Making Money Alert: The Importance of Positivity

When your profession requires you to watch a lot of news, as mine does, you tend to be bombarded by all sorts of disturbing information. Sometimes, you just have to tune it out and focus on the positives in life. With this situation in mind, I wanted to share with you some insights that I read recently from author/entrepreneur Mark St. Cyr.

Here, St. Cyr reminds us that life is full of riches, if you are willing to go after them. The basic thrust of his thoughts here, thoughts that I very much share, are that your decisions are at the root of your success. To achieve something in life, you first must choose to do so. “It’s all within your control,” as St. Cyr says, and really, who can argue with this profound yet simple wisdom?

Now, when it comes to your financial life, we can apply this wisdom in the following five ways.

1) You need to have a purpose in life, and money must serve that purpose. To get where you want to be, you first need to have clear goals and objectives. For example, if you want to retire in a certain place, or at a certain time, then you need to take the steps now to reach that destination.

2) Have a plan in place to achieve common sense objectives such as reducing your overall debt, saving more money, contributing more to your retirement funds, etc. Basically, this is all part of the action you need to take to make your goals a reality.

3) Take some real action every day, every week and every month to help achieve your goals. It’s one thing to have a goal, but it’s quite another to take action to make that goal happen. In my own life, I have things I do each day to further my goals. Then I have actions I take every week. I also have things I do on a monthly basis to help further my goals. One of them is making sure all of my financial relationships are on the right track and serving my long-term objectives.

4) Have a plan, and work it. It’s great to have a plan, but you must always work that plan, and keep improving it to make sure it’s serving you well. Include your loved ones such as trusted friends and family in this process, as they know you better than anyone else.

5) Be proactive. If something you’re doing isn’t working, then change it up and do something different. There’s no shame in correcting your path if you feel you’ve strayed off course. So, be proactive and embrace change. It’s often the key to making sure you’re on track to achieve your goals.

Incorporating these five principles into your life can really make a positive difference, and I can attest to this fact personally. The way I see it, there is nothing more important than positivity in life, so harness the power within you and get yourself on track to achieving what you desire most.

ETFs for a Brave New World

It has often been said that the only constant in life is change. I agree with this thesis, and its implications for investors. You see, no matter what changes are taking place in the world, there are always opportunities for investors to embrace and profit from that change.

Next week, I’ll be attending the Las Vegas Money Show, and one of the themes I’ve woven through several of my presentations is the fact that there’s a brave new world out there when it comes to investing and the ETFs you can use to take advantage of the markets.

Here’s a list of five ETFs that I’ll be covering in greater detail in my Money Show talks. I’ll have more on these in the Making Money Alert in the weeks to come, but I thought I’d just give you a little glimpse of the areas I think will provide tremendous opportunity for investors in the years ahead.

1) iShares Multi-Asset Income Fund (IYLD). This fund is a great way to get diversified income into your portfolio.

2) Global X SuperDividend ETF (SDIV). This ETF lets you collect dividends from around the best companies doing business worldwide.

3) WisdomTree Emerging Markets High Yield Fund (DEM). This fund is another way to get income into your portfolio via the best global companies.

4) PIMCO Total Return (BOND). Put the expert bond management of Bill Gross on your side.

  5) Alerian MLP (AMLP). This ETF is a basket of master limited partnerships that offer high yield and share price appreciation.

On Not Waiting

“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”

–Napoleon Hill

How many times have you heard someone, possibly even you, say that they are waiting for the right time to do what they really would rather be doing? I hear it all the time and, whenever I do, it actually makes me sad. The fact is there never is a perfect time to do something. You can always find reasons to delay what you desire. I say don’t let yourself do this. If you want something, go for it. The time will never be just right, so act in your own interest and make whatever dream you have a reality. It’s really as simple as that.

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote you’d like me to share with your fellow Making Money Alert readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my audio podcast, newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Doug.

To read my e-letter from last week, please click here. I also invite you to comment about my column in the space provided below.

P.S. Las Vegas Money Show, May 13-16: Join me at this big investment conference. Tickets are complimentary for my subscribers. To register, call 1-800/970-4355 and mention code # 031169.