Be Wealthy & Smart

Learn how to avoid common financial scams. Recently I got an email offer to buy a domaine name for $55,000. It was from a Japanese business who said they had a healthy budget to spend and what price did I want? A second email specified how the transaction would take place and mentioned a German escrow account. They mentioned a 5% commission paid for by both parties. They wanted me to pay to them (5% of $55k = $2,750). I don't think so! What a scam. I also heard a scam involving German escrow accounts was going around. I saw there were more scams happening that I wanted to warn you about. There's a common one with real estate. I have an article to share with you about it: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/19/scammers-are-conning-home-buyers-out-of-their-down-payment.html Hit the subscribe button for instant notice of new podcasts!

Learn the magic dollar amount of income it takes to be happy. According to a survey, find out how much money it takes to be happy. The article is here: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/money-can-actually-buy-some-happiness-but-how-much.html Please subscribe and leave a review!

Learn why wealth is within your reach, using my Wealth Building Formula, and why it is NOT about luck. This is the study I disagree with: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/analysis-if-youre-rich-youre-more-lucky-than-smart-and-theres-math-to-prove-it Please subscribe to Be Wealthy & Smart and leave a review!

Learn the most common financial regrets of Americans and how to avoid them. I also share my thoughts about the Be Wealthy & Smart podcast over the last 4 years and latest podcast reviews.

Learn how to plan your life like a billionaire. I love talking about the importance of mindset in wealth building. We haven't visited mindset for a long-time, so I thought we would today. Recently I was reading about Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. He was a successful investment banker who quit his job. Left in the middle of the year and left his big bonus. Jeff talked to his boss about it, who said great idea, but better for someone else who does this stuff not you! Think long-term for your life decisions. He calls it "Regret Minimization Framework". Project your life forward to age 80. Look back on your life. Minimize the regrets in your life. Look back on your life. He wouldn't regret trying to participate in the internet. Wouldn't regret failure. The one thing he would regret is not having tried. That would haunt him every day. Gets you away from the daily pieces of confusion, like leaving his bonus. Think long-term to make good life decisions you won't regret later.

Learn which mutual funds are significantly outperforming the S & P 500 on a 5 year basis. The charts are posted in the Podcast section on www.lindapjones.com.

Learn how to make decisions with real estate, overcome real estate regrets and stop feeling anxious about buying or selling. There are a lot of people stressing about real estate right now. Should they buy? Should they sell? Should they invest? With real estate at all time highs in many cities, it's causing stressful decisions to be made. I'm not talking about affordability. Obviously, if you can't afford it, don't stretch yourself beyond your means. I was talking with someone who was stressing about money. In this case, not because they had too little. She couldn't decide the right time to sell her house and lock in gains. They weren't ready to sell it, but were afraid the real estate market would crash. People with a little or a lot of money get stressed. No one is immune! Everyone wants to make the right financial decisions. For some it's taking the right job, deciding to start a business, having enough money to survive or maybe how not to lose their money. There is a lot of anxiety around real estate right now. Should you buy a fixer upper or not? It's a major investment. Should you downsize and move to another home? In this case, the woman was worrying about when to sell her house and maximize her gains. Living life is more important than selling at the absolute top of the market. She was feeling torn between trying to make the right financial decision and making the right life decision. Life has to win out! You can't run your life putting money first or you will be miserable. Your happiness matters. I recently met another woman who sold her house in Canada. She sold it for $600k and it went on to be worth over $1 million. The next time I saw her she was trying to buy back into the Canadian market at a higher price. She had a lot of regret about selling her home too early and it was making her want to capture the gains of the past, but that is impossible. She was making herself sick because of the gains she missed out on making. You make the best choices you can. Fear is not a good reason to make a financial decision. At first she was afraid of loss, now she's afraid of missing out or FOMO. Either way, her fearful thinking is not serving her. Where was the right place for them to live? What city did they want to retire in? They sold and moved away for a reason, did that change due to home prices rising? What can you do to avoid real estate regret? Here are 5 tips to help you avoid financial regrets: 1. Live in the present moment. Don't stress about the future or the past. You can't change the past. In the future, your circumstances available to make decisions will change, so how can you make the decision today when you don't have all the information? Living in the present moment will help you stay out of fear. 2. Put your health and happiness first. What is going to be the best decision for your families' health and happiness? 3. Money is a tool for you to use, don't let money use you. Don't put money before health, happiness, etc. When you're in a job that makes you miserable, you won't be as successful as if you love what you do. Try to connect with your happiness and purpose. 4. Try not to stress about future decisions. Realize that when the time is right, you will make the right decision. You will have more information to make the right decision. Trust. 5. Create a plan. Life is dynamic and things change constantly. There is no way to control it. You can't freeze real estate prices until you are ready to move. Accept it. Make the best decisions you can and go with the flow. If you make a bad decision, try to move forward and plan for the long term. Short-term thinking can get you in trouble. Long-term thinking is having a plan and working your plan.

Learn how affirmations worked for a Be Wealthy & Smart podcast listener. Her affirmations helped her pay off three debts, keep off weight, get a promotion, and more! Saying affirmations, and inserting true statements in between each affirmation, is a unique way to make them more effective. Learn how affirmations helped Maria get great results and why you can too.

Learn the 3 things you shouldn't change to get rich and stay rich according to Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Next Door. I just talked about 2 of the 3 things on podcast #290. If you haven't listened to it, I go into depth about why people are watching the small expenditures and missing the huge ones that keep you from achieving financial independence.

Learn 5 things to do before purchasing a home, why the debt snowball is not the method to use to improve credit quickly, and how to find a loan officer. Before you do anything, first check your credit report and raise your credit score. Go to www.Annualcreditreport.comand get your FREE credit report once annually. Pay off any credit cards using my system and NOT the Debt Snowball. My version will improve your credit WHILE you are paying off debt. The Debt Snowball delays improving your credit until it's mostly paid off. This is because the Debt Snowball leaves the largest balances to be paid last, while credit is improved when you take maxed-out balances and reduce them to half. Therefore, you must reduce your largest balances first, not your smallest in order to simultaneously improve your credit. Listen to my podcasts on how to pay off debt quickly while improving your credit and paying off debt (debt re-do). Here are your action steps: 1) Perfect your credit as much as possible. It's necessary to begin asap. 2) Save for the maximum down payment. 3) Find a loan officer and educate yourself. 4) Get pre-qualified. 5) Be aware with interest rates about to rise, this may be near the top of the market, so don't get into a bidding war and don't overpay. Patience may be your friend here. Of course, if you are selling your existing home to buy a new home, you'll want to listen to my podcast on how to sell your home for top dollar.