Why is this principle essential to your PERSONAL financial success? Because you can grow your practice and handle your personal income correctly and at the end of the day still be broke! The average 50 year old in America has a NEGATIVE net worth. That means they OWE MORE THAN THEY OWN! Now that is not because they didn’t make enough money – Americans make more than any other people on the planet. Our income is not the problem. The problem is we are not responsible with the money that we make. Ninety-six percent of Americans at retirement are living off their kids or off the government or both. They can’t retire on their own net worth. Ninety-six percent – that is almost everybody! That means almost everybody on this call struggles with the laws of finance – so let’s not bury our head in the sand – it’s not your fault – you have not been taught these financial principles. Why do we never learn it? For one thing, 96% of the population can’t teach it because they are in the same boat and have the same problem you do!

That makes this principle essential to your personal financial success. That’s what makes Integrity Doctors essential. We want you to Live the Dream Financially!!! You CAN! You WILL. There is a famous saying in our country: Freedom isn’t free. How true that is. It applies to financial freedom as well. Financial freedom isn’t an income. It is not how much you make – it is how much you keep that matters. Financial Freedom is a matter of knowing the financial success laws and keeping them. People who are financially secure did not make more – they kept more. How can you handle your income so that eventually money works for you instead of you working for money? Let’s start with the basics:

Financial success begins by taking responsibility for your finances. Stop making excuses. Stop blaming others for your situation. Don’t be a victim! Take Control – Broke IS Fixable – You DO Have Power over Finances! Make the decision: I am in control of my destiny and my finances – I CHOOSE Amazing Finances! Secondly, commit yourself to a long term financial plan. You must have some rules and goals that you are loyal to and believe in. Financial freedom is never instant. That is why very few have it. 99% of truly rich people are a 20 year overnight success. There are only a handful of 25 year old internet billionaires – everybody else had to do it “the old fashioned way”. You have to WANT financial freedom enough to plan for it and pursue it. Is it okay to pursue “rich”? Money is not evil. It is a good thing. “I don’t love money but it calms my nerves!” The lack of money has destroyed a lot of relationships and lives. There are enough things in life that demand our worry – let’s not add finances to it! So what is an example of personal financial planning? Here is a start:

1 We cannot borrow money for things that don’t make us money – depreciating items. What are examples of depreciating items? Clothes – how much are they worth after you wear them? Vacations and trips – when you get back all you have is pictures. Computers – outdated and worth very little after only a few months. Furniture – worth very little after you have laid around on it! Food that you have already eaten. You say, I would never borrow money to buy food! You probably did without realizing it. How? It’s called CREDIT CARDS! You don’t even realize you are doing it. You bought all those things on a credit card and then you didn’t pay off the credit card at the end of the month. You end up borrowing money at over 20% on food that you have already eaten, trips you have already taken, clothes you have already worn out, and computers that have died – you still have the debt and nothing to show for it – negative net worth. Your first priority must be to pay off your credit cards and always pay them off at the end of the month. Pay cash for everything that doesn’t make you money or don’t buy it! What are some examples of GOOD debt? Your home. Your office. Why? These are not depreciating items and they will be passive income resources for your later years. If you did not invest in a home and pay it off – you would have to PAY a “rent” your whole life. So when you invest in your home and pay it off it is like having a passive income of say, $4,000 a month because you would have had to pay that to somebody if you didn’t have a “paid off” home. Plus the value of your home over 30 years will be much more than when you bought it.  The cost of housing has had an incredible increase over the last 30 years. Plus the interest on your home is tax deductible. When you buy your office – your rent (which you would pay anyway) is going toward giving YOU a debt free commercial building instead of giving some stranger a debt free commercial building. Your rent over 30 years of practice might as well go towards YOUR financial freedom instead of somebody else’s. At the end of your note you have an office that will provide you passive income – if the rent is $3000 a month – that is $36,000 a year of passive income to you (money you don’t have to work for). That is money working for you!

2. Never spend more than you make! This may sound simple but very few people do it – including our government. Break this rule and it will eventually destroy any success you have . Most people say “I just need more money.” No – if they break this rule they will always be broke regardless of income – because you can always spend more than you make regardless of your income. There are many people who make hundreds of thousands a year and are broke – because they spend more than they make. You can’t break this rule! The first key to accomplishing this is KNOWING how much you actually make. You can be fooled. By the time your paycheck has deducted taxes and everything it supposed to deduct – you have about 65% left. Then you have some mandatory bills that might as well be automatically taken out with your taxes – house, food, tithe, utilities, gas, probably car, insurances, etc – you pretty much know what these are each month. Subtract that from the 65% that was left over after deductions. Now how much do you have? Once you take a good honest look at how much you make after all the obligations are taken out of it – you are going to be surprised at how much you actually make – but you need to know because you almost always think you make more than you really do – which causes you to spend more than you make.

3. Build up and Keep a cushion in your account! Whatever a month or two of expenses are – keep that in your account and on hand – and consider your account at ZERO from that amount – not from actually ZERO. Right now your checking account can make some interest money and your cushion can make some pretty good interest money with savings accounts so Don’t worry about “losing interest”. There are always emergencies and unexpected expenses. There will never be a year when they don’t happen and you must be prepared so you don’t have to borrow money for them.

4. Invest in your future! Use the money left over after items we listed above in number two to invest in your future. To “invest” does require “saving” sometimes but you can use your savings to invest in items that will make you more money than savings and it is more reliable money working for you – instead of you having to work for money. When you prepare for the future by investing in items which produce passive income – you do not have to worry about “running out of money” before you die or not having Social Security if and when it goes under or having kids that can’t take care of you. You have your future taken care of. We are not saying you have to retire – we just want you to be able to – work only because you want to – not because you have to.

My Financial oath:

I am going to take control and take responsibility for my finances. It does not control me – I control it. I will dictate where my money goes so that I get the results I want – Financial Security. I have a plan and I am committed to it. I have done it wrong before but that doesn’t mean I have to do it wrong ever again. I will spend right, invest right and get right. I realize that few people live according to these financial principles but that is why they do not have financial freedom. I will live today like nobody else – so I can live tomorrow like nobody else.