| Wealth Accumulation
Is America
Still The Land Of Opportunity?  A
recent Survey of Consumer Finances conducted by the Federal Reserve Board revealed
these statistics about the state of America’s finances.
Do
any of these facts hit home with you? - The
typical American family earns about $45,000 per year. From 2001 to 2004, family
debt increased 33% (adjusted for inflation). Surprisingly little of this debt
stems from unnecessary spending. Instead, credit is being used to pay for necessities
like housing, household expenses and health care, particularly in low- and middle-income
families.
- Average
net worth, which grew rapidly during the boom of the 1990s, rose only 1.5% between
2001 and 2004 for the average American family. In other words, for most of us,
the worth of our investments is not keeping up with the inflation rate.
- The middle class is being
squeezed more tightly than ever. Among the wealthiest 10% of Americans,
net worth rose to $831,600, or a 6.5% increase from 2001. Meanwhile, the net
worth of those in the bottom 25% fell 1.5% to $13,300.
- More
than a third -- 36% -- of those who owe more than $10,000 on their cards have
household incomes under $50,000. 13% who owe that much have household incomes
under $30,000. The percentage of disposable income used to pay debts is near record
highs.
The
report doesn’t point out these more unsettling statistics:
- In February, 2007, the US Commerce
Department reported that the personal savings rate for 2006 was a negative 1%.
The rate for 2004 was a negative .4%. For comparison, in the midst of the Depression
in 1933, the PSR was -1.5%. If 2007 figures show a decrease similar to those
of 2006, we’ll have a worse record than during the Depression. (Source:
Associated Press)
- “The
US is becoming less of a meritocracy, where skill and intelligence determine success,
and becoming more of a class-bound society, where economic background, including
the better education money can provide, matters more. There are still many rags-to-riches
stories. But there's stagnation in the underclass.” (Source: Christian
Science Monitor)
- According
to a new Federal Reserve data-based economic analysis commissioned by the Consumer
Federation of America, “...more than half of American households (56 percent)
are behind where they should be in saving for a comfortable retirement.”
A related CFA public opinion survey found that 59% of Americans do not expect
to maintain their current standard of living in retirement.
Does
this sound like a nation of people who believe in and are profiting from the American
Dream—or simply a nation of people who want to live the Dream lifestyle without
really being able to find a way to finance it? In fact, we have to ask...
Is the American Dream still
alive and achievable? Defining
the Dream The
immensely popular 19th-century author Horatio Alger is largely credited with defining
the American Dream as well as the means to achieve it. His books told the rags-to-riches
stories of people who succeeded because of the opportunities they had in the Greatest
Nation on earth. It didn’t matter who they were. No matter how hopeless their
situations seemed, his characters found wealth and success through determination
and hard work—and of course, because they believed in the American Dream. The
Dream Today We
believe the American Dream is alive and well. The 21st century continues to offer
incredible opportunities. Escalating wealth is mostly a matter of finding the
right opportunities and having the determination and guts to follow them through.
The materials and methods for accumulation of wealth have changed, but
the opportunities are greater today than at any other time. One simply needs
to learn about the new materials and methods! So
Many Things Have Changed:
Dealing With Fear and Uncertainty  The
events of September 11, 2001, permanently changed our country and its citizens.
Our assumptions that we are safe in our own land faded to fear and uneasiness.
Maybe you used to enjoy travel, but now airports make you nervous. Perhaps you
dwell on the possibilities of another terrorist attack. We’re all dogged
by an unstable job market where mass layoffs and outsourcing threaten our livelihoods.
The future is fraught with uncertainty about whether we’re making wise investments,
whether the CEO will abscond with the pension funds, and whether Social Security
will be there for us.
Even weather patterns are unstable, taking lives
with devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, heat waves, and blizzards. Fear
can make you want to simply maintain the status quo and not take any chances—yet
that is exactly what you must do to avoid becoming a victim of fear, because fear
is the only thing that can prevent you from taking advantage of all the possibilities
that are open to you. FDR’s famous statement still applies: “The only
thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
But think about this: All
kinds of fears have always held people back from trying to improve their lives.
We’ve used fear as a convenient excuse not to get on with the lives we’d
like to live. It’s so much easier to stay where we are, complaining that
we’ll never get ahead.
The opportunity is there for the taking,
but you must be prepared to leave your comfort zone, summon up your strength and
determination, and set a course towards wealth accumulation. While money isn’t
everything, it can certainly do a lot to alleviate uncertainty and to enrich your
life and the lives of those you care most about.
Worrying about the future
doesn’t change it. No one has ever been able to predict what will happen,
or when, or why. You only have today and the lessons you have learned from
your past. You can take charge of today’s reality and make it sing with tomorrow’s
dreams.
Accumulating
Wealth:
The Opportunity Has Never Been Better Horatio
Alger may have been right in the 1800s when he claimed that anyone willing to
work hard could succeed. Today, the picture is different. It is painfully possible
to work very, very hard and not get ahead. If you live from paycheck
to paycheck and worry constantly about how you will meet your financial obligations,
you’re living in a world of stress. You don’t even have the luxury of
worrying about the stock market, because you’ve got nothing to invest.
Yet more people are amassing wealth today than at any other time.
True, the financial
picture for many of us doesn’t measure up to the rosy pictures we hear of
a growing economy. We worry about the war on terror, how we’ll afford gas
to get to work, and whether our jobs will still be there for us tomorrow.
Yet you can begin your journey to financial success today.  Instead
of the dubious prospect of accumulating wealth working for someone else, you can
take control of your finances by owning your own business. It is much, much easier
than you can imagine because you can do it with your own home-based business.
Did you know that two thirds of all American millionaires are self-employed?
Think about it. Who makes the most money? The restaurant manager or the restaurant
owner? The car salesman or the dealership owner? Owners are self-employed, and
they are much more likely to be wealthy than the people who work for them.
We’re not suggesting that you buy a restaurant or an automobile dealership.
It isn’t necessary to take that kind of risk or put in that kind of work.
You own home-based business can be every bit as lucrative and much less stressful
than a bricks-and-mortar business.
You probably already have the
only equipment you’ll need—a computer and a telephone. That’s
all! Now all you need is the information that has transformed so many people’s
lives.
Take
Control Don't
let someone else decide your future for you. Take the first step today toward
assuring a secure financial future for you and your family. And don’t wait
until it’s too late. Today is the time to get started in an extraordinary
business that has already changed the lives of so many, freeing them of
fear and worry and showing them that they can live lifestyles they thought
were meant only for others.
When you accumulate wealth, you
generate a steady residual income that pays you every day. Are you ready to discover
how you can begin to build that kind of income-producing resource? Then you’ve
come to the right place.
Simply fill out the form below, and I will
get back to you with additional information. Make
it a great day,
Linda
Stephens
303-703-1418
or
800-608-8554
Email
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