Archive for the ‘Financial Freedom and Prosperity’ Category

Interest rates are at an all time low.  My husband and I are in the process of refinancing our home from a 30 year mortgage to a 15 year mortgage, and the payment will just be slightly more than we were paying before. 

Our situation: We are actually combining our current 30 year mortgage and 30 year home equity line that were at 5.75% and 6.125% to a new combined mortgage at 4.25% 15 year amortization. 

Coming up with cash:  Our biggest fear was that we would have to come up with cash to make this happen because home values are so low.  If our house does not appraise high enough, we will need to put cash down to reduce the size of the mortgage.  The good news is if we do put down the cash (about $50,000, our payment will be less than we are paying now and we will save hundreds of thousands by paying off in 15 years rather than 30 years.

Comparable appraisals:  Many of the houses on the lake are very unique.  Ours is two cottages joined together into one house…then several additions…lots of landscaping and then waterfront on the lake and on the river.  Finding a comparable house on the lake may be difficult.  Our mortgage broker seems to think that our house will appraise high enough that we won’t need to come up with the cash.  It seems that there have been several home sales on the lake at favorable market rates.  All of this needs to be considered when making a decision to refinance.

What about closing costs?  When there are closing costs, you will need to compare those up front costs to how long it will take for you to break even.  In addition, if you have refinanced in the last few years and paid closing costs, you will want to bring those into this calculation.  In our case, there were no closing costs, so the decision was simple. 

Consolidating other debt:  I mentioned that we are combining a home equity line and our mortgage.  The home equity line was for a major home addition and a lot up north.  I don’t suggest refinancing your unsecured credit card debt into your mortgage especially if this could jeopardize your current financial situtation.  Consult with your tax advisor on this as well.

Is this a good time for you to refinance?  Do the math and see if it makes sense.   Again, consider having a discussin with a financial professional will be your best bet.  Good luck and feel free to share your experiences or ask your questions here.

Join me and our Smart Women’s Coaching Community on Friday, July 30th at Fleming’s Steak House Livonia, Michigan for an evening of fine wines and fabulous appetizers to raise funds and awareness for the Smart Women’s Empowerment Foundation Scholarship Program.  For ticket information, call 248-366-0137 or visit our calendar of events!

P.S.  Be sure to sign up for my RSS feed, so you will continue to receive my posts directly to your email box!    By the way, how are you celebrating Independence Day this year?

I had such a fabulous evening last night when I attended the Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert with my husband, Mark.  He plays the French Horn, and this weekend is the last concert series for the year. 

The concert hall was packed with lots of young people and I was thrilled.  It must have been because they had this 16 year old boy soloist named Peng, Peng playing a List Piano concerto.  He was fabulous.  He started taking lessons at 5, and did his first recital at 8!  Then at the end of the concert, they played Stravinski’s Firebird Suite.  (click on the link and you can actually here this pieces…you will recognize and know why I was brought to tears when it finished!)  Every time I go to a concert with my husband, I find myself in this state of joy and gratitude and this energy stays with me for days.

What are you doing every day to create a state of Joy and Gratitude in your life?  I ask this because our mental, emotional and spiritual state will have a direct effect on how much wealth and happiness you have in your life.  I have created a daily series of rituals which I call, My Perfect Life Practice.  By scheduling these practices into my Perfect Life Calendar, and following them daily, I am able to stay rejuvinated and operating at a whole new level.

My morning Perfect Life Practice includes yoga, riding my bike along the wetlands (this is the best!), reading spiritual books (right now, I am reading Awakened Wisdom by Patrick Ryan), and enjoying my morning coffee next to the lake every morning with my husband, Mark.  What is it that you do to raise your energy vibration and and help keep you in a state of joy and gratitude, so you can attract more abundance into your life?  Share you Perfect Life Practice with us below. Thank you!

You can take my free 7 part audio mini course, Your Perfect Life Focus, where I share the entire process I use to create My Perfect Life!  Enjoy!

For 25 years, I have been making contributions to my traditional IRA (Individual Retirement Account). I started my first IRA investment by saving $2000 limit annually.  When I became self employed, I created a SEP IRA for my personal retirement plan, and was able to save up to 15% annually.

All my contributions have been tax deductible, however, at retirement, the distributions will be taxable.  Will tax rates be higher or lower 10, 20 years from now?  What do you think?  I think they will be higher.  I don’t expect my income to be lower either since I am continuing to build an ongoing residual income from my businesses. 

 Therefore, I am considering converting my traditional and SEP IRA (which are all “pre tax” contributions) to a Roth IRA.  This will mean that I pay tax on all the dollars when I make this conversion from Traditional to Roth.   There are several reasons I am considering this tax planning technique this year. 

Planning opportunity:

1. A Roth IRA allows you to contribute after tax dollars.  You still get the tax deferral on your investment, however the income distributionscome out tax free.  (Contribute after – tax with tax free distributions)
2. In addition on January 1, 2010, the IRS removed the “Phase Out Limits” on converting to a Roth IRA.  In another words, prior to 2010, there were income limitations that restricted many individuals from converting their regular IRA to a Roth IRA.  Now all tax payers can convert regardless of their income level.
3. Because of the economy this last few years, some individuals my be experiencing a lower adjusted gross income this year, or be unemployed or in transition.
4. Investment values could be down which could be another reason to convert from Traditional to a Roth IRA.
5. For 2010 only, the IRA is allowing tax payers to claim 50% of the conversion amount as income in 2011 and the balance in 2012. 

Since we are just mid year into 2010 and your CPA is finished with tax season, this could be a good time to sit down and do some year end tax planning.  And it is always a good time to begin to take control of your finances by paying attending to your money.   For more information on IRAs and retirement planning, you can visit, IRA Guru, Ed Slott, who is also a Contributing Expert for the Smart Women’s Empowerment Institute 

On Tuesday, May 25th, I will have returned from my two week Mediterranean cruise and will be interviewing, Ameriprise Financial Planner, Deborah Linscott, on RothIRA, Inherited IRAs and planning your legacy for the future generations.  She is also an Elite Advisor with Ed Slott and one of the top IRA advisors in the country.  You won’t want to miss Smart Women Talk on May 25th, so stay tuned!

Do you have questions about buidling and growing your wealth?   Let me know what those are and I will do my very best to help you live with more purpose, passion and prosperity.  You can also send me an email at katana@katanaabbott.com

What are you doing to create your millionaire lifestyle? Well, if your goal is not a millionaire lifestyle, what about a million dollar investment portfolio?

Do you know that having $1 million in the bank at age 65 will only generate about $770 per week? That’s right, because that’s all you’ll be able to pull out if you want to ensure that your nest egg lasts for at least 30 years. This doesn’t sound much like a millionaire lifestyle does it?

If you are 50 years old and want to have $1 million saved by the time you are 65, you would need to save about $35,000 per year and earn 10% a year too! The story’s not that bad if your 40…about $10,000 a year at 10%. Even if you can save the money, who is earning 10% consistently anymore?

What’s the solution? I believe creating livetime passive business income doing what you love. It can be something that you start now and develop over the next 10 years, or it could be something that you jump into right away full time. I was working as a financial planner back in 2003 when I came up with my perfect passive income model. My dream was to create a community and program where I could help women learn how to create smart life and financial choices with an army of smart women.

It’s funny how things evolve when you have a goal and a dream and you keep focusing on it. What happened next for me was that I began to sponsor events through my new company, Smart Women’s Coaching. Even though I still ran my financial planning practice full time, I began to focus energy and time on this new venture. I saw that there was a need for it and I began to create a community of support and advisors.

By 2007, I decided to retire and focus 100% of my time on Smart Women’s Coaching and two years later, today…we are launching a new online community called the Smart Women’s Cafe. It’s a membership site where women can learn, grow and connect and features live coaching, teleseminars, an online library, and an amazing team of Contributing Experts who co promote and create joint ventures.

It’s been a lot of work and I have learned so much. I had no idea how different creating a “start up” business would be versus my financial planning “franchise” with Ameriprise Financial. When I started with Ameriprise Financial (formerly American Express Financial Services, formerly IDS) over 20 years ago, I paid a fee and purchased a franchise. This meant everything I needed to run and market my business had been thought out, systematized and branded. All I needed was an office and a computer.

If you are thinking about starting a business — and many women are — then be sure to do your homework. There are several things you will want to do if you are starting from scratch. Watch for my future posts, as I share with you my Secrets for Creating Lifetime Passive Income while Following Your Passion.

If your are serious and would like to get started right away identifying your Perfect Business Model and Strategy, then visit the Smart Women’s Cafe and pick up The Way to Wealth, by Brian Tracy ($100 value) and your free video training on Twitter by Lou Bortone…then take a free 30 day test drive and get started right away!

Also, for free live teleclasses this week on creating a Millionaire Lifestyle, visit our Calendar of Events!

Read more here:
Create Your Millionaire Lifestyle

We recently asked you, “What’s the single biggest Challenge holding you back from living Your Perfect Life?” and this is what over 200 of you have told us:

• 32% Financial
• 22% Don’t Know Where to Start
• 12% Confidence
• 10% Time
• 7% Relationships
• 3% Health
• 14% Other

There were quite a few comments (one out of four of you wanted to tell your story) and here are a few of them:

• I am searching for a new career and desperately want to make that change now that I am unemployed and available to make that change.
• I need to make enough money through my business to negate my husband’s dream for me to go back to work!
• Up until I lost my job in 2007 I considered myself a “smart woman”, although finances are considerably low, my biggest challenge is how to tap into a realm of creativity. It seems I have lost my passion and/or motivation to get going again.
• After 23 years of raising my sons, getting my masters, and working 19 years with autistic children, I am ready to make my own dreams and business happen. I read your steps to success and go strong, but then burn myself out with energy and money by second guessing everything I do. If I had a mentor to help with decisions, ideas, marketing, and business, it would make my finances, time, and confidence become assets to my dreams and realities.
• My biggest challenge is self-sabotage and pragmatism. I focus more on perfection rather than “just doing it.”
• I have an amazing business that I can’t focus on doing because I work a 9-5 during the day!
• Not enough time in the day to act on all my ideas… even the prioritized ones.
• I often don’t feel I can do it. My perfect life involves starting a jewelry business and then moving to NM to live on a ranch.
• Life transitions in 2004 left me at ground zero with no savings, property, pension, home or other resources. I know where I want to be and what my goals are but need support, help and resources to get there because I cannot do it alone.
• Difficulties with family relationships and life transitions – Lack of Clarity, support and finances hold me back. I have been trying for a year, but nothing seems to be shifting. I do not do well without human live support i.e. online courses/business building or network marketing.
• I know that my life does not have to be as hectic as it is. I am looking to learn to let go, and focus on what is most important!

What I am hearing from you is that finances or money and then knowing where to start are your number one priorities. I read the “other” comments, and they were primarily financial and knowing where to start as well. So, what do you do about this? This is exactly why I created the Smart Women’s Café.

When I was a financial planner, I worked with hundreds of wealthy individuals. I had no time left to help those who needed help getting started and creating financial security.Today, I am honored to have attracted some of the most amazing financial, business, career, and lifestyle experts in the word to join me in this mission of helping women create their perfect life with purpose, passion and prosperity.

The Smart Women’s Café is the perfect place to do this because it is a supportive and interactive community where women can learn, grow and connect by accessing resources at their own leisure in the member library. Plus, we offer three hours of live coaching and training every month.

These statistics were not that surprising to see. Right now, the need for financial planning assistance, whether it be in the small-business environment, schooling or household maintenance has sky-rocketed as a direct result of our economy. You are not alone. 33% of American’s carry debt balances up to $10,000 (median balance: $2,254). 64% of the people polled who carry debt admitted that debt is a cause of worry and stress for them. 93% percent of retirees carry debt into old age.

Finance troubles affects your path to the Perfect Life everyday. These worries can cause a ripple effect on everything else, which may have caused 22% percent of people surveyed to respond with, “not knowing where to start.”

Vist the Smart Women’s Cafe now to receive your Free Gifts: Video Training on how to maximize Twitter and Brian Tracy’s Report, The Way to Wealth ($100 value). You can also take a 30 day free test drive of our community of smart women and access free, live coaching, resources and support towards living with Purpose, Passion and Prosperity.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our poll! Sharing your thoughts with us was great appreciated. A national press release will be released this week, documenting your concerns.