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I have been investing in real estate, the stock market, the bond market and private note markets for over a quarter of a century. I've been through economic ups and downs. I've been through favorable and unfavorable government involvement in the markets. I've seen other investors enter the world of investing survive and thrive as well as crash and burn. I've made my share of mistakes and tried to learn from every single one of them as well as the successes.

Investors who quickly crash and burn seem to share some common traits in the mistakes they make.

It is not unusual to receive testimonials in emails from customers who've purchased eBooks I publish or training I've conducted. In a typical day, I get ten or more; some days, much more. I read every one of them and often respond. I also forward them to the author or authors of the eBook being praised.

This morning, I received one from Barry Walker in Los Angeles, CA.

I know you think you're a great landlord. And I am sure your spouse or significant other thinks you are a great landlord. Your banker may think you're great landlord because you pay your bills on time and your repair people may think you're wonderful landlord to do business with because you pay promptly and you don't make unreasonable requests of them.

But what do your tenants think about you?

Your tenants are your customers; they are your clients; they are everything that makes your landlord business an actual operating business.

Many successful investors use the following quick formula to quickly gauge the strength of a deal.

Estimate or verify the current monthly market rent for a house, duplex, triplex, quad or other investment property. Then take 50% of that number. Then deduct your desired cash flow and the number you are left with is the maximum monthly payment for principal and interest you have to work with. From that you can work backwards to your maximum loan amount and consequently your maximum purchase amount.

I have been a consultant for most of my professional career. Even when I was a W-2 employee I was mostly in consulting roles. I built and ran a consulting business for many years. Historically, my "career" as a consultant has been in the software arena solving difficult real world business problems.
In addition to that I have been an active investor for more than 25 years.
If you have read my articles here, you will note I have encouraged people to keep or get a regular job while building their investing portfolio.

Ever since Ann died in 2007 I have been asking myself this question. Every time I talk myself into something I find myself regretting it a few weeks or months later.
These are the things I enjoy from a professional career perspective:

Whenever I talk with someone about them finding and using private money they have a pretty predictable set of questions.

• Where do I find the investors?
• How do I get them interested?
• What paperwork do I need?
• How do I stay clear of regulatory problems?

By and large, most of their questions fall easily into those categories.
Do you notice anything common about them? Do you notice anything in those questions that might be hindering their ability to actually raise private money?

"What Do You See Yourself Doing In Five Years?"

Almost anyone who has ever interviewed for a job has been asked this question. It is one of those questions interviewers are trained to ask because it is supposed to give some insight into your motivation and career ambitions.

The problem is, interviewees know this question is going to be asked so they tailor their answer to fit the situation. As a result, it doesn't give all that much insight into the interviewee and interviewers know this so, they don't really pay attention to the answer.

This morning, 09/09/09 on Fox and Friends on Fox News Channel, Robert Gibbs said, "... those fortunate enough to have health insurance..."

Yes, now in the wonderful age of Obama being responsible all comes down to... L U C K.

No matter how much you prepare, sacrifice and adjust priorities it is just a matter of luck as to whether you have health insurance or not.

You might have thought you were being responsible by driving your used car a few more years. You might have thought you were being responsible by cutting back on cable television.

In 1993, the last democrat administration put together a plan to seize 15% of all tax deferred retirement plans. At that time, the combined value of the plans were over $7 Trillion.
The reason given at the time? To shore up Social Security.