Why Winners Inner Circle?

[marc walton]

2012: Many friends & members of my mentor program are becoming seriously worried about their financial future & especially their retirement. Many governments have or are about to move the goal posts and change the age of pension entitlement from 65 to 67 years of age (this will be replicated around the world and will not stop there).

Nor will this gradual shifting be enough, there is even the danger of some governments defaulting on their pension obligations, they simply do not have the money. Many people have contributed for over 40 years and had a “contract” with the government to enable them to retire with a reasonable income, often supplemented by private pension payments.

Those who have private pensions (80% of people do not or do not pay nearly enough – the average private pension pot in the USA & UK for example is less than $75000) have seen recent stock market falls, galloping inflation and almost non existant interest on savings decimate this side of the equation as well.

A friend of mine, Frank (not his real name) is from Holland. He has been paying an extra 1.9% of his gross salary to the government for the last 25 years so he can retire at 62. This adds up to well over $100.000 when you add compounding. Everything Frank has is geared to this date, he will be mortgage & debt free, he has already bought a boat and is planning to fulful his dream of sailing around the world.

This year his government have changed the rules and now he can not claim these additional benefits for another 5 years. As Frank says “not only have they broken the contract and stolen my money it also feels like they took 5 years of my life.”

Frank & I are the same age. In contrast I am doing rather well. I don’t say this to brag, but simply to point out that many conventional investments, savings and state pensions are becoming obsolete, a thing of the past. I started to change my thinking 12 years ago when I semi retired aged 40 & with four young kids. I had been successful in creating and building businesses from scratch, the first when I was only 21 & with neither money nor family experience behind me.

By the time I hit the big 4 0 I was able to sell my third business and semi retire and that was despite a major financial crash in my early 30’s when a messy divorce and bad business decision meant I lost almost everything and had to start again. During this period I was getting up at 4.00 am to drive a truck for less than minimum wage.

A New Century, New Thinking

2000 A new century dawns and the previous year I decided to semi retire aged 40. I had been creating, building & running businesses since I was 21. I had also bought and sold lots of property and built my own 5 bedroom detached house at a fraction of the normal cost and with huge tax savings. I had accumulated a decent amount of money & assets. I was sick of working 70 hour weeks, the 140 mile daily round trip on clogged up motorways, the hassle, the labour laws & all the other energy sapping, non profitable paperwork mountains that the government seemed to delight in creating. I was permanently tired & usually in a bad mood on the rare occasion I saw my 4 young kids.

Time to change for the better.My wife, Sharon, & I ( I will write in the 1^st person from now on as its easier, but most financial things I recount are she & I together) spent the next 18 months buying & refurbishing houses to rent out and create extra income. Then we cancelled the private pension plan, sold the business, house, cars the lot and emigrated to the Canary Islands.

Friends and colleagues were convinced I had lost the plot. Who in there right minds builds a business to that level and walks away? I discovered later that they were betting on how soon I would pack my bags and come back to “reality.”

I define this time as to be my financial epiphany, when I started to think & act differently to the herd. This was to be of immense help when the economic collapse finally arrived around 2008. The old way of thinking is finished. If you want to protect your financial future you need to think differently.

The old days of paying the top rates of tax and handing the balance over to a financial adviser are not for me.In the last 30 to 40 years everybody has been advised to save money and or invest in the stock market. To put your money in a pension plan. Put your money in a 401k. If everybody is doing that and stock markets continue to dive then lots and lots of people are going to be in for a major shock short term and especially the long-term.

Handing over money to some financial adviser to look after to me is not the solution.Often these advisers have less life experience & earn less than their clients and they only have one mantra “You need a diversified stock portfolio.”

Had you followed my lead and invested in yet more gold in January 2011 you would currently be up around 20%. Most financial adviser either do not know any better or because they do not earn commission on things like gold & silver, they continue to push the same old format.

I speak from experience. In my early 30’s and after a difficult financial period in my life I went from driving a truck for less than minimum wage to being a financial adviser for one of the big UK banks. A two week training course, with multiple choice questions (get an answer wrong and go back and change it) and I was in a bank the following Monday advising clients. I know things have moved on since then BUT the advice is still flawed.

On the subject of flawed systems lets talk about the biggest ponzi scheme on the planet, government pensions. These are simply unsustainable. The current pension crisis is not going to go away. If you are anything less than 40 years of age the chances of the pension arrangement existing in its current format by the time you come to retire is very slim.

Equally if you’re in your 40s now then I can see the retirement age by the time you do come to retire being upwards of 75 years of age. Already some European countries have moved the goal posts for the retirement age from 65 to 67. The bottom line is that the world population in most western countries is getting older which means there will be more people claiming on the system. More people expecting (quite rightly, as that is the “contract” they had with their governments) to take out their share. More people needing health care and yet there will be fewer people contributing.

In the USA for example when the pension system was created there were 44 workers paying into the fund for every retiree. Now that figure is nearer two to one, not helped by the baby boomers who are retiring now and in the next few years.The system clearly can not continue to work in its current format, if at all.

The bottom line is you need to think for yourself. You need to think now of how to provide for you & your family both in terms of your general financial future and especially when it comes to the subject of retirement.

You will have heard the comment that there is a huge transfer of wealth in progress right now. To take advantage you need to learn to think and ACT differently NOW.I will publish the second part of this essay next week and give you an insight to some of the practical steps you can take to increase your income and better prepare for your future. Until the new website design is completed I will also post here in the members only forum where I can keep all these articles in one place to save them getting lost on this blog.Marc

[marc walton]

I just read a terrifying statistic today, 3rd July 2012 Re annuities.Attachment 5296In the UK the traditional method (no doubt favoured by the insurance companies who must make a fortune from it) is when you retire you take your pension “pot” and buy what is called an annuity, a guaranteed sum payable until death.

The terrifying statistic? A pension pot of £1.5 million/$2.25 MILLION pays ? £32,000 /$48000 a year.

The average non government pension pot in the UK is nearer £50.000 & in the USA $75.000 & pays out around £120/$180per month!


Back to My Journey: 2002 Two years into my “retirement”, I started to get seriously bored AND we were going through money at an alarming rate. Anyone who retires will tell you that you need MORE money than when you were working! I still want to live in a decent house, eat at quality restaurants and take frequent holidays to exotic locations. I do NOT plan to live in a hovel surviving on soup and handouts.

I started looking at ways of making money on line.

2005 I had spent 3 years & over $25.000 trying numerous “get rich quick” schemes as well as a number of legitimate methods that I just didn’t seem to be able to master. I narrowed my focus to forex trading & internet marketing. Most people (its claimed up to 95%) never make a penny at either and the first few years I was one of them, but I had the time, the money, the patience & perseverance & finally started to see some profits.

2006 My income from forex trading is soaring but my overall goal is to try to work less and earn more and internet marketing is the key, but I am still struggling and making only pennies.

2007 My main website (I created dozens and most flopped badly) started to make money from selling information products. Most mornings I woke up to find I earned money whilst I was sleeping. $50 here, $100 on other days & my best nights sleep “working” I earned over $600. Things were looking up. I was now living the internet marketers dream life style, but it was not plain sailing.

I had cleared the first hurdle and joined the 5% who do make money on line, but I was still at a very low level. Also this type of site has seen income plummet in the last 12 months so things have changed once again, time for yet another rethink!

2009: My website was still making money but not enough to retire. I had built a substantial 25000 followers on twitter & I started to mentor individuals in the art of forex trading. This involved working even longer hours which was not the plan. I had now established myself as an expert in my field but I didn’t have a big enough list of registered followers for my weekly newsletter.

I approached well known forex trader & marketer, Dean Saunders who had a large list of email clients. I had bought a few of his products which were decent and I knew that his customer support was very good. I had an idea to create a low cost forex mentoring program which would contain lots of educational videos teaching people how to trade forex.

I offered to make all the videos for the training course and do daily blog posts and videos where I would show what trades I was looking to place the following day.Dean agreed to build the website but the main reason I approached him was his customer list. If you know anything about internet marketing the phrase “the money is in the list” will be familiar to you.

You may have the best product in the world but without a client list it can take a very long time to be successful.Its exactly the same principle in old style offline businesses. A manufacturer may make the best product in the world but he needs a “shop window,” therefore he needs a retailer to sell the products for him.

The deal that Dean & I agreed was that I would do most of the work (we share the load nowadays) & we would share the profits 50/50. This is known as a joint venture & I will explain more later. For him this arrangement was a “no brainer.” Some of my friends thought that I was mad, but they didn’t see the bigger picture. Now I had the chance of earning 50% from Deans customers and making myself more well known in my market.

It took 3 months of 12 hour days for me to complete the training course and videos. We launched the website in September 2009 at an initial, ultra low fee. I had previously paid over $3000 for a course that taught less, so this was incredible value for subscribers and they had email access to Dean & I plus the daily analysis.In the last few years we have taught 1000’s of students, many of whom have gone on to become successful forex traders. We have a 5* rating on independent review sites and I now am regularly offered joint venture deals from other new marketers because I have the reputation and the list and the contacts, so everybody wins.

2009 continued: I have turned the big 50 (I only feel 30 so it doesn’t matter . I have spent the previous 30 years learning how to make a lot of money both offline and more recently online.I have revised my will and in doing so been confronted with the complexity of my businesses and assets.I have land and property in more than one country. I own companies and am a share holder in others in two countries. I own precious metals in a third. I have bank accounts in three countries (you should have accounts in at least two). I have websites that are run and managed by people in two separate continents. One website is part owned with a partner who lives in yet another continent. As my lawyer says if I don’t write everything down clearly my wife & kids will have no idea what to do if I drop down dead tomorrow.

Once I start to write I realise that its also a good time to explain to my kids how I went from a very poor background to where we are now. All the things I have learned including the bad and sometimes stupid decisions I have made & most importantly the easier way to make lots of money, relatively quickly, in the current economy.Lets face it schools still do absolutely nothing to prepare anybody for the big financial world which grows ever more complicated. I believe this is not by accident. Now more than ever governments need as many financially illiterate people to keep working like dogs and pay as much in tax as is possible.

The super rich at the same time will be preparing to hide their existing wealth beyond these desperate hands AND be planning to pay even less tax in the future.

Continued in next post

[marc walton]

A few things on this subject that have always stuck in my mind. There was a newspaper article 25 years ago where I read how the man on a then average wage of $20.000 paid more in tax than one on $200.000. Why? Because the former was pre programmed (we all are) by the education system to do so. The financially literate on the other hand are brought up to do the exact opposite.

I mentioned in part one that about the same time I also read this quotation by – William T. Harris, U.S. Commissioner of Education, 1889 one of the creators of the US education system:
“Our schools have been scientifically designed to prevent over-education from happening. The average American [should be] content with their humble role in life, because they’re not tempted to think about any other role.”

G Edward Griffin in his fascinating, must read book (The Creature from Jekyll Island) about the scheming & trickery that went on with politicans and bankers (somethings never change)! when forming the Federal Reserve Bank in the USA says this:“The purpose of the foundation [General Education Board] was to use the power of money, not to raise the level of education in America, as was widely believed at the time, but to influence the direction of that education . . . The object was to use the classroom to teach attitudes that encourage people to be passive and submissive to their rulers. The goal was—and is—to create citizens who were educated enough for productive work under supervision but not enough to question authority or seek to rise above their class. True education was to be restricted to the son and daughters of the elite. For the rest, it would be better to produce skilled workers with no particular aspirations other than to enjoy life.

Now some of you will be thinking that I am sort of closet communist. I am not. I have benefited greatly from the capitalist system and idealogy where anyone can make it.Yes its currently broken but I don’t see an alternative at the moment & I have neither the time, the influence nor the will to join those who wish to change the current system. I merely wish to play the same game as the rich whilst at the same time showing my kids & others how to do the same.

Having said all that how can it be fair when for example the former deputy chairman of the British Conservative party, Michael Ashcroft was helping shape government policy in the 1990’s at a time when he later admitted he was paying no tax in the Uk on millions of income? How? He’s extremely tax savvy and his income is controlled by offshore entities. During the same period of time my father who worked in a factory was paying over 28% of his income in tax & social security payments.

The poor and middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them- Robert Kiyosaki

I mentioned my project for the kids to a publisher friend who saw it as an opportunity to make a buck (book). The problem with that idea is that the book would be out of date the moment it was published. It would require constant re writes.

I trade and mentor others in foreign currency trading.
I invest in gold and silver.
I am currently looking to add to my property portfolio.
I have new ideas for businesses and websites.
What worked in internet marketing 12 months ago is not doing so well now.

In other words this is an ongoing project where things change on a regular basis and last months advice may no longer be relevant.The publisher friend then suggests why don’t I create a high cost educational mentoring program like Robert Kiyosaki. Now I have read most of Mr Kiyosakis books and I highly recommend most in the library section (this will be on the new site). He put into words many of the things I believe and no one else seemed to see, and he also has given me many great ideas over the years. However, I find that often the books leave an unanswered question which appears can only be answered if you sign up for a higher ticket mentoring course.

Whereas we both agree that schools should teach financially literacy he and I differ in our mentality of how to offer a private alternative.I believe that those of us who have gained some knowledge on the subject should offer it to as many people as possible, which by definition means do the best job that you can BUT as low cost as possible. If I was to solely go down the route of expensive mentoring courses I would by definition only be helping to create another small tier of rich, knowledgeable individuals.

To cut a long story short, that is the reason for the “winners inner circle mastermind group.” I have created a blueprint for you to follow to success. I explain how you need to think differently & the steps you need to take to become the most successful person you can become & then along with a group of mentors who have helped me in all the main investment strategies of the rich, we will show you lots of different ways to make more money & keep hold of it.

The first thing I want to point out is that you do not need lots of money to do many of the following. I have created three offline businesses in my lifetime with little or no money and yet semi retired aged 40. Equally website related businesses can be created for a few $100.These are some of the things we will explore in great detail in the coming weeks and months ahead:

• Why You must Change Your Thinking: How to think and act “outside of the box”
• Why goals are vital and how to set them.
• The basic psychological mindset for success.
• Why Having no money is no excuse.
• How to start to make more money TODAY & with little or no financial outlay.
• How to successfully outsource work from quality providers for half the normal rate
• How to to approach and joint venture with successful people
• How to evaluate & prepare a business plan
• How to build a “team” that you only pay when you need them.
• You may want to start a conventional offline business & need to know how to plan & research it & get some help and advice.
• You may want to know if gold & silver is a good investment strategy for you and most importantly when to get in and out of precious metals and what to do with your profits.
• You may want to create multiple income streams & make money on line.
• Perhaps you have an existing business that needs an online presence?
• Maybe you want to create websites to make money via internet marketing?
• Maybe you want to learn how to use your computer to make money online trading forex, options, stocks and shares.
• Alternate forms of investing.
• How my property mentor taught me to make big money from small investments in property.
• Real estate secrets of the rich
• Creative, but legal forms of tax reduction.
• Indeed how to become more successful in your life in general.

I have been successful in all of the above, but in many cases it was by a long process of trial and error. When I have taken an exponential leap forward it has been down to the help I received from my mentors, especially in terms of property, gold & making money online. These same mentors will be available to you.

The richest people in the world build networks; everyone else is trained to look for work. Robert Kiyosaki

My goal is to help as many of you as possible to survive & thrive in the coming months & years,Best Wishes, Marc