Many people find themselves in trouble with debt because they’re getting into debt for the wrong reasons—vacations, clothing, cars, and gadgets that all create the illusion of wealth. Many of us overspend and over consume to the point of financial hardship. It isn’t a pretty situation.

But, as you may have learned, Jason Hartman loves debt. The IRS and our system of banking rewards the person in debt by providing loan modifications, allowing short sales, letting us deduct interest. But all of this for good debt.

To begin your life of financial freedom, start by looking objectively at your portfolio. Four percent of its value should be in reserves to cover income property vacancies or unforeseen problems. Never put yourself in a position where you’re forced to sell because you didn’t plan ahead.

Follow Jason Hartman’s Ten Commandments, beginning with educating yourself and buying properties that make sense (no speculating!). Set money aside for problems, and stay in touch with the professionals assisting you.

If you work with Jason Hartman and his team, this is especially easy. You’ve got free rental coordination for life, free of charge—which means that you’ll have a property manager who finds and manages tenants for you. Your rental coordinator will also place ads for your property, ensuring that your property is rented and your property manager is on it.

Additionally, you can call the team if you’ve got any trouble, no matter how long you’ve owned the property. In traditional real estate, there’s a heavy commission. Selling one property results in a lot of income, but Jason’s team depends upon repeat business. It’s fine if you buy just one property—expect the same level of service and dedication, as well as access to awesome software designed to make investment easier for you.

Best of all, income property investing allows you to be your own boss. And, unlike other types of investments, you aren’t losing money to crooked CEOs and fund managers. Everyone needs a place to live, and your portfolio is benefiting from it.

Love being a borrower. Makeover your portfolio by owning properties in different cities (diversify!) and buy in areas that make sense. Hang on to your properties and Refi Till Ya Die!

It’s well documented that income property is the most tax favored asset, and taxes make up the single largest expense for many people. Between 40 and 60 percent of most people’s income goes toward some form of taxes, and those numbers appear to be on the rise.

When we talk about real estate, it is important to consider it as two separate components. There’s both property and house sitting on it, which is important because the IRS says that houses aren’t worth much because they’re temporary—someday, they will fall to the ground. Land does last forever though, so we look at land versus improvement value.

Jason Hartman refers to the sticks and bricks sitting on the land as packaged commodities, which hare globally in demand. The house shouldn’t be considered in its entirety, but viewed as individual pieces and parts that make up something larger. Think about houses as concrete, copper wire, petroleum products, steel, insulation, lumber, labor. A series of commodities.

A house will last a certain amount of years that varies based on where you live and who you’re renting to. The IRS has decided that you can depreciate your income property over 27 and a half years. As a tax benefit, this is great because it’s a non cash write-off you can get year after year. This write-off, if you qualify, is worth a significant amount of money. A certified CPA can help you see if you qualify—or help you qualify if you don’t.
And your tax refund comes to you as real cash, albeit depreciated.

Making money through income properties depends upon the government making bad decisions—and that is never going to change. When opportunity knocks, we know you’ll be there to answer.

It is important to first recognize that, when referring to ROI, we’re talking about Return on Inflation. Return on Inflation is not considered in terms of inflation, or what Jason Hartman calls “inflation induced debt destruction.” When you see a return on investment, it is actually higher than that, given inflation.

In the world of income property, return on investment is driven by four major things. Because it is a multidimensional asset class, it isn’t as simple as buy low, sell high. The first pillar driving ROI is appreciation. Appreciation is amplified with leverage, which has made people a fortune in real estate. Debt in real estate is a great thing because you aren’t the one paying your debt—that’s what tenants are for! So, borrowing for the sake of a real estate investment is a great thing.

The second pillar driving ROI is cash flow, specifically positive cash flow.

The next pillar is principle reduction. If you own a property, your tenants pay down your loan for you. Tenants pay your mortgage, and that’s a great thing. But it is perhaps overly simplified. What’s actually happening is a bit more complicated. People think that they’ve created wealth because of appreciation, but real wealth is being created because debts are declining in value—inflation benefiting us. Inflation reduces loan balances.

The final pillar is, of course, tax benefits, as real estate is the most tax-favored asset class in the United States. When looking at past investments returns for comparison, it is clear—investing in Wall Street is little more than gambling. The real way to build wealth is real estate.

If you lose money in the stock market, you can only deduct $3,000. If you sell your stocks and actually make money, you pay capital gains. There isn’t a 1031 Exchange for stocks either.

Income property allows you to defer the gain and keep exchanging. It appreciates by 6.4 percent, and it has for many years.

Sure, income property may lack the appeal of a weekend in Vegas, which is essentially all investing in the stock market is. But it is a different kind of (more reliable) fun. And it works to build long lasting, reliable, tangible wealth.

The economy is still tanking, people are out of work everywhere, and foreclosure signs continue popping up at a fearful rate. How can this be a good climate to start any business? What you”re forgetting is that public speaking engagements are all about solving problems for people, and you can bet a large percentage of them have a heap of distress on their plate right now. If your topic already addresses how to solve some of the specific problems facing Americans today (jobs, debt, and foreclosure to name a few) you”re on the money train. If your topic doesn”t address these issues directly, figure out a way to massage the material so that it does.

Seriously. People are hurting and they want it to stop. The sad truth is that most people will dig deep into an already decimated personal budget to cough up the money it takes to hear a speaker or read a book that promises to help them with their overwhelming problem. Most often, the solution is within us but self-analysis and motivation aren”t qualities always evident when we”re needy.

The concept you should keep in mind while going about building a public speaking business is “THE economy” versus “YOUR economy.” To paraphrase a line from a Jimmy Buffett song, just because there”s a recession doesn”t mean you have to Gambling participate. Instead of whining about the economy, kick your marketing plan into high gear, recognize there is no such thing as job security anymore but that doesn”t mean you can”t make a heck of a lot of money this year. Right now!

What are you waiting for? You already have everything you need to turn your public speaking business into a highly profitable endeavor. You don”t need to buy product or rent a space. All you need to do is get the news out that you”re the cat”s meow when it comes to speaking engagements. Once again, what exactly is it you”re waiting for? The starter pistol?

Bang!

Keep this in mind and you can”t fail – you”re not selling speeches, you”re solving problems. No matter the form your message takes, DVD”s, CD”s, books, reports, digital downloads, podcasts, the strategy is the same. Fix people”s problems and you can”t go wrong.

What profit strategies should you employ for your public speaking career? There are way too many variables to offer a one size fits all answer but here are some mental nuggets to ruminate upon. First of all, if you’re famous, you probably won’t have to do any marketing at all to stay busy. Former President Bill Clinton regularly gets a few hundred thousand dollars to show up and speak for an hour. One event paid him over half a million. Charging fees like that, we’re guessing he doesn’t have to do much marketing for his services. Word is already out there that if you’ve got the money, he’s got the time.

But what profit strategies work for the opposite end of the spectrum, for the newbie public speaker trying to get a toe in the door to this potentially lucrative career? To give you an idea of what others have done, you can probably charge $200 for your first few engagements. If you’re good at it, and word of mouth builds, you could be charging $500 to $1,000 per talk by the end of your first year. Some speakers have a sliding fee scale depending upon the organization. Extras like travel and eating expenses are normally paid for. Whether or not you negotiate your fee is up to you. Some speakers do and some don’t.

These days the internet should absolutely be at the center of your profit strategies to get the word out. That you need a website goes without saying but we’ll do it anyway. You need a website! Article marketing is a great low-cost way to not only drum up business but establish yourself further as an expert on the topic. Two great article directory sites are Ezine Articles and Articles Base. Depending upon your motivation to be productive with your writing, these two sites alone could generate a steady stream of traffic to your website within a few months…or sooner.

Remember, provided you have some skill at speaking, the level of economic success you find primarily depends upon your work ethic. Now go for it!