21st Century Academy

Become Financially Educated

In today’s post we will look at some of the ways that you can become financially educated in order to take advantage of wealth creation opportunities as they present themselves. Investing in your own education is perhaps the wisest investment of all.

In this day and age there are an abundance of  ways to further your financial literacy. Perhaps one of the best and by far the cheapest, is heading to your local library and reading some of the best financial books ever written. Often I am asked by people who have little or no money and this is the first place that I mention to them. It was the humble library where I began to get myself financially educated and what I learnt there helped get me to where I am today.

The introduction and ease of access to the Internet has made it even easier to access great financial information and websites that offer some wonderful financial tools and resources. There is a flip side to the Internet, and that is there is some dubious and unaccountable information out there that may be harmful to your financial education.

Finding a mentor who is successful in their given investing field is an excellent way in which to learn and further your education. They will advise you of potential pitfalls in the way and will most certainly try to give you the best advice they can.

Wealth Coaching is very popular these days and rightly so. Even the top sports stars in the world still have their own coach. Wealth Creation is no different and the top investors out there all have proven wealth coaches. A good wealth coach will work with you and unleash the investor within, while making you be accountable to yourself when making investment decisions.

Homestudy programs present perhaps the best and most cost effective way in which to further your financial education, as you get access to some of the most successful investors and wealth creators on the planet and can watch the DVD’s at your own leisure. I did the 21st Century Academy Homestudy a couple of years ago, and it was this one program that made all the difference to my financial education.

It doesn’t matter where you further your financial education, it is just important that you keep learning as much as you can. After you learn it is just as important that you take action and go out and practice what you have learnt.

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008

How To Invest $5000

In today’s post we will look at ways in which you could invest five thousand dollars, which for a young investor, or someone who is just starting out, can be a lot of money. It does not matter if you are investing five dollars or five million dollars, as the principles of investing remain the same.

Before we invest any money, we must adjust our mindset so that we are not treating our venture as a gamble. Too often I hear people saying that they will invest five or ten thousand dollars in to the Stock market, but if they lose that they are out. This attitude is subconsciously setting yourself up to lose every time, and is no different to someone who takes five grand to the tables in Vegas, expecting to lose.

So following sound investing principles, we can now look for an investment vehicle that interests us. Five thousand dollars can get you a great financial education, which is a must if we are to become successful. A financial education is one of the best investments that you can ever make, and in the long term will make you more money, and will create more wealth for the world.

How To Invest $5000 In The Stock Market

Assuming you already have already done this, what are some other options? You can enter the Stock Market very easily with this amount of money. It will not obviously buy you a huge portfolio, however it will get you in to the Market, and your share movements and emotions will be exactly the same for some one who has a five million dollar portfolio. The important thing is getting in to the Market and learning the trading systems, instead of waiting till you have a larger pot of money and starting from scratch.

How To Invest $5000 In The Property Market

Not too many years ago I bought my first house, and the deposit I needed was only $5000. With the First Home Owners Grant That Mr John Howard gave me, I entered the Property Market on a house worth over $150,000. Once you have one property and equity begins to grow, things can take off quite quickly from there.

How To Invest $5000 In To Internet Marketing

If I were starting out again, the Internet is the second place I would invest my money, the first place would be spent doing an Internet Homestudy Course. The Internet is being seen as the Real Estate of the future and if you learn how to conduct Internet Marketing properly, then the returns can be massive.

The important point I am trying to get accross is that there are many avenues for you to invest your money in, however what you must do is to start investing sooner rather than later. The practise of doing so now will help you overcome any fears that you may have.

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008

Is Now a Good Time To Invest?

That is a question that I am asked a lot right now from would be investors. With all the doom and gloom portrayed in the media surrounding the ‘credit crisis‘ and the housing slump, you may be forgiven for thinking the world as we know it is about to end. The US Markets may be in some difficulty, yet even there, there is massive opportunity in some areas and it is a good time to invest.

Closer to home though, in Australia, there is the opportunity to greatly add to your share or property portfolio at some fantastic prices right now. Some household names that have very sound fundamentals that are seen as very good share market investments right now. Because of the nature of the market and the volatility, there are above average premiums if you were to do a share renting strategy.

Investing in the current climate takes a lot of courage too, as there are a lot of unknowns out there. There are a lot of unknowns out there at any time though, so you must ensure that you have done your financial research properly.

The Australian Property Market may be slumping at the moment although it is not in free fall like the US housing market is. Many property experts agree, that there may still be a little way to go before prices inevitable rebound and the property cycle begins its bull run. There are some amazing properties available right now at fair value, and there are just as many that are undervalued right now as well.

Investing now could make you a lot of money in the not to distant future. It takes foresight and courage to put your money where your mouth is though. Invest in a great financial education, and then invest in proven investment vehicles. It is after all, a great time to invest.

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008

21st Century Education

The 21st Century Education network has been around since the late 1990’s, and it was created to bring practical life education to self directed learners. The group of companies really does provide an unparalleled holistic education program.

The history of the 21st Century Academy dates back to the early 1990’s when Jamie McIntyre returned to Australia after studying with the world renown Anthony Robbins. With him, Jamie brought back the absolute best in personal empowerment strategies.

Through leaders in Finance and collaboration with his mentors, Jamie was then able to combine these strategies with the latest in wealth creation education, and the 21st Century Academy was born. Some of the highlights and milestones achieved since then include the following:

• Jamie McIntyre nominated for “Young Australian of The Year”
• 21st Century Homestudy program launched
• 21st Century New Zealand and New Zealand seminars introduced
• 21st Century publishes “What I Didn’t Learn At School But Wish I had”

The 21st Century Academy has a meaningful purpose and mission, and they want to make a difference and provide people a modern day education for life and any service that supports this.

Currently, there are four major trading divisions to the network, and they are:

• 21st Century Education Memberships
• 21st Century Seminars
• 21st Century Trading Education
• 21st Century Services

Throughout the next five years the company expects to expand in to the following areas:

• Personal Development
• Professional Education
• Business Education
• Publishing/Media

So as you can see, there is a long way to go for the company before they have finished expanding. That is just a glimpse at what the company does, and in further posts, we will get into the different areas and see just how the 21st Century Academy can help you not only now, but in the future as well.

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008

Learning To Invest

In today’s post we are going to look at ways in which you can take those first steps of investing and doing so with the knowledge that you have the basics to do so. Many would be investors just jump straight in to purchasing assets, without really knowing exactly what they are doing. To do this is to gamble, and as a gambler, the odds are rarely stacked in your favour.

Invest In Yourself

You really must spend time and money and invest in yourself. Many people spend over $100,000 going to University only so they can get a job at the end of it. The same is true to become a successful investor, and it is important to get an ongoing financial education through out your life. There are a number of excellent and reputable wealth education organisations around, and one of them is Jamie McIntyre and The 21st Century Academy.

It was with The 21st Century Academy that I got the kick start that got me to where I am today. It was where I got my education in learning how to invest. Before I did the Homestudy with them, I knew that I wanted to be rich, yet I really did not have the tools and resources to carry out a plan that would enrich my life.

For some time I worked on my foundations of wealth building, much like a builder will spend the time building a strong and deep foundation for a new construction. The bigger the construction, the deeper and stronger the foundation. Wealth creation is no different, and the bigger the goals you have, the deeper your foundations must be.

When you do spend time and money on your wealth education, you may not see a return for what you perceive as quite some time. Many people will get discouraged at this time, and become frustrated that wealth hasn’t began to manifest yet. If you are doing your actions in ‘a certain way‘ then it will not be long before the money starts to flow to you.

Many people will not invest $4000 on an education that will change their life and the lives of their family members, and yet these same people will spend $12,000 on a family holiday on a credit card without a second thought.

Which sort of person are you?

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008

Renting Shares Made Easy Part 4

In our last few posts, we have looked at the great and simple Covered Call Strategy. Today we will continue the series, and look at what you would say to your Stock Broker when you go to place a trade.

Stock Broker Terminology

• Renting Shares - Covered Call
• Strike or Exercise Price - The price you are willing to sell the share
• Monthly Income - Premium
• Sell Insurance - Sell a Put

So you have selected the Shares that you own that you want to do a Covered Call on. Let’s say at the moment, your XYZ stock are trading at $23.40. You would be happy to rent them out for the rest of the month (four weeks) for a Strike Price of $25.00. You own 1000 shares, so you can do one Call Contract.

Now you can call your Stock Broker, and after quoting your account number the conversation might go something like this:

“I would like to sell one covered call on XYZ to expire at the end of this month, at a Strike Price of $25.00. What sort of premium do you think you could get me?” The Broker will refer to their computer for a moment and may come back and say, “At the moment I can get you 65c, would you like me to go ahead with the order?”. Before you rang your Broker, you would have had a fair idea of what premium you could get by checking some online data, or even a newspaper. If you are happy with the premium that is offered, you can ask them to fill the order. If you are not happy, or are a little confused, say to them that you will call them back.

Once you have decided on a premium that you are happy with, repeat the order back to your Broker, and then they will repeat the order back to you. Only then, should you confirm the Broker to fill the Trade for you.

With that out of the way, the premium for selling the Covered Call will be in your CMA Account the following day.

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008

Renting Shares Made Easy Part 3

In the last couple of posts, we have looked at the Renting Shares Strategy. Today, let’s go over just how easy it is to do, and how a trade will actually look.

Let us assume that you already own a parcel of 1000 Blue Chip Australian Shares, and that you wanted to rent them out for the month. Depending on how much premium you are aiming for, you would want to select an exercise price that is nearly ‘at the money’, or slightly ‘out of the money’. To put it simply, at the money means a strike price at or near the current Stock price, where as an out of the money Covered Call is a Strike Price that is above the current Share Price.  The closer you are to ‘the money’, the more your rent or premium will be.

Let’s say you own 1000 of XYZ Shares. Current Share price is $9.00. It’s the 3rd of November and you want to rent them out until November expiry, which is the 27th of November. You select a strike price of $10, and for this you will receive a premium of 27 cents, or 3%. Since there is a parcel of 1000 shares, you will receive a premium, or rent, of $270. That might not sound like much, however if you are doing this with $100,000

That $270 is yours to keep, regardless of what the share price does from here. If the share prices gets to the end of the month and the share price is below $10, then you simply repeat the process the next month. If the share price is above $10, then you will have to sell your Stock at that price. So now on top of the $270, you now have an extra profit of $1000, or $1270 in total. If you had ten Covered Call contracts, then you would have a total profit of $12,700. Not bad for a two minute phone call to your Stockbroker.

Stock prices can always go down, however since we have already rented the shares out, we now have what is called downside protection. The stock will have to fall below $8.73 before you are in negative territory. That loss is on paper only though, and not realised.

That’s all for today. Next time we will look at what you would say to your Stockbroker when you want to rent shares out for the month.

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008

Renting Shares Made Easy Part 2

Today we will continue looking at the renting shares strategy that is becoming very popular lately. As mentioned in my last post, Share Renting is known in Stockbroker talk as Writing a Covered Call. Many people suggest that the financial institutions purposely keep their terminology difficult, to keep the average small investor away from the market.

That may be the case, however we won’t get in to that argument, rather, we will learn what has to be learnt in order to effectively carry out trades. Trading can be done through a 21st Century Academy accredited Stockbroker, or you can of course choose your own Broker, provided that they are Options Trading accredited.

What makes Renting Shares so easy, is that there are only a dozen or so Stocks that the strategy works well on. These Stocks are well known Companies, that are common house hold names in Australia. If you were to Rent Shares on the US Market, then there is a larger range that you could successfully rent out.

That brings me to another point, and that is do you stick with the local Australian Stock Market, or do you branch out and trade the more lucrative US Market? The Australian Market is seen as a good entry point for many local Traders, as they are familiar with the company’s, and their business models. Your local Stockbroker, will also have a much better understanding of the Share as well, when assisting you in your trading.

The US Stock Market, does offer a lot more choice, and the market is a lot more liquid, so there is massive opportunities in getting in and out of a trade. It is also more affordable to trade the US Market, as contracts of shares are in lots of one hundred, and not one thousand that is most common in the Australian Market. Another big difference is the range between strike prices. In most US Options, there are price increments of $2.50. What this means to the Share Renter, is that there are bigger returns when renting your shares out.

That’s all for today’s post. Next time we will continue looking at Renting Shares.

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008

Jamie McIntyre And ASIC

Quite often I am asked by prospective clients about Jamie McIntyre and his past dealing with ASIC. I would like to discuss here what the dealings were, and what has happened since then.

Jamie McIntyre, along with the 21st Century Academy started discussions with ASIC in early 2001and I will quote verbatim from the ASIC public records.

“On 3 March 2005, ASIC commenced proceedings against Mr McIntrye and 21st Century Academy alleging that during 2004 and 2005, they had carried on a financial services business by giving advice, or making recommendations, with respect to derivatives and securities, while not holding an Australian Financial Services licence. ASIC alleges that the advice and recommendations were provided to members of the public at seminars and in publications distributed or promoted by 21st Century Academy.”

So what was happening, was that Jamie was actually giving his speach about the Renting Shares Strategy, and it was written about in his book, ‘What I Didn’t Learn At School But Wish I Had’ too. At the time, The 21st Century Academy had to stop running seminars for several months, and also from ditributing the books as well.

In August 2007 Asic and Jamie McIntyre agreed to settle the long running case started in 2001 by the ASIC. As ASIC had failed for some 5 years to have this matter brought back before the courts and thus it was ordered to mediation to settle the matter. In mediation it was agreed both parties would cease the matter and each party pay their own legal costs.

This means not a single allegation raised against Jamie McIntyre has been proven by the ASIC. The original orders granted to ASIC in 2002 were also completely removed ASIC agreed to add editors notes to all prevoius media releases re Jamie Mcintyre to highlight for public viewing that the matter has been settled out of court with no findings.

ASIC was also ordered to pay all legal costs for Ms Rajnoch in an associated matter and the Judge dismissed ASICs case against her as published on ASICs July 2007 media release. Mr McIntyre said he was thankful he has been vindicated after a 6 year battle with the ASIC which he considered unfair unjust and defamatory and he said he looked forward to a more civil ongoing constructive relationship with the ASIC.

Jamie also agreed to enrol into the Institute of Company Directors course and has completed his Ps146 in provision of general advice and deriviatives and offered to become licensed in the near future despite not be legally required as an educator.

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008

Renting Shares Made Easy Part 1

For the last few decades, the rich and wealthy persons and establishments of the world have been trading derivatives, and in particular, trading options. A derivative, is a financial instrument that derives it’s price from the underlying share.

Option Trading came into popularity in the 1970’s, and to the educated investor, it has become a lucrative way to produce a regular and high income against their Share Portfolio. There is one particular strategy, that is simple to use, although up until recently, has been out of reach of the average person. This strategy is called Writing a Covered Call Option, or more simply, Renting Shares.

Share Renting gives an investor, the ability to hold a portfolio of Blue Chip Shares and rent them out on a monthly basis and receive rent or what is more commonly known as a premium. This premium is received by the Share Holder the next day, and is theirs to keep regardless of what the underlying share price does.

This is purely an income producing strategy, and results are usually around 3% for every month that you can rent the shares out. There will be certain months of the year when you would not rent your shares out, however, you could normally do it on average ten months of the year. This is due to among other things, the underlying share going ex-dividend.

So, 3% per month for say ten months would give you a return of 30%, although we’ll be conservative here and say 25% return on investment for the year. Bank interest at the moment is unusually high at around 7.5% pa, so this is a much better return. On a portfolio of $100,000 we are looking at an income of $25000 per year. Not bad for one phone call per month to your Stockbroker.

In the next post, we’ll go into further detail of this very powerful income producing strategy that is Renting Shares.

Written by Clint Maher - 21st Century Academy
Complete Wealth Education P/L © 2008