Getting a Credit Card with Bad Credit

Getting a credit card with bad credit is not as hard as you may think. The types of credit cards that can be obtained with bad credit is the real problem.

There exists a financial practice called adverse selection. Adverse selection is the process of singling out potential customers who are considered higher risks than the average. Credit card companies combat this risk (the risk that people will default on their credit cards) by charging higher interest rates and annual fees. However, this is where the problems begin. If I have a great credit score, why I am going to get a credit card with high interest rates and high annual fees? The answer is, I would not get the card. Therefore, because people with good credit do not want the card, only people with below average credit scores (people that are “high risk”) apply for and obtain the card. Thus, a vicious circle is created. As the credit card companies charge more interest and fees on particular cards to offset the potential of default by high risk cardholders, those particular cards are only obtained by high risk cardholders. Thus, the behavior that the credit card company set out to deter is actually being promoted by the credit card companies’ practices.

So, if you have bad credit, where does this leave you? This leaves you with bad options as to credit card ownership. First, you could get one of those high interest, high annual fee, and low credit limit cards. You will probably pay more in annual fees and interest than you will principal. However, having the card (as long as it is a major credit card; Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover) and using it responsibly will help raise your credit score.

Second, you could obtain a secured credit card. This means that you have to put down a deposit. The amount of the deposit is the amount of your credit limit. It works as a debit card except that it is reported as a credit card (which is a benefit), but it also has high fees and interest rates (these are disadvantages).

Last, you could obtain a merchant credit card (Macy’s, Dillard’s, Sears, etc.). Having this kind of a card will help boost your credit score. However, the interest rate is going to be very high. These cards usually do not have annual fees, but the high interest rate is a great disadvantage.

Even though options are limited and not the best, they are options. Start reestablishing your credit today so that you can help finance your future and save money.

Conventional Personal Finance

There are many bad things that you can do with your money or to your money. There are also many goods things you can do with or to your money. What should you do and what should you avoid?

(1) Plan Your Finances – Budgets are very hard to stick to and can cause many headaches, however, planning the big purchases can help protect you from a financial blunder. Always plan out the big purchases before reaching a final decision. This will not guarantee that you made a wise purchase, but it will make you think out and research all the details before concluding one way or the other.

(2) Always Use Interest Bearing Accounts When Possible – Many banks offer interest bearing checking accounts, and various other interest accounts. While deciding between investment opportunities or for the money you keep in an account to pay the bills, collecting interest on this idle money can quickly add up. You will not become rich, but this is the easiest, risk free money you will ever collect.

(3) Diversify – This is very common and effective advice. The recent volatility of the real estate market is a perfect example. Many people lost everything because they threw all of their investment money into the real estate market during the boom. Unfortunately, like gravity, what goes up must come down, and that is what the market did, with a vengeance. If these people had been diversified (meaning they had spread their investment dollars through various industries and markets) these people would have minimized, and probably offset any loss they received from the real estate market.

Doing these three, simple things will help you generate and maintain income for many years to come.

Surviving Financially After You Have Been Laid Off

It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, economic factors beyond your control cause a company to downsize. Sometimes, a merger or a buyout means that a company’s employees will be laid off. What do you do now?

For purposes of this article, we will assume that our fictional, laid off worker did not have any savings, or money set aside in order to “weather the storm,” so to speak. To tell somebody that has been laid off to tap into their savings assumes that the person has savings. One cannot give advice about what to do AFTER one has been laid off based on assumptions of what one should have done BEFORE one was laid off. Do you see the problem with that?

First and foremost, you cannot stay discouraged for long. Being discouraged makes you doubt yourself and, therefore, takes away your motivation to find a new career. If you are feeling discouraged, remember that statistics show that people now-a-days change career three or four times throughout their work lives.

At this point, you have to sit down and calculate your bills. Note what you have in your bank account and see how long (under a worse case scenario) that you could survive without working. Now take that timeframe and shorten it by two (2) weeks. Once you figure this out, you now know your deadline to find a new job. You shorten the timeframe by two weeks because that is how long it usually takes before you get a paycheck at your new job.

You may to get a part-time job in the mean time to cover any bills that you cannot afford while you are in between jobs. The part-time job should be easy to get and not interfere with your goal of getting a new, full-time career.

If things are taking longer than expected, you might want to consider cutting costs. Getting rid of some luxuries (eating out on the weekends, your morning latte at the coffee shop, expensive cable packages, etc.) will help reduce monthly expenses until you have your new career in hand.

If all else fails, start thinking about selling assets. This does not mean hold a garage sale. This means you might have to dump a car, some television or stereo equipment, or something else that when sold would actually have a positive financial impact.

Just remember that your main goal is to find a new career. Do not procrastinate and stay positive!

Defining Financial Freedom

What is financial freedom? Basically, one would probably define financial freedom as being rich or as being wealthy. But, what is rich? What is wealthy? Do you define “being rich” or “being wealthy” as having a lot of money? Do you define “being rich” or “being wealthy” as having the time to do what you want when you want, or do you feel that spending more time with your family is the defining characteristic of success?

Here is the million dollar question: do you need a lot of money to be able to have the freedom to do what you want and to be able to spend more time with your family? In other words, do you have to be “financially free” in order to achieve your “higher” goals?

Up to this point I have asked many questions but have provided few answers. The reason for this is because each person is different. A lot of money, a big house, and an expensive car are not necessary for many people to be happy. Many people who are not financially rich lead exceptionally happy lives. These people create a budget and stick to it, however, these people enjoy quality of life over financial success. Some of the happiest people on earth make barely enough money to fit into what is defined as the “middle class.”

How does this help define financial freedom? Basically, there are two ways to think of financial freedom. First, one can have an abundance of money and can, therefore, afford anything one wants. This means that money is not an issue of concern. The other way one can be financially free is for one to not care about money. These are the travelers and movers in the world that make just enough money to support themselves, but because they are always on the move, traveling around and discovering new things, money is not an issue. These people believe that life experiences are more important than the size of a bank account.

The big question you need to answer is: what kind of financial freedom do you want?

Entrepreneurs Need to Think Big

Any entrepreneur is a person, by definition, that takes a risk in the business world. So why should you be any different? Think BIG!

What exactly does “think big” mean? Thinking big means that you take into consideration any and all ideas that you feel are too hard, too expensive, too time consuming, or are out of your reach. Why limit yourself by things that you think are easy to obtain? If a project or investment is easy to obtain, this usually translates into a small amount of risk. If a project or investment has only a small amount of risk attached to it, this usually means that the reward will also be small. As an entrepreneur, you should challenge yourself to take a risk and to consider all possibilities regardless of intensity or degree of impossibility.

Keep in mind that thinking big and acting on those thoughts are two very different things. When I tell you to think big, the point is to prevent you from limiting your options before you have even considered the possibilities, advantages, or chance of success. This does not mean that you should blindly follow an idea merely because it is a “big” idea.

Thinking big means accepting all ideas and working through the details until you reach a decision as to your course of action or inaction, if that is the case. Think big, reach for the stars, dream about the impossible, but follow your intuitions, education, and instincts as to a course of action to pursue.

Is it Possible to Define Entrepreneurial Spirit?

Entrepreneurial spirit is the motivation used to better yourself and/or others on your quest to achieve “success.” As far as the definition game goes, I believe that “success” is much harder to define and even harder to obtain that is entrepreneurial spirit.

Put simply, entrepreneurial spirit is motivation. Motivation to do what? That is a question that you have to answer. Nobody can tell you that you are an entrepreneur. Nobody can say, follow these steps and you’re an entrepreneur. Unlike traditional college programs, one cannot major in “entrepreneurialism.” You can take classes on the subject, but for the most part, a Business degree is as close as universities get to offering a major in entrepreneurialism. The point is, you have to find your own reason for choosing the path you chose, and then be responsible for maintaining the passion necessary to complete your quest.

A professor once told me, “an entrepreneur has only three characteristics, Passion, Passion, and Ego.” It was the first two characteristics (passion and passion) that really made me think. Two-thirds of being and maintaining yourself as an entrepreneur is having the passion to be an entrepreneur; having the passion to pursue the entrepreneurial dream; having the passion to think of an idea and see it through to fruition; just simply having the passion to do.

Only you can light the fire to pursue your dreams. School, experience, specialty courses, degrees, and the what not are all just tools to help prepare you for the journey. But, what good are these tools if you do not have the passion to use them? Talking is not action, and many would be entrepreneurs make this fatal mistake. If you want to do something, take action!

I have a friend who became very successful in the real estate business. He came from a similar educational and financial background as me, yet he has already achieved what I currently working toward. We were sitting down one day having coffee and I asked him, “How did you get the financing for your first real estate purchase?” He said, “If you want to get financing, go out and get it. That is what I did.”

My friend did not know anybody special. He did not have rich family members or any other type of monetary connection that I did not. His ace in the hole, his sole source of revenue was his passion. He had the passion to go out and get what he wanted. I am sorry to say that he had more passion than me or else I would have been in the same boat. However, all is not lost. I learned from our little conversation and am better off because of it.

Find your passion; find your “entrepreneurial spirit” and success will follow.

Tips on Developing a Reputation as a Ubiquitous Businessperson

Ubiquitous is defined as "being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time." How does this help a businessperson's reputation? To be described as ubiquitous means that you can be in more than one place at once. It means that you can handle more than one situation at a time. Put simply, it means that you are a multitasker.

Is being able to multitask a good trait to possess? I believe it is. Being able to effectively complete more than one task at a time helps with efficiency. Efficiency equates to cost savings. Cost savings equate to higher profits. Higher profits equates to more money! Do you see a winning formula here?

Now back to the question at hand; how do you develop a reputation of being a multitasker? First, you have to know your limits. There are many characteristics that will help you in the business world, and you do not have to possess all of them to be successful. Develop the characteristics that play to your strengths. Do not try to bite off more than you can chew just because you want to show your ability to handle multiple tasks. Business partners, investors, and customers will be more concerned will quality than quantity. It makes more sense to do a great job on one project than a mediocre job on three projects. The reason this is true is because even though three jobs were "completed," they will probably have to be redone because of lack of quality. Having to redo things costs money and effectively negates the cost saving purpose of multitasking.

Second, if you evaluate your situation and think you can effectively handle more than one task at a time, try your hand at more responsibility. Start small and take on one additional, small task. For example, if your current project is in real estate investment and your task is to find financing, but you feel that financing will not be a hard project to effectively complete, you may want to take on another small project, such as finding renters (if you are going to hold the real estate).

Last, do not try to do everything yourself. This point is similar to my first point except for one difference. My first point was, do not multitask for the sake of multitasking. This third point is, once you have started multitasking and found that you can successfully do it, do not use this success as a motive to do everything. Nobody can do everything, and if you attempt to, two possibilities will result: (1) you will get "burned out" and not be able to effectively perform any task; or (2) you will not be able to complete all the tasks and some aspect of your project will "fall through."

Having the ability to multitask will be beneficial to your future success, however, only do so within your limits. Remember, effectively completing one task is better than partially completing multiple tasks. The whole point of multitasking is cost saving, and this only works if projects do not have to be redone. Be ubiquitous, but not irrational, and your reputation will develop accordingly.

Self-esteem and the Business World

Self-esteem is important no matter the avenue of life involved. If you do not have self-esteem about general aspects of your life, possessing self-esteem in the business world is not important. You first have to possess self-esteem generally if you want the same to apply in a business setting.

Let us assume that you possess much self-esteem and that you are an outgoing person. Both of these characteristic traits will be greatly beneficial to you. However, it is easy to get discouraged if you are not careful. You have to have “thick skin” in the business world if you want to achieve greatness.

Many people advocate the “dog eat dog” ideal of business. Competition is going to be rampant during your entrepreneurial journey, however, how you deal with the competition or how it affects your self-esteem is going to determine whether you will survive as an entrepreneur.

Rolling with the punches is part of this business. I am not advocating that you not be competitive. Competitiveness is an essential element, however, when the competitive streak leads to unethical tactics or the untruthful damaging of a personal reputation, you need to step back and evaluate your actions. The truth is, these actions may happen to you. How you deal with such an event (by means of your self-esteem) will be pivotal to your success.

First and foremost, you have to stay calm. This can be easier said than done when faced with a situation as described above, however, maintaining your calm will help you think rationally. Rational thinking will help prevent your doing some action that you will later regret.

Second, fix the problem. If you have received negative feedback or are experiencing confrontational problems from co-workers or other similarly situated people, fixing the problem can be your best bet. This will require talking to the culprit. Do not confront because this could cause an unnecessary tension. Instead, explain the problem to the other and see if you two can come to an amicable solution.

Last, assess how you handled the situation. Your self-esteem about your abilities runs simultaneous with your abilities themselves. Learn to control your environment, and your self-esteem and you will do fine on your entrepreneurial journey.

Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur

I could sit here and start rattling off random, “good sounding” characteristics (such as ambition, boldness, drive, motivation, etc.), but that does not really help you or me. Instead, I will tell you what I believe makes a “successful entrepreneur.”

First, a successful entrepreneur can do the impossible. He/she can make something out of nothing. Many people who start with nothing end with nothing. An entrepreneur does not follow this norm. No matter the disadvantages or set backs, a successful entrepreneur can change his/her situation to anything he/she wants it to be. A successful entrepreneur can change his/her stars.

Second, a successful entrepreneur knows how to seize opportunity. This one sounds easy, but in reality, many people let some of the best opportunities slide by unnoticed. Contrary to popular belief, “opportunity” does not magically appear at your doorstep (we should all be so lucky) and wait for your response. Opportunity is something that a person has to go out and find. You have to seek it out like a jungle treasure hunt and conquer the traps set along the way. A successful entrepreneur knows this and does this daily.

Third, a successful entrepreneur has to network. True, there are many “anonymous millionaires,” and although anonymous to you and me, they are not anonymous to the people that played a part in creating that millionaire’s wealth. You do not have to be world famous or have your own reality television show, but you do have to know a couple people in the particular “money making circle” of your interest if you want to achieve large amounts of wealth. Therefore, for example, if you want to develop real estate, it would be nice to know some contractors, other developers, some finance people, and even people at the various utilities companies.

Fourth, a successful entrepreneur knows when to walk away. There is going to be a time when you have to cut your losses. A successful entrepreneur knows when that time occurs. Remember, these are not the high seas. You do not have to go down with the ship! You may think that this characteristic contradicts the first characteristic I mentioned. However, the first characteristic relates to an entrepreneurs personal life and this point relates to business.

Last, once an entrepreneur has achieved large amounts of wealth, he/she gives back to those who have need it. A successful entrepreneur uses his/her wealth to help change the world for the better.

These are the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.

Success - How Much of it is Luck?

As the famous saying goes, “I would rather be lucky than good.” However, your definition of success is going to make the difference as to whether luck is even an option. For example, if your definition of success is to have millions of dollars, then luck has played, and will play, a big role in the lives of many. Lottery winners, gamblers, game show contestants, etc., have received large amounts of money primarily through luck. Therefore, if “success” to you is defined by millions of dollars, you would love to have a little luck!

My definition of success is a little different. My definition of success is overarching. I follow the “health, happiness, and wealth” model. If you do not have your health, then you have nothing. It is that simple. What good are millions of dollars if you are too sick to enjoy them? Additionally, what good is money is you are miserable with your life? I only want a few things out of life. First, I want my family and me to be in great health at all times. Second, I want my family and me to be happy together and apart. Lastly, I would like to be wealthy. So how does luck play into my model? Truthfully, it really does not. You cannot be lucky and being a good family person. You cannot be lucky at being happy with your life. These are things you cannot fake.

Luck can play a small part in your travels and experiences towards achieving “success,” but if your definition of success is anything like my definition of success, you need to work on the more important things in life. Then, when you realize you have a great life, you will notice that making money becomes a whole lot easier. Take care of yourself and your family first; the money will eventually come into the picture. That is how I measure success.