Are You Wealthy Yet?

by: Al Walker
Here's a real simple way to become wealthy.Marty and his wife live at home with their 2 children. They owna 3 bedroom house in a middle class neighborhood and try to livewithin their means. Marty works full time in the PrintingIndustry, while his wife is in charge of the home and lookingafter the children. They've accumulated some credit card debt and have 2 years lefton a car loan. They try to stay out of debt as much as possibleand together they've managed to contribute a total of $32,000 totheir own Retirement Fund. It is kept in term deposits receiving5% interest annually. Two years prior, the couple bought an older house that theyfixed-up and rent out for $850 a month. After paying themortgage and taxes $300 is left over each month. This goes intotheir savings account each month. At Christmas, the family bought themselves a new computer anddecided to start a home-based business. Things started outfairly slowly but after 8 months they were receiving a steadycheck of $400 a month which also goes into their savingsaccount. This part-time business will continue to grow with theeffort they dedicate to it.This business also offers them some very lucrative tax savings.By taking advantage of these Tax Strategies they are able tosave an additional $300 a month on tax that was normallydeducted from Marty's paycheck at work. This monthly income isalso added to the couple's savings. Marty has just begun writing an E-book about his "productionexpertise" at work. His plan is to market this book on theinternet for profit Every Sunday the couple takes a drive to stay familiar with theReal Estate market in their area. They're looking for anotherproperty, a "handyman's special" to fix-up and rent out. Theyhave saved enough for a down payment and their credit with thebank is well established. The family's total monthly expenses are $2000. Now, here's thequestion:Does Marty's family have Wealth yet?To answer this question properly you first have to understandexactly what "wealth" means.You achieve wealth when: *YourPassive Income is the same or greater than your Expenses.* Sowhat does this mean?First, what is Passive Income? Passive Income is money that you are paid over and over againfor work that you only do once. (This excludes using a gun orfinding cash on the street) Some examples of this would beroyalties for writing a book or a song, commissions that youreceive for sales that others make and interest from banksavings or dividends on stocks/options that you own. Second, what Expenses are we talking about? This one's a littleeasier to understand. Expenses are the total amount it takes torun your household and your life. This includes, rent, mortgagepayments, car insurance, food, credit card and loan payments,etc……… Let's look at Marty's family a little closer…………. Does Martyhave any Passive Income? Yes he does. Marty's salary is notconsidered Passive Income. That's because he has to work 40hours a week just to get the basic amount. If Marty doesn't goto work then he doesn't get paid. His overtime also doesn'tcount as Passive Income. The interest from their Retirement Fund does though. It's paidto him month after month as long as it's left in that account.So, $32,000 at 5% is $1600 a year. Divided by 12 months equals$133 a month in interest. Ok…..what else? After the mortgage and expenses are paid with the rent moneythey receive on their rental property they are left with $300every month. This is Passive Income. Just as long as the tenantstays and pays his monthly rent.How bout that $400 from the home-based business and the Taxsavings. Is this Passive Income? Well, Marty's wife made surethat she chose a company where she could sign new businessaccounts and get paid commissions on those accounts over andover again. They've made a 5 year commitment to build thisbusiness part-time. So yes, both the $400 and the $300 in TaxSavings would apply as Passive Income. Let's add up Marty'stotal Passive Income.Interest $166.00 Rental Income $300.00 Home BasedBusiness$400.00 Tax Savings $300.00 Total $1166.00 Not including Marty's salary from work, his family's PassiveIncome is $1166.00. Not bad. Every month this amount flows intothe family's bank account, regardless of anything else they do. We said that Marty's monthly expenses total $2000.00 a month.And we also said………… You have Wealth when: *Your Passive Incomeis the same or greater than your Expenses.* $2000 Expenses subtract $1166 Passive Income = $834 monthlybalance needed to have Wealth. Marty's Expenses are still more than their Passive Income sothey're not wealthy just yet. But they're well over half-waythere. With this kind of knowledge a family can know exactlywhere to focus their financial attention. Maybe when Marty writes that ebook he could get some sales androyalties from it. Also the new Real Estate and more work ontheir Home-based business would certainly help them to attainmore Passive Income. Once Marty's Passive Income is more thanthe family's Expenses then Marty could start to have much morefreedom. He may even choose to quit his job and continuedeveloping his Passive Income streams.Take a look at your own finances. What are your monthlyexpenses? Do you have more Passive Income than your Expenses? Ifyou do Congratulations. You're Wealthy!!! If you don't. It'stime to get started and start adding Passive Income from otherareas as soon as possible.When you truly understand this principle, you'll be well on yourway to becoming wealthy.