Just about everyone with an email address receives daily spam telling us we’ve inherited money, won BIG on the lottery, asking us to help dying Lady Rochester distribute her funds or the nephew of Saddam Hussein sneak millions of dollars out of Iraq. All we have to do is send a small amount of money and the millions will be ours.

Most of us are wise to this rubbish and see these offers for the scams they are. But what happens to the more vulnerable people among us, who’s hopes lead them to believe what they read? I’ve often heard it said, you can’t cheat an honest man or woman. I have to admit, I’ve always thought that was rubbish. Read this story and make your own mind up… Continue reading »

In the past, I have been unwisely generous, especially when it came to lending money to friends. I would lend money freely, even when my own funds were limited.

I lent money to people because I knew they loved me, believing that love would guarantee payback. I trusted people who had previously paid back small amounts, believing this meant they would pay back on bigger loans. Friends could ask me to get credit for them because, if they said they would make the monthly payments, I believed them and, finally, I lent people money just because they were nice.

Shakespeare said, “Neither a lender nor a borrower be”. I learned, the hard way, the wisdom of those words. Continue reading »

Last week’s exercise involved making the final choice for your first project. This entrepreneurial journey has been designed for adults and children to do together or separately with help and encouragement both ways. If you haven’t been following the series, last week’s post had all the exercises in it.

The Big Day has arrived - it’s time to make some money - not earn it, but make it! Like any act of creativity, making some money is immensely satisfying. Especially the first time. So, now you’ve chosen your product or service. You know where, how and to whom you are going to market it. Off we go! Now there are only two things between you and making money - action and your emotions… Continue reading »

Why do so many lottery winners end up broke and worse off than before their wins? I found stories from The US, UK and Australia very easily. Peter Kyle’s story, in today’s Sun newspaper(!) is a good example. He started off with £5.1 million and now owes money, spending his winnings at the rate of £4,600 per day. On the same page is a message from another winner who blew almost £9 million in even less time. Their stories are duplicated anywhere there are lotteries, yet it doesn’t happen to everybody. Take the story of Brad Duke, he won $85 million in 2005 and he’s now worth about $130 million. What’s the difference between these people?

I have spent my whole life working with and studying people and I know this - it comes down to a few very simple differences… Continue reading »

Is credit always the evil the debt gurus seem to think it is? I don’t believe so. Ryan at Millionaire Money Habits, wrote a great post yesterday about how he gets hundreds of dollars each year in “free” money by using his cash-back credit card for every expense. That’s one way to use credit and make it work for you.

When you get advice not to have credit cards, it assumes a lack of discipline. For lots of people, that is how they got into debt, but it doesn’t mean they can’t learn good habits and discipline.  The same people that give advice to clip coupons in order to save 25 pence here, 50 cents there, would deny you the free cash back - not just now, but forever. It keeps you focussed on small change, so that’s what you get, small change. We call that penny-wise, pound-foolish. I’m sure there’s a dollar equivalent. Continue reading »