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Seven Elements of Your Life - Balance Brings True Wealth
Although we, at Neff Investment Advisors, are focused on demonstrating how to improve your investing skills. We want you to understand that we know that there is more to life than finance. Balance in your life should become your ongoing endeavor. If you choose, maybe we can become your mentor on investing. However, you should find other qualified mentors for coaching on the other major elements of your life.

We believe there are seven major life elements that people will focus on sometime during their life-span. Where is your focus today? Where do you spend your time? Where should your focus be? What is really important to you? Do you have mentors for each major element of your life? Can they help you discover a dream or two?

1. Health - including both your physical and mental health
2. Relationships - such as family, friends, spouse, and mentors
3. Work - your job, vocation or career (should be both fullfilling and/or provide sufficient earnings)
4. Financial - matters that allow you to manage your money towards what is most important to you and/or grow your personal net worth
5. Spiritual - aspects of your life to support your personal faith needs
6. Community - supporting a better life for others who are less fortunate
7. Fun - insure balance and enjoy the pleasures of life

We challenge you...can you add another element to this list? Write to us!

We believe that a natural part of life's challenges are about making successful transitions from one of these major life elements to another. With these transitions developing, life will be less complicated and more enjoyable if you recognize the coming change. You can plan for them, rather than crashing into them. You will find that you will be changing your focus, from one of these major life elements to another based on what has now become more important to you in your life.

If you want to create direction on a major life element, Writing Successful Goals, is one way to bring focus.

What Can You Achieve Financially?
It is estimated that about 5% of the households in America have a net worth of over $1 million. In our discussions with young people, few consider the possibility that they could be a millionaire. We believe that most of those who use this website, that can write and follow their personal goals, can become millionaires. They will also have potentially better balance across their lives. If you start saving at a young age, the "time value of money" can help make you a millionaire!

To be financially successful, your "Financial Value System" probably needs to include most of these guidelines:

1. Pay yourself first, before you spend one other dollar from your paycheck. This builds your personal self esteem and creates the savings for investing. A tax deferred account is one of the most effective and efficient way for most to build their net worth. Contribute from each paycheck.
2. Begin saving at a young age and be a disciplined regular saver. The equation for building assets is: (Time x Savings Rate x % Returns). When you are young...Time is the major leverage in this equation. If you save enough early, the "time value of money" does most of the work.
3. Depend on yourself and build your confidence to invest successfully. No one else really cares as much as you. Practice investing first.
4. Keep it simple. One check book to keep track of your cash flow, one credit card for convenience and more importantly to establish a high credit rating. You should have a tax deferred account for your retirement years, and a flexible investing account to save and then pay cash for major items such as a car, house down payment, and emergencies.
5. Use debt properly. Going into debt for depreciating items must be minimized. Debt should be used for appreciating assets that cash flow, paying for themselves, and acrue tax benefits to you.
6. Never risk an amount of money that, if lost, would change your current quality of life.
7. Beware of the two key factors that often create life long poverty. These are having kids as a teenager and having an incomplete education.
8. Being curious helps continual learning. Use your mind to identify and evaluate prudent investment ideas often. Keep your mind in the game.
9. Find those few trusted mentors to guide you based on their wisdom and experience in key elements of your life.
10. Always spend some time or money rewarding yourself when you achieve a significant personal goal. Include those that helped you!

At the end of the day, parents can help provide you with three critical basics in your life; a good value system, a good education foundation, and a personal coaching support system. From there, at about age 20, you become independent and are likely to be on your own. It will be solely up to you what you achieve. You should be fully responsible for all aspects of your life.

Different Types of Investors - Which Are You?
There are basically three kinds of investors. The first type is the more aggressive investor who is willing to take more risk because they are very motivated to grow their asset base. The second investor type is more conservative, more patient, and is a good risk/reward manager. They are trying to grow their assets, but clearly prefer to also preserve their current asset base. The third type of investor is the one who is confused between the first and second type of investor.

Let's talk about this third investor type. These people are simply in a transition learning how to appropriately grow money and also preserve their current assets. If needed, one can handle this confusion simply by a disciplined asset allocation between the two basic approaches. Remember that the successful investor learns from experience, taking their major risks with only a small portion of their assets. The wise investor owns investment quality instruments, especially early on, when their investing knowledge is on thin ice. As you move through your transition, both in age and mind set, you will likely adjust your asset allocation towards the grow/preserve approach.

More Thoughts...For Those Overly Motivated Investors
Some risk prone investor types are continually looking for quick fix opportunities to improve their overall lifestyle. The problem is that they are often emotional rather than rational homework doers. Here is our direct advice for you risk junkies. First, these get rich quick opportunities are far and few between. But we do agree that occasionally a prudent, carefully researched, calculated risk could materially alter your lifestyle.

Think of lifestyle changes as a stair step. How can you move up a step for the benefit of you and your family? Think about this...calculate the total "at risk money" that could all be lost, but would not negatively impact your current lifestyle. Always limit your "at risk money" to this calculated amount. Never risk an amount that will cause your family to move down a lifestyle stair step. Know that amount! We will hope that you get the facts and do your homework! Two great websites to use to do your homework are CNBC and Yahoo Finance.

The smarter investor and consistently successful investor is more interested in putting their money to work using investment quality instruments. The word investment is casually used in our society, so listen carefully. We define investment quality strictly by the rating given to the investment instrument by Moodys or Standard & Poors. Never buy any equity or bond without knowing an investment's financial strength rating!

When is a loss a loss, or not a complete loss? The risk prone investor should use their When Is A Loss A Loss, Or Not A Complete Loss? for higher risk investing. Everyone should be very conservative in their tax deferred accounts.

Tax Deferred - Effective and Efficient
Understand this. You will have to save more than twice as much money over your working lifetime in a regular taxed account versus these wonderful tax deferred accounts! Do a spreadsheet on your computer comparing a taxed account versus an untaxed (tax deferred) account. Some of you can add in tax savings credits for the pre-tax dollars you put into a tax deferred account. Also, some of you can add the matched contributions from your employer in the tax deferred account. Assume a conservative annual 7% to 8% return in both accounts. Over a 40 year period you will see a huge difference in your growing retirement asset base. We are talking more than double when comparing the two approaches. Actually, we are certain you will feel very foolish someday if you don't take advantage of these special tax deferred accounts created by the Government of the United States of America. These special accounts are so good, you may want to consider using several types of tax deferred accounts to Optimize Your Retirement Choices and estate plans.

Do your 40 year spreadsheet comparison now! You will see why we say that tax deferred accounts are the most effective and efficient way to save towards retirement. But most importantly, you will see that you can have a secure or even independent financial future! You can do more financially than you ever thought! Just start young and make regular disciplined tax deferred contributions. You will find that you can become a millionaire. Prove it to yourself by setting up your personal millionaire spreadsheet. Also, set up Practice Accounts.

For Those Addicted to Information Overload
For those of you who insist on wanting information overload go to Yahoo Finance Website Map. It has lots of information, certainly enough to keep you informed with the details. Be careful not to get lost or confused by these details.

Click here to learn more Investor Knowledge, we recommend two great books for you to read.