11 Secrets to Steal from Mark Ford

Jul 20, 2016

In this issue:
» How Indian banks score on the technology front
» Recovery in the Indian job market
» Market roundup
» ...and more!
0:00
Radhika Pandit, Managing Editor of ValuePro

Dear Readers...

Today guest editor Ritika Bajaj from Common Sense Living shares some of Mark Ford's secrets on building wealth.

Mark Ford is an entrepreneur, author and guide to many across the world. Through Common Sense Living, Mark and the team talk about different ideas that can enhance your life and make it richer and fuller.

Ritika in this article highlights how age-old wealth-building principles continue to stay relevant even today.

Over to Ritika...

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Ritika Bajaj This week we are gifting you Mark Ford's 11 Secrets to Building Wealth completely free. Now, Mark has created many theories on how wealth can be earned, saved and invested wisely. And most of these are unique to him...drawn from his own life experiences.

For those of you who don't know Mark, he has a knack of converting words into ideas, and money into wealth. Yes, real wealth that will last you a long time...not quick money that you will squander away online, or on expensive meals in fancy restaurants, or by buying shiny new cars that depreciate as soon as you take them out of the showroom.

Mark shows you how to grow money that gives you value, and helps you do what you really want to do in life...follow your dreams and fulfil your goals.

We, at Common Sense Living have been reading Mark's work for the last two years... We've had access to some of his best ideas and research. We are spreading his word because we believe he's successfully turned around his life and is selflessly helping others do the same...

Just like he does in the 11 Secrets that we will send you for free if you click here.

I personally endorse Mark's thinking because it's so similar to what we in India already believe... In fact, our fathers and grandfathers used to teach us the same investing tenets and saving strategies... I guess some age-old philosophies never change.

But what Mark does well is that he puts them in context; he makes them relevant and easy-to-use; and he provides great illustrations to explain his point... They are definitely valuable secrets to learn and remember for your own wealth-building journey, so don't fail to access them.

And to show you just how great they are, I'm going to give you a sneak peek into some of Mark's wealth-building ideas:

'You can always earn extra money.'

How many of us truly believe this? How many of us work toward it? But it can be achieved right...we can start parallel income-earning streams, we can earn through passive means and active means... There's so much time in the day, beyond the time we give our jobs...sometimes all it takes is one hour of focus on your personal finance or a small home business, and you just may generate more than your current pay check.

'Your future wealth is determined by how much you save and invest, not by how much you spend.'

It's so tempting to spend away all our earnings on fancy gizmos and the latest sale on Amazon. But what if we hold back a bit, what if we think twice before adding our credit card pin code to those many impulsive purchase decisions? What if we actually started saving for larger goals, like for the time when we want to start our own business, or invest in a new property? When you approach spending, saving and investing with a keen eye on your wealth-building goals, frivolous spending will be a thing of the past.

'These are the main components of diversification: stocks, bonds, gold, real estate, and cash. For most investors, that should be enough to stay safe.'

In India too these five instruments have seldom failed investors. Stocks and bonds have yielded great returns for investors, as have real estate and gold. At times of economic uncertainty, we've seen how gold has always soared - like it has now - never failing to deliver. And when they say cash is king, we know why, because when all markets are down, the only thing that serves you well is cash! Moreover, as Mark says, the extra cash you have can be used to avail of any investment opportunities that come up...

'Protect against market fluctuations by diversification... Spread your bets out, so that if one part of your investment portfolio goes down, other parts may protect you.'

Don't put all eggs in one basket is a cliche that every stock investor will tell you. But Mark Ford gives you the exact reason for it - when some stocks will go down, others will stay buoyant and even take your portfolio up... Investors betting on startups use the same fundamental...if they invest in multiple startups, they believe that at least 20-30% will do well and cover up for the losses in the other companies. Hence, it's a phenomenon that holds true across investment categories.

'Don't buy anything with a credit card... If you don't have enough money in your bank account to use your debit card for a purchase, don't buy it.'

True again... When out of money, accept it and don't overstretch yourself... Unless it's an absolute necessity, nothing you need is a purchase that can't wait. You probably already have enough clothes in your wardrobe, and you're just adding one more colour, or one more style or one more something, because your friend bought it the other day. Refrain and restrain from excessive spending, especially on the credit card... More debt only means you need to work harder to pay it off.

'The easiest way to earn more money is to get a raise. And the easiest way to get a raise is to become the boss's No.1 guy.'

Don't wait till next March to get a raise. The fastest way to earn more at your job is to work harder, and prove to your company that they can depend on you to grow the organisation... This could happen in many ways, from simply doing your job much better, to increasing sales, to motivating your team and focussing on the well-being of the organisation... When you help others, become a leader, and build work ethics by example, you increase the productivity in your company, making it more profitable and thereby making you a more valuable employee.

These were just a few of Mark's secrets, to read the full list of 11, click here.

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02:31 Chart of the day

The rapid emergence of digital technologies has transformed the way we bank. From the traditional model that required visiting the brick-and-mortar branches to transact through cheque books and pass books, consumers today have a host of banking options such as ATMs, Internet and Mobile banking applications that are faster and convenient to use. While private banks such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and HDFC Bank have been at the forefront in embracing technological innovations, large public sector banks like SBI have been catching up of late.

However, Indian banks are still not at par with their global counterparts as far as adoption of mobility and cloud technologies is considered. As per a study conducted by research firm Forrester in 2016, none of the large Indian banks managed to score above the average Global Mobile Banking Benchmark of 65 out of 100. ICICI Bank was the highest rated Indian bank with a score of 63 out of 100, while SBI stood at the lowest rung with a score of mere 35 points. And they continue to lag far behind international banks such as Westpac in Australia, Bank of America and Wells Fargo in the US, Scotiabank in Canada, to name a few.

Indian banks have no option but to continuously upgrade to new digital technologies particularly in the wake of growing competition from new age digital wallets that promise a better digital customer experience.

Indian Banks lag on the technology front


03:44

There seems to be some good news as far as the Indian job market is concerned. On hopes that the Indian economy is recovering, the market is gearing up for a rise. According to an article in Businessinsider, big companies like Korn Ferry, EMA Partners, Hunt Partners, Michael Page, TeamLease Services and Transearch are already registering 18% improvements in available jobs over last year.

The two major drivers are expected to be pick up in domestic consumption and the government's major infrastructure push. Thus, industries and companies aligned to these trends are most likely to hire more.

The government's 'Make in India' initiative is also expected to make a difference to India's job market.

But is all of this sustainable?

Just recently, we talked about how India needs to create sufficient jobs on a sustainable basis. We pointed out how job creation in India's eight most labour intensive industries has actually come down in the last six to seven years.

Part of the jobs slowdown can be attributed to inflexible labour laws and the rise of automation. And the other is that growth in skilled jobs is simply not fast enough to accommodate India's growing population. Which means that here needs to be jobs for unskilled people too.

Thus, while a revival in the Indian economy will help in job growth, the government will have to bring about more structural changes in the job market so growing unemployment among the young people will not become a huge problem.

04:45

Indian stock markets after opening weak have firmed up on the back of sustained buying activity across index heavyweights. The BSE Sensex was trading higher by 80 points (0.3%) at the time of writing. Gains were largely seen in oil & gas, and realty stocks. The BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap also notched gains of 0.7% each at the time of writing.

04:56 Today's investing mantra

"If you aren't willing to own a stock for ten years, don't even think about owning it for ten minutes." - Warren Buffett

This edition of The 5 Minute WrapUp is authored by Radhika Pandit (Research Analyst) and Madhu Gupta (Research Analyst).

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1 Responses to "11 Secrets to Steal from Mark Ford"

Kirandeep Atwal

Jul 21, 2016

Well, most of the people who have created huge wealth have concentrated their wealth in single sector. Give me the name of one billionaire who have created wealth by diversification.

Most of the people who have created enormous amount of wealth in India will not be able to read your post because they do not know english. But, do not underestimate them. They know a lot more about investing and business than you guys.

In fact lot of people go to USA to work in corporate sector and learn business. In fact, I would recommend these people to work as apprentice to some business tycoon in India. You will learn a lot more about business.

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