HOW TO LOVE GENUINELY

The problem is always that we mistake the idea of love For attachment Whereas actually, it is just Attachment, which causes pain. because the more we grasp, the more we are afraid to let go, hence, we are going to suffer. I mean, in genuine love is well,

Attachment says: you know i love you, therefore, I want you to make me happy and, Genuine love says: I love you, therefore, I want you to be happy if that includes me, Great! If it doesn't include me, I just want your happiness. And so, its a very different feeling. You know, Attachment, is like holding very tight, but genuine love is holding very gently, nurturing, but allowing things to flow, not to be held tightly. The more tight we hold on to others, the more we will suffer. But it's very hard for people to understand that, because the more they hold on to someone the more it shows that they care about them, but it's not, it's really is  just that they're trying to grasp at something because they're afraid that otherwise they themselves be hurt.

Any kind of relationship which imagines that we can fulfill ourselves through another is bound to be very tricky. I mean, ideally, people should come together already feeling fulfilled within themselves and just therefore appreciating that in the other rather than expecting the other to supply that sense of well-being which they don't feel on their own. Then there's a lot of problems. And, also along with the projection which comes with romance where we project all our ideas, ideals, and desires, and romantic fantasies, on to the other which the other cannot possibly fulfill once you get to know them, you recognize that it's not Prince Charming or Cinderella, it's just a very ordinary person, who's also struggling And unless one is able to see them with, to like them as well as feel desire for them and also have loving kindness and compassion, then, it's going to be a very difficult relationship.

Your Website is Obsolete

 I want to start an online business and I want to have a website, " Let me tell you something, websites are a thing of the past. Websites are obsolete, I want you to remember that websites is really the same thing as printing a thousand brochures, going to the mall and hoping that 1% people will buy the product.

A traditional website is like the home, about us,  who ae we, pricing, all that kind of stuff and that is the brochure, I don't know about you, but i have not been to a mall, been handled a brochure, and because of the brochure i actually ended up buying something, well maybe I have one percent of the time, and that is the same thing as having a  website, What you need to have right now is no longer a website, but rather a funnel.

A funnel is like, and I say this all the time, your best salesperson going up to each and every single person, your audience, getting to know them, building a relationship with them understanding their needs, giving them value, and them selling them something. So ask yourself, what is the page, and the flow, that might have in the online world that is giving them the similar experience whereby when a person lands on your page, for the very first time, and they don't know who you are, are you capturing the details? Are you giving them the value? Are you building a relationship with them through email? Are you automating that process so that after delivering value to them, you're giving them what they want by offering them some sort of back end or upsell based on what they actually require?  Based on their wants, needs, and desires? That is what you need a website, you want to be thinking about the entire flow, the architecture and infrastructure of sequence of pages. That will make all the difference. 

YOU THINK IT'S OVER HERE'S THE TRUTH

You might think it's over, but here's the truth. If you take a look at the journey of every great entrepreneur, you'll realise that the path is always, the one thing that is definitely going to be there, is the struggles, the obstacles, and the challenges, Now if you really think about it, the cold hard truth is, even though this is something we all know, we will all face, the question is, during these road blocks, during these challenges, are you going to allow these points to stop you? Because that is where most people will quit. Think about it. People never quit when it's easy right ? People never quit when things are going well. People ordinary people, will only quit when things are not going well, when there are struggles when there are obstacles in place.

So what do you remember that of every obstacle, every major road block, you got to remember that are the moments where ordinary people will quit, And if you can always come from that angle that every time you have a struggle and you remind yourself, these are days normal people will quit. So ask yourself ' M I Ordinary or not. Because let's face it, First of all, there's nothing wrong with being ordinary but you got to remember that being ordinary will get you ordinary results.

However, if you want to be in the top 1%, you want extra ordinary results you got to constantly remind yourself during the tough times, during the difficulties that these are the moments where most people will quit.

THE STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. DONT ALLOW IT TO STOP YOU. 

Would you hire you?

Most of the time, if you ask someone if they're getting paid what they are worth, I can guarantee you most of the time they would say, no, I deserve more, I should get a better pay, I should have a bigger bonus. The question that i would want you to ask yourself is, if you were in the upper management, a entrepreneur, a leader if you were a owner of a business would you hire yourself ? and if the answer is yes and then you are totally worth it, then the question is, why aren't you doing it 'Cause it's easy to talk, it's easy to say well, I'm worth a whole lot more. But the question is, if you really to be open and transparent and step out of your shoes for a second and ask yourself what is it that i bring to the table? And if i was the owner right now and I'm going to pay myself the amount, that salary every single month, what do i need to get out of me in order to justify the amount.

Think about it, if you are the entrepreneur, obviously the only reason why you would hire somebody is because the pay is suppose to be significantly less than the value that need to be generated. So, ask yourself, your value right now, the responsibility that you have in your organisation right now is that three times more than your pay?  And ask yourself really honestly and transparently, because at the end of the day responsibility pays,

Here's the problem, most people look at responsibility as a bad thing. They look at responsibility when somebody ask's the question who's responsible? Everybody's looking down, nobody wants to take responsibility. When in fact i am talking about the person to be blamed, but rather, the person responsible. Think about it, the CEO probably has the biggest responsibility  in the organisation.

But that does not mean that the CEO is doing everything, it just means that they have the biggest responsibility. So, at the end of the day responsibility pays, Responsibility is in direct proportion to your pay. And the next time you are thinking about how to get a bigger pay, a bigger bonus, ask yourself, WOULD YOU HIRE YOU and would you give yourself that bigger pay or bonus. and are you able to increase your level of responsibility? Because responsibility pays.

Work on your business not in the business

What do I need to do so that my business can function without me? A business can truly automated just using two things systems and people having the right teams in place now the constant thing that should be on your mind if you are an entrepreneur or a business owner is how can you be  working on your business and not inside your business .

 Most of the times small  businesses the reason why they remain small is because the business owner is the business and they have been so busy working on their day to day schedule on their to do list their task that they forgot to be working on the big picture which is on the business rather than inside the business. 

The role what one needs to be doing constantly is to ask yourself last month what did I do that could have been replaced either by a system or somebody else what are the different platforms out there that can automate and streamline processes in my business what are the different tasks I did last week last month that I could have outsourced or got someone to be able to do it so that I can focus on a much bigger picture cause at the end of the day your role as the business owner as the entrepreneur as a leader is to be able to train more leaders to be able to replace you so that you can focus on a bigger task .

WHY YOUR CUSTOMERS LIE TO YOU

Imagine you're in a store and in this store for the last 20 minutes you've been trying to pick something. The store assistant, she's been really nice to you. She'e been helping you do all these different things picking. However, halfway in you realise you're no longer interested in buying that product. What do you say? Chances are because you're nice you're going say things like :I'll come back later," right? "Or, I'll think about it," even though you know you not gonna go home and should  i  buy it, shouldn't i not buy it? You're not thinking about it. One thing I'd like you to think about when it comes to sales, when it comes to marketing your products, services, programmes, you've got to think about from this angle which is it's now or never.

They're either going to buy now or they're never going buy it at all. You want to adopt that mindset for your sales presentations, your sales letters, your sales videos, your webinars and ask yourself how can I make them take action right now? Because it's now or never. right now, Because in their minds they are thinking, 'Okay, great, I'll buy this but why not buy it tomorrow? Why not next month , why not next year?  Why should i do it right now?" That's why you could have your bonuses. You could have some sought of scarcity, some sort of limitation. But you've got to ask yourself as a marketer, as an entrepreneur, what can I do so that they actually take action now? Because it's now or never.

Why you shouldn't Invest in Bitcoin

Last month my friend told me he has invested in Bitcoin. Now, that raised all types of alarms in my head because when my Uber driver, my hairdresser starts asking about my take about cryptocurrency, that is when I know that's a big sign of a huge, huge bubble. I mean, think about it, probably you heared about it before when people are greedy, it's really time to get really cautious and I believe that Bitcoin is the same exact thing. Sure. here the thing I actually invested in Bitcoin but my take is that right now at this price point, Bitcoin is not the best investment in cryptocurrency.

Here's why think about it. Bitcoin is really first to market, Bitcoin is like the version one byproduct of blockchain. Now, blockchain is like the internet. Now, internet in 1995 we had no idea, we were clueless to really what was possible and the potential power of the internet. Blockchain is really like the internet 1995. We have a glimpse of what's really possible but we still don't really know what's really possible when everything is rolled out and Bitcoin is first to market, version 1.0. Now, if you really think about it, first market in the technology space whether it's Nokia, whether it is Black Berry, whether it is friendster whether it is Alta Vista, Web Crawler, all these different things that was in the technology space, even if their first market they held their spot for a couple of years, most of them never really hold it for more than couple of years, I believe Bitcoin is the same exact thing, that right now there are so many other altcoins that beats Bitcoin in terms of capabilities as well as features 

However, Bitcoin has the pricing it has because of its first market. So, at the end of it all, my take is this, my take is that if you are investing in cryptocurrency, now, or you're going to at least venture into it, bitcoin and the risk reward ratio does not commensurate and does not add up to all of the other altcoins that's available right there, right now. I would do the research on all of the other coins because when it comes to the high-risk investment, it's way better to explore the future coins, the altcoins, the other currencies that's running on a much more effective, efficient platform than Bitcoin because first to market and of  course, there has been a lot of different markets and brands where first to market is still the leader right now but I'm talking about the technology space, it moves so fast that chances are Bitcoin is not going to be king in a couple of years from now.

Why you hate whats good for you

WHY YOU HATE WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU

Here's the reason why you hate the thing that's good for you Think about it. In every single goal that you might have now, whether its fitness or whether its money, whether it is mastering a certain skill, the only reason why you haven't achieved it yet is that there is a price to be paid.

Ask yourself, what is that price that needs to be paid? It could be going to the gym, in order to do that, you need to wake up one hour early every single day. It could be in order to get the body of your dreams, you need to give up something. Could be carbs rice noodles or refined sugar. It could be the case that in order to do this certain business and get a capital, you might need to take a small loan from your credit card But whatever it is there is a price that needs to be paid. It could be getting rid of T.V., Netflix, Amazon, but think about it, In everything you want to do, that goal, that path has a price, And the question you have to ask yourself is, are you willing to pay that price, in order to achieve that goal that you still want to get? Because if you are willing to pay a price, then all it takes really is to stay on that path and do what you say you are going to do.

Cause at the end of the day, the only reason why you may not have achieved that goal because of the price to be paid? Are you willing to pay that price?

WHY SHOULD PEOPLE BUY YOUR PRODUCT

Why should people buy your product? Now, this is a common question, a self doubt many people have when it comes to marketing their products programmes, services online or even offline which is why will somebody give me money in order for me to do this especially if it's a high ticket item, if it's 5000, 10000, 50000 $ and that's when self  doubt will set in and people are starting to think about what can i do so that people are able to trust me and believe that I'm able to deliver or what i promise Now, this question in it's own is a really large topic but here's a couple of things.

I want you to remember that when it comes to people investing in what you have to offer, it is really the same analogy as building a relationship and putting money in a bank You see, every time you give out value, every time you educating them, informing them, inspiring them, motivating them, that's like putting money in the bank, that's like making a deposit. Every time you sell something or you make an offer whether it's through a sales video, a sales letter, a webinar, that's when you actually making a withdrawal and it is okay to make a withdrawal when you have enough money in the bank. The problem is most marketers are making withdrawals and going on overdraft. So you really think about it most marketing online and selling online why somebody would buy from you, it's all about this formula give, give, give, give, sell something give,give,give,give,give sell something it is okay and you want to be selling something after you have given enough value.

It's not okay when you going in overdraft.

Why learning is just step one

I believe that learning is the starting point. When it comes to mastering any skill, learning is the first step process, what do I mean by that. Think about, any skill that you want to master, whether in sales or in production, whether in cryptocurrencies learning from a book or by attending a seminar by listening to a podcast is the first step.

The next step is implementation. It is actually being a practitioner and actually doing the thing. However, the final level is actually the ability to teach somebody else. This could be creating content, this could be through videos, this could through events, this could be writing a book about it, but the only real way master a certain topic at the highest level and transfer the skillset what you have learned as a direct result of not just the theory as a result of being a practitioner of someone else, because the leaders the ultimate goal of the leader is to create more leaders

So, the question is, think about it, the only way to grow at the highest level is build the ability to transfer what you do to somebody else.

Why It’s So Hard for Even the Best Investors to Beat the Market

In investing, there’s a competition that’s a lot like “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

Remember the story? The tortoise, exasperated with the hare’s incessant antagonizing, challenges him to a race. 

Our industrious tortoise doggedly pursues his objective. But the hare, confident of his victory, takes several detours. Hearing the commotion in the distance as the tortoise approaches the finish line, the hare makes a furious dash — only to lose to the tortoise by mere inches. 

The moral: Slow and steady wins the race. 

There’s a parallel in the debate between active management vs. indexing.

Active management is viewed as the faster, sleeker, more sophisticated approach to investing. 

Indexing, on the other hand, with its low fees and academic theorizing, is seen as a strategy for ivory tower academics and unsophisticated investors. 

But which one is the better investing strategy?

What Is Indexing?

First off, let’s distinguish between an index — a noun — and index-ing which is an approach to investing. 

An index is simply a list of securities — usually stocks or bonds — grouped together according to some predetermined criteria, such as:

• Price
• Percentage of overall market value
• Location (domestic vs. international)
• Revenue growth
• Credit quality

Some examples of larger indexes you may have heard of include the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 Index. But there are literally thousands of indexes measuring just about every kind of investment or investment strategy imaginable. 

Indexing is the act of investing in a particular type of investment vehicle, such as an exchange-traded fund, that tracks an underlying index.

Frequently, indexing is described as “passive” management, though this is somewhat of a misnomer for two reasons.

First of all, passive investing can include investment strategies beyond indexing. Buying and holding onto a handful of stocks, for example, can also be considered a passive approach to investing. Indexing, on the other hand, is a specific approach to investment management that seeks to replicate and track the performance of a particular market index. 

Secondly, replicating an index by trading the individual stocks or other securities is an incredibly intense and proactive endeavor.

What Is Active Management?

Active investment management is any investment decision that rests on the assumption that an investor will be able to earn better returns than the market average, as reported by one or more indexes.

The index is used as a benchmark to measure an investment manager or strategy against.

Intuitively, active investment management makes all the sense in the world.

Shouldn’t anyone with a little business savvy should be able to discern a superior investment opportunity from an inferior one? And shouldn’t professionals who spend most of their waking hours analyzing investments and the economy be that much more likely to improve upon the performance of the collective masses constituting the “average” investor? 

The answer is frequently “no.” 

Indexing vs. Active Management: Which Is Better?

Hands down, the primary advantage of indexing vs. active management is the cost. 

Without an army of analysts, office space and other overhead, index fundsand ETFs can be managed for very low costs. 

Consider the difference in the expense ratios, which is the fee for managing an investment and is calculated as a percentage of its total value.

Most actively managed investments (usually mutual funds) charge around 0.5% to 1.5% in management fees. But an index fund may cost as little as 0.1%, or $10 for every $10,000 you have invested.

Some brokerage firms have even begun to offer their own proprietary funds linked to various indexes for ZERO management fees. (Don’t worry — they still make money in other ways.)

Most active investment managers fail to outperform their indexed counterparts. 

Even the best active investment managers have, historically, only managed to outperform their respective benchmarks by around 0.25% to 0.5% after fees. Most do not even break even. 

Considering the likelihood of identifying these successful managers in advance in the first place, this is hardly enough to alter the fundamental principles of sound financial management.

Does that mean that there is no role for active investment management at all? Not necessarily. 

Proponents of active management argue that as the number of active managers and the fees they charge decline, the opportunity for active investment management could improve.

The Moral of the Story: Just Keep Investing

The choice between active management vs. indexing — even after taking fees into account — is FAR less important than deciding how much to save (or spend) in the first place. 

Investing in a well-diversified portfolio, whether indexed or actively managed, eliminates your risk of losing all your savings because a single company goes into bankruptcy or default. 

While you can eliminate this type of risk by not investing in a single company, you can’t eliminate the risks associated with the market, no matter how diverse your investments are. Such risks include:

• Recession
• Runaway inflation
• Political turmoil
• Anything impacting investor sentiment 

But indexing is hardly a low-risk alternative to active investment management.

As anyone who was invested during the dot.com bubble or 2008 financial crisis will tell you, although (relatively) rare, stock index funds can and do lose 50% or more of their value — depending on the type of stocks owned by the fund — during a severe market downturn or financial crisis. 

It’s important to consider your risk tolerance relative to your objectives.

From there, you can set realistic expectations for the returns you can expect from investing, choose an asset allocation that’s appropriate for your risk tolerance and decide on an appropriate amount to save each pay period to have a reasonable chance of achieving your goals.

Whatever investment strategy you decide is a fit for you, be sure to go into it with a firm understanding of what you should expect. 

At that point, whether you’re a tortoise or a hare, you should be well on your way to successfully running your race — no matter who comes in “first.”

Why I'm Obsessed with Facebook

Mastering paid ads, platforms like facebook, Youtube, Google, Thats's like a licence to print money. Think about it for the longest time if you wanted to get a bigger reach, a bigger following, the option would be going out of print press, magazines, billboards, and the problem with that is not only is it expensive, you won't be able to track your ROI. But here's the biggest shift that has happened in the last 10 years, it's that right now anyone, you me anyone can go out to all these different platforms and we could spend 5$ to 10$, and track almost instantaneously if the money we spend and the amount we spend was actually profitable. We can track to see is by spending 10$ did we make 20$ in return And if we did, we'll just scale this upto 50$ or if we spend 100$ we got 200$ back


You see the power of scaling and using up paid up ads today. that is probably one of the most lucrative skills a marketer can learn and discover and master in entrepreneurship. Because that helps you to drive traffic on demand, For the longest time marketers always said oh if only i can get more traffic I'll be able to make more money, Today it's no longer about traffic. It's not a mystery that anyone of us could go to any one of these different platform, And Facebook, by the push of one button says boost post.

Facebook will send you however much traffic you can handle. So in other words the right question to ask today is no longer how can i drive more traffic, but rather how can i afford that traffic? How can i make it so that every one dollar I spend, I get more than one dollar in return, And the way you do this is by mastering direct response traffic So that is one skill that will absolutely pay the bills if you take the time and focus to really looking into making that happen. 

WHY HAVING A GREAT PRODUCT IS NO LONGER ENOUGH

Why is it that people could have a great marketing strategy, a great product, but yet, still fail and not make any significant sales? Have you wondered what is the main ingredient that really determines the success or failure of any marketing campaign? I believe that when it comes to the first starting step, it's all about the big idea. What is the big idea behind that entire campaign that dictates the entire marketing strategy? Now think about it, it could be, when it comes to books, for example, Timothy Ferriss' " The Four Hour Workweek" right The New York Times best seller for a really long time.

Now think about it, if this book was called "outsourcing secrets," with the exact same content, this book would never have been a number one  Why? it is because you'll have realised that this book, even though the entire book is outsourcing it's about hiring a writer in Philippines, and freelancers who will work for a dollar an hour, even though the entire book is outsourcing the idea, if it was called outsourcing secrets," would be too primitive for mature market. Think about it, this could be the book.

What good idea's can you create in your market so that it separates and differentiates it from all other products and it makes the angle exciting again? So many years ago when people were talking about work from home, I created a product called, "Work from No Home" whats the product its basically internet marketing and how you can run a business from your laptop with an internet connection. It's the same thing but again but not with the same boring message.

The question right now is in whatever market that you want to go into, what is the big idea that will separate and differentiate it from all the other mainstream boring messages out there? Because that is going to be used as the messaging as well as the copy for your entire marketing campaign.

WHEN SOMEONE BUYS START SELLING

When someone buys, then start selling. Think about it, in every single successful business, Take a look at McDonalds every time if you were to order something, their staff is all trained to ask you questions like, "Would you like to have fries with that?", " Would you like to super-size it?" " Would you like to go large?" Now how can we apply that in our business? Ask yourself, who do you think is easier to sell to? Do you think it's easier to sell to a brand new customer, or, to an existing one? Now all of us know, that it's way to easier, way cheaper, in order to market and sell to an existing customer. So think about it, the question you should be asking yourself is, How can you get people to get the initial product, Even if, it means breaking even. Or making a slight loss, so that on the back end, where you can have all these different up-sells, Like what Amazon does through the cross - sells,  Whereby they say people bought these, also bought these items and integrate that with your business.

The question you want to be asking yourself is, How can you retain the customers that you already have, And get them deeper into your sales funnel; Into your business. Because, let me ask you this question, If you have a business right now, How much more would be your business be worth if you were able to keep all of all the customers you ever had before. Here's the problem Most businesses, they're constantly thinking about getting new customers. Fresh visitor's People who have not heard of them before. When that is really just a smaller piece of the equation The much larger piece is : How can you retain your customers better. How can you get better frequency. How can you increase the average value of their shopping cart.

If you are a business owner, if you're an entrepreneur, if you are starting your own business right now, those are the much more important questions you should be asking yourself.

AFTER YOU MAKE A SALE, ASK "WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT?"

WHY HAVING A GREAT PRODUCT IS NO LONGER ENOUGH

Why is it that people could have a great marketing strategy, a great product, but yet, still fail and not make any significant sales? Have you wondered what is the main ingredient that really determines the success or failure of any marketing campaign? I believe that when it comes to the first starting step, it's all about the big idea. What is the big idea behind that entire campaign that dictates the entire marketing strategy? Now think about it, it could be, when it comes to books, for example, Timothy Ferriss' " The Four Hour Workweek" right The New York Times best seller for a really long time.

Now think about it, if this book was called "outsourcing secrets," with the exact same content, this book would never have been a number one  Why? it is because you'll have realised that this book, even though the entire book is outsourcing it's about hiring a writer in Philippines, and freelancers who will work for a dollar an hour, even though the entire book is outsourcing the idea, if it was called outsourcing secrets," would be too primitive for mature market. Think about it, this could be the book.

What good idea's can you create in your market so that it separates and differentiates it from all other products and it makes the angle exciting again? So many years ago when people were talking about work from home, I created a product called, "Work from No Home" whats the product its basically internet marketing and how you can run a business from your laptop with an internet connection. It's the same thing but again but not with the same boring message.

The question right now is in whatever market that you want to go into, what is the big idea that will separate and differentiate it from all the other mainstream boring messages out there? Because that is going to be used as the messaging as well as the copy for your entire marketing campaign.

WHEN SOMEONE BUYS, START SELLING

When someone buys, then start selling. Think about it, in every single successful business, Take a look at McDonalds every time if you were to order something, their staff is all trained to ask you questions like, "Would you like to have fries with that?", " Would you like to super-size it?" " Would you like to go large?" Now how can we apply that in our business? Ask yourself, who do you think is easier to sell to? Do you think it's easier to sell to a brand new customer, or, to an existing one? Now all of us know, that it's way to easier, way cheaper, in order to market and sell to an existing customer. So think about it, the question you should be asking yourself is, How can you get people to get the initial product, Even if, it means breaking even. Or making a slight loss, so that on the back end, where you can have all these different up-sells, Like what Amazon does through the cross - sells,  Whereby they say people bought these, also bought these items and integrate that with your business.

The question you want to be asking yourself is, How can you retain the customers that you already have, And get them deeper into your sales funnel; Into your business. Because, let me ask you this question, If you have a business right now, How much more would be your business be worth if you were able to keep all of all the customers you ever had before. Here's the problem Most businesses, they're constantly thinking about getting new customers. Fresh visitor's People who have not heard of them before. When that is really just a smaller piece of the equation The much larger piece is : How can you retain your customers better. How can you get better frequency. How can you increase the average value of their shopping cart.

If you are a business owner, if you're an entrepreneur, if you are starting your own business right now, those are the much more important questions you should be asking yourself.

AFTER YOU MAKE A SALE, ASK "WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT?"

What to Do With Your Investments if You’re Worried a Recession Is Coming

Quick, what is the first lesson you learned about what to do if you are ever lost in the woods? 

If you answered “STOP,” you are 100% correct. 

The exact same rule should apply to individual investors who are worried that a recession is imminent. 

The second rule is “don’t panic.” 

The worst investment decisions are often made under periods of emotional distress, e.g., after the loss of a job, the death of a loved one or as anxiety sets in that a recession could be near.

4 Tips for Investing During a Recession (or if You Think a Recession Is Near)

For all the challenges facing individual investors, how can someone make intelligent and responsible investment decisions in the face of so much varied, often contradictory information? Here are some tips.

1. Don’t Be Swayed by the Panic

The first step is to recognize that most of the noise surrounding you about the market is just that — noise. 

The sooner you can block it out and evaluate your personal situation objectively, the better. If this entails periodically checking in with a trusted adviser, make sure you are working with someone who can maintain their objectivity and has a fiduciary duty to put your interests ahead of themselves or their firm. 

2. Reconsider Your Risk Tolerance                                                                       

Also consider the likely impact on your investments and overall net worth in the event the predictions of a recession prove correct. In other words, reconsider your risk tolerance. Can you tolerate the fluctuations in your investment accounts associated with a garden variety recession?

What about a repeat of a historical worst-case scenario? If the answer to either question is “no,” it might make sense to re-evaluate your asset allocation AND the expected rate of return associated with a more conservative allocation.

Is it worth it to you to save an additional $100, $500 or $1,000 per month to avoid the more severe losses associated with investing during a recession? 

3. Consider the Costs of Missed Opportunities                                                  

Next, consider the chance that you (and everyone around you) ends up being wrong. Can you tolerate the FOMO (fear of missing out) associated with what you could have had if you’d left well enough alone? Remember, that if you are a dedicated devotee of index investing vs. active management, ALL publicly available information is useless for making investment decisions. Your best bet is to ignore the hype and just keep doing what you’ve been doing. 

4. Prepare for the Worst                                                                                      

Work on building a good emergency fund in case of a layoff, and review your insurance policies to make sure you can afford any out-of-pocket costs associated with a major illness or accident. After that, leave everything else alone. 

But What if You Just Can’t Stomach a Hands-off Investing Approach?                                                                                       

If, after all these steps, the idea of leaving your investment accounts completely unchanged in the face of contradicting information sounds a little too Zen for your comfort level, consider the following strategies for mitigating the potential trade off between future returns and lowering overall portfolio risk: 

1. Consider Dividends                                                                                       

Stocks that pay dividends distribute money, usually quarterly, back to shareholders. Make sure you’re investing in a diversified pool of dividend-paying stocks to as to avoid falling into a “value trap.” Sometimes high dividends can be a sign that the dividend payment is too high and unsustainable relative to the underlying fundamentals of the issuing company. 

2. Look at Bonds and Other Income-Producing Investments

Suppose the stock market is projected to return 6% over the next 10 years. If you have the option of choosing a diversified portfolio of bonds or other income-producing investments, also known as fixed income, that are currently yielding 6% or more, it could make sense to opt for the diversified portfolio of fixed income. Such options might include high-yield bonds or bonds issued by emerging market economies. These investments will also lose value in the event of a recession but may hold up better than stocks in general. You can then evaluate the option of reallocating more to stocks if and when the bad news you were expecting comes to pass. 

3. Invest in Quality                                                                                                

Look for diversified portfolios of stocks that represent companies with strong balance sheets and consistent earnings. These companies should withstand market turbulence better than their weaker counterparts. Again, keep in mind that the long-term rate of return may be more modest than the stock market in general — but without the opportunity costs associated with investment-grade bonds or cash. 

4. Think Globally                                                                                                      

These days, “broadly diversified” generally means including international investments. Returns between U.S. and international stocks tends to be cyclical. In the meantime, allocating some of your investments overseas can help reduce the volatility associated with a portfolio invested completely in the U.S. 

A Final Word About Preparing for a Recession                                    

The consistent theme to all of these recommendations is to consider in advance the potential outcomes associated with various scenarios: both in your personal life and across the economy in general. By doing so, you will be much better prepared to withstand most (if not all) of what the investment universe has to throw at you and be well on your way to a calm walk through the woods when everyone else is lost.

Why You Probably Don’t Want to Recession-Proof Your Portfolio

If you believe that a recession is imminent, you might think it makes sense to allocate more funds to investment-grade bonds, since such investments tend to hold their value better than stocks during recessions. Alternatively, if you believe the economy will grow even faster than expected, you might try to invest more of your money in stocks. The return on stocks is typically better than bonds during periods of economic growth, which is most of the time. 

Simple, right? In principle, yes. 

But to correctly allocate your funds to prepare for a recession, you first must correctly predict the recession. This is much harder than it sounds. First, there is absolutely zero shortage of pundits, journalists, talking heads and others — professionals, novices and in-laws alike — who speak confidently about the direction of the economy. Like a stopped clock, they will be right… eventually. By that measure, a recession is always on the horizon. 

But until that time, U.S. stocks could go up another 10%, 20%, 50% or more. If the recession prediction turns out to be completely wrong, it may be another five or 10 years before the next recession. In that case, you could have missed out on more than doubling your investment in the stock market before the next recession arrives. Keep in mind that the U.S. stock market is itself one of the strongest leading indicators of a recession. By the time the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (the government agency that “officially” declares the beginning and end of a recession in the U.S.), the stock market has probably already declined 20% or more.But analysis shows that most people investing during a recession reallocate their investments in response to an economic downturn only after the stock market has already declined. This is frequently described as the market “pricing in” the cost of the recession or other seemingly relevant investment information. 

Even worse, because investor nerves are shaky or shattered, most of them will not re-invest in the stock market until it has already recovered. In a worst-case scenario, this investor will get reinvested just in time for… you guessed it: the next recession.

What Is Peer-to-Peer Lending? Here’s How It Works and What You Should Know

You have a little money saved up. Nice. But it’s just sitting in a bank account earning between 1 and 2% interest. At that rate, your money is going to grow at a snail’s pace. You know you could invest in the stock market, but what if it crashes?

If you’re looking for a way to invest your money that gives you a good amount of control over the risk and you can make more than you would by keeping your money in the bank, then peer-to-peer lending (P2P) is worth a look. 

 

Peer-to-peer lending is a system that matches people who need loans with private investors who are willing to lend money. 

P2P lending is a system that matches people who need loans with private investors who are willing to lend money. No banks needed. (You may also hear it referred to as “crowdfunding.”) Loans can be for anything from debt consolidation to payday loans or even small business loans. 

To become an investor in P2P lending, you would first set up an account with a P2P website. You’ll likely be required to make a minimum deposit of at least $1,000. You don’t have to invest all of it at once, but you need to have that much money available. The reason for the $1,000 minimum is that you’ll use it to invest in multiple loan notes, thus diversifying your money. This minimizes your risk.

Once you sign up, you can choose your investments. Would you rather earn a smaller return (6% or lower) on low-risk loans, or would you prefer to go for big returns (10% and above) with high-risk loans? As with a bank, the lending platform determines loan risk by credit scores, employment, and other borrower traits. 

You don’t have to go it alone, either. You can open a joint account with your spouse or other investors who share your investment goals. 

WHO CAN INVEST IN P2P LENDING?

Here’s where it gets tricky: Peer-to-peer lending isn’t open to everyone. 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has determined that even if banks aren’t involved, some rules do need to be in place to govern crowdfunding for investors.

Here are the basic restrictions to investing in P2P lending:

If either your annual income or your net worth is less than $107,000 during any 12-month period: 

• You can invest up to $2,200.

OR 

• You can invest up to 5% of your annual income or net worth (whichever is less). 

If both your annual income and your net worth are $107,000 or more during any 12-month period: 

• You can invest up to 10% of your annual income or your net worth (whichever is less).
• No matter what your annual income or net worth, you can’t invest more than $107,000. 

In other words, you can’t invest your whole nest egg at once. But, even if you’re only making $30,000 per year, you can still invest up to $2,200 annually. If you don’t know your net worth, use a net worth calculator to figure it out. 

Investors must also use a peer-to-peer lending platform that is registered with the SEC and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). You must use an approved website or app as a broker. That means no company can come to you directly to solicit investments.

The SEC also cautions investors to understand the risks of P2P lending. These loans inherently come with risk, so you should only invest money that you can afford to lose.

PROS AND CONS OF INVESTING IN P2P LENDING

P2P lending has only been around since 2005, and it’s still gaining traction with both borrowers and investors. For that reason, some of the pros and cons are still being discovered. However, we do know a few things: 

Pros

• It’s relatively fast and easy to set up your account and get started.
• The transactions are all done online or on your phone. No awkward trips to a bank or meeting borrowers first-hand.
• Investors can get a much higher return for their money than they would by keeping it in a bank or investing in a long-term certificate of deposit. 
• You can choose your level of risk/reward.
• Some sites let you invest as little as $25 per loan. You don’t have to fund an entire loan, thus minimizing your risk in case of default.
• You’ll receive monthly payments of principal plus interest as the loans are paid off. 

Cons

• Many of these loans are used for debt consolidation, which means they are inherently higher risk than some other types of loans.
• These platforms are not FDIC-insured the way banks are, so if a borrower defaults on their loan, no one is paying back your money.
• It’s still a young industry, which means we don’t yet know how it will respond to a market crash or an economic downturn. 
• Once you’ve loaned the money, you’re in it for the long haul. There are no secondary markets where you can sell off your loans to get out. That may change in the near future, but for now, you have to assume your money will be tied up in that loan until it is paid back.
• Your investment earns diminishing returns. You’ll earn less and less interest as the loan is paid back. You’ll need to reinvest it if you want to continue earning interest with it.

5 OF THE BEST P2P LENDING WEBSITES FOR INVESTORS

New broker sites and apps are popping up all the time, but these five are consistently listed among the best in the business. You may want to start out with one of these tried-and-true P2P sites. 

Lending Club

 

The first P2P company to become publicly traded, Lending Club is the big dog on the market. You need $1,000 to get started, but you have the option of going solo or with a joint account. You can lend as little as $25 per loan, so you can diversify your money and protect yourself from default loans. 

You can also automate your lending portfolio based on your risk preferences so you don’t have to hand-pick which borrowers are right for you.Upstart

Upstart boasts that they look at more than just credit scores when evaluating borrowers, so if you’re looking for a site that is trying to help the little guy, Upstart could be your jam. Of course, that means that some of the loans carry a higher risk, but that also means the potential for higher returns. 

Another of Upstart’s perks is the investor’s ability to open an IRA. That comes with some tax benefits for your investments. 

Prosper Marketplace

 

Prosper is the original peer-to-peer lending site. Started in 2005, it was the first one to hit the market and it’s still going strong today. Prosper has a user-friendly phone app to keep on top of your investments.

One major perk of Prosper is that you can get started with just $25. However, Prosper suggests that you invest $2,500 – 100 x $25 notes – to have your money properly diversified. 

Peerform

 

If you are looking to get into the P2P investing market but don’t know where to start, you may want to check out Peerform. Peerform allows you to diversify using 16 categories. You also have the option to take on a full loan rather than just a fraction of a loan, if that sounds attractive to you.
Peerform requires you to be an “accredited investor” to take part, so read up on their rules before trying to jump in. 

Funding Circle

 

If you have a passion for small business, Funding Circle is your stop. The platform’s owners tried to get funding for their own small business but were shot down repeatedly. By “repeatedly,” we mean 96 times. So, they decided to create a solution that would connect small business owners in the U.S. and UK with investors. 

No bad debt consolidation loans here. While Funding Circle does require $50,000 to open your account, you can invest as little as $500 at a time.