STRATEGY SHEET

June 1996





Earn $1,000/hr Learning
More and Taking Action

© Talbot Stevens

At my seminars, I normally ask how many people would work a few hours for a couple thousand dollars?

We all would, but the reality is that almost everyone can by simply learning more.

Most people spend 2,000 hours a year to earn their money. Doesn't it make sense to spend a couple hours learning how to keep it, and make it grow for you?

Let's say that Jane is 25 years from retirement and starts a “pay yourself first” plan, automatically investing $4,000 a year.

If she invests 10 hours a year to learn how to be a little better consumer to save an extra $1,000 a year, and learns how to be a little better investor to increase her investment returns by only 2%, from 10% to 12%, she will end up with an extra $270,000 at retirement ($670,000 instead of $400,000).

This works out to over $1,000 an hour for each hour spent learning more!

For almost all of us, this is clearly the most valuable use of our time, often 10 or even 100 times more lucrative than any salary we earn.

The good thing about knowledge is how readily available it is. Aside from the obvious sources such as books, newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, seminars, and now the internet, one of the easiest ways to learn how you can benefit the most is to take advantage of the expertise of a good financial planner.

Since we aren't taught how to effectively manage our money, almost everyone can benefit from a good financial advisor to help them with their finances, the same way we need the expertise of doctors or mechanics to help us with our health or car concerns.

It's been said that, in this information age, what you know is much more important than how hard you work.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Once you learn how to learn, the limits are your own.”

However, is it really enough to simply be aware of the “Lessons from the Rich” to become rich? Obviously not.

The difference between the wealthy and the rest of us isn't just an awareness of more effective wealth building strategies. The critical difference is also a willingness to take advantage of new ideas — a willingness and commitment to ACT!

Anyone can achieve Financial Freedom Without Sacrifice, without lowering their standard of living. All it takes is a little common sense combined with a basic understanding of the opportunities that are available, and a commitment to ACT on those ideas that we can benefit from.

We should never stop learning more. If you have some common sense and take the time to learn some basics on your own and with the help of a good financial advisor, it really is easy to achieve your financial goals.

For more information, visit www.TalbotStevens.com.