Monday, September 8, 2014

Class offering: 21 Days to Stock Market Investing

Money reVerse Class Offering 

21 Days to Stock Market Investing
Starting Monday October 13, 2014

No prior stock market knowledge required!

Want to jump into stock market investing to ride the market all-time highs? This Stock Market Basics group is for you!  This is an interactive classroom group session designed for those that are starting to learn about the financial markets and trading. There will be a 2.5 hour group meeting held weekly for 3 weeks.  Sessions will be held on Monday evenings from 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM in Plano, Tx.   
Note: Distance Learning /Online participation is not available for this class.


Get these investing questions answered in this session
•    What are stocks and why should we invest?
•    What are market sectors?
•    How do I find and analyze potential stock investments?
•    How do I open a brokerage account?
•    What is my risk personality?
•    Why do markets move the way that they do?
•    
What is the best stock market trading strategy for my risk personality?
•    What investing principles are given to us in the Christian Holy Bible?
Here’s what you will get…
·      Christian Biblical principles on investing and money management.
·      Trading and investing knowledge of stocks, ETFs and Mutual Funds.
·      Classroom style instruction with personal attention and take-away materials.  No tools or subscriptions to purchase!
·      Individual Risk Assessment – understand your personal risk tolerance profile!
·      Brokerage firm comparison info – select your brokerage with confidence!
·      Practical application weekly homework.  Put what you learn into action now!
·      60 days post-session coaching via virtual trading in the real market!
·      12 month access to Money reVerse exclusive investing virtual community!
Only $200 per person enrollment cost!  

This is what others are saying about the 21 Days to Stock Market Investing Session
"Very excited learning from the Money reVerse 21 Days to Stock Market Investing session. Life changing for me!”  P.S.  Fort Worth, TX
"Thank you for sowing into our lives over the past three weeks. May the Lord exponentially bless you to do more for the Kingdom. I have just placed my first order for a mutual fund, using the principles you shared with us."  C.M. Plano, TX
“The 21 Days to Stock Market Investing group was very empowering and entertaining. Ms. Carolyn makes learning how to trade fun!!”  J.B.  Dallas, TX
"Your talents and heart continue to bless my household, thank you. As I promote how simply and practically you took us from zero to market capable, I am amazed at how many people don't invest or manage their investments. I thought I was part of a minority. Needless to say, I have several new students for you. Enjoy your season, teacher!"  L.C.  Carrollton, TX
“Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents with us. You made these hard working sessions fun and memorable!!”  G.D.  Plano, TX
"Well, we did it. Our brains actually learned a lot in your sessions...YIPPEE! We opened and funded our brokerage account today with XYZ firm*. We are off to trading..."   B.S - Dallas, TX
*  Content adjusted from the original commentary for this publication.
Click here for registration information.  Limited spaces per class.
 Is this your season for financial elevation??? 









Carolyn

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Enjoyed being a part of the 2014 Wolfe Project School Reunion!!

It was such a blessing to be a part of the 2014 Wolfe Project School Reunion in Dallas Texas!  

The Wolfe Project School was birthed in 1938 in rural Southeast Arkansas as a segregated school that served needs of African American students in the Desha School district.  The school and the
community continued to grow and thrive until school was closed in 1967 as a result of integration.

The educators, students and community members have kept the community that was created by this school alive through biennial reunion gatherings.  These gatherings have been times of celebration, encouragement and remembrances.

I was invited to be the banquet speaker for the 2014 reunion.  This was such an honor!  My dad, the late Hayward Williams, Sr attended this school along with one of my sisters.  I shared and encouraged everyone to leave the legacy they are purposed to leave.

Takeaway from this session:  You are not going to be here forever, but your legacy can be.

The Wolfe Project School has been closed for many years.  There is no one employed by the school and the building has been torn down for many years.  In spite of that, the 2014 reunion of students, teachers and community members alike is flourishing as strong as a reunion of a class or school that is in full operation.  This a noteworthy legacy!   Thanks again for inviting me to participate in this fun fun occasion!

Everyone is going to leave a legacy - those things that are said about you and passed down by you when you're no longer here.  Are you building yours to make the mark that God has purposed for you to make?

Go and get busy creating your legacy on purpose.  No one else can do it for you!!


Carolyn

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Financial Authority: Part 1 - No Personal Financial Ignorance

Operating in the financial place that is outlined for Christians in the Holy Bible will require that we first put to an end all instances of personal financial ignorance.

No disrespect is intended here.  Let’s break it down.  

Ignorance is having a lack of knowledge or information.  Ignorance is in no way related to intellectual capacity as is often implied in our conversations.  Ignorance is being unaware, unfamiliar, inexperienced and unenlightened.  Ignorance can exist because of isolation, limited exposure or more deliberate measures.  For this reason I believe that in today’s overabundance of information, being ignorant is a choice.

Personal financial ignorance can be described as being uninformed of the details of your own personal financial situation.  Is that possible?  Sadly I must say that it is possible.  This is a clear measure of financial immaturity that I’m praying will be resolved for all Money reVerse followers starting with this blogpost!

Let's go to the verses… Know the state of your flock
Be diligent to know the state of your flocks,
And attend to your herds;

For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,


The lambs will provide your clothing,
And the goats the price of a field;


You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And the nourishment of your maidservants.
                                    Proverbs 27:23-27  NKJV


These scriptures, located in the Bible book of Proverbs, served as instruction to those in biblical times to be aware of what’s going on with their flocks and herds.  Let me paraphrase these passages:

Having riches at one point in your life does not mean that you will have them forever.  If you don’t consistently take care of the money that you have, is it very possible that your future generations will not benefit from it. (As noted throughout the Christian Holy Bible, the family lineage and importance of making plans for future generations is very important.)  If you take care of what you have, you can have enough assets to cover your needs and/or be sold for lot of money.  Guess what?  By being consistent and particular to carefully manage your financial resources, you can take care of everyone in your household along with the hired help that you’ve engaged!  All of this if you will be relentless about knowing what’s going on with the money you have today.  

In biblical times an individual’s wealth was determined primarily by their cattle inventory.  Here’s an example of how one rich man, Job,  was described.   

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.  And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.  Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East. 

                                                                    Job 1:1-3 NKJV 
                                                                                                                                        
The modern-day adoption of the instruction of being diligent to know the state of your flock is to be diligent to understand your personal finances.   To take this further, to know the state of your finances is to know the details of your personal fiscal matters at a particular point in time.  

To know the state of our financial matters we should be able to speak intelligently as we answer at a minimum the following  7 questions about ourselves:

- How much money am I expecting to earn this year?  How is this compared to what I expected to earn last year?  How am I tracking to this goal at this point in time? 

- How does my monthly income compare to my monthly expenditures?  Am I living in deficit or surplus? (When income and expenditures are equal we are living “on the money”.  This rarely happens but it is possible...)

- How am I handling the monthly deficit or surplus identified in question #2?

- How much debt do I have?  How does this compare to my income (debt to income ratio = debt / income).  How does this debt to income ratio compare to my debt to income ratio this time last year?

- How much savings do I have?  How does this compare to my savings this time last year?

- What is the value of my personal assets (real estate, automobiles, stocks, stock derivatives,  bonds, mutual funds, investments, collectibles, business valuation if sole proprietor or partnership)

- What is my financial credibility rating (credit score)?  How does this compare to my credibility this time last year?


Answers to these questions will give you the state and condition of your current personal finances.  We’re not addressing future plans, goals and aspirations at this point.  Current state only in this first step.  To take this a bit further, every 6 months I prepare a statement of my financial condition that I could deliver as an elevator speech.  But I don’t share it as a speech and never discuss this on an elevator.  This is for me.  Likewise your personal financial condition is for you...

How do you get to knowing the state of your flocks?  A major  key to achieving the financial headship that is outlined for us in the Christian Holy Bible is to consistently track and manage your weekly and monthly income and expenditures.  From that consistent tracking, a summary of key data points will get you the data that is needed.

The scripture didn’t instruct us to know that state of our flocks and herds only when they are doing well.  If it's yours, you should know it’s condition - even if it isn’t good right now.  This is the foundational step for getting our finances aligned to Christian biblical scripture.  

We're going somewhere but we've got to get our ticket here!!  If things have been rough for you recently,  it will take courage to sit down and do this.  You have what it takes! Just by completing this step things are already getting better!!  

Can you commit to getting a detailed understanding of your financial condition within the next 14 days or sooner?  I'm doing it.  Join me!

Carolyn





Click here to see the previous post in this series!








Sunday, July 6, 2014

Financial Authority Series Introduction: Are you a Christian? Take your rightful financial place!


For those of us that have truly accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we individually asked for this acceptance and made a commitment to make lifestyle changes to live as a Christian is instructed to do in the Holy Bible.

Sustaining the level of financial positioning as the bible instructs us to do requires that we operate with financial purpose.    How do we do this?  The answer starts with the word NO.  


  • No personal financial ignorance.
  • No living beyond our means. 
  • No empty savings accounts. 
  • No debt or payday loans. 
  • No FICO credit scores below 700. 
  • No slack in giving to the poor. 
  • No slack in giving to build God’s kingdom. 
  • No questionable plans for retirement. 
  • No individuals without plans to be carried out in the time of our inevitable demise.


For those of you that know me well, I know that you are simply shocked that I'm using the word no.  I'm a negotiator deep in my heart and for that reason when I hear the word no spoken to me, I usually work to introduce cases for exceptions, later accommodations or just flat out fight the power.  In this case we all will need to speak the word no to ourselves.  No compromise, no exceptions.

The word no is the most aggressive two letter word in our English vocabulary.   It is a statement of forbidding, rejection and notice that something is quite the opposite of what was specified.  For the purpose of this series, I won't fight the opposition.  I will let the word no stand on it's own merits in this case....
In this series, I'm going to take each of the earlier "NO" statements and detail an actionable plan to tackle each stumbling block.  As is customary, I will also detail the biblical scriptures associated with the recommended practices in addition to sharing more of my personal accounts in each of these areas.  

Ready to take your rightful place in the area of finances and be who He has called you to be?  Ready to claim the financial authority in the earth of which you are entitled?  I am!  Come and walk it out in your life as you follow this series.

Not a Christian?  Want to elevate your financial position?  Stay with me.  The Christian financial principles that I will outline will work for everyone that will work them.

A "must-listen" for this occasion is a song from a project that I own and love.  The song is titled Get Up by Tasha Cobbs.  The words and rhythm of this song motivates me to motivate you every time I hear it.  Take a listen via the supplied link.

Link to the song is provided by Gospel Innovation.  Gospel Innovation  is a Global Gospel Media Website/Company that is all about lifting up Jesus Christ and spreading the Gospel in music, dance, websites and visual wallpaper designs on their website.  Enjoy the music and much more there.  I do!!
  
Ready to take your rightful financial place?   Let's do it!  Stay tuned!


Carolyn
 

Click here for the next post in this series!






        

Monday, June 23, 2014

Improve your finances in the next 90 days!



From my own experiences of teaching and leading personal financial management sessions and working with individuals on money matters, I’ve found the following four items to be true: 

  • Managing your personal spending for 30 consecutive days will motivate you to continue the practice and empower you to begin other aggressive actions to take control of your personal financial life.
  • Your FICO credit score can be improved after only 90 days of a purposefully directed credit repair financial action plan.
  • All debt can be paid off in 24 months with aggressive debt reduction lifestyle changes.
  • A 1 hour introduction to investing techniques and strategies will serve as motivation to you to reduce your living expenses and increase savings.

Got 90 days to invest in improving your finances?  Here's your to-do list!!

1.  Create a spending plan and stick to it for 30 days.

A spending plan is just that - a plan for how you will spend every penny that is entrusted to you for the next 30 days. The plan should be created before the month begins and should be your accountability for all financial income and expenditures.  
Got a commercial budgeting software package?  Got a spreadsheet?  Got a Big Chief tablet and a Fat #2 pencil?  How you do this isn't important.  Use what you got and get your spending plan started! 

If you'd like a free set of Excel worksheets that I've created for this purpose let me know via email and I'll get it to you.

2.  Pay your bills on time and reduce your debt load.
The two most prevalent factors that influence your FICO credit score are your payment history and the amount of debt that you owe.  If you have a habit of paying your bills late, make the adjustments that are needed to pay those that report to the credit bureaus on time.  Pay more than minimums to lower the amount of debt that you owe at a faster pace.  No matter what your FICO credit score is, you will see it increase after 90 days by addressing these heavily weighted areas.  Making payments on time right now or don't have any debts right now?  You're doing great and your FICO score is most likely reflecting this.  Move on to the next step.

3.  Do some investing in your investment knowledge
Find a low-cost / no-cost class or seminar to introduce or reintroduce you to long-term investment strategies. It is encouraging to learn about a place of financial improvement that you could reach.  Take this information and let it be your motivation to prepare you for this advanced financial management path.  I've found that as I teach stock market basics groups, individuals that are not financially prepared to invest begin making plans to get there by paying down debt and earmarking funds to begin actively investing.  Sit in an investing session and see if this is the case for you also!

Planning to implement one or more of these items in the next 90 days?  Let me know and keep me posted on your progress!















Carolyn


Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Halftime Checkup - 2014 New Year's Financial Resolutions





Halftime question:  How much have you progressed in reaching your New Year's resolutions?  Are you still on track?


Many of us struggle in setting goals and sticking to them until completion.  I’m included in this category in some areas of my life.  A study conducted by the University of Scranton reveals that only 8% of people that make resolutions or set goals at the first of the year actually reach them.  Statistics show that after the second week of January 29% of New Year’s resolutions are prematurely abandoned.  I find that I along with many individuals that I speak with clearly have the intentions of sticking to our personal goals but often end up with a story instead of a testimony when we report on our success.  




Financial Goals
Financial goals seem to be a part of our New Year's resolutions of many.  Commonly seen financial goals include managing personal finances with a spending plan, improving savings balances, maintaining a good credit score and getting out of debt. Achieving these goals will require flesh focused sacrifices.   Money that was once spent on last minute sale items, sporting events or an unplanned dining out experiences must now be redirected toward actions that lend themselves to meeting the established financial goals. Taking the actions steps to achieve these goals may appear to become difficult, boring or time consuming - especially if these are actions are outside of your normal ways of operating.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.         
                                                  Galations 6:9 KJV

This scripture is speaking to us about our flesh - our physical body and our real world circumstances.  When we grow tired of a situation we tend to say “I don’t care anymore”.  When we let ourselves grow tired or weary, we’re giving our flesh a loaded gun and our most desired goals and objectives are in the direct line of fire.  We begin having casual conversations with the strongest negotiator that we will ever meet -  our flesh.   At the end of these casual conversations we begin vocalizing self-destructive  things like “I’m sick of this”, “I’m tired”, “I’m taking a break on this” and “I’ll get back on track tomorrow”.   In the blink of an eye we’ve compromised our goals and our financial breakthrough!

If you've grown weary in your quest to meet your financial goals I'm hear to encourage you to press on.  It's not over - just halftime.  There's another half to this year and let's regroup!!  Here's three tips to help you to maintain your strength as you regain your momentum in meeting those financial goals that you set at the beginning of the year.

1.  Define what weary means to you when you set the goal so that you will recognize the symptoms.

but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.  
                                                                                                      1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV

You will be tempted to quit and turn back while on your improvement journey.  The temptations will come but they won't be anything that you cannot handle and overcome.  Know your weak points in this area and identify these sabotaging conditions and detail what you will do to overcome them.  Will you be tempted to stop taking your lunch to work based on the untruth that the little bit that you’re saving isn’t making a difference?  Will you seriously consider that you can again spend money earmarked for paying a bill and buy those unbudgeted Girl Scout cookies?  These are financial sabotage temptations that you can escape.  Detail what you will do in these situations and in advance declare the victory on paper.  Write it down so that you can reflect on these action steps as often as needed!



2.  Make note of the “Little Victories” along the way.  They are reminders that your actions are making a difference and getting you closer to your goal!

The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, And a good report make the bones healthy.
Proverbs 15:30 NKJV
  

Did you manage your spending for 7 days straight?  Write it down and celebrate it!

Did you save money this week by cutting your grocery bill?  If you did write it down and say so! 

Did you pay extra on a debt?  If so, write it down!

When you hear the lie that states that what you’re doing is not making a difference,  you have real evidence to squash this flesh negotiation tactic!

I once created a monthly newsletter that had a page to focus on these “Little Victories” when leading a debt reduction session.  Seeing these items in this newsletter was the highlight of the team  meetings.  How about sharing these celebrations with your social media friends and followers?






3.  Pray that your flesh is weakened as a part of striving to reach your goals.  
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Galations 5:15 KJV

Your flesh is weakened as your Spirit is strengthened.  If the flesh has little or no power to persuade you to quit, the battle is over before it begins!  If you brush your teeth each morning even though you are sleepy and groggy, your flesh has no power over you in the area of morning dental hygiene.  Pray that your spirit overpowers your flesh in those areas that are required for you to reach your financial goals.  





Ok… when it comes to those financial New Year's resolutions halftime is over.  We've gotten a bit of rest and the pep talk.  Get back into the game!  Each of us have a great chance of gaining a lot of ground in the area personal financial health!! 

Look for another checkup on this subject…











Carolyn