readjust to changing circumstances.
• Vision – Maintain long-term goals and dreams for you and your family.
• Perseverance – When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
• Humility – Develop the attitude of a servant.
• Activity – “Faith without works is dead.” Put some action behind your ambitions.

For continued reading I highly recommend the book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” by Stephen Covey. For more information on me and my business you may contact me using the information below.

Cody Miller
214-682-5331
cody@retirebefore25.com