You Can Be a Best Seller…Really!

You’ve heard it many times from people; “You should write a book!”

What would it do for your business if you had a published book available on Amazon. In fact, visualize what your life would be like if a book about YOU was actually a NY Times best seller.

Wow.

For any business owner, professional or entrepreneur, there is nothing that symbolizes expert status as showcasing, promoting or even giving away your book. Your competitors don’t have a book and once you do, you will instantly be recognized not only as the expert in your field, but respected by your peers. You can charge more for your services, spend less on marketing and have more time and money for yourself. Why is this?

Public figures regardless if they are on TV, radio or print have celebrity status and are always perceived as experts in their field. The reason for this is clear. There are always multiple choices when it comes to getting an experts opinion on a subject. Of all the choices, when YOU are selected to be interviewed, you are seen as the best choice.

What does this have to do with a book?

Everything.

While not everyone can be Oprah, everyone CAN publish a book. Notice I didn’t say write a book…not everyone can do that. Publishing a book, however, can be accomplished with any combination of your two most precious assets; time and money.

When it comes to your most VALUABLE asset, time always shoots to the top of the list. We only have so much time to invest in our business, client relations, family and community. Taking time away from all of those roles to crank out a full length book is what keeps the mystique of being an author alive and well.

In fact, being a published author may actually be MORE sexy than being a TV or radio host. With the proliferation of web-based radio and youtube channels, being a media personality is actually easier than producing a full length book.

The status of being an author is alive and well.

If you have a large amount of extra time, there are dozens of courses and programs that can help you create a book that uniquely tells your story and how wonderful you and your business is. For most of us, time is in short supply…write a whole book? Forget it.

Hiring a ghost writer, publisher, agent and design firm can cost upwards of $20,000, $50,000 or more. After all of that expense and interview time, you are still looking at many months or over a year before you see your first book in print. Once it is in print, you run the risk that befalls thousands of authors a month…a garage full of books and no system to get them out to the public.

Self-publishing has reduced a large portion of these barriers. Self-publishing has increased over 180% in the last year alone. With on-demand publishing, your inventory can remain at zero. With grass roots marketing, it makes more sense to pay more per book and not carry any inventory. What remains the largest barrier is a method to get your message in print in such a way as to minimize your investment of time and do it for a reasonable fee.

The 3 Hr Author was established not to simply address this problem, but to eliminate any hesitation one would have in producing a book. Not everyone will qualify for this system, but every professional CAN benefit from having a book about themselves and their business. Using our experienced support team and our proprietary technology, the Bexsi Pro system can produce a real book in under 60 days and for less than 1/2 the cost of hiring the 4-5 professionals normally required to produce a book. Clients can expect:

• A professional-quality hard-cover book about themselves, their mission and business.
• Invest less than 3 hours of their time (using our proprietary interview & technology platform) and less than $5,000.
• Receive a branding, marketing and promotion system that will catapult their career WELL past the competition.

For more details on how YOU can get a professional book about you and your company, visit www.3hrauthor.com or 1-800-708-2757 to learn more.

118-Year-Old Trick Used by the Government to Bamboozle Taxpayers

I love the United States. I am ashamed of my government.

Our grasp of history is so incredibly naive. This morning I quizzed my daughter about our RECENT history including the Monroe doctrine and the value of nationalism and states rights.

It reminded me of the foundation of freedom this country was built upon.

Then I go to my email and read the following letter from a former congressman Bob Bauman. I am posting this letter in its entirety (including a sponsor message) in the hopes that we can occasionally put our partisan politics aside and hold all of our politicians accountable to the legacy they are creating.

It doesn’t matter if you are a republican, democrat or independent, they are all part of the same hypocrisy that is bankrupting our country and sending us into the dark ages.

Here is Mr. Bauman’s letter:

I have long been a student of history. In fact, I’ve lived through a lot of it.

And from my experience, I can tell you that there are secrets lurking in yellowed, cracking pages that you simply can’t find in today’s press… or Google.

Today, I’d like to share one of these secrets with you. A 118-year old “trick” that’s been deployed by the Federal Government to wring billions… perhaps trillions of extra dollars out of our wallets.

Psychologists call it the theory of “minimum variation.”

What is it… and why is it so powerful?

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Internal Sponsorship

Do You Have the Courage to Say “NO!” to Excessive Income Taxes, Expanding Government Regulations and Invasions of Your Personal Privacy?

Yes

No

*Click “yes” or “no” to vote and read a private memo from Former Congressman, Robert E. Bauman.

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I uncovered this principle in an old psychology textbook from 1897, which was put out by E. W. Scripture, PhD, Director of Yale University’s Psychological Laboratory.

The legend goes like this; if you toss a frog into boiling water, he will instinctively jump out. But if you place that same frog in a pot of luke-warm water, then gradually raise the temperature, he will boil to death without moving a muscle.

That’s the theory of “minimum variation” in a nutshell. Animals (or taxpayers for that matter) are terrible at detecting subtle changes in their environment.

And it’s clear to me that the politicians in Washington and elsewhere have ruthlessly exploited this weakness for decades, slowly boiling Americans alive, with new taxes, fees and boondoggles.

The Secret of “Minimum Variation” Has Enslaved 4
Generations of American Taxpayers… including YOU

This fable of the frog may sound silly. But it has direct ties to the expansion of Big Brother’s government.

Let’s take a look at how this theory has been put to work since the early 20th century…

Most people don’t know this – but prior to the stock market crash of 1929, most states didn’t have an income tax or even a sales tax. It wasn’t until the crash of the stock market – and the ensuing Great Depression – that their most significant source of revenue, property taxes, was crushed…and they needed to seek revenue elsewhere.

So to supplement their revenue, states branched out and started taxing things like incomes, tobacco, alcohol, etc.

Many of these taxes were billed as “crisis measures” but as we know, there’s no such thing as a temporary government program. To this day, these taxes continue to steamroll Americans, 70 years after the so-called “crisis” has passed.

Some states like California and Illinois have recently raised their sales tax beyond 8.75% to 10.55%!

But that’s nothing compared to the Federal Income Tax

Let’s rewind to the 1920s… The Federal Income tax was a blip on the radar. Most families paid 1-2% of their income, while the well-off contributed 7%.

Then came the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.

Believe it or not, within ten years, the top bracket soared from 7% to 79%. In other words, the Feds confiscated $79 out of every $100 a successful businessman earned.

Today, we are not faced with such punitive rates. But the Federal Income tax is still very high, historically, at a top rate of 35%.

Any of these tax hikes – if they occurred overnight – would cause a massive outcry from the general public… if not a revolution.

But as you can see, the government skillfully employed the theory of “minimum variation.” Like the frog that got boiled alive, most Americans took these rate-hikes in stride. This has allowed the government to take unimaginable liberties with our property… our savings… and our rights.

As you can see in the chart below, Federal outlays (red) continue to outstrip receipts, or taxes (green).

And still, our elected leaders insist on spending trillions of dollars more. There can only be one conclusion: taxes are about to head much higher.

Chart Courtesy of Bespoke Investment Group

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Internal Sponsorship

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According to polls from Zogby and TD Waterhouse, growing numbers of Americans are headed outside the US for retirement. AARP data shows nearly 500,000 Americans already pick up their Social Security checks at an embassy or consulate outside the US.

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But They Won’t Call it a Tax Increase This Time Around…

So far, 30 states have passed outright tax hikes… But don’t expect many more to “go public” with new wealth confiscation themes in 2010.

The reason?

Democracy, of course. 37 governors… 46 state legislatures… 435 House members and 34 U.S. Senators are up for re-election.

And you can bet they will twist, turn, duck and dodge to avoid using the “t-word.”

That’s why the greatest near-term threat will come from hidden taxes – what I call Government Wealth Siphoning.

For example…

• The most recent “stimulus bill” to cross President Obama’s desk will add about $10 billion in back-door taxes.
• This month alone, over $90 million in fees are being ram-rodded through the Georgia state house. Residents will face higher taxes and fee increases on everything from drivers’ licenses and passports… to daycare centers and court filings. This pattern is repeating across dozens of states as they scramble to make up for budget shortfalls…
• The Federal Government’s “Build America Bonds” program is effectively plowing billions (possibly trillions) of dollars into the municipal bond market by subsidizing a large portion of the interest rates – yet another back-door “bailout” foisted off on the middle class.
• States from New York to Hawaii are planning to freeze tax refunds… for as long as five months…
• Property tax assessments continue to rise… despite a tumbling housing market…
• And the expiring Bush tax cuts will likely see the government’s share of dividend income and long term capital gains soar from 15% to 22.9%.

Your Best Defense is a Strong Offense

The most important step you can take is to stay on top of government efforts to confiscate your wealth.

When you’re armed with this knowledge… you can choose to legally decouple yourself from the American tax system, or simply structure you wealth in a way that triggers less of a tax burden.

One of the most common questions I get is, “How can I possibly find the time to become a tax expert?” And the truth is, you can’t… and you shouldn’t. Life is far too short to reinvent the wheel.

That’s the key reason why I created the Freedom Alliance last fall. To help protect you from the pitfalls of big government, sidestep the worst Wealth Harvesting Big Brother can dish out… and connect you with the most compelling and lucrative alternative investments from around the world.

The bad news is, we’ve been a victim of our own success.

The popularity of the Freedom Alliance has grown so much that have been forced to close it off to new members. The good news is, if you’re interested in learning more about our small group, the tactics we use to legally minimize taxes and access so-called “forbidden” investments… without triggering an IRS audit… you have one last chance to join us this spring… at a 90% discount. But I must hear from you by March 31st.

I firmly believe that knowledge makes the difference between the “frog” that gets boiled alive and the one that safely leaps to safety. And I’d like nothing more than to share our collective knowledge with you… before the water reaches the boiling point.

Faithfully yours,

Bob Bauman, JD

P.S. For more on all the details and benefits of membership in The Sovereign Society’s Freedom Alliance, just read this FREE report…

NOTE TO READER: I subscribe to the Sovereign Society’s Offshore Newsletter. I normally paraphrase or glean nuggets of wisdom from this newsletter and write my own original posts. This one, from Robert Bauman, was so good, I had to leave it completely untouched and with respect to Bob, I also left in the sponsor links. Enjoy…

Proof: You Pay OVER 50% in Taxes

How much do YOU pay in taxes? The average person would probably answer, “Too much!” of course. In reality, we believe our federal tax rate (25-40%) is what we pay in taxes. However, if you add up ALL your taxes, you will realize that this number is off…way off.

Your federal, state and local taxes are deducted from your paycheck BEFORE you even get home. What you are left with to survive is you living expenses. THOSE expenses are taxed as well. In fact, if you added up all the additional sales, telecom, city, highway, school, real estate and miscellaneous taxes, the average American is actually paying over 65% of their income in some form of tax! How can ANYONE survive?

Building Permit Tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel permit tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Interest expense
Inventory tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road usage taxes
City Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone federal excise tax
Telephone federal universal service fee tax
Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes
Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax
Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax
Telephone state and local tax
Telephone usage charge tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

I am sure there are dozens more! Many of these taxes are levied AFTER your federal state and local income tax…so effectively you are paying these additional taxes with after tax money; doubling our pain.

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

Wouldn’t  it be nice to REDUCE or ELIMINATE your tax burden?

Send me an email and learn how the wealthy legally reduce their tax burden. dcrowe@themayanislands.com.

“It’s the Economy, Stupid” (2009?)

“It’s the economy stupid”

Ummm…no it’s not. It’s YOU!

The economy may be in the dumper, but let’s take a practical look at money. Ever since the slide of the real estate markets, the credit crunch and the government take over of some sectors of our economy what has happened to the actual money?

Certainly there were paper losses in the stock and real estate markets. That is easily understood. You house used to be able to sell for $250,000 now can only sell for $175,000. The “value” has declined. (Even though you probably purchased it for $100,000 about 5 years ago and have seen a realistic increase)

What about the money?

Where has your cash gone?

Truth is, nobody had a bonfire and destroyed any of your cash. If you had cash in the bank, CD’s or money markets, your cash value is unchanged. In fact, there are trillions of dollars in cash that is now sitting idle because of investors fears.

Fear and confidence has more to do with the movement of money than any other factor.

That is why NOW is the very best and most lucrative time to invest.

When fear and greed grip the average person, the confidence in our ability to produce, save and prosper wanes. This restricts the movement of money and opens up massive holes of opportunities where they were hidden before.

When the economy is booming, most investments worked to some degree. When the economy tanks, the true diamonds are separated from the cubic zirconium. Prior to October, 2008, nearly any investment appeared to be viable. It is only when times are “tough” that pure, true and profitable investments are left behind.

In 2007 and early 2008, our island project in Belize was being compared to other similar private island resorts in the Caribbean. Here it is, late 2009 and nearly ALL of those resorts are bankrupt. People who invested in those visions soon realized that they had invested in a paper tiger….it looked great, but had no substance.

The mayan islands www.mayanislands.com is one of the few private island resorts left standing after this past year’s  economic decline. The project may not have hit all of the construction targets we had planned on, but with investments coming in at only 25% of the previous years inflows, we were able to keep our heads above water.

Now, as we enter the new season of 2010, we are encouraged to pick up NEW opportunities in the marketplace. We have new business partners and deals being offered by companies and individuals who have been displaced by the bad “economy.”

So, do we participate in this economy?

Yes and no.

Our participation does NOT come with the depressing, “take cover” attitude so many of our competitors were faced with. Instead, we are encouraged and happy to ignore the negative influences of the economy and are taking ADVANTAGE of the opportunities presented to us.

Fortune favors the brave, but rewards the intelligent.

Now is the time to take advantage of the fear so many people have. Now is the time to invest in the winners. Winners are not just the projects and investments that have revealed their strengths during the difficult times, they are also the investment opportunities that move in contrast to it.

Click here and listen to a 15 minute overview by the Mayan Islands Founder, Scott Mallick.

For those of you who have already moved some of your money offshore, congratulations! You are welcome to listen in our weekly teleconference call on Wednesdays! Drop me a line at dcrowe@themayanislands.com and I will send you the number and access code.

Gangsters at the Fed: What do Vito Corleone and Ben Bernake Have in Common?

“Give this job to Clemenza. I want reliable people, people who aren’t going to be carried away. I mean, we’re not murderers, in spite of what this undertaker thinks…”

- Vito Corleone

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For decades, “organized crime,” “la cosa nostra,” “the mafia” whatever you call it has been romanticized in media and pursued and prosecuted by law enforcement. And for what?

Their business model.

Think about it. That’s all it really was…an extremely aggressive business model.

First they’d give you access to your most lascivious desires. Then, being the full service type business they were, they’d lend you the money to indulge yourself.

And in exchange for this service, they expected you to pay them back and shut the hell up.

At times their terms could be a bit draconian. If you didn’t pay, or worse challenged their right to collect…well, let’s just say “things” could happen…

Things like fire, bombs, bullets, “significant harms that could befall not only private companies, but the economy as a whole…”

…significant harms…? Wait a minute! That’s not from the gangster playbook!

Oh right. That was from an appeal by the Fed sent to Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The judge who ruled in favor of Bloomberg in their Freedom of Information Act suit. The one who ordered the Fed to release the names of the banks who got a piece of taxpayer money in the 50-something lending programs the Fed offered.

“It’d be a real shame if something “happened” to these nice green shoots you got sproutin’ up…”

Let’s be frank here. Since 1913, the Fed, and whatever “Don” has occupied the seat at the head of the table of our central bank (originally dubbed the “Federal Reserve” due to the stigma attached to the term “central bank”), has employed the mafia business plan.

They’ve done it for many years, and quite successfully. They’d offer you access to money to buy things you deeply desired but otherwise couldn’t afford. And they expected you to pay them back and shut the hell up.

But as time went on, I guess success makes fools of us all.
Because it got to the point where times were so good and everyone was in so deep that the unthinkable happened. NOBODY could pay anybody back. (At least loan sharks on the corner would know when to tell you to “take a walk.”)

So in a way, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke – with all their formal degrees and letters behind their names – ultimately weren’t quite as smart as Carlo Gambino or Tony Accardo.

But a good business plan always has recourse for just such problems. A “backup plan” if you will. And so the treasury on behalf of the Fed, implemented yet another mafia business practice. In financial circles its called “raising capital.” In less reputable ones it’s called “collectin’”

In legal circles it’s called “extortion.”

The way this process typically works is quite simple. It’s sold as sort of an “insurance policy” against bad things happening to you or your place of business. You pay me, and nothin’ happens to you.

Just like…. Hank Paulson asking for $700 billion from Congress just a year ago. “You gotta pony up dis taxpayer money Congressman, or bad tings is gonna happen to yer stock markets and such…” (FYI, I’m paraphrasing there. I don’t have his exact testimony in front of me.)

And so they waved the threat of “systemic risk” at the American taxpayer, and the “protection” was paid.

Now, in “street level” of business, if you stayed current on your payments, generally the protection was pretty good. But if you fell behind, well isn’t that how it always goes? You miss a payment, your policy lapses and something just awful happens to you?

But we taxpayers have been current and current and current.

So far, so good.

But then something happened that never happened in the mob business plan. Someone – namely Bloomberg – demanded to see the books. Now the Fed was stuck.

They couldn’t implement the mob’s solution to this eventuality. After all, making the questioner “disappear” wasn’t legal. Nor was it practical, as it was an entire news service.

So they sent enforcers to the plate. A group called The Clearing House Association. A banking group who would confirm that indeed “…bad tings is gonna happen.”

Actually I have their exact language… “Survival can depend on the ephemeral nature of public confidence…. Experience in the banking industry has shown that when customers and market participants hear negative rumors about a bank, negative consequences inevitably flow.” (Written like a true Harvard grad whose seen one too many Scorsese films.)

Interesting.

Now I don’t have a theory about what the outcome of this might be. Never happened before. But in the long run, perhaps another end could result…

After years of public exposure and dogged pursuit by law enforcement, the presence and dominance of organized crime in the country today is decidedly on the decline.

We can only hope for a similar result for these central banksters….

Sincerely,

Chuck Dolce,
Guest Writer for The Sovereign Society

Editor’s Note: If you think the Fed’s mafia-style business plan is bad…then how about a Ponzi scheme that’s 1,000 times the size of Bernie Madoff’s shenanigans? It’s all here, in Chairman Pugsley’s special “Liars” report

This article is being reposted in its entirety from The sovereign Society. It’s a well run organization and highly recommended.

Are You In Jail Right Now?

Below is a fascinating story from NY Times Best Selling Author, Tim Ferriss, of “The 4-Hour Work Week”.

Becoming a world citizen isn’t a luxury…it’s a necessity.

ST. KITTS, EASTERN CARIBBEAN

In a few days, I’d be committed to an expense of over half a million dollars, which was more money than I had.

And what was it all for? Symbolic paper. A passport, which is just a teeny little booklet that means nothing to the universe. Realistically, the world wasn’t likely to end in my lifetime. And if it did, everyone on St. Kitts would be just as dead as everyone in America.

If there were a smaller-scale world disaster, things would probably be even worse on an island in the Caribbean, where I was more likely to be a victim of food shortages, droughts, hurricanes, blackouts, and tsunamis. There’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide on an island—especially one in the smallest country in the Americas. I’d become so focused on my search for a passport—so consumed with escaping the blowback of American politics—that I’d forgotten the survivalist lessons I’d learned on Y2K and 9/11.

Soon, the whole endeavor began to seem like the biggest travesty ever. If something horrible happened in America, would a St. Kitts passport even get me out during a state of emergency? What if it was confiscated by customs agents? Or what if Victor, Maxwell, and Wendell were in collusion and just ripping me off? I didn’t have anyone to protect me here.

Once I’d ridden out that wave of anxiety, a new one formed. I began worrying that I’d blabbed my name and occupation to too many people. If they Googled me and saw the filth I’d written, they might not sell me the apartment or give me a citizenship. And then I’d be stuck in America if anything bad happened.

And so it went, all night, one wave of anxiety after another—half of them spent worrying that I wouldn’t get a passport, the other half spent worrying that I would.

I fell asleep around dawn for a few fitful hours, until I was woken by my cell phone. AIG Private Bank was finally returning my call.

Every day, my small savings were dwindling as the dollar dropped relative not just to the euro, but even to the Caribbean currency here. I never thought I’d see the day when Eastern Europeans came to the United States for the cheap shopping.

“I’d like to inquire about opening a private banking account,” I told the woman.

“Great,” she said, with barely a trace of a Swiss accent. “Let me ask you a few questions.”

“Sure.”

“Are you an American citizen?”

“Yes, I am.”

“We don’t deal with American citizens for a few years now.”

“But my friend Spencer Booth is American, and I think he has an account with you.”

“It’s likely an older account. We don’t do business with American citizens anymore. Sorry, good-bye.”

Before I could respond, she had hung up. I felt like an outcast. I couldn’t believe a bank wouldn’t take my money solely because I was American.

I’d noticed that many of the banks I’d researched had special policies for dealing with United States citizens. Even some of the online companies selling vintage travel documents said they no longer shipped to America because U.S. customs agents were opening and confiscating the packages. The government seemed to be sticking its nose everywhere.

In the meantime, I’d discovered a few other interesting facts: according to a report issued by Reporters Without Borders, the United States was ranked as having the fifty-third freest press in the world, tied with Botswana and Croatia. According to the World Health organization, the United States had the fifty-fourth fairest health care system in the world, with lack of medical coverage leading to an estimated 18,000 unnecessary deaths a year. And according to the Justice Department, one in every thirty-two Americans was in jail, on probation, or on parole.

Rather than having actual freedom, it seemed that, like animals in a habitat in the zoo, we had only the illusion of freedom. As long as we didn’t try to leave the cage, we’d never know we weren’t actually free.

That phone call was all it took to let me know I was doing the right thing.

Before going home, I had dinner with Wendell at a restaurant called Fisherman’s Wharf [in St. Kitts, not San Francisco] and thanked him for his help.

After the meal, he patted my shoulder and smiled. “Next time I see you, you’ll be a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis just like me,” he said. “When you get married, your wife will be a citizen. And when you have kids, so will they.”

He stepped into his SUV, started the engine, then unrolled the window and concluded his thought: “One day,” he said, beaming, “when you come back to America, no one will recognize you. You’ll be a Kittitian.”

At the St. Kitts airport the next morning, I felt like I was returning not to a country but a fortress. “Your country is so tough to get into,” the ticket agent complained as she checked my documents for the flight home. “They make it so hard for us.”

She looked up at me and said it louder, almost with venom, as if it were my fault. “They make it so hard for us.”

She wasn’t alone in her opinion. A survey released the previous month by the Discover America Partnership had found that international travelers considered America the least-friendly country to visit.

“That’s why,” I told her, with the newfound pride that Wendell had instilled in me, “I’m moving here.”

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That is ALSO why thousands of wise and cautious Americans are heading to Belize and other tax-havens around the globe.

I love my country and am wary of my government. For more information on establishing offshore trusts, bank accounts, and other global and political diversifications, contact dcrowe@themayanislands.com.

Own Part of Our Beach Club!

In the past 18 months, nearly 100 investors have moved some of their money OFFSHORE and realized equity gains of 200-400%. Not bad considering the decline of the US real estate and stock markets. The “global” recession that is talked about daily certainly hasn’t affected our project in the slightest. In fact, we’ve seen HEALTHY growth because of the fear of the credit and equity markets in the US-based, over-leveraged economy. There are still terrific areas of the world where prosperity, security and opportunity abound.

This is one of them.

Our private island project consists of over 45 acres of debt-free land less than 5 minutes from San Pedro, on Ambergis Caye, in the country of Belize. What makes THIS island so special is not only the fact that it is debt-free, pristine, and perfectly suited for an island resort. What makes is extra special is the fact that it is a secluded private island WITH the proximity to over 300 restaurants, 80 dive shops, windsurfing, kite surfing, shopping and all the amenities of a medium sized town.

Seclusion PLUS proximity to civilization! What a combination. Additionally, we have been dredging THOUSANDS of tons of sand transforming the raw island into a jewel of a resort! (Click on the photos to the right to see our construction!)

BEACH CLUB
In late summer of 2011, we are opening up the country’s most exciting and diverse beach club. The club will boast:

• Over 2,000 feet of ocean front property
• Professional Volleyball courts
• Infinity pool w/swim up bar
• Full health club with personal trainers
• 100 cushioned chairs and cabana huts
• Concierge service for tours and snorkeling
• Seaplane service to out islands and diving
• Gourmet restaurant and bar

The islands were all purchased without any debt years ago. In keeping with the spirit and frugality of a zero-debt project, we have elected to offer shares in our club with a VERY special 110% money back guarantee and some very healthy projected returns upwards of 35%.

After restoring houses, converting apartments to condominiums, and running real estate operations in the Midwest for 20 years, you would think that any new project I would be involved with would just be “another project.” Ho-hum…

WRONG.

This project has got it ALL. We are building a 1/2 mile long beach club on a private island and allowing average people to SHARE in that revenue in an offshore, tax-haven with a 110% guarantee is simply unheard of! You owe it to yourself to find out more about this opportunity and how it can fit into ANYONE”S portfolio.

Send me an email and I will be happy to give you information on this project and answer all your questions. dcrowe@themayanislands.com

Obama-Proof Your Money

For any reasonably intelligent person, the idea of going “offshore” is sexy, but the risks of the unknown make over 90% of the people frozen in fear.

Adding fuel to their fears are websites like the one I found today that talk gibberish when it comes to offshore entities, structures and money.

The gist of the article says that a “new method” of “Disguise or obscure the fact that the structure was designed for the purpose mentioned”. Um..HELLO! Do they really think that “disguising” your corporate structure is ethical, legal, or not subject to the power of the US government?

Going offshore is smart…very smart.

Going to jail or paying massive penalties because you tried to “hide” isn’t.

When looking at establishing a financial foundation outside of the USA, there are severeal guidelines that are required.

1. USE The IRS rules to your favor. Trying to “go around” them with complicated corporate structures is a recipe for disaster.

2. GROW your money offshore. Instead of trying to hide your money (you can’t). It is better to file the proper forms, abide by the rules and focus on assets instead of cash.

3. The IRS taxes income, not assets. Growing your assets safely, securely and ANONYMOUSLY should be your goal.

Trying to hide assets, cash and setting up complicated structures will cost you…either in sleepless nights, assets lost, or worse.

If you want to see how it SHOULDN’T be done, click here.
If you want honest advice and information on how to become a world citizen, establish political diversification in your portfolio without the risk of “hiding” then drop me an email.

Doug is an international real estate developer, author, speaker and investor. His project, mayanislands.com has helped people create political and geographic diversity in their portfolios.

What is Your Financial Health?

Money, credit, and living…it seems that there are seasons in our lives where there is often more debt than income. This can create stress, anger, indecision, and sometimes poor decisions. If you find yourself in a situation where there is more debt than income, you may be headed for trouble. It is never too late to fix some of your challenges. However, time is NOT on your side. The more you do to attack the situation early on, the better for you in the long run. Take a look at the three stages of financial trouble, assess where you are and take ACTION NOW!

The checklist below will help you to take an unemotional look at where you are and where you are headed. Financial challenges are a major cause of stress, divorce, and heartache. Your situation, while unique to you, is not uncommon. Millions of Americans are one or two paychecks away from bankruptcy and the skyrocketing foreclosure rate is at its highest point since the great depression.

While these statistics might not shed any light on YOUR living needs for today, the following checklist and action steps might help to delay or even cure your financial woes. Remember, above all else, you cannot solve a permanent problem with a temporary solution. All financial struggles relate around three simple issues:

· Income (How much you earn or bring in)

· Expenses (What you spend and how you manage those expenditures)

· Credit (Your ability to borrow and REPAY your obligations)

INCOME
How much you earn is often viewed upon as a decision by an employer. You can ask for a raise, work more hours, but for most people, “the man” determines how much you earn, where you live, what kind of car you drive, and where you vacation (If at all). For many people, this is simply an accepted fact of life. For others with an entrepreneurial personality, they have more control over their income. If an entrepreneur wants to earn more money, they can do more work, roll out a new product, or otherwise try to affect the level of their income. They are called entrepreneurs because with this variable income stream comes risk. Employees normally don’t have the risk of wide swings of income, and with that security comes limitations on income. Sales professionals who work for companies also share the risk/reward curve of entrepreneurs and have a greater degree of control for their income.If you are an employee, you should continually ask yourself WHAT you can do to get a raise, promotion, or get more hours in to create more income for yourself. There are many books on this subject and it behooves most people to reflect and review their job and career at least on an annual basis. Taking control of your income can be frustrating, liberating, or downright exhilarating. The operative phrase is “taking control.” Without control, you will always be at the whim of the economy, the company or your boss.

EXPENSES
When it comes to expenses, studies have shown that most people do not have a formal or even an informal budget that they live by. Most Americans simply spend what they earn (or for many, they spend MORE than they earn!). The attached budget should be filled out by anyone who wants to get a handle on their expenses. By tracking ALL of your expenditures, you can find areas for savings. Many people use their budget skills as a hobby. Clipping coupons and shopping for bargains not only makes fiscal sense, but it can be fun, too!Use the budget process to understand your spending habits and take ACTION on what habits you can modify, replace, or cancel. Not knowing where you are is a fatal mistake most people make when trying to affect any change in their financial health. Just as it is impossible to plan a trip without a starting point, planning to create and stick to a budget is fruitless without an honest evaluation of where you are today.

CREDIT
The largest “double edged sword” on this list is your credit. For those people who have mastered their credit, they can live a bountiful life by paying off consumer debt and carefully employing asset-based debt. Knowing the difference and being judicious with both of these instruments can easily make or break a family fortune. Simply stated, consumer debt is any debt that used borrowed funds to purchase items that are expendable or depreciate in value. This includes food, rent, vacations, consumer goods, automobiles, utilities, etc. When a person borrows money for an asset that depreciates or disappears, depending on the rate they are being charged, end up paying 1.5 to 2.5 the value of the goods or services. Look at any financial statement on a car loan and you can easily see how that $20,000 vehicle cost you over $40,000 during the life of the loan. With items that are consumed, the price is infinitely higher. Cut back or eliminate all debt associated with consumables or any item that depreciates in value. From a pure mathematical point of view, it can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

PHASE I
“Financially I’m not feeling very well”
Symptoms

• No savings
• Living paycheck to paycheck
• Using one credit card to pay off another one
• Credit scores have dropped recently
• Large unexpected expense arose

PHASE II
“Financially I’m very ill”
Symptoms

• I’m late with a rent or mortgage payment more than 30 days
• I have recently had service (phone, utilities, other) turned off temporarily
• All my credit sources are tapped out (credit cards at maximum)
• Credit scores are so low, I cannot establish new credit lines
• Large lapses in income

PHASE III
“My finances are on life support”
Symptoms

• Notice of default or behind on payments 3 months or longer
• Feelings of hopelessness
• Thoughts of drastic solutions (lottery, arson, etc.)
• Illogical denial of the situation

Treatment & Cures
Save some amount of money each month. Start with $10 and lock it away. Do this every month and develop a HABIT of saving some amount of money. While the amount may not affect your situation immediately, the habit can. Next year increase that amount by $10 more dollars and before you know it, you will have a savings account worth thousands of dollars.

When living paycheck to paycheck, people find the strategies of savings and budgeting extremely difficult. By developing the savings habit, you will be forced to give up $10 of expenditures. The choice of that sacrifice will be yours. It could be 2 packs of cigarettes, a lunch or taking a walk once a week instead of driving a car. The effect will be small, financially, but the habit of reducing your expenditures will become one of control. Your first few months may be painful, but eventually, you will embrace the habit and use it as a force to grow your financial intelligence. Earning a raise, maneuvering for a promotion or getting new training for a new position will also help to set you up for an increase in pay, of course. However, most Americans spend every increase they get, so be sure to develop the budget, start the savings plan, and manage the expenses before and during your journey to increasing your income.

Paying off credit card debt should be a crucial goal for everyone. When that debt is associated with consumables or depreciating assets, the objective should be to:

1. Restructure high-interest debt to low-interest debt
2. Pay off that debt entirely
3. Use a debit card OR develop the habit of paying off your cards EVERY month
4. If you are unable to develop either habit in #3, you should lock away your cards and use them only for emergencies

Understanding and improving your credit scores takes time, patience and perseverance. Prompt payment is a sure way to keep your scores high and your ability to borrow healthy. If you think you will have to be late with any payments, the best time to notify the creditors is BEFORE you are late. Often times, creditors can defer payments for you. But, they almost never do this after the fact. Open communication and responsible, honest communication is the key to success.

Improving your scores can be done over time. Visit the following sites and get a FREE credit report from each of the three agencies; www.experian.com, www.transunion.com and www.equifax.com. Get help from your banker, accountant, or other trusted advisor to understand and interpret what is on there. The key to improving your scores is to get the bad information off of your report. Check for inaccuracies, old data, and wrong addresses. Identity theft is rampant nowadays and reviewing your history is important. You can dispute any bad or negative information to the bureaus. The fair credit reporting act states that a creditor must respond to your inquiry and prove the information is valid within 30 days. A clever trick often used by consumers is to dispute EVERY piece of bad information the day after Thanksgiving. Since the 30 day period between Thanksgiving and Christmas has many people taking time off, and the postal service often slows, many negative items on reports get deleted simply because the creditors can’t respond in a timely fashion.

When it comes to the psychology of financial trouble and foreclosure the devastation can be tremendous. A majority of divorces occur because of financial issues and the tension caused by these woes spill over into nearly all areas of life. Most experienced business owners will tell you that life is not about the ups and downs, but how you manage the frequency and pace of change. It is never a matter of “if” a challenge will show up…it will. All that matters is the attitude and plan you have in order to cope with those issues. Ask anyone who has recovered from cancer about financial stress and they’ll tell you, “I thought I had problems when I lost my house, but when I recovered from a major illness, my perspective changed and nothing else seemed as important anymore.” Indeed, money comes and goes. Fortunes are made, squandered, and created again. Your situation may be bad and it may get worse. The fact remains that as long as you have your health, you can ALWAYS recover financially. Over 70% of self-made millionaires in this country have been broke at least once in their life. Their ability to recover and THRIVE in the face of adversity is the ammunition they use to win the financial battles in their life. The book, “How to stop worrying and start living” by Dale Carnegie has been credited with changing and pacifying the anxiety of millions of people.

In summary, prevention is the best cure for any illness (financial or physical). Below are the steps you need to take to prevent, treat, and cure your financial illness forever.

1. Start a savings program TODAY. It doesn’t matter how much. Start with any amount and stick to it. Increase it each year and NEVER touch the account.
2. Create a plan to increase your income. Train for a better job, become invaluable at work, work more hours, start a part-time business, and continually strive to earn more. You are worth more than you are paid by most employers-it is up to you to become difficult to replace.
3. Budget your household. Use the household budgetizer to understand WHERE you are and where all that money goes. You cannot plan a trip to financial prosperity if you don’t know where you are today.
4. Cut back on unnecessary expenses. Use the budgetizer as a game! Have fun saving money and use your financial goals of savings to help you in other areas of your life (health, environment, etc.)
5. Be proactive in your communication. Don’t let bills slip by without contacting your creditors. It doesn’t guarantee they will be any more pleasant, but you’ll feel better knowing you were professional, responsible, and polite. Ask for help if you need it.
6. Restructure bad debt. Transfer balances of high interest cards to low interest cards. Start and stick to a plan of reducing and eliminating all consumer debt forever.
7. Monitor and improve your credit scores. Contact the bureaus and initiate a credit repair program right away.
8. Read about success. Every month read a story of someone overcoming adversity. It will not only inspire you, but you may get an idea that you can use to make lemonades out of the lemons in your life!

Doug took a 22 year career as an investor, developer, author, speaker and radio personality to build his fortune and experience. He now writes part time and is developing the largest private island resort in the Western Caribbean. For more info, contact him at dcrowe@themayanislands.com.

Developing Prosperity Consciousness

In order to BECOME prosperous, we must think, act, and believe we are prosperous.  Anyone who is successful, rich or famous didn’t get there by accident.  While their actions dictated their outcome, it was their thoughts that preceded that action.  Both poverty and riches are a result of a state of mind.  Therefore, the single most important and first step toward success is to change, direct, and create the thoughts that go through your mind on a daily basis.  You must be able to impress upon your mind an unshakable belief that you can and will achieve your financial goals.  These thoughts must occur prior to any action taken.  The results of your actions will, of course be a tangible marker as you look back upon the success (and failures) you have in your life.

Nothing New
Many people have been fascinated with stories of success, super wealth, fame, and fortune.  Entire libraries, television shows, and networks have been dedicated to showcasing that which all human beings crave-success.  In the book, Think & Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, a great secret is talked about over and over again in the book.  It isn’t until I read it for the 2^nd or 3^rd time that I realized the secret was on the cover of the book!  That’s right…it’s the title!  Notice it doesn’t say “Sell and Grow Rich” or “Invest and Grow Rich.”  The first and most important word is the first one.  Think.

Results Begin Here
The primary principle of success is that ALL causation is mental.  This means that everything you are or will ever be is a result of how you use your mind.  This doesn’t mean that you can “think yourself thin” of course.  Action MUST follow your thoughts.  Conversely, action cannot precede your thoughts.  It is impossible to take any action (with the exception of involuntary muscle movement) without thinking about it first.  Indeed, not only is your life the result of your thoughts, but the entire world we live in is the direct result of the thoughts of millions of people.  

In the movie, The Matrix, an individual’s reality is entirely a state of mind.  This movie connects with us because we all have dreams and most times, during the dream, it feels as real as our daytime reality.  Our thoughts are always with us, and like the movie, our thoughts become a manifested reality if our belief is high enough (in the movie, if you die in the dream world, you die in reality because your mind cannot tell the difference).

Two Beliefs
The secondary principle of success is the law of expectation.  This means that “thinking” success isn’t enough.  Just because you think of a pink elephant doesn’t mean that one will manifest itself.  A person’s belief in their thoughts is equally important.  The law of expectation states that whatever you expect with confidence, positive or negative, becomes your reality.  If you confidently expect to succeed, it will become your reality.  Confident expectation of failure produces exactly what you fear-failure!  Changing our belief systems can be one of the most challenging tasks imaginable.  For those people who have had a larger share of “bad luck” than average, it can be an even larger battle to win.  Remember, however, that those people who seem to “have it all” have always thought they should and believed it would happen.  Their thoughts, expectations and resultant actions are what caused their success.  Luck had nothing to do with it.

What To Do
No matter what your life is like, regardless of your position, successes or failures, you can start a new life and expect different outcomes today.  Your plan of action is simple, but hardly easy.

1. Change your thoughts.  Try not to think about a pink elephant!  Didn’t work-right?  Your mind is the most powerful device ever created on the planet.  You have more ability, capacity and speed than the world’s largest supercomputer.  Use your brain.  Pick up a positive attitude book today.  For a recommended list, visit his Doug’s blog at www.dacrowe.wordpress.com.  Your thoughts will create your reality, so you might as well put GOOD thoughts into your head. 
2. Change your expectations.  For many of us, the idea of expecting prosperity after a life of struggle is inconceivable.  For every story of failure there is a story of success.  Movies like The Rookie and Rudy are true biographies of men who overcame impossible realities.  Their achievements have given hope to those who have lost their hope.  Watch them.  Read a good book like Dave Dravecky’s When You Can’t Come Back about losing his pitchers arm to cancer or any story about anyone who has overcome the odds and succeeded.  Most likely, your struggles’ will pale in comparison.
3. Take SOME action.  When we look at our goals they should inspire us.  If our goals are too large and we expect them too fast, they tire us.  Break down your goals into bite size pieces.  It not only makes them easier to achieve, but your expectation will increase as they become more believable.  As you now know, your belief is paramount to achievement, so by sorting out large goals into small objectives, you automatically improve your chances of success in action and in thought.

 

Prosperity consciousness is more than just positive thinking.  It is the purposeful re-training of your beliefs, values, and actions.  The tasks outlined above are not easy, but they are required for success.

 

“It doesn’t matter if you think you can or think you can’t…in either case, you are right.”

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Doug Crowe is an author, former radio show host, and founder of the Springboard Academy, which was the nation’s leading school for real estate investors.  He has been investing since 1986, and semi-retired from the media and teaching in 2008 to develop a 350 acre private island resort and 300+ slip marina in Belize www.mayanislands.com. He can be contacted at dcrowe@themayanislands.com or 630-890-3998.