Naturally my mind goes to the defense of what their motives are and what benefit or downfall can they be to others. It is only my perception of truth to integrity that I write this article.

One thing that really pains me is when others in their quest for success will squash out the trust and efforts of another, just so they can gain financial dominance over another.

It is not always this way but most often times it is something to consider when you deal with scam artists like Bernie  Madeoff and others like him. I am not sorry for being blunt and right to the point, because when anyone is doing business with a lot of hard money at stake, someone needs to be bold and to tell truth like it is when it comes to integrity.

I have a friend that I just met and I feel that she has good intentions in fulfilling other people’s dreams, and yet benefiting by the works of what she does to have a heart filled with love to fulfill their dreams.

It is through her dreams that she may believe will come back to her as a means that she has done the due deligence to filfil their dreams so she could have her dreams fulfilled. Isn’t that what most of us that are successful believe in? You help others fulfil their dreams and then we can have what we want fulfilled? It is the” law of the harvest” and it is the “financial law of the universe” by putting other people’s needs first.

Yes, it does work that way but there is also conditions to it that is based on what laws of attraction there are in the universe called, bar codes. The power to attract or repel love, prosperity, and happiness that is based on the ability for us to live within the confines of the laws of attraction that comes form the universe.

What it takes to be in alignment with the laws of attraction of prosperity is doing our do deligence by asking all of the right questions so that we can get down to the nitty gritty of truth, of which prosperity gives credence to.

Part 2 continues here by asking the important questions so truth can come to the surface and we can have enough facts to base a decision.

Article written by Terrance W. Norton

I wrote an article recently on China’s need to buy up American assets and the request from China’s to have a one world currency. I received an email from one of my readers and I feel the need to address this to other readers as well.

It is unfortunate that there are some people that are in the financial industry that have not a clue of what is going on in the global economy. I posted videos that shows how things are becoming on a global stage.

We have to be informed by what is going on in the world around us so we can be prepared to face the economic challenges ahead. What we do in America affects the whole world’s economy. The world has become a much smaller world this past few years.

It is hard to imagine anyone would want to sell out America. It is the ambitions of liberals and secular progressives to undermine the will of the people. It is this devaluing of our principles and values that is part of the process of selling out America.

We received our inheritance from our Founding Fathers as a nation that will pursue prosperity and happiness, not stacked on debt for us to pass onto our children. We have not passed off to be a socialistic government with fewer liberties.

The agenda of the liberals is to have a “one world order” under one currency and one  government of which will be socialism. It seems as if the secular progressives and the liberals is what we went into Iraq to free the people from tyranny. Could it be said that we have a Bathe party that is rising up right here in our own country?

The Bathe party had its purpose, and that purpose was to subject the will of the people to the government. It was to take the will of the people away through poverty and government control and was given to Sadam and Sadam loyalists.

The Organizing of America campaign is what I am tying in with the ways of the Bathe Party that was in Iraq. The removal of the American flag on Pressident Obama’s airplane is a blatant reminder that our government is under seige by a movement as the Organizing of America campaign.

That may seem to be a little far fetched, but think about it, it is extremism looking to find a home in the future of our government and its people.

There are however, common ordinary people who have hope for the  future of America. We must not loose hope and we must band together to keep our constitution from being high-jacked by liberals and secular progressives.

http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

“United we stand, divided we fall”.

Article written by Terrance W. Norton

The Tuesday’s press conference (March 24,2009) seemed to be a joke. President Obama called on selected few to ask questions. He did not call on any of the financial news agencies, which I found it to be peculiar that he avoided the hard questions about the economy.

Major Garrett asked a good question to President Obama because he was in the loop with current information about China’s request to do away with the American dollar. This would mean that according to the design of not only China but other European nations as well, to devalue the dollar to the point that we would lose our financial place in the global economy.

As it is China is asking other nations to redirect their investments by using the Euro currency (the second video link gives more information on this reality).It is apparent that we have already lost our financial position in the world marketplace. Some of it is our own doing because of our reckless economics by printing more money like it is coming out of thin air. It is being treated like it is Monopoly play money. Nobody is going straight to jail and will not collect $200 to get out of jail.

Seeing that China is, if you will, our banker (lender). It is my opinion that China wants to be the financial super power of the world. They want to take the place of America. China along with other countries is buying  up American holdings and paying pennies on the dollar.

This too sends out a message that we have become weak and makes it harder to compete in the world market. The dollar has become weak and worthless to world investors.

This is something for us to consider when we allow the White House Administration to print up more stimulus money. Not only does it devalue the dollar, but it also takes us further away from competing in the global economy.

We do not want to wake up one day with scratching our heads and we will wonder why it takes so much money to buy a loaf of bread. We do not want to experience the chaos that will come with  the switching over to another  currency, which will cause havoc  in the financial sector.

We are experiencing  the consequences by breaking one of the most important financial laws of the universe. That law is…. ” Do not spend tomorrows money today” Credit is for the prudent and not for reckless.

Many Americans are now seeing how important this principle is because of the consequences. We have not been financially responsible and we have to learn the real value of money.

These video links are must see videos. It is because we need to know what governments are doing around the world to resolve the global economic crisis.

Could it be that we can not fix a problem unless we know what the problem is to fix? Bernie Madeoff made this known to the world that we cannot trust people much because of the lack of integrity. Integrity is one thing but to keep oneself in check by being responsible for one’s actions is another thing.

It is my opinion that money will slip through the hands of irresponsible people. As Suse Orman says, “It will go and play with somebody else who will respect it.” Being respectful of what value money has for us is part of having integrity and prosperity. There really is not the problem with “old money” because old money has been invested and are receiving dividends because of sound financial decision making.

Have you ever noticed that people that thrive for money never seem to find it? Money and real prosperity is a gift from God. It is a gift that is like love. When you look for love, love eludes you. Money is the same way with the ” I want to be’s”. I want to be rich.

There is not anything wrong with wanting to be blessed by God because you adhere to gospel principles in business and in your personal life. What is wrong is the maturity that is lacking for anyone to have long lasting prosperity. In other words part of the maturity is being grateful for what we have. It is also prudent to use those gifts of money to bless the lives of others. Using our gifts and talents and not burying them under a bushell, so to speak.

Have you noticed that rich and powerful people are very humble? They are humble because they have learned the value of money for one and for another they have learned that money is a gift from God and they are to use money for righteous purposes.

Let us hope that the economy will turn around and we will be able to be humble and grateful for what we have today. May we use our gifts and talents to bless the lives of others so that we can be rewarded for doing right.

Sincerely,

Terrance W. Norton

This is part 2 of the series Investing How Much Of A Risk Is It?
I feel it is important to give more information to opportunity seekers. Seekers whom have found investing to be challenging and risky.

There is a safe way of investing, providing you ask pertinent questions. Inspired investors whether seasoned or not, needs to consider these questions. It will keep you from loosing hard earned money.

In the past I worked to put people together for different investment deals.  I  was asked by a friend if I knew investors that would be interested in investing into a company that is outside of the United States.

The prospective company I have checked out has many share holders. The company has a few different projects that are going on at the same time. I will let you be the judge by what facts  are given to you so your intuition can be your guide. It is important to note that there are not any finger pointing to anyone for being right or wrong. It is what it is by what facts and knowledge has been presented to you if you were to be a  prospect.

You should closely examine the facts that are given to you. If it resonates well within you, and it feels right after you have scrutinized the company, then you are ready to move forward in the next level of the interviewing process.

One thing to be conscientious of is, if there are multiple projects that are ongoing then that should be a red flag to you. Capital is needed to fund these projects and it is most likely going to come from you as an investor.  This could be risky because not all projects fall under the same risk factor. For instance, travel or resort investing has a different risk factor that what risk would be for a restaurant.

What could be going on in the background is that the company is using your money to put into different projects. When you do not know where your money is going it could very well be that  there could be a shell game being played on you to cover up the risk factors.

*** I have blanked out the name of the company and some of the particulars that would identify the company. It is indicated as…….

The quotations indicate the email conversation between myself and a colleague.

It was indicated in the company’s Executive Summary that there are only 3 spots open to invest in this resort, a good  question to ask is why do they need more investors?

• When there are multiple projects and many share holders the ROI ( Return on Investment) will not be as much because of how many investors are involved.
• In the Executive Summary it does not state the risk factor or how it compares to the global economy. The travel industry is high risk and it should be high dividends based on the risk factor of the global economy. The travel industry is suffering because of the economy and many wealthy people are re-evaluating their standard of living.
• Many Angel Investors or Incubator Investors are going elsewhere to invest. They do not fall for the volatile stock market nor are they going for high risk investments in foreign lands.  For example, a lot of investors are going to Income Builders Global because they can see, up close and personal, the projects that are worthy of investing in. www.ibiglobal.com
• There is a bonus that I can see with the Executive Summary Report, it is that there is no capital gains tax or inheritance tax when the property is sold. The property tax of transfered deeds is only 5%.to boot on an annual tax schedule. (nice)
• When reading the Executive Summary it does not indicate roll out plans to seperate one project from another, nor does it state how one project will pay for another by what yield is specified for each project. One project will be more of a risk factor than another and so it needs to be specified by phases or by the seperation of each project as being atonomous from one to the other.
• Another concern is that there is not an exit strategy for the security of the investor. So if things were to go sour all of the share holders and investors go down with the ship and loose everything. An exit strategy is criticial for securing investments.
• It appears that everything runs together as a smoke screen or hype so that the various risk factors are not identified by what project to another. In other words each project has a different risk factor. (This is the shell game I mentioned earlier)  I am sorry but that is a biggie and I would not invest in this based on what blurr I see, if I was an investor.

Are all of the entities L.L.C.”s?  If one fails the investor cannot retrieve their money. They cannot sue to get their money from other holdings of the conglomerants in order to save their losses. The investment offer started off as investing into one particular LLC and it ended up funding other LLC ‘s  now the risk factor just went up from what was acknowledged as the original risk for the investment.

It is not good to mix different risk factors with different ventures. It looks like a smoke screen for investors to cover the mistakes of bad investments by using OPM. (Other People’s Money)

• I see a moving of money to super charge their interests without the interests of investors.  The investors may or may not have a say so where their money goes. (another thing not good) Investors have no control over their money when it comes to jumping from one LLC to another.
• Who is to say that their competition won’t trump them  by ex-ing out their competion by gaining the favor of the people? What safe guards are there? And what safe guards are there for a local business or the citizens suing the company and the investors ? International laws do not always apply compliment  American law, so what safe guards are in place to compensate for international laws and to protect investors?
• Bonus It is smart marketing to have the locals advertise for them with the street teams. Local people are clickish and they have a lot of influence on locals and tourists, especially cab drivers, conceigers, hotel staff, and locals.
• Because of the buzz about South American crime it is not mentioned that …. this country is a safe place to tour or to invest in.
• With the conversion of the American dollar to the currency of  this country, it is about how much we can get for the bang of our buck and not geared about how the people of …… would benefit with another American company coming into their homeland just so they could make money of from what is beautiful to them can be mis-conscrued as being another American company coming in to infultrate them and not giving back to the people that are poor.

The stock market is volatile and unpredictable. It is not how it used to be for investing. Many investors go to places like Income Builders International, which is now I.B.I. Global.  http://www.ibiglobal.com/ for pursuing investment opportunities. Income Builders Global is a forum for  entrepreneurs. It is not just for inspiring entrepreneurs to get more bang for the buck besides their MBA’s, it is also designed for “Angel Investors” to seek new businesses in a learning environment.  The courses are taught by qualified instructors (Bernard Dorman C.E.O. and other qualified hand picked instructors that are suitable to keep the integrity of I.B.I. Global ).

Just as a side note, (Angel Investors and  some are called “incubator investors” is what  keeps the American and Global economy from going stagnent. Incubator Investors go into the incubator to  do deals and then get out while another one replaces them).

The reason why Angel Investors are attracted to this forum is because they can have up close relationships with CEO’s/Founders of new businesses.

It is a smart way to invest and yet it is not the only way to invest. When it comes to investing into a venture, it is important to ask these particular questions and  it will tell you if it is or is not right for you.

Many non- seasoned business owners have certain hype-driven passion, because they are new to the game. They are living out their dream and so they may or may not have experience in running a business, let alone the set up of a proper infrastructure.

I was an area manager for I.B.I. Global and I went through the week long course to learn about business. I saw many projects that were good and some projects that were not because I was able to see the hype factor.

I was proposed a corporate executive position as the President of Marketing and Instruction of a start up company that proved to be unethical. It was unethical because the C.E.O. was taking investors money and not paying them the dividens on their investment. Some investors did not loose much because they made small a investment.  I was bringing in Angel Investors at a minumim of $50,000.00. The investors I brought in were qualified because they were smart about investing.

I learned by dealing with investors that there are certain criteria that investors go by before considering investing. Unfortunately I learned the hard way by not asking the pertinent questions before the S.E.C.  stepped in with a “Cease and Assist” order.

Since that time of being embarrassed I am reluctant to tell any investor  about a business needing funding. I have learned that these are the questions to ask when anyone is considering putting hard earned money to risk.

• What does the business portfolio look like with their past ventures?
• How long have they been in business?
• Is their business a C-Corp, S-Corp, LLC, or Sole Proprietorship?
• Who is their corporate members and share holders? and what experience do they have for investing?
• Is there an exit strategy in place so you have a way out once the business has reached its maturity?
• How much capital does the business have that will secure your money? ( especially LLC and Sole Proprietorships)
• What is the % pts of the R.O.I.? (Return on Investment)
• Does the individual(s) have references in their portfolio that will state what success or failures they have had in business. (Failures is all part of business and many successful people learn by failures)
• Do that have a full and complete business plan, not just an Executive Summary?
• Who are their attorneys and what state or country do they practice ?

It is important to note that with an LLC it represents Limited Liability Corporation. If you were to loose your money on a bad investment you are limited on how much you could sue as a means to recover your money.

Life is full of twists and turns and lessons to learn. Why complicate it with making bad investments decisions.

www.terrancewnorton.wordpress.com

There are a few men I would want to thank for the inspiring me to grow as a leader. Dr. Bruce Wilkinson (The Vision of a Leader and The Gift Giver) is the one who has made the most impact on my life. I have never met Dr. Wilkinson,  perhaps some day I can thank him personally. Dr. Wilkinson helped by showing me the natural progression of leaders. In the video titled the Vision of a Leader, he showed me what leaders have to go through in order to be the greatest influence on mankind.

Joann Felix was influential because of her knowledge in dealing with spiritual warfare. She also taught me ways to clear out my mind so my spirit can be at peace and renewed. I was able to deal with life-long issues that caused me pain and separation.

Byron Chappell is a Regional Director for Income Builders International (an entrepreneur association). Byron taught me how important it is to get out of our own way by letting go of things so it can find it’s natural process and flow of life. He also taught me how to deal with fear storms that happen just before a major growth spurt.

Larry Childs is a man I admire because of his Godly knowledge and wisdom. Larry gave me good spiritual counseling for nearly a year, especially when I was going through some real tough times. Larry taught me that I needed to act and not react to situations. It was about having composure over what happens because leaders do not act in panic.

All of the people I have mentioned made a significant impact on my life and in my growing process.

Today I am passionate about speaking to audiences about overcoming the affects of generational dysfunction. What would the world be like if we were to lift up each other through love and service to one another?

Sometimes I feel that I was born in the wrong time period because people have become so complacent toward one another. Sometimes I have moments of clarity when I am inspired to say ” yes,” why not me in this era of time. We need someone like me that is a believer of dreams. I have the belief that we can, someday, be reconciled and be what we were created to be by our Creator.

I have had to deal with many things in life and it has formed me to be a man that is passionate about giving back to humanity through service.

Many people want to leave their hand print on life by doing good deeds. I too am one of them that wants to live a life of purpose and meaning. I was once told by Bryon Chappell and his wife Tara that life is not lived to the fullest until we go home and tell God that we are all used up. We used up all of our attributes in serving His people. I see it as using all of our talents and not burying them under a bushel.