Why Winning the Money Game Takes Discipline and Personal Finance Secrets Are Worthless

Are you sick of hearing countless schemes and gurus whispering the need for personal finance secrets? The truth is none of those fancy plans are needed. The following article will explain why winning the money game takes discipline and personal finance secrets are worthless.

Today's economic landscape is filled with advice about how you should best invest your money, whether in the stock market, a marketing scheme, precious metals investing, real estate, or some other fancy plan for creating wealth. Have you ever noticed that they usually mention very little about the risks involved in such ventures, often making it seem that they are sure bets and your financial rewards await all those who even try.

Well the reality of these investment schemes for wealth building is often very different. The stock market can drop, companies can go out of business, the market can fall out from under real estate, businesses can fail, the list is endless. Any personal finance advice that doesn't involve sensible research on your part, responsibility for your money and your choices, and financial discipline is to be avoided.

Don't misunderstand me. I am not averse to risk and winning the money game involved managed risk on a continual basis for true success. But the truth about personal finance is that there are very few true secrets, and if there are any at all, it is the sound advice that has resounded as common sense for generations.

Winning the money game and creating financial increase in your life requires discipline and attention to your finances. Spend less money than you earn each month, and do not live beyond your current means. I believe in big dreams, huge dreams in fact, but winning the money game requires living in your reality of now while you work to create your reality of tomorrow.

Personal finance is not about the next big secret investment that will earn you tons of money fast. Rather with sound financial practices and following the rules of money you will be able to increase your wealth over time regardless of your current income or situation. Sound practices of saving, and creating value in all your interactions will head you in the right direction towards winning the money game every time.

Budget your time, create a financial goal that will inspire you and have the discipline to take action towards your goal each and every day. Simple disciplines that have profound consequences on your personal finances.

Beware of Business and Marketing Based Article-Social Networking Websites

Sometimes it seems no one in the younger generation seems to know how to work anymore, instead they all try to come up with the latest Internet Social Networking Scheme. Indeed, they really do not ever create anything new, just slight variations along similar themes. For instance, the other day someone emails me and wants me to provide them with 100s of Business and Marketing articles. And as the most prolific online article writer in human history, that should not be too difficult for me right?

Well, sure, I could do it, but why would I provide fresh quality content to a brand new website that is unproven, not even listed in the search engines yet and do all that for free? I.e. What's in it for me? So, I asked the gentleman and here is what he responded, probably another form email that he sends to everyone. Typical non-personal gibberish:

Hi Lance,

Let me explain a little about Our New Website to give you a better understand of the site.

Our New Website (launching in two weeks) is set up as a portal for professionals in 3 areas, which are Marketing & Sales, Accounting & Finance, and Small Business Owners & Startups. Professionals in these areas can come to Schlitzel and read daily articles, read blogs, participate in discussions, find out about the latest jobs, and participate in groups. Each profession is separated so that users view only one profession at a time to ensure each member sees the content that is most important to them. Basically, it is a one stop shop for professionals to get everything they need in their profession.

The articles section is a major area on the site. Each weekday we feature one article for each profession. The article should be based on any marketing profession topic. The author is also given a section to write about their background and their name is hyperlinked to the user profile on the site.

We encourage viewers to leave comments on the article and engage in a discussion. The goal of the article is to provide profession related content to our users. In return, we want our authors to be seen as industry experts leading to increased exposure for the author. You can see an example article that I posted at [URL was here]. The site usually requires a password so you will see a banner at the top asking for you to sign in. This banner will not be shown if you are logged in.

The only thing we ask from the authors is:

the article is related to the profession and provides value to the user

no blatant advertising in the article such as discount offers, text links, etc.

the article needs to be original content written by the author. It can be a rephrased article from a previous post, but it can not [sic] be a duplicate repost as this will hurt our page-rank from Google.

Please let me know if you have any questions. We are looking for our first contributors now. Would you like to contribute?

So, what is a polite way to say "Heck No!" Let's see now, would I like to contribute content for free to help this guy build his website and make money. Mind you, it's a brand new site, no traffic and virtually not recognized at all by anyone. Would you want to build someone else's website instead of your own? What's in it for you? In this case Nothing - think about it.

Growing Your Business - Why Separating Business and Personal Finances is Good

This article is not all about finances. Well, it's partially about finances. More importantly, it's about how to grow your business. Growing your business doesn't just happen by magic. There's no business growth fairy that takes away a balance sheet and leaves a bigger business under your pillow. It takes consistent, carefully investment to create your own success.

And that investment starts with something that you might not have considered: Separating your business and personal finances. Surprised? Here are the reasons.

First, you'll want to separate your business and personal finances for tax purposes. If you keep them combined, you might not be eligible for certain deductions, but if you separate them, you may be entitled to deduct expenses for your home office and mileage allowance. Likewise, you may be responsible for paying certain taxes on your business that do not apply to your personal income. Separating your finances is the only way to ensure that you properly follow all tax laws and receive all advantages to which you are entitled by law. That can grow your business by clarifying your paperwork and possibly making more money available (because of more deductions) which you can reinvest in your business.

Another important reason for separating your finances is to get a loan or a grant so you can invest in your business. Separating your finances helps to establish a paper trail and helps you to create financial reports that demonstrate the business' performance. If your finances are separated it will be much easier to determine which income and expenses belong to the business itself.

Third, separating your finances can help you decide how best to grow and develop the business as well. You will be able to see the areas in which the business excels as well as those areas in which it needs some extra help. You can generate targeted, accurate reports and financial statements that show at a glance how the business performs in various areas.

How Can I Separate My Business and Personal Finances?

The easiest way to separate your business and personal finances is to open a business bank account. If you use credit to make business-related purchases, apply for a card in the name of the business. Have all payments made to the business account, and use only those funds and the business credit card to make purchases.

How Do I Get Paid?

You have multiple options for paying yourself. Some business owners find it best to write themselves a set paycheck every week. If you are confident that the business will retain enough funds to pay your salary each time, this will streamline the process and make it easier to accurately pay your personal income taxes.

However, if your business is new or unstable, you may find it better to pass funds through the business account to your personal account. You might decide to retain just enough money in the business account to pay for expenses, and transfer everything that is left into your personal account. This is an ideal solution for those who have many personal expenses but few business expenses and earn wildly different sums on each contract.

Setting Up and Maintaining Bookkeeping and Accounting

Many business owners find themselves confused and overwhelmed by the paperwork that is involved in maintaining separate accounts. Consider hiring outside help. A Virtual Assistant company can set up and maintain your bookkeeping and accounting. Your VA can even handle payroll, writing your paycheck each week. You can maintain as much or as little control over the process as you desire. You can hire the VA for a set number of hours per week or per month, or simply retain his or her services on a per-project basis.

Ultimately, separating your business and personal finances can seem like a complicated task in the short term but in the long term it is an effective way to grow your business.

Heather Villa, MBA CMA MSM, is a Business Coach and Entrepreneur. She helps business owners achieve success in operations, productivity, project management, and social media.