I recently happened upon a site called iwillteachyoutoberich.com. This obviously caught my attention as I am always looking for people who have new perspectives on personal finance. This gentlemen seems to be a bit ahead of the game as he has already developed a web site and recently released a book.

    I continued to look at the web site for two reasons. One i want to be rich, or more specifically, wealthy and I am always looking for tips or information that can inspire posts on my own site. Interestingly enough Ramit Sethi refers in one post to The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. This is interesting because I recently read that book and posted my thoughts and opinion on the ideas discussed inside. Ramit shares some themes such as automation. Now Tim and Ramit are not the only ones to take this view of automation. You may have heard of a book titled , “The Automatic Millionaire” by David Bach. His book was published before both of the above mentioned so maybe he inspired them.

   I like the layout of the site, it is clear and easy to read. He talks about using ING Direct Savings because it has a feature called “sub-accounts”. These allow you to create pseudo accounts within your main account as a way of organizing your money. For those of us who are visual or compartmental, this is a real plus. The downside is ING is offering less than 1% on savings. Granted rates are not high now but there are several banks offering in the 2.25% range.

   I will probably get the book. It is inexpensive and if I come away with something that saves me $10 just one time it would have paid for itself. I do find that my brain is becoming full. I think I may be at my limits in terms of what I can research and read. Ramit talks about action and that is exactly where I find myself. He took action by co-founding a web company and writing a book. I can relate as those are two things I am striving to do as well. Where are you now? Are you ready to take action? If so what will that action be?

   I picked up this book recently over my brief vacation and read it over three days. This is nota get rich quick book. This book explains a way of living, a state of mind, a “lifestyle”, as it is referred to in the book. Tim is a successful, young, entrepreneur, and definitely worth emulating. He lives all over the world because he does not believe in grinding it out for 40 years, retiring and praying your money will last. Tim believes in living these experiences continually in chunks throughout your life.

   What gave this book value to me was that he used real examples. One example he uses is Doug Price. Doug Price aka Demon Doc has an online site trying to create a movement of open source music. On the site is a file with beats and loops that you can download called onliness. When trying to download this file initially i ran into a problem opening the file. I emailed using the link on that site and when I sat down to check it out again it was fixed. To me this shows Tim associates with good people.

   The focus of the book is automating you life. Turning your life into processes that can then be outsources to other people. And he means everything from birthday cards to product distribution. It is like looking at your life and turning it into a franchise.

   I can  not give specifics obviously , do not want to get sued, but a vital part of the 4 hour work week is having a business that can be automated. There are two important things here. One, you have to have a business if your are going to truly succeed. Its not to say you could not lead a happy fulfilling life, but you are working otmake someone else rich. Time can not be bought so it is priceless. Having a successful business will give you that freedom of time. I am not saying it will not take some work up front but the potential is infinite.

   Tim gives you an outline of the type of product you should create and how to build a business around your merchandise. He then writes how to go about setting up your business. The thing I really liked about The 4 Hour Work Week is that he gives you links and examples.  He talks about using Virtual Assistants to do tasks to free time for you to live life.

   I enjoyed this book, and definitely learned some new things. In my opinion it was worth the time to read. Remember people, there is no easy fix to your money trouble. If there was, I would have find it. Do what you can to continue to learn and put things into action. I think this is a pretty good blueprint of success. You obviously have to come up with your on idea but he gives you the steps and methods to action along the way.

Good luck!

~ Matt

Do not remember if it was early or late, but I was watching television. Being one who is always looking to absorb new knowledge about financing and investing, my ears are automatically keyed to things such as debt, money, stocks, invest, etc. So as I am perusing the channels I hear debt, something many of us are all too familiar with, and cure and Kevin Trudeau. These words being familiar I stop to listen. Hey, it is a free country; I am willing to give any one a chance.

I have not read the book personally but did some research to see what people said. I was surprised to see it was actually a mixed bag. Some people said it was great and helped them. Others said it was a scam and a waste. From what I read here are the conclusions I made, I probably will not get the book and the reason is in one of my conclusions.

- People even today with all our technology are vastly under educated on the subject of finance. This would be why people who found the book to be worth the money. I am not saying they are not smart, but it shows that are educational systems are lacking.

- Although there is legitimate material in the book, it can be found free on the Internet in 10 minutes. E.g., call creditors to lower your interest rate, or pay down your balances to improve your credit score.

- This guy is trying to make money and he gets a lot of it by hard selling “upgrades”. Kevin Trudeau is willing to risk your anger and legal action to charge your credit card for a subscription you may or may not receive. Much like insurance and other risk prone businesses, it is a calculated risk that he obviously found works in his favour.

- Lastly, and not unlike any of the other shameless cons out there, he is preying on peoples desperation, there wish for a cure all to their debt and someone to blame.

What does this mean for you? Yes, credit card companies and or banks are trying to get your money. Is it fair – no, is the government doing enough to regulate some of their practices – no, but no one made you go out and buy the latest LCD TV or the $300 worth of clothes. I am not saying this is always the case, but it is more often than not. Believe me, I had a family young, did not make a lot of money and often had to turn to credit to make ends meet. I admit I am guilty of living outside of my means at times or not saving for something that I probably did not need to buy that second. So if you want to save some money, do not buy the book, $20, plus the possible hard sells (I believe another $200 according to one review I read), and do some research on the internet (financial benefit only limited by you).

-=Matt

Time Inc. to Close Business 2.0 
 
By BRAD STONE
Published: September 5, 2007
The latest dot-com casualty comes from the newsstand, not the Internet. Ten editorial staff members from Business 2.0 will join Time Inc.’s Fortune magazine. Business 2.0, a monthly magazine about the new economy, will be shut down rather than sold, its owners at Time Inc. have decided. The publication, which has been suffering from a decline in advertising revenue, will cease publication after its October issue, which will have a cover article on where to invest in a real estate downturn.

According to people familiar with Time Inc.’s handling of the matter, Time turned down offers from Mansueto Ventures, owners of the rival magazine Fast Company, and other prospective buyers to acquire the Business 2.0 brand and its circulation list of 600,000 subscribers.

nytimes.com – Click for Complete Story