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 The Prosperity Treks: Improving Cash Flow and Building Net Worth for Enrichment, Fulfillment and Happiness and Giving Back to Others Improve cash flow, control debt and build up net worth and wealth for prosperity. That’s Prosperity Trek™, your step-by-step guide to reach prosperity for enrichment, fulfillment and happiness – and helping others through charitable giving and estate planning.
Don’t know your trek? No problem. Find your trek at the Trek Trailhead.
I know my trek:
We have a trek that’s just right for you. Our treks use your current cash flow and net worth to find steps appropriate for you – steps that will help you live within your means, reduce debt, protect income and assets, save, invest, enjoy life and share prosperity with others.
Check out our Resources posts that share our best picks for information, services and products to help you on your prosperity trek.
Our treks focus on cash flow and net worth – the two most important metrics that affect the steps you should take to reach prosperity. Our treks have steps to earn income, control spending and find debt relief. There are steps to save and invest – accumulating assets using sound investing strategies. And you’ll find steps to use your financial freedom to enjoy life as you follow pursuits that are important to you – and share your wealth with others by giving back.
Trek | This Trek is For... | Objective | Primary Focus |
Trek I: Cash Flow  | Families with negative cash flow & negative net worth. | Improve cash flow until cash flow is positive. | A. Live within means.
B. Protect Income. |
Trek II: Net Worth  | Families with positive cash flow & negative net worth. | Build net worth until net worth is positive. | A. Save from income.
B. Reduce debt.
C. Live within means. |
Trek III: Wealth & Fulfillment  | Families with positive cash flow & positive net worth. | Accumulate assets, maximize net worth and use prosperity for fulfillment. | A. Investing.
B. Live within means.
C. Enjoy life.
D. Give back to others. |
Trek IV: Prosperity  | Families with negative cash flow & positive net worth. Family may use net worth for cash stream. | Manage net worth to enjoy life and give back. | A. Protect income and assets.
B. Investing.
C. Live within means.
D. Enjoy life.
E. Give to others. |
Trek IV: Special Situations | Families with negative cash flow & positive net worth. Family still in accumulation phase. | Improve cash flow until cash flow is positive. | A. Live within means.
B. Protect income and assets. |
The Treks to Prosperity - improving cash flow, protecting income and assets, reducing debt, building net worth, accumulating assets, enjoying life and giving to others.
Achieving Prosperity, Step by Step
 The Trek to Prosperity, Step by Step Earning Steps – steps to increase your income and enhance your career.
Spending Steps – steps to control and manage spending to improve cash flow – and get some debt relief by reducing debt.
Saving Steps – steps to lay the foundation for your net worth – saving out of income in order to invest out of savings.
Building Steps – steps to build net worth by investing in appropriate asset classes based on your risk tolerance and time-frame.
Enjoying Steps – steps to enjoy your prosperity – travel, retirement, and other pursuits – whatever it is, it is a pursuit to bring you happiness, fulfillment and enrichment.
Giving Steps – steps to share your prosperity with others – through charitable giving and estate planning.
Achieving prosperity, step by step.
Here are some things to consider if you are in your 30’s:
1. Pay off non-mortgage debt: It’s best if you have already paid off your credit cards. But if you haven’t, now is the time to tackle what remains of youthful indulgences with plastic. (And get out of the debt cycle once and for all.) [...]
To make a favorable impression, hiring managers say job hunters should craft different letters for every application and tailor them to both the employer and position they’re targeting.
Cover letters should be brief.
One way to customize a cover letter is to reference an employer’s products or services or point out content on its Web site. Another [...]
Required Distributions Begin at 70 1/2
Age 70 1/2 heralds in required minimum distributions for owners of traditional IRAs, 401(k)s and other defined-contribution retirement plans. Roth 401(k) owners are also subject to RMDs at this age, but Roth IRA owners are not.
Generally an RMD must be taken by year-end. First-timers can choose to delay taking a [...]
Government Health-Care Coverage at 65
When you turn 65, Medicare coverage could be the best gift of all. But you will need to plan ahead. Enrollment periods vary among coverage plans, and you can get zinged by permanent late fees if you miss deadlines.
There are two main choices for getting Medicare. You can enroll in traditional [...]
The Social Security Dilemma at 62
Deciding on when to start claiming benefits depends on a number of factors: your life expectancy, your marital status and whether you’re still working. If you were born between 1943 and 1954, you can collect full benefits starting at 66. You’re eligible to start claiming benefits at 62, but your [...]
On the day you turn 59 1/2, you can tap a traditional IRA without incurring a 10% early-distribution penalty. You will still owe income tax on any distribution.
Roth IRA owners who are 59 1/2 are free of the 10% penalty on withdrawn earnings (those earnings are also tax-free as long as owners have held at [...]
Services
Budgeting
Visit Mint.com to do your budgeting with an easy to use and feature-packed web site. Synchronize your bank, credit card, and investment accounts with the site – it takes only a couple of minutes – and start tracking your cash flow. Mint tracks every noncash expenditure and summarizes your spending in categories, such as food [...]
Information
Financial Planning
Visit ESPlannerBASIC which asks what you earn, what you spend, and how your financial obligations will change over time. (For example, when will your youngest kid graduate?) It then assumes that you’ll want your family to maintain the same living standard from today on, and figures out how much you can afford to spend, [...]
Once you’ve determined your initial goals for your financial plan, it’s time to begin the process of reaching those goals.
Think of the financial planning process as a journey.
You prepare for the trip by marking on the road map where you are today and the destinations you want to reach.
These destinations represent any life dreams and [...]
Once you’ve determined your initial goals for your financial plan, it’s time to begin the process of reaching those goals.
Think of the financial planning process as a journey.
You prepare for the trip by marking on the road map where you are today and the destinations you want to reach.
These destinations represent any life dreams and [...]
Even when one’s investments are doing well, facing retirement is stressful.
The good news is that, with the proper planning, a person can still retire without putting their nest egg at risk. Here are five last-minute steps pre-retirees should take before collecting their gold watches.
Adjust Your Asset Allocation
Whether retirement is six months away or three years [...]
Similar to a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT), a Charitable Lead Annuity Trust (CLAT) can pass most of their investment gains to heirs, while reducing or eliminating gift and estate taxes. But whereas a GRAT returns interest and principal to you, a charitable lead annuity trust, or CLAT, typically gives everything away. Annual income payments, [...]
A popular trust strategy, the sale of an asset to an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust, or IDGT, can also be complex and expensive to set up. Why bother? For one thing, the payoff is potentially greater than with other strategies. Moreover, these give you a tax-advantaged way to pass assets to grandchildren while keeping the [...]
One of the most attractive wealth-transfer strategies is also one of the simplest – a family loan.
The IRS permits relatives to lend money to one another at what is called the Applicable Federal Rate, which the government sets monthly. With these, relatives can charge far less than a bank.
The appeal of the Bank of Mom [...]
Preventative medicine is an investment in the quality of your life. Not only does it decrease the probability of a future serious illness but it also substantially reduces your future health care costs.
Heart disease, diabetes and cancer contribute to a large number of illnesses, disabilities and deaths. They’re also some of the most costly conditions [...]
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Prosperity Concierge