Get Better Friends because you have Enough Money, Pay Attention and Prosper!

Most people think they don’t have enough money, but the truth is over the last 10 years you have had more than enough actual money to become the millionaire you want to be. In fact, you could have easily wiped the issue of money off the table. A small amount of Money becomes useful with the right information and connections in the right circles. You can’t know and see every opportunity but you will get more than your share with the right circle of friends. Let me prove it to you.

The world is moving from a world of depreciating currency to a world of appreciating currency. This is a fact and within 5 years we won’t recognize any business that doesn’t except digital currency. Cash is trash. But what will not change is how important the right information about opportunity will be now and forever.

On July 17^th 2010 bitcoin’s price jumped from a fraction of a cent to $.09 cents per coin. If you had a spare $1000.00 in 2010 and you understood what bitcoin was you could have purchased 11,111.11 bitcoins. The value today would be $569,092,943.09. Often people say, If I knew then what I know now I’d be rich but its not true. There are lots of things you know that you don’t apply so you never reap the benefits. In full disclose, the person who told me about bitcoin in 2011 was one of my dearest friends, a brother really, general counsel to all my companies since forever and the father to my godson. Ironically he would later go on to write on of the definitive books on understanding Crypto, “A Short & Happy Guide to Bitcoin, Blockchain and Crypto” by Del Wright Jr. He told me, I didn’t get it and research further, and billions have been missed. It wasn’t money for me at the time nor for you because we had access to $1000.00 in 2010. And it’s not money now.

Now let’s move forward to today. Everyone sees Bitcoin at 51k, or 67k or 27k and feels they missed the opportunity, but if you were in the crypto community, you would know this is just the beginning and big whales in the market are calling for 500k and one-million-dollar Bitcoin within the next decade when the big institutions start investing.  We are standing on the sidelines lamenting our past loss and missing our present opportunity because the proper environment is not around us.

In the last year investing $500 in Saitama coin in June 2021 grew to a value of $10.5 million by November 2021. How about the guy who purchased 8k of Shiba Inu and it grew to $1.3 million in less than a year because he paid attention to information about the coin and its community. Maybe you read this and think this is gambling like the lottery and you have to be a crypto genius to invest for great profits but you would be wrong.

Look at this list and tell me where the genius is:

$1000 invested into each of these top 20 crypto coins and this would be your return one year later

Shiba Inu  $740,259,740

Axie Infinity: $1,082,920

Telcoin$130,144

Polygon: $127,367

Solana: $119,828

Dogecoin: $95,882

Binance Coin $21,972

Cardano: $19,527

Polkadot: $11,780

Uniswap: $10,055

Ethereum: $9,798

XRP: $4,527

Bitcoin: $3,885

Now what conversations did you have in your circle that gave you insight that would turn $14,000 into $741,189,743. Throw out the best return on Shiba and 14k still turned into over 1.5 million. But if the biggest development isn’t a conversation in your circle then wealth through information is going to elude you. Just stop and think that placing $500 to $2000 in the right place on most of these coins at the right time would have made you a millionaire now. Most of these coins developed over years not days. Knowing when and where is a matter of exposure to the information and education. That is what your circle should be seeking.

Every week, I’m checking in to share ideas and insights with Omar, Vince, Del, Garth, Temi and Sid. We are sharing our studies and our crypto and stock plays and the reasons for the moves. Sometimes we agree and sometimes there is a brilliant counter argument.

Who called Cardano at .14? – Garth

Who executed the play on Dogecoin before it was hot and killed it?  Vince (I called the play, but he executed to perfection}

Who made the case for buying Bitcoin 10 yrs ago and again as it feel from 67 to 27 Del, Now sitting at 51k?

Who put us on the play on Tron at .02 and the exit at .16? – Sid

Who put us on to Hyperfund with a crypto company that compounds rewards at .05% every single day – Sid

Who put us on to MOF before the 1 to 1000 split? – Sid

Who has three to five Stock tips and wins a week? – Vince

Who has become a master day trader with sage advice? – Omar

Who is giving the crypto perspective from Africa and giving game on flipping from dollars to digital currency for income? Also calling winning crypto projects using their IT Knowledge. – Temi

This is a true friends circle, and we prosper together on this and many other things.  Our daily conversations are worth money, and they keep us focused on a primary goal which is to put better options in place for our families. The best part is that we are all serious students of our crafts, and the crypto market has become a profitable hobby for the whole crew. Most of us have been friends for decades and done a lot of business together but today is shaping up to be the most lucrative time of our lives.

We are not going to let each other miss the opportunity to change the conversation from millions to billions for our families. And best of all everyone is executing at their own pace and timing with varying profitable results.

Invest time more than money to conquer this new world or stop complaining about the money and security you don’t have. The market is still in its infancy but it’s a 2.3 trillion-dollar infant now. There are twitter pages for each project and YouTube channels for all the top crypto experts.

It’s all about Information and The Right Circle. You must become a truly valuable member of any circle you are in because you become the average of that group. If they are broke and uninformed, even if you prosper,  they will pull on all your resources.

I hope this message reaches fertile ground because it’s easier to make millions now than any time in history.

Wishing you Wealth, Health, and Wisdom

Mark

The Unintended Economic Revolution caused by Black Gifting Groups, Fin Tech, Black Content Creators, and the Pandemic

When the Pandemic reached its height in the spring of 2020 American media would have the world believe that everyone’s attention was focused solely on the health crisis. In fact, just under the surface a revolution was brewing in the Black Community because the Pandemic gave the masses of Black Americans an opportunity to do something they never had the chance to do in the 500 years since they had been a part of this American experiment in White supremacy. For the first time ever, Blacks were forced to sit still, consider their health and economic survival, and turn to each other for answers and ideas.

Blacks started joining gifting groups(sou-sous), and crypto clubs. They started watching Black owned podcast like David Shands “Social Proof” and Rashad Bilal and Troy Billings “Earn Your Leisure”, that literally featured hundreds of Black men and women business owners who are making millions in every field of endeavor in the business world. From hairstylists, hair sellers, digital marketing experts, car dealers, stock market experts, crypto currency experts, car rental experts, and trucking experts, all part of a world that came to light during what seemed to be the worst time in America, if you let CNN and FOX tell the story.

Black Americans got so heavy into the gifting groups the Cash app, Apple pay, Google Pay and PayPal moved to shut down accounts to stop Blacks from gifting each other tens of millions of dollars day. Sending messages to their customers that they were using the app in an unintended way and disabling tons of accounts if they even suspected that they were participating in this financial underground railroad. Truthfully most Blacks got so scared by the fin tech apps that they quit on their own groups rather than fight for their right to self-determination. But it was too late because even though people quit the groups, they were already in the practice of working with their brothers and sisters to try and find answers to their financial questions and I believe that energy gave a huge boost to the Black content creators that were talking spicy online about business, marketing, credit, and all manner of opportunities.

One thing for certain and two things for sure Black men and women business owners under 40 are running multimillion dollar businesses of every type, off their cell phones. They are using social media and productivity apps to track their progress and it did not start during the pandemic. The pandemic forced everyone inside and on to YouTube and Instagram and zoom, and that’s how the world would discover these hidden gems.

Not only are many of these Black business gurus massively successful, but they also connect with each other to share resources and audiences to grow each other’s businesses. In addition, they develop courses to teach the skills they have mastered. This is a world the Black masses would hardly know existed without the pandemic. Now, 7 thousand people regularly tune into Market Mondays on the EYL Network to see Ian the Master Investor, Troy and Rashad break down their insights onto the stock market and Crypto markets. Now, 100k people have seen Teri Ijeoma on the Social Proof Podcast (The number 1 master teacher on Teachable, earning over 10 million a year) talk about her Trade and Travel course which helps countless students learn to earn $1000 a day trading so they can travel the world.

The irony of the sou- sous that fell apart is that they helped to spawn a deeper relationship between members of the Black community. It’s not millions in capital being gifted every day but Billions in ideas, expertise and best practices for wealth building that really matters.  Black businesspeople are showing other Blacks how to make millions every day on Tik Tok, Facebook, Zoom, Clubhouse, YouTube, and Instagram, and in Brick-and-mortar businesses all over the world.

We need to tap in deeply with ourselves because the only things our people do not have are the things, we have not given ourselves. I dare anyone to listen to the hundreds of voices on Earn your Leisure or Social Proof and tell me there is an area where we are lacking skills and knowledge. It is the transfer of knowledge that is needed now.  We can not fall back into the same pattern as before the Pandemic where we took each other for granted and simply worshipped at the alter of other’s supremacy. No matter what your ambition there are multiple qualified people from your tribe that can guide you toward your dreams. Hundreds of women and men have already walked the path and the info is available. Continue to make time to sit quietly and think and learn and connect with your people. The gifting group never stopped but it did transform.

List of things people received after the gifting groups:

1. Relationships that led to 6 and 7 figure business opportunities
2. Instructions and assistance to build great personal and business credit profiles
3. Access to government and private capital
4. Step by step instructions to 10x their current businesses
5. Inspiration to see women and men exceeding your wildest dream every single day in your field of endeavor
6. Knowledge of where your tribe meets in person and online everyday
7. Sales and marketing expertise
8. Demystification of the cryptocurrency market and the stock market
9. 10x to 100x return on capital through increasing knowledge and skills

Wishing you Wealth, Health, and Wisdom

Mark

Manager of Wealth

Cooperative Gifting will be a Huge Key to building Black Wealth, Liquidity, and Financial Stability

Last week I was driving by a nondescript factory warehouse around 4:30 pm in the afternoon. While sitting at a traffic light I observed hundreds of men and women rushing out of this massive factory. They were removing goggles, and hard hats, hair nets and gloves while juggling lunch bags and other things. As  I sat at the light, two Black women  were talking about having to hurry to their second jobs.   Much respect to the sisters but as I watched and listened to the entire scene I wondered if they knew that there were other options available. I wondered if they had ever considered any options that didn’t require them to trade a lot of time for a little bit of money? I wondered if they had ever thought of giving money away as the solution for not currently having enough money left over at the end of the month.

Looking at that factory I knew it was full of people working for $15 to $30  dollars per  hour.  I’m sure everyone in the building thought they should be paid more money for their labor. The pace of wage growth is not keeping up with the pace of their family growth and the cost of living. Statistically the Black American worker has less than 40k in savings and more than 18k in debt outside of their mortgage. This is more than 51% higher than the rest of the American public. Less than 50% can’t even find a  way to contribute to a retirement plan.  Even if they could contribute employer retirement plans are mostly trash investments that are going to be taxed to death once they retire.

What these Black American factory workers really needed was a better plan to grow their life savings. What they really needed was access to an American Sou – Sou. One that allowed them to gift a small sum of money and ultimately receive a larger tax free gift in return every month.

The Pandemic has sparked the growth of these American Sou- Sous because people want and need to grow their security in these uncertain times.  The future is still going to happen regardless of Covid 19 and people are looking for options. Communities are coming together to turn their small amounts of capital into larger amounts of capital for entire groups of people.

One example is a group where you gift $500.00 directly to one member of a gifting group and also invite two other members (not 200 members and not 2 members a month) into the group(for which you are not compensated). With each member in the circle doing this you and each member of the circle will receive $4000.00 a month in gifts.  After receiving your gifts you then make another monthly gift of $500.00 back to the same person you gifted before. This goes on month after month but you are not required to ever invite another person into the group after the initial two. How do you think having such an opportunity would help all of those people I saw waking out of that factory building headed to their second low paying job of the day? Do you think they were leaving the factory to go to a job that would pay $4000.00 per month? Do you think they would feel better about being able to give money away as part of a group and have more access to capital and tax free savings or would they like to keep trading time for money?

There are six incredible things about this community collective economic opportunity that are going to make it the absolute wave of the future.

1. The is no pyramid – there is not a person the top collecting or  pooling capital and distributing it to you while taking a cut of the funds and making a profit off each and every member of the organization. There is Zero pooling of Capital by anyone.
2. Everyone grows through 4 levels but there is absolutely zero compensation for anyone at any of those levels. Everyone who contributes $500.00 can only receive $4000.00. No more and no less. Once you are gifted the first time you are gifted every month from the same group of people.  Month after month you gift the same person not the group or it’s leaders.
3.  If you want to leave the group there are so many people who will buy your space out for your $500.00 gift. People happily take your place in the community if the group is not for you. Your space equals an opportunity for a new member or a current member to step in and gift $500.00 and be gifted $4000.00.   Current members are always happy to gift more funds for the additional gifts.
4. Because the gifts are direct person to person and are under the allowable annual gifting limit, they are tax free. ( Check the tax code for guidelines)
5. The collective is not a business opportunity.. There is no product or service being offered. The capital you give and receive is not income. Very often groups of friends and associates want to get together to do something financially and grow their money and the big issue is always that only a few of the members of the group are truly passionate about the chosen enterprise. This collective allows friends and family to get together to grow their savings and capital access in a way that is simply money for more money, in a gifting relationship. Life is easy when all that is being offered , is all that you are interested in
6. Everybody in the groups has different interest and talents. Being in a group where there is talent and resources has limitless other possibilities. This is fertile ground for community building and business exposure.

Personally being a member of a well established professional group has been a joy in so many ways. I have been sharing ideas with my community for over 30 years and to see so many coming together successfully is so awesome.

You don’t have to work in a factory to not have enough money. People in office buildings and with six figure incomes still are barely making it.  It does not matter if you live a factory life , an office life , or anything in between; you probably need the opportunity that comes from being part of a gifting group . We are all suffering together in silence and have no idea that a group of like minded people could be it’s own solution. Demanding a raise will only get you so far.The only things we don’t have as a people are the things we have not given ourselves, YET!

Wishing You Wealth, Wellness , and Wisdom

Manager of Wealth

P.S . Check this out Next – https://bit.ly/3axhSvS

Managerofwealthllc@gmail.com

Who is Responsible for your High Performing Black Child’s Higher Education?

Let’s have a unique adult conversation with a twist. First let’s assume we all love our children and want them to have the best  opportunities possible. Let’s also assume every parent of a high performing high school student is doing the best that they know to set them up for the future. I want to put those two statements up front because you may agree or disagree with what comes next and there is no value in getting into your feelings about facts because we are looking for solutions not emotional arguments.

For twenty years I have seen my friends, family , and business clients raise hundreds of children who were academically successful. These children were raised in two parent and single parent households. About 60% of the children went to very good or excellent public schools and 40% attended prestigious private schools. Universally, all of these parents provided academic, athletic, travel, and unique social opportunities to their children at great expense of time and money.  Every parent believed that exposure to cultural experiences and a view of a better life would increase their children’s chances of being successful in America.

I can honestly say that this parental strategy has a 95 to 99% success rate for opening doors for these children. Those that had the discipline to take advantage of the path laid by their hard working parents ended up with more great options by the end of high school than any of the black children the media promotes images of on television. In fact, success was absolutely the break out trend that I observed as the  natural result of proper preparation.

But there was another trend I have observed over the last twenty years that has given me pause and makes me ask the question, Who is responsible for paying for the higher education expenses of these high performing children?

I ask the question because a growing trend is that these well prepared children are being admitted to some very expensive colleges and universities. Parents who paid $3,000.00 to $8,000.00 per year thirty years ago are looking at their children being admitted to schools that start at $25,000 per year and are as high as $80,000.00 per year for an undergraduate education. These excellent Black students are regularly being admitted to schools where an education is going to cost 100k to 250k. Currently the average white college grad has about $34,000.00 in student loan debt and their default rate is 9%. The average Black College grad has $37,000.00 in student loan debt and the default rate is 18%. These numbers will only climb for Black students as they are admitted to more expensive schools and take on even debt in undergrad and grad schools.

When having conversations with parents over the last two decades the strategy for dealing with school broke down into a few general options.

1. get your child to perform so well in high school that a school gives them a scholarship which would reduce or eliminate the cost. (this is how I went to college BTW)
2. Get your child to perform so well as an athlete that they can get a full ride to play sports while they get their degree for free.
3. Let you child know you took care of school up to this point and that they are responsible financially from here to figure it out and what ever debt they take on is on them.
4.  Encourage your child to apply to schools you can afford or are comfortable going into debt for as a cosigner for their student loan debt.

It’s time we change the nature of the conversation and the options. I believe we have to make being fully financially prepared for every possibility a real priority. What many people do not realize is they are accomplishing 100% of the things they are really focused on getting done. Most people do not commit to putting themselves into the position to have the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed for college or the type of steady income that makes paying an easy option.

Let me be clear, getting a scholarship to college is awesome and lifts a big burden off of a family, but having the funds to afford school is a totally different level of internal comfort. One of my favorite sayings by Jim Rohn is “it’s not that it cost too much, it’s that you can’t afford it.”  I always found this statement empowering because it puts the power to determine the outcome in my hands at all times. As parents we insist that the kids do the hard work to put themselves in position and we should demand the same of ourselves.

We need to start considering the possibility that we have not learned enough or acquired the needed skills and business prowess to generate the type of money that makes our goals possible. Building the skills to pay much more than the bills will have a dual benefit. Learning to create the funds needed will secure your kids educational future and those skills will allow you to add to your retirement security and overall family security. In addition, the skills you learn will be transferable to your children and this will further enhance their options in life. Most of us don’t know how to generate capital in the amounts that we truly wish. Until you know what you simply don’t know, you can’t teach your children. We have to refuse to put off this hard work and hoping it works out for the next generation. It’s really easier to make the sacrifices needed to learn what we need to learn to become the type of producers our families are going to need in the future.

Our success has become so normal in such a short time we forget that the options our children have barely seemed possible just a generation ago. The next generation will only expand on the current foundation. We have to expand our revenue and asset producing skills to match the demands of our dreams. The great news is that not only is it possible but it is probable that we can get it done. The only reason we haven’t become the true producers we could be is that we haven’t really made it a goal in the forefront of our minds.

Three Steps to becoming a great producer:

1.Assess the skills you possess, the network you have, and what skills you need to develop to earn more capital as a business owner.

2. Learn what you need to learn and do what you need to do to get to your goal. Know you will ultimately be successful in this as you have been is 90 percent of what you have worked for in life.

3. Set a goal that is focused around your wants and not your needs. Most people goal plan around needs and bills and they accomplish those goals almost always. If only the goal had been what they wanted rather than what they needed. Paying bills makes other companies rich, planning for your wants can make you rich enough to truly be comfortable and secure.

Who is responsible for paying for your high performing children’s higher education? You are, so make it happen and teach them how to make it happen in their adult lives because college doesn’t to that. We all can attest to the shortcomings of a traditional education, one of which is not teaching you how to produce capital in the quantities desired. We were built to overcome these shortcomings and free our families financially.

Wishing you Wealth, Wellness, and Happiness

Manager of Wealth

Manager of Credit Live on 106.1 FM Ministry in the Marketplace

On February 23rd 2019 we had the pleasure of joining Host Elder Michael Davis on his Radio Show ” Ministry in the Marketplace” on Praise 106.1 FM in Baltimore. We spoke about how any business can obtain access to capital through business credit.

If you want to understand how simple and effective a process it is to build business credit listen to this live recording below. And if you would like to understand the process completely and how it can help your business call our Business Credit hotline and give us your name, email address and phone number and we will send you a Free 90 minute webinar that explains our 7 Step process to obtaining complete business credit, linked to your EIN and not your Social Security Number.

Listen Now: https://bit.ly/2EtiWCH

Call The Business Credit Hotline at 1-833-429-2733 (833-4BZ-CRED)

 

 

 

 

 

No Retirement Plan can Out Perform a Solid Marketing Plan

The name of the game is Income. It will always be Income. And for those who really understand living the life you dream of it will always be income.

These silly commercials on TV have people thinking all I need to be is a millionaire and their retirement issues are solved. Try retiring with 1 million dollars after leaving a six figure job. If you want to retain the principal and not get crushed by inflation you can’t draw down more than $40,000.00 a year in Income. That’s $40,000.00 before taxes.

The object of the game is to have the same or better income after you retire, and as close to tax-free as possible. Even the excellent savers are going to have a hard time meeting those goals because the mindset, education, and financial instruments being used can’t get you there.

That’s the not so good news but not to worry. I have nothing to sell you.   Right now you need to stop and think about what I’m about to share.

What you need is Income. Stable, abundant, consistent Income.

How do you know that you have enough Income?  It will meet all of your needs, most of your wants, and allows you to leave a tax-free financial legacy for your heirs.

How do you create this income?

You develop a system through testing that allows you to turn 1 dollar into 10 and then 10 into 100, and then scale up.

Let me give you an example. When I first started as a mortgage broker in 2001 I used to cold call everyday and hate it. It was not just the only type mortgage marketing I knew but it was the only type of marketing I could afford. Did I mention I hated it?

Luckily I discovered a better system called direct mail that allowed me to target the right customers with the right marketing piece and best of all I only had to talk to people who were interested.

I tested a mailing campaign with a $1000.00 in direct mail. I closed three loans that generated a net $5000.00 return. I scaled up and started sending out $4,000.00 in direct mail monthly and then $8000.00. That $4,000.00 averaged over $25,000 in revenue and that 8k returned over $60,000.00 per month. In the first 9 years as a mortgage banker we averaged 1 closing every 3 days. This was a system and the system was easy to scale.

Financial advisers are incredible if they can get you a 10 percent return of capital. I can’t give an adviser a thousand dollars and expect a five thousand dollar return consistently. Only business and marketing pays that type of return. The hard part is it requires you to put in whatever time, effort, and money needed to find the right business opportunity to turn into a system.

Everyday people operate in and around systems that can be scaled if only that mindset was present.  Once you have the system and you begin to scale it, you should keep your extra capital in tax-free instruments that stay liquid. Don’t play games in the market with your capital.

Many people think not having enough money is their issue. The truth is not having a solid system to invest and scale their money is the real issue. investing $1000.00 in a great system allowed me to flourish. I have friends with hundreds of thousands who feel stuck on well-paying jobs because they don’t know how to turn those thousands into millions.

I see business owners everyday who suffer because they can’t make a business that does 2 million in sales grow to 5 million in sales because they haven’t invested their capital in marketing and customer acquisition, instead they repeat the same performance year after year. At the end of the year they gather their profits and run to their brokers who promptly gets them pitiful profits or losses.

Three Questions to ask:

1. What business do I have insight into that can yield a 5 to 1 or 10 to 1 return?

2. If I don’t have a business and don’t want one , who has a business that yields these types of returns and can I partner with them.

3. Can this system once successful be scaled to be 5 or 10 times greater?

4. What is the amount of Residual Income I need to have in place to be wealthy?

Wishing you Wealth, Wellness and Wisdom

Mark

Every day on Facebook a Great Young Parent Dies and needlessly leaves their family BROKE!

Every day at least one social media friend post about a person under the age of 50 dying unexpectedly.  It seems that most of the time that person has a spouse and or children. It also seems that within days of the untimely death there are people asking for donations to help the family handle the funeral cost.

If you are reading this chances are you have a family. I am also going to assume that you love your family, and are making big plans for your children. Some of these plans may include a great primary and secondary education. Others may include making opportunities and experiences available to your kids in arts and culture.  Some even plan to make sure their children get a solid financial start once they reach adulthood.

I applaud your plans for your children. Your kids will have opportunities that you never even dreamed about when you were their age. Your hard work and sacrifice is paying for all of these opportunities as well as the basics, food, clothing, shelter, video games, etc. Congrats because you have a plan and the work ethic to get it done for your family.

The sad news is that you most likely have no real plan in place to fully provide the INCOME it will take to carry out those plans if you were to pass away prematurely. Thirty Seven percent of parents with children under the age of 18 have no life insurance. Fifty percent of the parents that are insured have less than 100,000.00 in life insurance.

People are dying every day on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and leaving their families broke. Even people who have six figure incomes are leaving their families in horrible financial shape.

The uninsured risk of being a parent is hitting more and more families every day. Many 30 and 40-year-old parents are being stricken with breast cancer, diabetes, stokes, heart attack and sleep apnea. Not to mention simple work and non-work related accidents and car crashes. The ranks of the six figure earners are exploding with women and minorities like never before in the history of the U.S.. The numbers for Blacks owning life insurance are 3% higher than the percentage of whites who own life insurance but the amounts are inadequately low.

The ranks of the properly insured grow smaller every day. Why? Because the idea of what being properly insured is has not advanced in the last two generations and the wealthy are the only ones truly taking advantage of the opportunity to advance their family legacy through the proper use of insurance.

Being properly insured means being able to totally replace your yearly income for the full time your family will need it. How long do your children and/or your spouse NEED your income?  How long does your family need your spouse’s income? Depending on the commitments you have made that could mean 25 to 50 years. 30 year plans for houses, 5 year plans for cars and 20 year plans for credit cards. Do you have a plan that will pay for that long? Do you have total income replacement insurance that you personally own? If not, you are leaving your entire family in peril every day because you refuse to totally cover the risk.

A recent survey was done of six figure earning parents and they were asked how much life insurance protection they had. The number than had over $500,000.00 was less than 5%. The number the that had none was over 20%.The number that would have none if they loss or changed their job was over 40%. This is an epidemic problem. Can your family lose over $100,000.00 of yearly income and still operate at the same level?

Life insurance is about replacing your income to protect your legacy and not leaving things to chance. Houses, cars, and other obligations are all gambling if you do not protect your downside risk. Let’s truly be honest about where we are financially because the risk is easily covered if we are determined to do so.

How to replace Income

$500,000.00 can only replace about $20,000.00 in income long term because you can’t really get more than a 4% guaranteed return in any stable financial instrument. That means to replace $100,000.00 you need about $2.5 million in life insurance. Put in the proper instrument it will pay $100,000.00 per year forever. It will pay your spouse, your children, and your childrens’ children, etc.. Learning how to do this properly and for as little cost as possible is an art.

BTW, If you have coverage on your job you need to purchase proper coverage that you own.  Having insurance on a job is like having no coverage at all. If you lose or leave your job that is exactly what you will have only you will be older than you are now and the coverage will cost much more. Don’t fall into the trap that gets so many Americans. There are so many Americans looking for proper coverage that they are simply to old or too sick to qualify for. Insurance favors the young and the healthy and time is not on your side.

The structure of a proper income replacement plan is key. If you don’t have a plan that will replace your income for the next 50 years minimum then call me so I can help refer to an awesome advisor and teacher.

Having no plan is a plan to fail, and today’s parents are failing their children everyday by only considering the possibilities if everything remains perfect. Nothing ever goes perfectly. Plan for the worst and hope for the best and you will never have any regrets. You need a plan that covers you and your family if everything goes wrong. By law you cannot drive a car or own a home without proper coverage. Why can you be a parents without proper coverage. So much is riding on YOU!

If you need more information and a referral to a great professional, email me at managerofwealthllc@gmail.com

Wishing you Wealth Wellness and Wisdom

Mark Fuller

Manager of Wealth

The CEO of your MLM/Direct Sales Company is running the company like a regular business, why aren’t YOU?

There is a disturbing trend growing around the country. It has been growing for the last 30 years but it is positioned to explode over the next decade.  If not put in check, it will destroy or waste millions of man hours and dollars that belong to people who can ill afford to waste either.

The trend I am speaking of is people who are in Direct Marketing/Multilevel marketing sales who do not keep good account of the time or resources invested in their businesses that pay temporary residual income. Now before anyone jumps all over me for speaking negatively about their precious MLM, I want you to go back and read the last sentence about keeping accurate track of the time and money invested for the return. This piece is not about how good or bad any direct sales business is.  It’s about how good a business person you are.

Over the last few years the world has been overrun with people who are trading huge blocks of time at meetings, conventions, promotional events and sales seminars for their direct sales companies. These same people are investing almost as much time in their part time businesses as they are at their full time job but earning less than 10k from their business and investing twice that in travel, hotel cost, merchandise cost, rental cars etc. Their approach to business spits in the face of common business practices and is an abomination to the common sense they show everyday outside of their MLM business.

The facts are that less than 2% of reps who have ever joined a direct sales business ever made any real money and built a profitable and sustainable business. Can it be done, yes. Can you do it without adhering to sound business principles, probably not? http://abt.cm/1BiGvZF

In full disclosure I have operated in several MLM businesses but found them way to limiting for the creative way I love to do business and frankly it was always too much work for too little money. Over the years I’ve been blessed to generate millions of dollars in non MLM businesses that required me to be focused on the top and bottom lines.  I never spent more time for less money that in recruiting and selling in an MLM because the business simply wasn’t designed to make me rich but to make the company rich through the use of labor and financial resources of many people who would never enjoy the spoils of the company.

In the business world important things like expenses, cost of goods sold, profit margins, return on investment and time invested are direct measures of how strong a business you have built. In MLM these things are rarely talked about nor calculated. In fact, the interest where these things are concerned are directly opposite of the interest of the sales rep.

Let me explain. The company that starts the MLM is a regular business like any other in the United States. They start with a certain amount of money and a business plan; they rent office space or warehouse space and hire hourly employees. They calculate the cost of the product they are selling and stock it. They have warehouse employees that handle distributions and they have a limited time to become profitable or they shut the business and declare bankruptcy.

The thing that makes these firms different is that their business model is based on telling people who are employed to make the change to become self-employed and embrace their limitless options. They build a virtually free labor force with no payroll taxes and workman’s comp.  They tell people to stop being a slave to their 9 to 5 and invest their time, energy and money into the pursuit of financial freedom. To do this they can sell their products and earn a fixed commission which is tied to cost of goods sold and profitability, but is never disclosed. Sales Reps attend conventions and meetings in hotels where the company has room rental rate deals, but that’s not disclosed.  They can recruit others to do the same and earn more fixed commission known as overrides, which again is tied to undisclosed profitability and cost of goods sold.

At the end of the year that MLM business is either profitable or not and if not it won’t be around for much longer.  The residual income people speak about will not pay forever because people will switch or cancel services over time. At the end of the year the company files taxes and pays payroll tax on all the corporate office and warehouse employees just like any other business. At the end of the year the principals reward themselves with big fat bonuses for how profitable the company was that year. The only real difference from other companies is their cost of labor because they do not pay for the countless man hours the salespeople put in to make it to certain promotional levels and win prizes. Most fail to ever make a profit, but the profitability for the company is actually higher on the majority that fails than it is on the minority that succeeds.

This is a very profitable business model if you own the MLM/Direct sales business.

Conversely, for the common rep they do not evaluate how many hours they spent on their business per week, how much product they purchased, how many conventions they attended, hotels and rentals cars paid for etc.  They do not subtract that from the amount of capital earned to determine their profitability. If they did they would see that they were upside down and need a plan to get right side up. They do not have an opportunity to lower the cost of goods sold or increase the profitably on the items they are marketing by getting better pricing at the manufacture, in fact they have no idea what COGS actually is.

The MLM/direct sales rep has no idea when the others they recruited will look at what time and money they invested and finally hit the wall and quit as happens with most. It’s a style of business with a 98% failure rate for the marketer and a very high success rate for the company.

They only way to change this paradigm is to run the direct sales/ MLM business like a real business and track all of those metrics that your parent company is tracking. Put together a plan and capital and build a profitable business before you burn through your budget and teach your recruits to do the same. Have monthly meetings that discuss and share hours and dollars invested versus dollars earned.  Don’t be afraid of the hard truth.

Be realistic about the residual aspect of these businesses. People do and will continue to switch phone companies, utilities carriers, makeup providers etc., so the residual is temporary unless you invest your profits into truly residual financial products that pay life time income.

Have fun, do your best and leave a legacy and pathway to success but please run your business like a business.

Wishing you Wealth, Wellness and Wisdom

Manager of Wealth

Blacks who attended predominantly white universities can use their Power, Influence and Money to help today’s Students

I am taking this entire week to recover from all the hanging out I did with my fellow alums at the University of Maryland Homecoming this past week. I sit in a café writing and reflecting on all that has changed at my alma mater since 1989. More to the point, I am reflecting on all that has happened to change Black life at the university since the first Black undergrad (Hiram Whittle) was admitted in 1951, the first Black grad student (Parren J. Mitchell) in 1952, and the first Black Women (Elaine Johnson) in 1955.

For the Blacks who attended UM before the early 1980s, it was a largely racist and unwelcoming step toward a better life in America. The majority of the administration, faculty, staff and students called and treated those students as if they did not belong. So much so that the federal government had to step in and insist the University change its treatment. One item on that list was use of the word “Nigger,” which, if you talk to anyone who came through UM between 1951 and 1979, was the first word they heard when the stepped on the campus. As a result of their treatment, it is difficult to find Black graduates for the 1950 and 1960s, because almost all transferred to more progressive and welcoming institutions of higher learning.

By the 1980s and 1990s, UM had been transformed into a mini-HBCU, with a Black student body that numbered close to 1,500. Those students enjoyed total access to university resources and a prospering and successful Black student body. When I arrived at UM in 1989, I was overwhelmed by the large campus and the 35,000 predominantly white students. But within weeks I was enveloped in the arms of the Black Terps and have remained so for the past 25 years. I can’t tell you the hundreds of incredible benefits that have sprung from my time at UM, but can attest to the fact those benefits arose out of the great relationships forged during my time at UM, and nurtured ever since.

And here are some of the facts to bear witness to the facts that the benefits of UM are not mine alone:

• The University of Maryland has the largest group of Black Alumni of any predominantly white institution in the United States of America.
• The University of Maryland produces more Black Lawyers than any institution including HBCUs in the country.
• The University of Maryland instituted a rule that all athletes will be allowed to stay at the university and complete their degrees.
• The University of Maryland graduates 86% of its matriculating Black males and 89% of its matriculating Black females, more than any other similar school.

It is now time for the Black alum of the University of Maryland to take their rightful place in shaping the next 100 years of Black life at our wonderful institution. Black Alums have amassed power, influence and money both nationally and internationally, and it is time that those resources are put to great use for the next generation of leaders, lawyers, engineers, scientist, businesspeople, artists and others seeking a top-notch education.

Because many alums identify more closely with their classmates, fraternities and sororities and organizations than they the university itself, it can be difficult to determine how best to make a contribution to serve the next generation of Black students. Below are a few rules for giving that will help ensure your contributions can reach, and more importantly affect, the future wellbeing of Black students at UM:

Rule 1

Target your giving. If you want to help provide money scholarships for Black students, make sure your money is earmarked specifically for that purpose. Unless your money is earmarked, it can end up anywhere the university sees fit. Neither Bill Gates nor Warren Buffet give money unconditionally, so why should you?

Rule 2

Find a UM organization you care about and give through them. Give through a group focused on the community you seek to help. Such donations give that group more power and influence, and help them achieve their mission. In addition, those donations send a message to the university that this group is a force to be reckoned with. Giving through a specific organization also provides you with more opportunities to observe how your money is being spent, and allows you to play a greater role (if you want to) in helping that organization meet its goals.

Rule 3

If you had a bad experience with racism and bigotry while at the University, you are just as responsible to give to the current student population if you have the resources to do so. America has been a largely challenging experience for  Blacks, but the Black students of 1951 – 1979 are as needed as the grads from 1980 to the present. You need to come see that your sacrifice was worth it. In 1951 if someone called you a nigger you took it; by 1989 the person who used such words was not tolerated by the University or the Black students. Now that’s progress!

Today’s students have a different perspective of race relations that we did, and our perspective was far different than those first UM pioneers in the 50s and 60s. But we stood on the shoulders of those that came before us, because their influence paved the way for the seats we took. We must use our influence to pave the way for today’s students, though our commitment to them in time, service, and money.

Rule 4

Don’t just give money. Be visible. Go to alum functions; go to football and basketball games. Volunteer to mentor a student. Provide internship opportunities at your job or business. The ability to help another person’s life turn out better is real power. Call your friends who went to school with you and encourage them to make their power and influence felt at your alma mater. Your network is your net worth.

Rule 5

Give out of love, not obligation. I appreciate UM for the opportunities and relationships it provided me. I choose to give to the university because I love the young people I may never meet, and relish the opportunity to positively influence the outcome of their lives. I encourage you, as fellow alums, to do the same. It is a blessing to be able to help others, and UM has helped me provide that blessing. Being a contributing member of UM alumni community has also has provided numerous financial opportunities and unforgettable memories.

But if you are reading this and weren’t lucky enough to have gone to the University of Maryland, I am sure that there is an educational institution that helped you (or could have), and the students there could use your help. These rules still apply.

The easiest way to get involved and implement these rules is to reach out to fellow alum that you see working hard for the university and ask how you can be of service. Other than that go to homecoming next year and experience what you helped to create.

Wishing you Wealth, Wellness and Wisdom

Your Mortgage as Your Financial Tool and Not Your Financial Burden

I’m so happy to announce my new book “Your Mortgage As Your Financial Tool, Not Your Financial Burden” is now available on Amazon. I’d love for you to give me your opinion of this educational mortgage buying guide. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IJG8IRY

I hope the information in this book helps you, your friends, and your family make more informed decisions regarding the biggest financial investment of most people’s lives.

Please drop me a line as a book review. All feedback is welcome. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IJG8IRY

In addition, if you or anyone you know needs a great mortgage banker in Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C, North Carolina, Georgia, or Pennsylvania call me at 410-908-5987.

Thank you for being a friend,

Manager of Wealth