The James Dicks Blog

The U.S. job market is weak and will probably remain that way for many years to come. Yes, I said years. The problem is you still have to support your family, you still have bills to pay and you still have to get up every morning and feel productive by accomplishing something. We all have talents and skills; it’s time to start using these skills to your benefit.

With all of the frustrating economic events going on in the world today, starting a home based business could possibly be the only way to solidify your financial future. If legitimate home business opportunities were straightforward and simple to deal with, everyone would succeed. I have to be honest – many new businesses fail. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and long hours to get your new venture off the ground. If you are willing to do the work and learn a few things, you can truly excel at it.

Lots of people have started working for themselves simply because they didn’t have a choice. The traditional methods of making a living have all but disappeared in today’s fragile economy. While I’m sure this has caused a lot of anxiety, many people have found working for themselves very liberating. You set your own hours, you set the limits on how much (or how little) you make, and most people have found that for the first time in their lives, they are enjoying the day- to-day routine. They have found that they are now doing something they want to do….not something they have to do.

Once you get all the preliminaries out of the way (determining what it is exactly you want to do, legally developing your company, creating a website), you just might find that you were made for entrepreneurship. Hey, it’s not easy and takes a lot of work. And remember, have a plan. No matter how large or small a company is – a business plan to a must. It’s your map to success and a requirement.

There are plenty of resources that you can tap in to help you through the beginning year of your new venture. The U.S. Small Business Administration is a must. Visit an SBA office or just go to their website. There is so much information available online to help guide you through many of the questions you will probably have in the beginning.

Make sure you spend some time networking with other entrepreneurs in your local community. There are always other people out there who have gone through the very same things you’re trying to accomplish. These individuals will offer you valuable information that will no doubt save you time and money. Pick their brains and get all the information you can before going one step further.

Networking can be accomplished online through various social media sites, going to physical training classes, or finding local business gatherings. Sales are frequently developed through these personal sessions by creating personal relationships with others. You must make this a priority. If you don’t feel comfortable socializing, it’s time to try and develop your skills in interpersonal communications. Effectively talking to people can make or break the effectiveness of your new business. Sales is about touching people’s needs and desires at a very personal level so it’s important to develop your sales skills to a point where you are comfortable interacting with potential customers.

You’ll probably find that you’ll be putting on more than the 40 hours you’re used to, at least at first. But I think you’ll also find that you will be enjoying the time spent. This new business belongs to you and you’ll be surprised at how fast you’ll catch the entrepreneurial “fever.”

Start using your personal and professional skills to your benefit…who knows, you might enjoy it.

JamesDicks General crisis, deficit, economy, education, entrepreneur, investing, james dicks, networking, success,  financial growth,  financial responsibility,  forex,  goals

We are approaching the final quarter of the year and I just want to remind you about something that I consider a very important aspect of any well-balanced financial life.  Make sure that you accomplish frequent financial checkups to ensure that you are on the proper path to develop your assets effectively.  Situations can change very quickly in life and you must consider, on a regular basis, the composition and structure of your personal financial goals, tools and investments.  There are many issues to consider.  Things like getting rid of unnecessary debt, developing proper spending habits, checking your insurance needs, examining your taxes, and determining whether or not you need to rebalance your portfolio. I’m sure you could come up with a number of other areas that, on a personal level, will positively or negatively affect your financial life.  Check it all.

There are numerous methods of determining the best methods of handling our money that didn’t exist a decade ago.  Most of us have personal computers at home that can be used to assist your financial development.  There are many software programs that can help guide you by showing where your money is currently going.  These programs can help you determine the best methods of using your cash to enhance your investments.  Determine how much is coming in, how much is going out and establish where the money is going.  It’s really that easy.  Once you know those facts, you can make your adjustments.

One question that you really should ask yourself is whether the investment methods you use are actually working for you to build financial wealth.  If there have been problems, changes in the market trends, an alteration in your personal lifestyle (a new baby, a recent move, a new job, you’ve just married, just divorced) then make the necessary changes to make sure your money is working to fit your life’s changes and goals.  Interest rates are down today and it may be time to consider refinancing your home but only you know whether that’s something you should do or not.  Plus, make sure you build at least three to six months worth of living expenses, if you don’t already have that amount put away safely. 

Other areas of interest to your personal financial life include your insurance coverage.  If your agent hasn’t called you recently, pick up the phone and dial your agent’s office and request that you take an inventory of your coverage (home, life, auto) and adjust where needed.  For goodness sake, examine your credit report at least once a year.  It might be a good idea to actually contact the credit agencies twice a year, especially if you are about to make a major purchase.  

Just as you need to develop and then redevelop your short and long term goals throughout the year, so it goes with the state of your financial well-being.  This should not be an unpleasant chore but rather something enjoyable.  Remember, by conducting these occasional checkups, you are insuring that positive financial results are more likely to be attained. 

Anything can happen throughout the year (as this year has shown), which can force you off your fiscal course.  Events that can make a difference in your life occur at a moment’s notice.  Just make sure that when unforeseen events occur, you make the needed corrections that will rebalance your financial life.  Plan to make a quick check every three months or so.  This is all part of goal setting that I believe is so important to leading a balanced and prosperous life.  Stay focused and make sure you perform your personal checkups on a regular basis. 

JamesDicks General credit cards, deficit, economy, education, expenses, FICO, investment, james dicks, mortgage, payments, personal finance, premieretrade, refinancing, saving money, stock market,  financial growth,  financial responsibility,  forex,  goals

Whenever I speak to customers and investors at my conferences or while traveling I always seem to get the same sort of objections.  I am always telling people how I am no different than anyone else; I made money and I lost money, more than once.  The difference is….I learn from my mistakes and the next time I don’t make the same mistake. 

One of the most profitable times in my life was during my dedicated real estate career; I say that because, at the time, that is all I did.  That period also taught me about diversification and the importance of good money management, but that is another story.  Anyway, during this time (the late 90’s) I began to invest in real estate.  The market was a good buyers market so there were lots of opportunities, however interest rates were a little higher and I had pretty bad credit.  As I was growing up through high school and after my graduation, I didn’t maintain my credit as I should have.  Contrary to what people believe, think or say, you can fix your credit. I did but it took many years.  I was able to eliminate all the bad and replace it with all good. Yet again, that’s another story but you can do that to.

As far as this story goes, I identified a great place to make money in the real estate market place, most specifically rentals, and investor rehabs.  The problem was I didn’t have any extra cash and poor credit. So, I set out to accomplish my goal. I had to use private money; in fact I was paying interest as high as 18%, one year notes and five points.  Yikes, you say.  Me too!

The difference was this; if you aren’t putting any money down or little money down then your return is infinite regardless of what you are paying for the use of the money.  I always get the terms of the money first then I look for a deal that fits within those parameters.  That way I can still make money paying whatever the terms are.  That’s what I did.

I bought literally hundreds of properties and then started buying multi-family properties.  As I have written before, you need to move the ball along.  I was able to eventually find better pricing that was still high but not as high.  The point of all this is to show you that credit and using private money is a possibility that you can consider and today’s financial landscape offers a great opportunity to go out and find deals.

Let’s talk about no money down deals and better yet getting money back. First, there are lots of them out there. Maybe not as many no money down deals as in the past but certainly little to no money down deals are still available.  When I first started out I was able to do a lot of deals that actually paid me when I closed.  The key is to find someone that will deal with you.  Do your homework and keep moving the ball forward. 

JamesDicks General business, credit, credit cards, deficit, economy, expenses, FICO, financial growth, financial responsibility, forex, goals, housing, interest, investing, james dicks, job, money, mortgage, payments, personal finance, premieretrade, refinancing, saving money

You constantly hear the comparisons of today’s tough times to those hideous economic events during the 1930’s Great Depression.  Each day brings more skepticism on my part as I stand in amazement at what is happening today and what happened then (as far as I’ve been told). 

First, although the unemployment rate is close to ten percent today, during the Depression the percentage of the population that was out of work in the United States rose to 25 percent of the workforce at its highest level. This number translated to 15 million Americans being without work in the Depression era. There are far fewer Americans out of work today and that also represents a smaller portion of a much larger 21^st Century workforce which translates to about a 9.4 percent unemployment rate. That, my friend, is quite a difference.  There are also a number of differences as they pertain to the current governmental structure and control today that makes a huge difference between the two economic predicaments. 

But there are a few similarities to the two events too; both were preceded by credit bubbles.  In the 1920’s, we saw the The Roaring Twenties – a period of social, artistic and cultural energy that captured the nation’s hearts and minds – as well as their pocketbooks!  And most recently we created the tech bubble, the housing bubble, and an easy credit bubble that all had a definite influence on what is happening to the global economy today.  Other similarities include governmental use of stimulus packages in both events as well as government interventionist policies; like a ban on short selling both today and then.  That’s about where it ends. 

Recent times have created a global population that generally does not know how to do without.  Since the end of World War II, the American population has been growing beyond its means, while government social programs have been bleeding the nation’s coffers.  The two countries that were defeated in World War II, Germany and Japan, have been doing better than the rest.  The world rebuilt those countries and their innate industriousness has allowed them to expand economically beyond anyone’s wildest imaginations.  In today’s world, all that appears to be over (or at least drastically slowed down) and while we hear about the possibility of an economic turn around at the end of this year, it will definitely be weak and perhaps short-lived.  Some of the world’s preeminent economists are now saying that they now believe massive inflation is on the horizon. 

Another major difference between then and now was the non-existence of deposit insurance at the banks during the 1930’s era depression which makes today’s situation completely different. The U.S. government has assured the value of all U.S. deposits — even those that are over the recently recognized $250,000 limit.  So, because of this important change, no depositor will, theoretically, lose their savings, and none of the VERY large commercial banks will fail.

The current downturn is not expected to result in the double-digit inflation, unemployment or interest rates that crippled the U.S. economy back in the 1970s and early 1980s during the Carter Administration. As bad as the economy appears today, we have experienced much worse.  And remember, our economy not only survived but it flourished in a big way. There is no question it will do so again. I truly believe that.

I’ve watched documentaries about the 1930’s Great Depression and remember seeing thousands of people standing in ‘bread lines” in order to eat.  But just last week, I saw people standing in lines to buy the new iPhone 3G(S).  That picture comparison hit me hard.  A recent report said that 16 percent of teenagers and 30 percent of business people would likely buy the new iPhone model and by Friday night, the shelves were empty.  I have to believe that things just aren’t as bad as the media is trying to portray.  Let me repeat – there is no question that the hard times we face today will improve.  They always have and always will.  I truly believe that. 

JamesDicks General business, constitutional rights, credit cards, crisis, deficit, economy, expenses, financial growth, financial responsibility, government, Great Depression, james dicks, job, market crash, Obama, personal finance, saving money, stimulus, stock market, unemployed

World history has shown us that many times when the norm of a particular culture drastically changes, the shape of national thoughts, mores, and governmental structures have also changed.  We just could be on the ground floor of one of these national transformations right now. 

Today our “American Dream” is at risk in every neighborhood from coast-to-coast.  It’s not just a newspaper headline anymore, it’s actually happening to us.  I have seen many communities lose their sense of identity as families watch other families they have known for years suffer foreclosure on their homes.  Vacant homes are not what we ever imagined the “American Dream” to be; it’s not how we thought this story would end.  We, as Americans, have always worked hard to obtain this “dream” but now the unemployment rate has hit 9.4 percent and so many qualified and dedicated individuals are out of work.  The “dream” seems to be slipping away from us and there’s not a thing we can do about it. 

We, the people of a “former” America used to graduate from school, go to work for a company for 40 years, retire and live the rest of their days on a corporate pension in a paid off house.  That just isn’t the case anymore.  The one thing that many elderly American’s will be bringing with them into retirement is their mortgage.  This will place a real burden on their fixed income. 

But wait just a minute….it just came to mind that the American Dream was never about greed, fortune or lofty positions.  It was always about a promise that tomorrow could be better; a thought that we could leave an even better life for our children and our grandchildren.  That’s the problem.  Hey, we need to remember that we can lose our homes and just get another one.  That’s not even an issue.  The one thing we can’t lose is our values and our sense of family and community.  That cannot happen or the dream is dead.  We are Americans; we can always turn the situation around. 

We just celebrated the 65th anniversary of D-Day.  Those were tough times.  Following a decade of depression, we were suddenly forced into a World War that took millions of our precious lives.  Those left behind willingly took jobs in aircraft manufacturing plants, grew their own gardens in the backyard in order to eat, and dealt with a rationing system that forced them to do without more than not.  Maybe it’s time for all of us, as an American population, to get tough.  You have to admit, we’ve gotten soft.  I’d rather my family not experience hard times for one moment but these are challenging times and we all need to get strong.  All I’m saying is we need to start to adapt, improvise and overcome.  That’s what I learned as a young recruit in the U.S. Marine Corps and now these attributes are making it around full circle into my personal life. 

No matter who is in control of the U.S. government, our population is in a constant state of complaint.  So, I think it’s time to shift the focus from the government to our personal lives.  Let’s all start to take more responsibility for what is happening in our lives.  If you look closely, I think you’ll find more good things happening than bad things.  Try it.  Write down three good things that happened to you today.  Stop the constant complaining and consider what is going right in life.  It will be better for you, your family, your neighborhood and your country.  We can all do this – allow history to repeat itself and allow the “tried and true” American spirit to bring us to new heights from this day forward.

JamesDicks General business, crisis, deficit, economy, financial responsibility, government, james dicks, job, market crash, Obama, personal finance, premieretrade, refinancing, stimulus, Treasury, unemployed