Why Residual Income Should Be Music to Your Ears! (Part 1 of 3)
What really is Residual Income? It’s income that keeps coming in, regardless of what you do, as long as the results stay in place. Some people have started to call it mailbox money.
Oil wells, for instance, are an example of residual income. In Calgar, Canada, I saw first-hand how people became rich overnight when they hit a big oil well. But, I also saw them go flat broke when the cost of a barrel of crude oil took a nosedive. The results did not stay in place. Because the price of oil dropped drastically many “wildcatters” found themselves paying more for the leases and the electricity than the selling price of the crude oil. They eventually had to sell their lease at a loss. They didn’t have residual income.
Interest on a savings account or a C.D. (certificate of deposit) at your local bank is also a good example of residual income. As long as you keep the money in the bank--you’ll get the same results every month. The problem is, most of us don’t have the money it takes to even open a savings account or C.D. in the first place!
If you’re planning on retiring on Social Security, your savings, 401K, or your companies pension plan, think again. USA Today, recently wrote that if you are age 35 today and you want to retire at age 65 with the same income you make right now, you’d need to have over $350,000 in the bank today earning interest at 10% just to keep up with inflation. Do you have $350,000 in the bank today? If you do, consider yourself lucky. Over 99% of Americans today live month to month--and with no hope of this ever changing in site, more and more people are becoming frustrated with their jobs and their relationships. Divorce is at an all time-high and so is crime.
Is our problems in society a direct result of lack of money?
I don’t think it is entirely the reason, but think about this for a minute. How many of the problems you and your spouse have (if you’re married) could be solved if you had an extra $2,000 a month coming in? What about an extra $5,000 or $10,000 per month? How many decisions a day do you make in your mind because of money--or because of the “lack of money”.
I used to eat at fast food restuarants for dinner. Now, I can eat anywhere that I want and I don’t have to worry about price. However, I still need to worry about cholesterol! When I used to pick up the phone at home and it didn’t work, the first thought that came to my mind was, "Did we pay the bill?" Now before I freakout, I calmly contact the phone company on my cellular phone and invaribly it is a result of a systems malfunction or accident in the area and would be re-connected the next day. We used to never travel because we couldn’t afford to. If we ever did take a small trip, when we got back to work it took us several weeks to “catch up”. Now, when we feel like going somewhere we simply go online and book a flight. We handle all the accommodations, including hotel and rental car. All we really have to do is show up with a smile, our luggage and golf clubs. See the difference?
I’m sure without thinking to hard you could come up with plenty more examples of how you might worry about money on an even smaller scale that you’re probably not even aware that you do every day--and they all revolve around the lack of money. It's true, you think a lot more about money when you don't have any. But, when I had some, it sure was nice!
The other element you need in order for money to really go to work for you is TIME. When I was making good money at my consulting company and working 100 hours and 6-7 days a week, I realized I didn’t have any time to spend my money. If we did go somewhere, we were always hurrying so I could go back to work. Or, my cell phone would go off right in the middle of dinner and I’d have to take the call. This definitely wasn’t working for me, and it especially wasn’t working for my wife. When we got married this wasn’t what we visualized our lives to be. So, what happened? Where did we go wrong? We did what everybody told us. We both had strong educations. I even owned my own business--a feat less than 10% of North Americans accomplish--and we still weren’t happy. What were we doing wrong?
The simple fact was we were slaves to our business. It told us when to get up in the morning and when to go to sleep at night. It was literally tearing us apart and our relationship suffered severely for a long time..
What we needed was both time and money. Early in our relationship and business careers, we had lots of time, but no money. Nobody gets out of college and starts a business and makes it big, right? Everybody told us we had to EARN our way first, then the money would come. So, we threw ourselves into our businesses and then we had no time and no money! Just a dream that someday we would have both. As our efforts began to pay off, we progressed to money, but no time and lots of headaches--a very frustrating stage.
This, my friend, is where I found myself when someone approached me about Network Marketing. That’s why I was opened minded to a change. I knew what my results were if I kept doing what I was doing. I had no other alternatives--and neither did any of my friends.
Does any of this sound familiar? If you’ve experienced this same scenario or know anybody who has, you’re in good company! We all have this illusion that we’re the only ones suffering and everybody else is making it big. Well, guess what? Folks are just as broke in Toronto as they are where you live. We’ve all followed the same system to financial failure. No matter who you are, Doctor, Lawyer, Bank Vice President, Small Business Owner, or a common laborer, if you aren’t getting a monthly residual check, you’re broke! If you make $100,000 a year, but spend $110,000 you’re no better off in life than the person who makes only $10,000 to live!
Most Americans today are only a paycheck or two away from a financial tragedy. It’s sad, but it’s also true. We’ve all been trained and educated to be broke. How? By telling our children and ourselves that if you get a good education you’ll be able to get a secure job and be set for life! Not anymore!
That might have been true in the 50’s and 60’s, but it’s not in this day and age. Have you read the newspapers lately? Listened to the news? Sure you have. And you know that major corporations are downsizing (a nice way to say “your fired”). Maybe you know of a friend or relative who has been laid off recently. Maybe even you have! I know that I have been "downsized" several times.
On a happy note, thanks for downsizing me!
- End of Part 1 -
See Part 2 of Why Residual Income Should Be Music to Your Ears!
See You On The Beaches of the World,
Kevin "K-Man" McNabb
"The Responsible Network Marketer"
About the Author: Kevin McNabb is a professional Network Marketer who retired from the corporate world after more than 20 years to pursue his real passion: helping people.
His corporate experience with Fortune 500 companies and Internet startups, coupled with his network marketing industry expertise, provides
him with a fresh perspective on such topics as: thinking, dreaming, ethics, attitude, people skills, leadership, habits, personal effectiveness,
decision making, personalities, power language, failure and adversity, succeeding, rejection, recognition, finances, marketing and sales.
Kevin is the Founder and CEO of Global-Networking-Online.com, a personal development portal for the network marketing and affiliate marketing industries.
For more information on "Ethics and the Responsible Network Marketer", please see:
http://www.global-networking-online.com/catalog/Ethics_Invitation.html
More articles by kmanglobal
Print Article | Download PDF | 48 views | Mar 20 2008
|
|
