Synopsis Of Tony Robbins: Money Master the Game

I've kept listening to various CD's and youtube recordings of the audio book ofTony Robbins' new personal finance book entitled "Money..Master the Game". Tony's new book is hot in demand at all of the local libraries.

As I review what I've gleaned so far I keep trying to pinpoint what precisely it is that I have learned.

So, permit me to jot down a few ideas that Tony seems to promoting in this book:

1. Mutual Funds are hurting a lot of Americans by charging tons of extra fees many of which their buyers are not even aware of. One point seems to be that Tony is advocating Vanguard "Low Cost" Index Funds as an "ideal" investment vehicle. Why Vanguard? Tony's perspective is that Vanguard seems to be taking the "low fee" moral high ground versus a plethora of other mutual fund dealers who are robbing their clients through outrageously high fees.

2/ Financial advice, is often not very objective in the  USA with many investment advisors having obvious and not so obvious conflicts of interest because they often receive monetary incentives for convincing their clients to purchase certain investments versus others. Therefore, Tony advises folks to use "fiduciary" advisors, which are supposed to cling to a higher standard and act more altruistically in the best interests of their clients. Tony also advocates using "fee only" advisors instead of those who charge ongoing management fees that take significant chunks out of folk's investment nest eggs.

3/ Tony unashamedly promoted two financial/investment companies namely STronghhold Financial as well as High Tower. Without going into much detail...one or more of these companies can be accessed through links that Tony mentions in the book, and provide "no cost" analysis of your current investment portfolio. I have not accessed any of these online tools that Tony promotes, but I am wary....because in the long run, they will for sure be promoting the use of these companies as paid financial "handlers" or "advisors". Businesses are in business to make money...and this book is not a food bank type of social service. Tony wants to promote the financial services of those who have treated him and/or his company well over the years. Can you blame him?

4/ There was a significant amount of time spend "name dropping" supposedly to inspire us to believe that if these finance/investment success stories figured out how to make it big....then maybe we can too. However, it was difficult for many of us to relate to the "larger the life" investment "icons" such as Ray Dalio or
Carl Ichan. However, I have yet to read through all his "real life" testimonials...so perhaps there will be a few that I can relate to.....

5. Tony advocates a simplistic ideology when it comes to how we plan our finances. He calls it his "bucket" method. He says our "security" bucket should included those investments that have a low level of risk and a high level of "guaranteed or "can't lose" type of investments. He also mentions another bucket...which Tony labels as a "risk/growth" bucket.  This kind of simple ideology is actually quite effective in helping regular folks to get a grip on their own risk tolerance and to help them implement good financial planning techniques.

6. There are some specific investment vehicles which Tony mentions, perhaps more for inspiration, not because he is qualified to compare one vehicle over against another investment vehicle. For example Tony talks about a product called "T.I.P.S" which are actually called "Treasury Inflation Protected Securities".
I could not find a verifiable source of these in Canada....so either perhaps they don't exist in Canada or maybe I just don't know the right place to look. What I found attractive in this type of investment vehicle is that it protects the investor from the formidable threat of inflation, which is a worrisome force for any long term investor.


Well that's it for now....I still have not made my way through the entirety of the whole audio book.....I've been what you might call literary "grazing".

One youtube commenter made the bold comment asking "What precisely can  you actually learn from this huge book?" Well, although the answer is not too obvious, I would say that there is merit in this book, but it meanders about and isn't set out in a straight forward manner. The ideas are not hiding in plain sight. Tony uses this book to air his thoughts....both his rants and raves and financial aspirations and actual portions of his financial history for us to pick through and rejoice in what nuggets we can glean. He allows us, quite candidly to learn from some of his mistakes and take inspiration from some of his victories. But that being said.... Tony doesn't act like he's "arrived"....financially. He comes across quite humbly as a student of many of these titans of personal finance like Carl Ichan and Ray Dalio, among others. Tony's attitude is something many of us can learn from in and of itself, even without any factual tidbits to sink our teeth into. Why do I say that? Because coming from a perspective of respectful "studiousness" and being willing to learn quietly from the big wigs is a remarkable skill that can catapult many of us from obscurity to prosperity faster than we think.
Having a great attitude puts us in tune with like minded individuals who possess what we may be lacking in our ladder to success. We all need mentors...and we attract more helpful interactions with our mentors when we have a great "confident, friendly and still humble and teachable" attitude.

Bottom line.....I'm still not done the entire audio or hardcover format of his book yet. So I will refrain from commenting too freely until I feel that I have given the book it's full due diligence.
Frankly, I still find that there are not enough personal finance books on the market...to which the common man/woman can relate. So I do appreciate that Tony has even attempted the feat...albeit with some mixed
results.

Tony's gift is his personal charisma....and you can hear it come shining through in how he wants to help empower us to feel like we can tame this dragon called "financial planning" with confidence, vigor and a fearlessness that puts a wee bit more bounce and joy in our steps. I am grateful to Tony for the courage and friendliness that comes across loud and clear in this book "Money...Master the Game". Even if the book is blatantly promoting some finance/investment firms over others....it is still done in a professional and pleasant manner. Thank you Tony, your efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Peaceful productivity,
Carla

Pizza For the Neighbors

Hb No2 Pencil with Fave Red Sharpie, pencil crayons on paper,
Photo Negative effect.

Let's call it "Pizza for the Neighbors"

Cheapest Safest Way to Clean a Bathtub

For those of you who just aren't in the market for a "cheapskate" rant....you are more than welcome to skip over this post....'cause ya just won't get it ")


But for those of you who take profound pleasure from squeezing another drop of value from your hard earned bucks then this wee tip might do the trick.

Ever wanted to clean your bathtub, but didn't want to go out and buy another expensive spray on bathroom cleaner? Well, such was the case for me the other day. So I decided to do what many-a proud cheapskate is happy to do.....I improvised with what I had on hand.

To my delight, there were two simple items that I already had on hand that actually worked.
It was a simple bath mitt coated in Ivory soap.(yes those famous low cost bars of soap). Then I simply ran a bit of warm water and scrubbed down the tub with the bath mitt, which provided just the right amount of "scrubbing power". Then I simply rinsed away the film with warm water....and Voila! A Clean bathtub.

The cool thing is that there are NO toxic fumes or dangerous chemicals to protect your hands from when using such a simple process....bath mitts are epically cheap....as are Ivory soap bars...both available in most dollar stores in my neck of the woods.

Now to be perfectly honest, as I know y'all expect me to be...this isn't the sort of cleaning idea that is going to work for really heavy duty soap scum. You may have to use something a little bit stronger or more abrasive for that....such as adding some Sunlight liquid dish soap or by using yet another scrubbing device such as a new pot scrubber. Just be sure that whatever scrubbing device that you choose, is safe for your tub, as you don't want to damage the enamel or ceramic finish of your bathtub.

Well, that's all for now.
Have a great weekend, and share your thoughts in the comments below.'
Peacefully productive,
Carla

Gentle Three Day Mini Cleanse

This is for those of you....who have that feeling and acknowledge that your body is carrying around some material in the midsection that needs to be gently eliminated from your system.
It's not about some tidal wave powered high cost process that is going to leave you simply lying on the couch for seven days unable to function and carry on your daily activities.

I like health tips that I can incorporate into a busy day, and keep on focusing on my goals while refining my physique and enhancing both my energy levels, resistance to disease and appearance of vibrancy.

So, today I just want to talk about a quick mini cleanse that only requires two items:
B  Complex with Vit C added vitamin capsules, and three chubby cloves of raw garlic.

Basically for three nights in a row you take one chubby clove of raw garlic at bedtime, along with a capsule or two of B complex that has added Vit C in it. Consume a cup or two of room temperature water at the same time. Do this for three nights in a row. In order to get the clove of garlic down, you will need to chop it or crush it into smaller bits, but be sure to consume it raw and use only water to wash it down with.
 ( Vitamin B capsules without Vit C are also good too)
Vitamin B complex capsules can be found in any health store of the vitamin section of any major grocery store.) (for dosages of the vitamin B , consult your doctor)

What might happen? Maybe nothing....or maybe you may begin to see some of the following detoxification symptoms which although maybe be inconvenient, are actually a good sign that your body is eliminating stored toxins:
-loosening of the stools and a general relief from constipation. Unfortunately for some, this may have some urgency to it, so you may want to make sure you have a washroom nearby. But for others, they may find that they can continue on in their regular work/daily schedule without any too frequent bathroom breaks.
-Adult acne: your skin may erupt as the toxins start releasing from deep in your body.Your skin is part of the pathways through which our bodies shed toxins.This type of occasional adult acne is a good sign of detoxification and will clear up as your body becomes cleaner inside.
-More peaceful energy: Remember that raw garlic actually has been proven to lower blood pressure as long as it is in the body, so you may well notice a discern-able change in your mood...a kind of inner "slowness" that some may call peacefulness.

THat's It! Simple eh? Remember, I wasn't talking about a major health renovation, but rather a quick mini-cleanse that may just help tweak your body's inner's sytems into staying on track, help strengthen bowel function, as well as strengthening the immune system. Whenever our bodies become sluggish, it's often because we are lugging around stuff in our digestive system that should have been eliminated several weeks ago.

Why do our bodies store up unprocessed stuff  and clog up our mid sections?
It can be due to some of the following reasons:
*Too little water in the diet.... our bodies need water daily in order to maintain a healthy digestive system.
*Allergies to certain foods create reactions in our gut that slow down or halt proper digestion.
*Too little physical activity. Remember that we were created to move about, even slowly, but surely every day we do need to do something . Even a gentle slow walk around the block is going to help our digestion.
When we stop moving , it isn't just our leg muscles that atrophy, but also our digestive muscles. Walking helps to stimulate the digestive system in a healthy way.

I hope this discussion has been helpful. It's not always about massive change....but a tiny step in the right direction.

Carla

Disclaimer: This blog is intended for conversational purposes only.Note that this blog is not intended as medical advice. This author and publisher of this blog does not accept any liability for the ideas discussed in this post or any other post on this blog. Medical advice should be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner.


Tweet

Gweneth Paltrow....You Go Girl

This Morning I was listening to a bunch of radio commentators lament the fact that Gweneth Paltrow has opened a new art Studio to which folks can pay to become members. According to the radio chatter, it's entry fee is a cool $1000 bucks plus another $1000 per year in membership fees plus more money if you want to attend one of the art classes.

I wish I could recall, the actual name of the radio show, as that would be all good and proper to give credit...but alas, I wasn't really paying attention as to precisely which radio show I was listening to.

Anywho, the only reason I am talking about this idea at all, is because I wanted to respond to the flow of resentment that seemed to be gushing onto the airwaves from such an eye rolling (yawn) commentary.
There seemed to be the thought by the commentators that Gweneth Paltrow is "out of touch" with the common man, and the, attitude of "how dare Gweneth start up a collective that isn't aimed at the lower or middle classes of humanity." type to 'tude.  To which, I must start to sigh and do a little bit of eye rolling myself.

Why is it, whenever a wealthy person sets up something that is marketed only to the wealthy, that it seems to upset those who clearly wouldn't buy such a product or service in the first place? Must every product be priced according to what "every human" can afford? Can't the rich just enjoy their wealth once in a while? Must they always hide it and act like we are all the same?

Now don't get your socks in a knot just yet. Yes, I believe we are all equal in the eyes of God. However,we are all at different stages in terms of where we fall on a financial scale. That's neither good nor bad....it just IS. Therefore, our ability and freedom to spend is influenced by where we are located on that financial scale. And again...that, in my humble opinion, is neither good nor bad....it just IS.

So let me just vent for a second. If someone has the means and social celebrity to build an ART collective that caters to those with high discretionary incomes....why is that wrong? Don't we want the wealthy to spread their money around? Don't we celebrate when folks don't hoard their wealth but prefer to spend it well?

I am all about personal freedom of choice, when it comes to wealth and it's expenditure. If someone can afford to spend millions of dollars on a private jet and hire personal assistants across the globe, well that's cool with me. When the wealthy spend their money it's better for all of us. Money is intended to circulate, to be spent, invested, lent and poured forth upon the earth....and if you're in Richard Branson's club,....you might even be spending/sending your good cash into space.. I get a good chuckle out of how a lot of folks spend their money. I don't resent it in the least when someone spends their fortune on some product or club to which I don't belong.

Yes, freedom of speech still rocks and folks are taking full advantage of it now-a-days on the radio and inter net, but there is also a time to just let things go and let freedom reign. When you decide to overspend on
eye cream and gold plated lint rollers.... I promise not to roll my eyes. ;)

In Peacful productivity,
Carla




Tweet