Author Archives: admin

How to Cultivate a Growth Mindset

Posted on by

“What you think, you become.”

The idea that our thoughts become our reality? Well that’s something we tend to forget, even if we know it’s true. We prefer to tinker with our outside worlds—to switch our diets, change jobs, try a new life hack. Don’t get me wrong, these do help you move toward a better life.

“Wealth occurs in the mind long before it ever shows up in the wallet”

But the most successful people in history know this: Your thoughts create your reality.

Ancient Wisdom
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” —Lao Tzu


“90% of success is mindset.” —David Bayer
Science has finally joined the party and confirmed what our top minds have known for three millennia: Our minds create what shows up in our reality. David Bayer’s clearly done serious thinking about mindset and he had some fascinating science about the power of thought:

  • Thoughts create happiness: In a study published in the Yonsei Medical Journal, researchers found a strong connection between positive thinking and overall life satisfaction.
  • Visualization creates our future: Scientists at the Institute of Neurology in London have shown that those who visualize a better future are more likely to create one.
  • Affirmations bring results: Researchers at the University of Exeter foundthat people who use affirmations (constructive, repetitive thought) to set goals were more likely to achieve them.
  • We tell our brain what to look out for: The Reticular Activating System in our brainstem allows only important information into our consciousness. Studies suggest we can program it with a positive mindset and good things will show up in our lives.
  • Negativity steals our power: When we worry or feel fear, our adrenal glands release the hormone cortisol. Research shows that high levels hurt our productivity and lead to burnout.
  • Others’ mindsets influence our own: Neuroscientists recently discovered“mirror neurons” in the brain that respond to actions we see in others. Surround yourself with positive thinkers and you’ll become one.

— Read on www.success.com/how-to-cultivate-a-growth-mindset/

How to Choose a VPN for Digital Privacy & Security – Consumer Reports

Posted on by

Just about all security experts agree that using a VPN, or virtual private network, when you’re accessing the internet via computer or phone is a good idea. In particular, a VPN is one of the easiest ways to avoid getting hacked while you’re taking advantage of the free WiFi at an airport or library.

But some VPNs are better than others. And a few even sell the consumer data they collect for a profit. Sorting through the various options can be a tough task, even for people schooled in digital security.
— Read on www.consumerreports.org/privacy/how-to-choose-a-vpn-for-digital-privacy-and-security/

Financial Wellbeing Pays Off | Gallup

Posted on by
  • Employee wellbeing is more than just physical health
      • A person’s experience of the five elements of wellbeing affects their work
      A financial wellbeing initiative can improve performance

    Gallup’s research into wellbeing found that “a life well-lived” — the underlying concept of wellbeing — requires the fulfillment of five elements: Career, Social, Physical, Community and Financial wellbeing. A person’s experience of wellbeing — whether thriving, struggling or suffering — affects every aspect of their life. Including their experience of their job.
    — Read on www.gallup.com/workplace/267152/financial-wellbeing-pays-off.aspx

    Five retirement income planning tips. | New York Life

    Posted on by

    Save, invest, start early and delay retirement as long as possible are the conventional points of wisdom about retirement planning. But an investor should also consider what their income needs will be in retirement.

    Here are some tips to move your thinking from saving for to living in retirement:

    THINK INCOME, NOT JUST DOLLARS SAVED.
    Instead of focusing on a target number (i.e., “I want to save $500,000 by age 60”), think about income. 

    • What are your monthly expenses and are you able to cover them?
    • Do you plan to downsize? Or would you like to treat yourself to some luxuries in retirement? Do you want travel?
    • Do you want to leave a legacy to your family?
    • How will your savings fare against inflation?
  • There are many great online tools to help you nail down those details—take a look at some of our planning tools.
      • REVISIT YOUR INITIAL WITHDRAWAL RATE.
      You may start off your retirement with certain needs, but those needs inevitably will change. Make sure you evaluate your withdrawal rate with your financial professional at least annually to make sure you are not drawing too much or too little, and are taking life changes into account.
      TO TAKE OR NOT TO TAKE SOCIAL SECURITY.
      Deciding when to take Social Security varies by individual. Conventional wisdom suggests taking Social Security as late as possible, but that may not be the best decision for you, depending on your health, marital, and financial status. A financial professional can help you determine your ideal time.
      TRANSITION YOUR PORTFOLIO FOR RETIREMENT.
      Build in time to make necessary changes to your portfolio before you retire. That way you are ready and are not making any unnecessary shifts during retirement. In general, a retirement portfolio is less about growth and more about income.
      PLAN FOR A LONG LIFE.
      Life expectancy is on the rise, thanks to advances in health care. This means your money will have to last longer. Consider long-term income vehicles, such as fixed immediate annuities, that provide a steady stream of income for life.
      Making sure you have enough income to live comfortably can help ensure that you don’t tarnish your golden years. By using these tips, you can plan today for a better tomorrow.
      — Read on www.newyorklife.com/articles/5-retirement-income-planning-tips

    Know Your Main Purpose.

    Posted on by

    Know your main purpose is the most important habit of the wealthy and successful. Those people who pursue a dream or a main purpose in life are by far the wealthiest and happiest among us. Because they love what they do for a living, they are happy to devote more hours each day driving toward their purpose.

    Odds are, if you are not satisfied or happy at your job, it is because you are doing something you do not particularly like. When you can do something you enjoy, you have found your main purpose.

    A quick way to get a sense of your life’s purpose is by reviewing the kind of person you are and the abilities that come naturally to you. This way, you can gain insight into your life purpose, says psychotherapist Tina Tessina, Ph.D., author of The Ten Smartest Decisions a Woman Can Make after Forty. Do so by writing down a list of descriptions about yourself in each of the following categories:

    • Personal qualities (e.g., friendly, intellectual, a good communicator)
    • Your talents (e.g., painting, motivating people by public speaking, athletics, mentoring)
    • The circumstances that tend to repeat in your life (e.g., do you wind up teaching others, listening to people’s problems, working with children or technology?)
    • Your desires (e.g., traveling, cleaning up the environment, running for political office)

    Then take the answer that is most important to you in each category and complete the following sentence:

    I ________________ (your name) am designed to be a ________________ (insert personal quality) who can ________________ (insert talent) and I find myself ________________ (fill in recurring patterns or circumstances) often, because I am supposed to ________________ (desire).

    Source: “Answer 6 Questions to Reveal Your Life Purpose”, By jjimenez, Success Magazine, December 25, 2014
    https://www.success.com/answer-6-questions-to-reveal-your-life-purpose/

    Juggling Competing Priorities | T. Rowe Price

    Posted on by

    How to balance your own needs with those of your children and aging parents.

    Key Points

    • Putting your own financial security first is the best way to ensure your ability to help others.
    • An open and honest conversation about finances is a critical first step in helping parents.
    • Set clear expectations about what support you can provide for your grown children.

    Feeling pulled in different directions raising children while caring for aging parents? You’re not alone. According to a recent T. Rowe Price survey, as many as a third of parents with school-age children are facing the same challenge. Often referred to as the “sandwich generation,” they find themselves wedged between competing priorities across multiple generations. And this group is growing, so it’s possible you could find yourself in this situation in the future.  

    The impacts are real

    There may be direct financial impacts for those in this situation—for example, our survey found nearly a third of those caring for an aging parent or relative spend $3,000 a month or more to do so. “The reality is that your resources are limited,” says Judith Ward, CFP®, a senior financial planner with T. Rowe Price. “Remember to first focus on taking care of yourself, which will better position you to help your loved ones.”
    — Read on www.troweprice.com/personal-investing/planning-and-research/t-rowe-price-insights/retirement-and-planning/personal-finance/juggling-competing-priorities.html

    AT&T Unveiling of HBOMax

    Posted on by

    John Stanley, AT&T President and WarnerMedia CEO, was interviewed recently on CNBC regarding the unveiling of HBOMax. From his perspective, HBOMax will be an incredible value for customers. The service will be introduced in May 2020 and will be extremely important to the future of WarnerMedia and AT&T. Essentially, “we are all in”, which means that all of WarnerMedia and AT&T have been instrumental in the introduction of the HBOMax product. The service will support an ad model. Produce general entertainment content, need a way to get content out to consumers.

    But, why would people pay $14.99 when Disney, Apple and Netflix peers are much less in price. Mr. Stankey commented that they, Disney and the others, are not the same product. He believes that HBOMax reaches a broader demographic and has a much broader and unique content offering. And, bundled with other AT&T’s products and services such as distribution, pay tv and other products. Offering HBOMax video on AT&T’s distribution systems and wireless will definitely lower churn.

    With the size of HBOMax’s content offering and the reality of the strength of the AT&T distribution network, the combination will be very strong. And, WarnerMedia can say it succeeded when you get people to come in and pay for the product.

    By 2025, it is projected that HBOMax will be profitable and generate $1B EDITDA. The amount is insignificant when AT&T generates $30B in free cash flow (FCF). Most analysts were positive about the product. How do you get a younger demographic, which have grown up not paying for this stuff and and get those 16M incremental subscribers and the 60 million to 70 million incremental subscribers around the world. Put something of value in front of them, they will pay for it as their income and wealth grow.

    Analysts and smart investors, such as Elliott Management, do not have great confidence in AT&T management team. Misstep with regards with Direct TV paying $67B for the product. The erosion in the pay TV bundle has been faster the projected. Always going to be a transition from satellite subscribers to software subscribers. Not further along in that transition.

    Mr. Stankey has conveyed that WarnerMedia is in a much better place today then the day the merger with Time Warner closed. Furthermore, he conveyed that analysts and company stakeholders should have great confidence in the AT&T management team. He cited the Time Warner team integration into AT&T has been successful. Anytime you buy a company at a premium, you cannot run it the same as before and must make changes and hard decisions to get value out of it. We restructured the division and broke down the silos and got people to work together. This is probably the first occasion, he said, that the HBO brand has adorned a billboard on the Warner Brothers Lot.

    Why the peak in satellite loses because they are offering a more desirable product that should slow the rate of decline. Erosion in the pay tv bundles. They have pulled a lot of cash out of Direct. They wanted to transition the satellite subscriber base to a software subscriber business. More on demand general entertainment content to stay on the platform and not have to go someplace else.

    Erosion in the satellite business. Subscriber base from satellite subscribers to software subscribers. Feel it is the peak in Direct TV subscribers loses. Direct TV Now, which became AT&T Now, the over the top product. Overtime, live sports and entertainment will become part of the product. Such a state of change in the market. Margin probably more compressed on a per subscriber basis.

    10 BDCs to Buy for Big-Time Income

    Posted on by

    Business development companies (BDCs) were literally designed with dividends in mind. These 10 BDCs to buy yield up to 10.9%.

    Business development companies provide firms with debt and equity capital, or a combination of the two, to help them grow. Many of the largest BDCs available to investors today provide equity and debt financing to middle-market companies, a considerable number of which operate industrial businesses with stable cash flows.

    They first came to be in 1980 when Congress passed an amendment to the Investment Act of 1940 that created a new category of closed-end investment company: BDCs.

    For tax purposes, BDCs must pay out 90% or more of their taxable income in the form of dividends so they can retain the tax benefits of regulated investment companies. BDCs may raise their dividends in boom times, however it’s not uncommon for some to cut their payouts depending on the business environment.

    BDCs have become popular with retail investors over the past decade because of the significant income they generate. These companies often yield more than 8% on their distributions.

    One thing to pay attention to when evaluating BDCs is costs. Externally managed BDC pay advisory fee and typically pay a low double digit percentage of returns or profits to the fund advisory manager. Internally managed BDC do not pay advisory fees. It does, however, incur the operating expenses of employing investment professionals to do investment analysis, research and other duties.

    — Read on www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/T018-S001-10-bdcs-to-buy-for-big-time-income/index.html

    7 Secrets of Highly Successful Investors | Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

    Posted on by

    Prosper in this volatile market (or any other) by focusing on fundamentals.

    In investing, it’s as important to practice good habits as it is to avoid bad ones, and the stakes have rarely been higher. The longest bull market on record is in its 11th year, volatility is sky-high, the economy is uncertain and market sentiment is skittish.

    But long-term investors should rise above the fray and focus on the fundamentals. You already know you shouldn’t buy stock on a tip from your Uncle Fred. But it’s even more important to set appropriate goals, save regularly and monitor your progress. Don’t beat yourself up for the occasional mistake. But if you follow the seven steps below, you’re likely to feel good about your portfolio over the course of a long investing career.

    — Read on www.kiplinger.com/article/investing/T023-C000-S002-7-secrets-of-highly-successful-investors.html

    The Basics of Creating Your Emergency Fund | MakingCents | Navy Federal Credit Union

    Posted on by

    Saving for Your Emergency Fund

    Having an emergency fund can help you feel at ease and prepared for the unexpected. Putting aside three to six months of living expenses takes time. Start by opening an emergency savings account and begin making regular deposits, no matter how small. Look for accounts that pay the most interest, so your money can grow even faster.

    Set a deadline to reach each of your goals. It’s helpful to have a plan in place to hold yourself accountable for reaching your goals. Having a deadline can help you stay on track. Don’t worry if you get a little behind. What’s important is that you’re moving ahead.

    Track your progress. Remember-every little bit counts. Even if you only save a small amount each week, you’ll be building a cushion you didn’t have before. When you track your progress, you’ll see that you’re not only earning interest on the money you contribute, but you’re also earning interest on the interest you earned before. Take the time to enjoy watching your little fund grow. 

    Resist the urge to spend it. It might be tempting to use your money on the latest technology or a fun vacation, but resist spending your emergency fund unless you really have an emergency. That way, it will be there when you really need it.

    — Read on makingcents.navyfederal.org/knowledge-center/financial-literacy/saving–getting-started/emergency-funds.html