Poor Man Survival
Self Reliance tools
for independent minded people…
ISSN 2161-5543
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
Middle
Class Incomes: An Endangered Species-
How to put more dollars in your
pocket-even if you’re retired…
As I’ve written since
the early 1990s-America's middle class is literally vanishing. For the most
part, wages have not kept up with the cost of living. Millions have already been squeezed out…aside
from the stupidity of government or the greed of many on Wall Street-most
people seldom adapt or grow. I’ve
started up a dozen or so businesses.
Most of them successful. I get
bored and sell them or I get divorced and lose them or sell them to business
partners who cheat me.
Sometimes, I come up with ideas that I feel
should do great. That happened last year
and I flew to AZ to pitch a non-profit group on buying the concept and to hire
me to help them get it off the ground.
Despite supposed interest, I never got the courtesy of a response.
That’s the way it
goes today. Many of today’s so-called
professionals, are un-professional. I
still made $1500 off the concept simply by flying out to Phoenix and was able
to enjoy one of my favorite cities while visiting my many friends and family.
I have made thousands
of dollars simply by hearing of a business practice from one industry and with
a few adjustments, transferring the idea to another industry. I’ve done this for my own business and for
others…all it takes is opening your ears.
The hard part is getting other people to open their ears. Most people don’t listen. [Ask any teacher].
Oh and I also read. A lot.
I read people like Arthur C. Clarke,
the futurist and author of books like 2001: A Space Odyssey who also
famously said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic."
Here’s
how to supplement your income. [And why
being entrepreneur in the US has become more difficult]
A Perfect Storm of Misfortune due to the cost of
government overregulation, too many laws, & too much bureaucracy at every
level of government…this is why the US has dropped to 13th
place internationally in terms of free enterprise. Nations such as New Zealand now exceed the
United States in terms of fostering economic freedom as does Hong Kong and
Singapore!
Just
look around. Millions who were once comfortably in the middle class now fight
to keep their heads above water. Retirees struggle to make ends meet... former
execs stock shelves... people work two jobs to stay afloat... families forgo
vacations, new cars, even buying a home.
Good
jobs are obsolete or outsourced. Wages stagnate. Yet we pay more for just about
everything.
A
recent study confirms that this has been the worst decade for the middle class
in more than 70 years.
As
wealth guru and Bottom Line Personal expert Suze Orman said:
"Sooner or later, the middle class will cease to exist."
"Sooner or later, the middle class will cease to exist"
And It's About
to Get Worse…We’ve all seen the effects of inflation at the grocer and for our
health premiums, insurance costs, the cost of a new car, etc.
Think the government will take care of you if anything happens?
What is going to happen to our safety nets like welfare, Medicaid, Obamacare
and food stamps?
But the good news is:
Thousands
Become Millionaires Every Day
This “Great Middle-Class Squeeze” is sure to continue.
The rich will get richer. But not everyone else will get poorer.
The 5 Ideas to
Creating More Cash Today-Even if You’re Retired
These 5 simple steps have enriched the lives (and bank accounts)
of countless Americans and can easily add thousands of dollars to your net
worth.
STEP 1: MAKE
MORE MONEY
The one sentence
that can get you the job of your dreams
Would you like to have hundreds, thousands of
extra dollars coming in every year? Prospering during the Middle-Class Squeeze
starts with making more money... A lot more money. Whether from a part time
job, your own business or both!
When writing to a potential employer, take a tip from our expert
David Perry, author of The Guerrilla Guide for Job Hunters.
Here’s what he says to do to make your cover letter pop right
out of the pile…
Add a riveting one-sentence P.S. Because a reader’s eye
automatically goes right down to the “P.S”.
That’s why a good P.S. will hook them and reel them into your letter. For
example: “P.S. I’d like to tell you how I can increase your productivity by
25%.”
Want to
start a home business for less than $500 and bring in $100,000 a year?
Consider
credit repair.
Because credit requirements are higher than ever, demand for
credit repair is exploding from people who have been rejected for home or car
loans.
People need someone they can trust to help with credit disputes
and payment schedules.
Be a
tour guide.
If you live in an interesting home town, perhaps you know it
like no other. Why not create a local
tour that people can sign up for at Vayable.com. Have a niche interest; consider making it a
themed interest such a wine or food tour.
For instance, at FoodTourPros.com you can sign up to learn everything
about creating food tours in your city.
[I once owned an historic Civil War hero’s home which I turned into a
B&B and offered gourmet dinners. We
offered group tours and were featured on PBS!].
Rent
Out Your Space – Or Yourself
If you live in an area where parking is at a premium or where
sporting or entertainment events making parking hard to find, consider renting
out your driveway or front yard at sites such as JustPark.com or
Parklee.com.
Rent your practical services out at RentaGrandma.com, where
folks hire you to do everything from babysit to take care of their pets while
they’re at work. [When vacationing at
high-end resorts we’ve used such services when my boys were young and it worked
great].
In fact, more and more retailers and service businesses are
hiring 50+ folks due to their reliability and appearance. This is something Costco, Walmart, and Uber
have all picked up on. We have several
older friends who earn extra income by distributing free samples of food
products via Kroger and other supermarket chains. They earn some pretty decent money from what
they tell us.
Chase
Dream Jobs
FabJobs.com
is a great a great source for in-depth information about an
amazing variety of jobs ranging from how to become a cake decorator to a party
planner.
Other places to find ideas for income streams include your areas
of interest…almost everything has a professional association linked to it [I
once gave a speech in Washington DC to the Association of Associations!]. For example, there is an National Association
Professional Pet Sitters and one for Mystery Writers of America. You can easily get a crash course in nearly
everything you need to know.
Work
from Home
FlexJobs.com
lists tons of fun work at home jobs from remote editorial
assistant to writing blog posts for businesses; listing run the gamut paying
anywhere from $25 an hour to as much as $84,000 annually!
Go with
Growth Modes
The senior services sector is booming [as many employers
discover the reliability of the age demographic]. Find out more at such organizations as AARP,
or the National Association of Senior Move Managers [NASMM.org].
Home health care is increasing as our nation ages. If you have a background as a RN or LPN there
are many firms willing to hire [plenty of established hospital chains and life
insurance firms make use of such programs as well] jobs are plentiful and you
can often set your own schedule. Check
online or with your local hospital chain.
We live in an Idea Economy, or if you prefer, a Leadership Economy.
As Taylor Pearson, author of “The End of Jobs” mentioned to me on our podcast: you either are going to have to “exit up” or “exit down”.
That
sounds dire and scary. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
I don’t think it’s that hard to “exit up”. I think it’s a matter of always making yourself indispensable through the ideas we discuss in this newsletter and the daily newsletter.
But this brings me to an important point: fear.
It’s one thing to say “you might have to ‘exit down’.”
It’s also another thing to say “the world is going to hell”. Or to spread fear-mongering by talking about how the economy is going to crash forever and everyone is going to die poor and hungry.
But the Myth of America’s decline has been around since 1776 and won’t go away.
Why?
·
It’s in our natures to believe in Declinism.
·
We’re always nostalgic of the older, easier days.
·
And here’s the
real trick. Ideas evolve faster than humans.
·
A human
generation is about 20 years.
·
An idea
generation might be just a few years.
·
3D Printing,
Synthetic biology, Sensors, Robotics, biotech, are all evolving at incredibly
fast rates right now.
Here’s what to do now: be the first, be the expert, and you can start thinking
of ten ideas A DAY on how to make money off of them.
OK, so you have a brilliant idea for a new product, but don’t have the
cash—or
connections with the cash—to get started. Ten years ago, your idea would’ve fallen
by the wayside where brilliant ideas go to die. Bringing a new product to the
market was incredibly risky and expensive. But that’s all changed. Today, it’s easier than ever to test the
market’s want for that product for free and receive funding to bring it into
the world.
Whether your product idea is a film, book,
line of jewelry, nifty gadget, or lifesaving device, there are two companies
that can help you get the money you need—provided the market thinks it’s a good
idea.
These companies are called Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
You’ve probably heard of them. They are a
simple way to fund creative projects you resonate with—and get your own
creative venture funded by like-minded people. You decide how
much money you need, tell potential
investors why you need it, and if you raise your requested amount, you get to
use the money to develop your product.
The backers of projects, in return, will
receive an agreed-upon gift. Normally the gifts range from a public ‘thank you’
if they pledge a few dollars to the full product if they pledge enough to:
Start
Your Own Business For Free…cover the cost of production. It’s your choice what gifts you’ll give to your backers.
Starting a campaign is insanely simple.
But executing a wildly successful campaign, in most cases, requires finesse.
Here’s where you can gain that extra edge.
Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour
Workweek has
posted a step-by-step explanation on how one entrepreneur raised $100,000 in 10
days to launch his project.
How to raise $100,000 in 10 days:
www.fourhourworkweek.com/2012/12/18/hacking-kickstarterhow-to-raise-100000-in-10-days-includes-successful-templatese-
mails-etc.
Never stop
looking, reading, observing and learning, and finally, ADAPTING!
Resources:
MyLifeStyleCareer.com
– sign up for their free newsletter
Retirement-Online.com
– online coaching for retirees
http://www.jamesaltucher.com/ - Ideas for a world out of balance
Escaping the Rat
Race with Your Own Business-CD ROM
Yours for another revolution,
Bruce ‘the Poor Man’
Post Script…
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