5 famous family feuds

Cashing in on family money

Blood is thicker than water, as they say. However, perhaps it should be added "but money is thicker than both." Particularly if the blood is blue, it would appear.

The truth is, a number of American dynastic families might best be described as "rich, famous -- and feuding." Whether it's Grandma cutting off the heirs, or the heirs allegedly abusing Grandma, there's plenty of evidence that money can't buy a happy home -- no matter how many you own. In fact, it may be the cause of the discord.

If the recession has left you feeling poor, the following family feuds may make you glad you don't have a fortune to fight over. When it comes to battling over estates, it would appear, where there's a will, there's a way to fight about it.

An Astor-nomical fortune

New York socialite Brooke Astor acknowledged motherhood wasn't her strong suit, friends said. She shipped off her only son, Anthony Marshall, to boarding school at an early age.

Then again, there's evidence Marshall grew up to be a less than a dutiful son. In 2006, Marshall's son, Philip, filed a lawsuit demanding his father be removed as guardian of Grandma Astor, who was 104. The grandson claimed his father was denying Astor, who gave away a reported $200 million during her life, decent food, a warm place to sleep, even visits from her beloved dogs.

JPMorgan Chase Bank was brought in to look at Astor's finances, and in court documents alleged Astor's son may have wrongfully taken millions from his mother's estate.

Astor died in 2007, but the Manhattan District Attorney's office investigated and indicted Marshall for what one prosecutor called "grand theft Astor." In 2009, after a five-month trial, Marshall was convicted in Manhattan Supreme Court of siphoning millions from his mother as she lay dying.

At the age of 85, he was sentenced to three years in prison. He remains free pending appeal.

Not-so-brotherly love

Ever feel like proposing a toast to family unity? It's doubtful the Gallos ever did.

You've almost certainly heard of Ernest and Julio Gallo, whose winemaking operation was the largest in the world.

You may know less about a third brother, Joseph. During the Great Depression, he became a ward of his older brothers after an apparent murder-suicide in which their father shot their mother then turned the trigger on himself.

Prohibition was ending, and Ernest and Julio began making cheap wine from the grapes of the family's California vineyard. But Joseph felt his treatment was akin to servitude. He became a commercial dairy rancher, whose best-known brand was Joseph Gallo cheese.

In this case, wine and cheese clearly didn't go together. After an extremely bitter court battle, Ernest and Julio prevailed over Joseph's claims that he had been denied his rightful share of the winery. Further, in a trademark infringement ruling, Ernest and Julio were given rights to the Gallo name. The cheese line had to be renamed Joseph Farms.

Joseph never again spoke to his brothers. He died in 2007, a few weeks before Ernest.

Courting a supreme case

It's the classic story: Successful man meets younger woman, dies shortly after marrying her and everybody lawyers up.

In 1994, J. Howard Marshall II, a billionaire Texas oilman, married former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith at a drive-in wedding chapel. He was 89 to her 26.

Marshall died the next year, setting up a showdown between his widow and E. Pierce Marshall, who was technically her stepson although nearly 30 years older.

Smith claimed her husband -- nicknamed Paw Paw -- promised her half his estate. Problem: It wasn't in the will. The son appeared to have won. But the widow filed bankruptcy, and was awarded $475 million. That was thrown out by a federal appeals court, which said the bankruptcy court overstepped its authority.

In May 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Smith could pursue her case in federal court. A month later, E. Pierce Marshall died of an infection. Seven months after that, Smith died of a drug overdose.

But the feud continues. In 2010, a federal appeals court ruled Smith's estate deserved none of Paw Paw's money. In January, the Supreme Court heard her estate's appeal. It hasn't ruled.

Leona causes trouble

When it comes to family feuds, it's a dog-eat-dog world. Just ask Leona Helmsley's survivors.

When the famed "queen of mean" real estate billionaire died in 2007, her largest beneficiary was her female Maltese terrier Trouble, who got $12 million, making the lady canine one rich dog.

It was $12 million more than two of her four grandchildren. They got nothing "for reasons which are known to them," she tartly wrote in her will. Perhaps they didn't visit her during her imprisonment for tax evasion in the 1990s. Two other grandchildren got inheritances, though less than Trouble.

It wasn't the first indication Helmsley family relations were frosty. Years earlier, after her only son died of heart problems, Helmsley evicted his widow.

Needless to say, trouble followed Trouble. A judge negotiated a $6 million settlement with the disowned grandkids. The doggy dowry was cut to $2 million, including $100,000 annually for security, considering Trouble had received death threats.

The rest of her $5 billion to $8 billion went to a trust to provide for the care and welfare of dogs. A judge later ruled the trustees weren't collared by that restriction.

The widow pleads not guilty

As Robin might say: Holy whodunits! Ben Novack Jr. loved his Batman memorabilia. His collection was reportedly the second largest in the world.

He could afford it. He owned a successful Fort Lauderdale, Fla., convention planning firm, and his father, Ben Novack Sr., founded Miami Beach's famed Fontainebleau Hotel.

On July 12, 2009, Novack visited a hotel for the last time. He was beaten to death with a dumbbell in a suburban New York hotel while on business. His estate was worth a purported $7 million.

His wife, Narcy, said the murder happened while she was at breakfast.

But prosecutors contend the widow Novack skipped the bacon and eggs. Actually, she'd hatched a murder-for-hire plan and watched as paid hit men killed her husband, prosecutors alleged. She has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial on charges that could mean life in prison.

In the aftermath, investigators revisited the death of Novack's mother, Bernice, found in a pool of blood in her Fort Lauderdale home three months before her son died. Initially believed an accident, the local medical examiner has reclassified it a homicide. Narcy Novack has been charged with masterminding that murder as well.

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If you think rich, you’re much more likely to become rich

If you think rich, you’re much more likely to become rich. This is the unanimous verdict from speaking to every wealthy person I know – and from my own research and experience in the field of generating wealth.


This series of articles will show you how to cultivate an abundance mentality – and teach you how to attract more money into your life. It will also demonstrate how to set and reach financial goals, and show you how to totally re-think the way you look at currency.

Whilst I’m not going to promise you millions overnight, if you apply the advice in this and the following articles you won’t worry about cash anymore, you’ll stop seeing money as the “be all and end all” of your life – and somehow you’ll almost certainly attract more cash into your life.


This is quite a long article (2000 words) – as it summarises the entire process I went through to go from being poor and miserable to thinking rich and being happy – and I’m sure you’ll agree it’s worth the few extra minutes.

Feel free to print it out if you haven’t got the time now. And please spread the word – I want as many people to feel like this as possible!

Poor Folk Don’t Think Rich
Generating wealth is ultimately nothing more than a subconscious conviction on your part. If you can persuade your unconscious to think rich, you will get rich. It sounds crazy, but if you can somehow convince yourself that you are wealthy, you’re in the game. The opposite is true if you believe you’re broke – it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Thinking rich is obviously easier said than done. Up until as little as 6 or 7 months ago, I suffered from a poverty consciousness – I saw myself as poor. In fact, no matter how much I earned, I was always worrying about money - almost constantly.

Take a minute to see if my prior situation resonates with you: I was scared to check my bank balance – the mere thought of it sent a chilling rush of adrenaline and fear bolting straight to my gut. I never had any cash on me, and was forever trying to find an ATM or having to borrow cash. I detested paying bills, and was loathsome to give any money away. If a friend borrowed cash from me – they certainly bloody knew about it. I regularly panicked as to where the next lump of money would come from – and positively hated spending it.

In short, there was never enough cash – and money preoccupied my thoughts the vast majority of the time. Money will complete me, I wagered... if only I can get rich, I’ll be happy then...


Any of the above ringing a bell...? This is not exactly thinking rich, in my humble opinion. How many millionaires do you believe think like that?


Luckily, I reached a tipping point – I was undeniably sick of my situation. I decided to do whatever it took to a) stop worrying about money, b) get some money, and c) think rich.

My plan worked – on all three counts. This is how I did it... and best of all, it’s easy as pie. All it takes is a little motivation and a lot of imagination.


Think Rich and Save
Alright, I’ll get this one out of the way first... Just as the real secret to losing weight is to eat less and spend more time at the gym, the real secret to thinking rich – and generating wealth – is to spend less and save more in the bank.

Boring, I know, but utterly necessary. Having the discipline to put money away every month is the key to cracking how to think rich. There are few things more rewarding – and more exhilarating – than seeing your savings account swell with money on a regular basis. The feeling has to be experienced to be believed – particularly if, like I did, you drain your account for every last penny each month.

Saving gives you pride and confidence and makes you feel more responsible towards money. It also proportionately reduces anxiety – in that the more you save, the less you worry about cash.

But I never have enough money left to save, you scream.... Well, this one is easy: you simply have to pay yourself first.


Think Rich & Pay Yourself First
This simple principle is worth its weight in gold. To succeed, all you have to do is pay yourself a chunk of your earnings on pay day – before you pay your bills, rent, mortgage, or buy any luxuries, treats, and £3 Lattes.

Take between 10% and 20% of your earnings – pre-tax, if possible – and deposit it in a high interest savings account, an ISA – or put it in a shoe box under your bed. All that matters is no matter what you ensure you get paid before any of your creditors. Sod them – they’ve got enough money!

And why shouldn’t you? Please try and justify why you would work 200 hours per month to be left with nothing at the end of it. This is a life of slavery – and one to avoid at all costs.

There are very few people I’ve explained this principle to who legitimately cannot afford to put away at least 10% of their earnings every month. Yes, you might have to lay off the new clothes, heavy nights on the town and meals out while you adjust – but adjust you will. If you can genuinely only afford to pay yourself 5%, or even 1%... DO IT!

Paying yourself first sends a wondrously powerful message to your sub-conscious – it affirms that you are responsible, you are earning cash, you are saving cash – and you deserve more. In short, you are beginning to think rich.

Best of all, after a couple of months you will actually be excited to pay yourself on pay day. I now look forward to treating myself to a chunk of cash much more than I ever did to buying myself the latest computer games, DVDs, booze and gadgets on payday.

Paying yourself first is a powerful way to think rich – and seeing the results affirms your new abundance consciousness every time you check the balance of your savings account.


Think Rich and Carry Cash
think rich There’s nothing more affirming for a poverty consciousness than a cavernous, gaping, empty wallet.

Peering into the depths of a bare wallet is a depressing sight by itself. Queuing up to pay at a store, getting to the front, pulling out your wallet and realising you don’t have a penny on you is humiliating in the extreme. Being unable to chip in when you have a meal or share a cab with your friends is embarrassing. Asking your marijuana dealer to accept a check – or an IOU – is unlikely to go down too well and endear you to him lovingly. It is also unlikely to help you get high in the future.

In order to think rich, you need to act rich. Rich folk don’t run out of cash. They have beautiful, bulbous, swelling wallets with thick wads of paper crammed into them. They have cash on them to spend and cash on them to loan.

Rich people visit an ATM infrequently – to top up supplies when reserves get low. They don’t queue up for ten minutes every day to withdraw £10 – and then hoard that single note and pray to God they don’t have to break into it.

I can safely say – without exaggeration, elaboration or hyperbole – that carrying more cash is the fastest and most effective way to get your subconscious to think rich. By emulating rich people and carrying around more cash, you will think rich and feel rich too.

The trick is to start carrying around an amount of cash that makes you feel slightly uncomfortable. It should excite you! You can almost feel the presence of this cash in your pocket. It makes you carry yourself very differently.

Looking into your wallet should even speed your heart rate up a little... and the feel and touch of this chunk of notes will open a whole new sensory experience for you. Even the new and exciting smell of a wad of notes will drift up to your nose and signal to your subconscious that BIG CHANGES ARE HAPPENING!

Every time you pull your wallet out you send a massive affirmation to your brain that I HAVE MONEY! Flicking through the notes feels great and can’t help but make you think rich.

When the amount you withdraw doesn’t feel quite so daring, exciting or unusual anymore – simply increase the amount you carry. Don’t be alarmed – this is the result you want – it means that you have subconsciously got used to carrying an amount of cash that used to feel alien! You are beginning to think rich. I’m up to about £400 ($600) on me now – and carrying £100 used to scare the life out of me. There’s no need to rush this – go at your own pace. All that matters is when you get used to it, carry more. Simple!

One thing to watch out for – make sure you don’t spend it any quicker, just because you have cash on you. This is a good test for you, as it builds trust and assures your subconscious that you can be trusted with money. Again, this is a powerful belief to hold. Oh, one other thing – try not to get mugged.


Think Rich in your Imagination
If the thought of being rich scares you or makes you feel in any way uncomfortable – you are not going to get rich. First, you have to think rich – and then you can be rich.

Visualise yourself as having all the money you’ll ever need, and imagine having everything you could ever want. When you’re comfortable with the prospect in your mind, wealth will begin to manifest in your life.

Start by imagining what it would be like to have ten grand in the bank. When that seems realistic, go to twenty... fifty... one hundred. Really put yourself in the shoes of someone who has this much cash – see life through their eyes.

Just a few minutes a day will help you here – and believe me, it’s time well spent. Creative Visualisation forms the backbone of all my success. If you find it hard, invest in a meditation machine – the best money I’ve ever spent.


Think Rich and Spend It with a Smile
think rich I used to begrudge spending money. Even though I wanted more money, I hated getting rid of it.

As soon as I realised that cash is like any other energy in life, and you attract whatever you think about most, I started to get more of it. Lots more.


Fearing - or disliking - spending money sends an unbelievably poor message to your subconscious. It makes you think that money is limited, or reinforces the belief that if you spend it, you won’t get it back.

You need to change this belief and replace it with an affirming one – namely that it is fun to spend money – in fact, the point of getting money is to spend it!

Practice spending money happily (not unnecessary spending – I’m talking about money you were going to spend anyway). A technique I like to use is that whenever I spend cash, not only do I smile and thank my subconscious for getting me this cash in the first place, but I also imagine that whatever I spend I’m going to get double back! If I spend £20, I assure myself that £40 is coming back to me... from somewhere. And guess what? Since I started doing this, I’ve near enough doubled my income – and reduced my working hours by 60%. To me, this beggars rational explanation.

The happier you can get with the prospect of spending money guilt-free, the more money you will get in the future. Think rich and don’t feel bad – treat yourself and know that your money is coming back to you from somewhere!



That’s How to Think Rich!
Applying all of the tips above helped me to think rich, double my income and best of all - stop worrying about money. I’ve managed to save thousands in a very short time, and have no doubt that I will earn all I desire in the future.

It’s so easy to change the way you think about money – and the results come quick, often within a few months. If you’re sick to death of feeling poor, give these ideas a go – and send me a few pounds or dollars to say thanks when you’re rolling in it...!

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10 Things People Buy They Should Get Free

Your mom always told you that money doesn’t grow on trees. She’s right, but then if you don’t waste it, maybe you don’t need one anyway.

There are plenty of free things you can pluck from the web as well as from libraries, parks, banks and other businesses. Here’s a look at more than a half dozen valuable freebies:

First, take a look at the this recent news story Stacy turned in, then I’ll provide more details.

Here’s another look at that list, along with a few more.

Free checking. Last week we wrote an article about how, at many banks, free checking was soon to become fee checking. But plenty of banks still offer free checking accounts. SunTrust, for example, offers a free plan with no minimum balance required. And you get free online and ATM service too. Wachovia and U.S. Bank still have their own version of free accounts. Chase even offers $100 for opening such an account. Indeed, a host of banks and savings and loans offer free checking. So far. When you’re looking for lower fees, including free checking, always to look to smaller local banks and credit unions.
Free credit reports. You can go to AnnualCreditReport.com for a free look at your credit history once a year. If the Financial Regulatory Reform bill passes, you might also one day get a look at your credit score. Read about other changes ahead here.
Free cash. If you can’t find an ATM near you for a free cash withdrawal, no worries: Plenty of stores will give you cash back with no fee when you use your ATM card to make even a small purchase. You can buy a candy bar or a Diet Coke and get back up to $100 in cash from Wal-Mart. Target will give you back $40 if you use your ATM card for a purchase. Grocery stores also offer cash back. And then there are iPhone and other apps that will help you locate ATMs: Here’s one.
Free information calls. Google 411 will get you information numbers free, so don’t get ripped off by your cell phone provider. When you need directory assistance, dial 800-GOOG-411.
Free scholarship search. Plenty of websites offer free searches for scholarships, such as Fastweb. There’s even a company called Free Scholarship Searches that offers links to 40 websites that offer free scholarship searches. And check out our recent story, 6 Tips to Pay Less for a College Degree
Free baggage. Sure, nearly all airlines are charging to check baggage but at least one doesn’t: Southwest. And remember carrying on bags is still free, except for on Spirit Airlines.
Free entertainment. Your local library and parks offer lots of free fun, from books to movies to concerts. Join their e-mail list to see what’s up. And of course, there’s the Internet, offering free games as well as magazine and newspaper articles. Just go to the website of your favorite periodical.
Free Water. While technically not free, tap water is about as close as you can get. If you’re concerned about water quality, buy a filter. But don’t ever pay for water at a convenience store.
Free TV. Thanks to sites like Hulu, you can now watch many popular television shows online for free. If your favorite shows are free on the web, why pay for cable or satellite? Check out You Don’t Have to Pay for Cable TV for more.
Free telephone calls. Services like Skype and AIM let you communicate with other users for free. Always calling a loved one long distance? If you both get copies of something like Skype, you can talk all you want without paying a dime. And with a service like Google Voice, you can get all of your cell phone calls free, too.

That’s a few quick ideas, but we know there are dozens more. Share your favorite and help make this list even better.

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Can’t Pay Your Taxes? File Anyway

The tax deadline this year is April 18. But if you find that you owe and can’t pay, don’t bury your head in the sand by not filing. File your return on time, then check out these options for dealing with the debt.

Over 140 million individual income tax returns are filed every year – and every year, a quarter of Americans wait until the last minute. According to the IRS, only 82 million had filed as of March 25, and “20 to 25 percent of all taxpayers file in the final two weeks of the tax season.”

Some people are just procrastinators. Others are reluctant to file out of fear they owe money they don’t have. If you’re in the latter group, there’s a little good news: The filing deadline is not April 15 this year – it’s April 18, thanks to a D.C. holiday.

But if that three extra days isn’t enough to come up with the cash you need to pay what you owe, you should still file a tax return anyway. To hear why, watch the video below. Then read on for advice on how you can minimize the damage.

Not mentioned in the video above: It’s possible to avoid failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties if your excuse is good enough. According to the IRS website, “You will not have to pay a failure-to-file or failure-to-pay penalty if you can show that you failed to file or pay on time because of reasonable cause and not because of willful neglect.”

But without a great excuse, not filing a tax return is a bad idea for at least two reasons. First, while rarely prosecuted except in extreme cases, it’s a crime. For those who owe, failure to file a federal tax return is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $25,000 or one-year prison term. Second, not filing a tax return means a penalty of 5 percent of the taxes owed for every month or partial month the return is overdue, capped at 25 percent.

Filing a return without paying, on the other hand, has a much less expensive outcome. If you file but don’t pay, your penalty will generally be only half a percent a month. So if you owe $1,000, that’s only $5 a month vs. the $50 a month you’ll owe if you don’t file a return.


So what do you do if you can’t pay? Here’s some advice:

1. Borrow from uncle Joe to pay Uncle Sam. The best-case scenario when you owe money is to borrow with no interest. Try to work out an interest-free loan with your family, friends, or employer so you can pay your taxes in full on time.

2. Get a low-interest loan. See what options your bank has for personal loans, but also check with your local credit union, where rates may be lower. While the interest rates may not seem attractive, the combined cost is usually lower than the IRS penalties and fees.

3. Pay by credit card. In some cases, charging the debt might be the best solution, but it’s not the preferred one. You face a processing fee of 1.95-2.35 percent, along with any fees and interest your bank may charge. (In comparison, the processing fee for debit cards is about $4.) There are three companies the IRS uses to process credit card payments: Link2Gov, RBS WorldPay, and Official Payments Corporation. One small bright side to charging: If you itemize on your taxes, you may be able to deduct the convenience fee. The IRS says it’s “a miscellaneous itemized deduction on Form 1040, Schedule A, Itemized Deductions. The deduction is subject to the 2 percent limit.”

4. Use an IRS payment plan. As with anyone you owe money to, it never hurts to explain your situation. The IRS has been going easier on tax settlements during the recession – but you still need to talk to them.

If you can prove hardship, the IRS could delay collecting what you owe. But the penalties and interest on the taxes due will still be added to the debt. In addition, they may also file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien on your assets to protect Uncle Sam’s interests.

If you owe less than $25,000 and think you can pay off the debt within 120 days, the first option would be to apply for an Online Payment Agreement. If it’s going to take longer than that, you can get up to 60 months by filling out an Installment Agreement Request, form 9465 [PDF].

In addition to interest and penalties, installment agreements require a $52 or $102 fee, depending on whether payments are automatically deducted from your bank account. The IRS has examples of how the math works out, but these types of agreements tend to be the most expensive way to pay what you owe – and the most hassle.

One other option is an Offer in Compromise: an agreement where the IRS agrees to accept less than you owe. As you might expect, however, the IRS will only do one of these if they’re sure you have no hope of ever paying the full amount of taxes due.

The bottom line is you need to pay as much as you can as soon as you can.

We covered several other tax topics earlier this year: Check out 3 Tips for Free Tax Help, Avoiding 13 Common Mistakes, and if you’re lucky enough to get one, 10 Dumb Things to Do With Your Tax Refund.

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The 10 Commandments of Wealth and Happiness

One of the stupidest expressions ever coined was “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” When you’re on your death bed, you won’t be thinking about the things you had – you’ll be thinking about the times you had.

So here goes: the 10 commandments of achieving financial independence and being happier while you do it …
1. Thou shalt live like you’re going to die tomorrow, but invest like you’re going to live forever.

The ease of making money in stocks, real estate, or other risk-based assets is inversely proportional to your time horizon. In other words, making money over long periods of time is easy – making money overnight is the flip of a coin.

Money is like a tree: Plant it properly, care for it every so often, then wait patiently. Stare at a newly planted tree for 24 hours, and you’ll be convinced it’s not growing. Fixate on your investments the same way, and you could miss out on a game-changer.

The biggest winner in my IRA is Apple stock. I don’t remember exactly when I bought it, but I’m guessing it was in 2002 or 2003. My split adjusted price is around $8/share: As I write this, Apple’s trading at around $300/share, for a gain of 3,800 percent. Had I been listening to CNBC or some other “news” outlet that promotes constant trading, I almost certainly wouldn’t still own it.


Patience is certainly a virtue when it comes to investing. I invested a bunch of money and built my online portfolio when the Dow was hitting generational lows back in spring 2009. I had no idea where the market was going next. I was every bit as scared as the next guy.

But having lived through similar times before – I was a stockbroker during the market crash of 1987 – and since I’m only in my mid-50s, I was confident the economy would rebound sometime before I died. While the stock market has come back quite nicely since then, in many parts of the country, housing prices haven’t. That’s why I’m now looking for real estate investments. Are you?

In short, enjoy your life to the fullest every day – live like you’re going to die tomorrow. But since you’re probably not going to die tomorrow, plant part of your money in quality stocks, real estate or other investments; then hold onto them. Don’t ignore your investments entirely – sometimes fundamental things change that indicate it’s time to move on – but don’t act rashly. Patience pays.
2. Thou shalt listen to thine own voice above all others.

My job as a consumer reporter has included listening to countless sad stories about nice people being separated from their money by people who weren’t so nice. While these stories run the gamut from real estate deals to working at home, they all start the same way: with a promise of something that seems too good to be true.

And they all end the same way: It is. Just last week, I helped someone who was about to lose money by applying for a government grant.

If someone promises they can make you 3,000 percent in the stock market, they’re either a fool for sharing that information or a liar. Why would you send money to either one? When you hear someone promising a simple solution to a complex problem, stop listening to them and start listening to your own inner voice. You know there’s no pill that’s going to make you skinny. You know the government’s not handing out free money for your small business. You know you can’t buy a house for $300. Stop listening to commercials and start listening to yourself.
3. Thou shalt covet bad economic times.

Wealth is realized when the economy is booming, but that’s not when it’s created. Wealth is created when times are bad, unemployment is high, problems are massive, everybody’s freaking out, and there’s nothing but economic misery on the horizon.

Would you rather buy a house for $400,000, or $200,000? Would you rather invest in stocks when the Dow is at 12,000 or 7,000?

Obviously, nobody wants one in 10 Americans to be out of work. But the cyclical nature of our economy all but assures that this will happen periodically. If you’re one of the 90 percent who still has a job, this is the time you’ve been saving for. Stop listening to all the Chicken Littles in the media: The sky isn’t falling. Get busy – put your cash to work and create some wealth.
4. Thou shalt not work.

MSN Money’s Liz Pulliam Weston recently wrote a great story called Pretend You Won the Lottery. She asked her Facebook fans to describe what they would do if they won the lottery. From that article:

Most of the responses had a lot in common. People overwhelmingly wanted to:
Pay off all their debts.
Help their families.
Donate more to charity.
Pursue their passions, including travel.

Note that these goals are largely achievable without winning the lottery. And that was her point: Listing what you’d like to do if money were no object puts you in touch with the way you’d really like to spend your life.

My philosophy takes this concept a step further: When it comes to work, you should try to do something that you regard as so fulfilling that you’d do it even if it didn’t pay anything. In other words, the word “work” implies doing something you have to do, not something you want to do. You should never “work.”

I’ve chosen to spend nearly all of my adult life in warm climates – I lived in Arizona for 10 years and have now lived in Fort Lauderdale for nearly that long. Why? Here’s what I’ve always said: “You already spend a third of your life sleeping. Why spend another third of it freezing your tail off?”

No offense to you Northerners. I realize some people enjoy the cold. The point is that if you’re going to spend a huge part of your life working, don’t fill that time with what makes you the most money. Fill it with what makes you the most fulfilled. I made more money in 1990 managing a branch office for a Wall Street investment firm than I will this year. But I feel a lot less slimy (no offense to stockbrokers) and lot more fulfilled. You can’t put a price tag on that.
5. Thou shalt not create debt.

I’m always getting questions about debt. “Should I borrow for this, that, or the other?” “What’s an acceptable debt level?” “Is there such a thing as good debt?”

There’s way too much analysis and mystery around something that isn’t at all mysterious. Paying interest is nothing more or less than giving someone else your money in exchange for using theirs. Rule of thumb: To have as much money as possible, avoid giving yours to other people.

Don’t ever borrow money because you want something you can’t afford. Borrow money in only two circumstances: when your back is against the wall, or when what you’re buying will increase in value by more than what you’re paying in interest.

Debt also affects you on a level that can’t be defined in dollars. When you owe money, in a very real way you’re a slave to that lender until you pay it back. When you don’t, you’re much more the master of your own destiny.

There are two ways to achieve financial freedom: Have so much money that you can’t possibly spend it all (something exceedingly difficult to do) or don’t owe anybody anything. Granted, since you still have to eat and put a roof over your head, living debt-free doesn’t offer the same level of freedom as having more money than you can possibly spend. But living debt-free isn’t a matter of luck or even hard work. It’s a simple choice, available to everyone.
6. Thou shalt be frugal – but not miserly.

The key to accumulating more savings isn’t to spend less – it’s to spend less without sacrificing your quality of life. If going out to dinner with your significant other is something that you enjoy, not doing it may create a happier bank balance, but an unhappier you – a trade-off that is neither worthwhile nor sustainable. Eating an appetizer at home, then splitting an entree at the restaurant, however, maintains your quality of life and fattens your bank account.

Finding ways to save is important, but avoiding deprivation is just as important. In short, diets suck.

Whether they’re food-related or money-related, if they leave you feeling deprived and unhappy, they’re not going to work. But there’s a difference between food diets and dollar diets: It’s hard to lose weight without depriving yourself of the foods you love, but it’s easy to reduce spending without depriving yourself of the things you love.

Cottage cheese isn’t a suitable substitute for steak, but a used car is a perfectly acceptable substitute for a new one. And the list goes on: watching TV online rather than paying for cable, buying generics when they’re just as good as name brands, using house-swapping to get free lodging, downloading books from the library instead of Amazon… No matter what you love, from physical possessions to travel, there are ways to save without reducing your quality of life.
7. Thou shalt not regard possessions in terms of money, but time.

You go to the mall and spend $150 on clothes. But what you spent isn’t just $150. If you earn $150 a day, you just spent a day of your life.

Almost every resource you have, from physical possessions to money, is renewable. The amount of time you have on this planet, however, is finite. Once used, it can never be replaced. So when you spend money – especially if you earned that money by doing something you had to do instead of what you wanted to do – you’re spending your life.

This doesn’t mean that you should never spend money. If those clothes are all that important to you, by all means, buy them. But if it’s really not going to make you that much happier, don’t. Think of it this way: If you can live on $150 a day, every time you forgo spending $150, you just get one day closer to financial independence.
8. Thou shalt consider opportunity cost.

This is related to the commandment above. Opportunity cost is an accounting term that describes the cost of missing out on alternative uses for that money. For example, when I said above that not spending $150 on clothes puts you $150 closer to independence, that was a gross understatement. Because when you save $150, investing those savings gives you the opportunity to have more savings. If you’re earning 10 percent, $150 invested for 20 years will ultimately make you $1,000 richer. If you can live on $150 a day, ignoring inflation, you can now retire nearly a week sooner, not just a day.

One of the exercises in my most recent book, Life or Debt, is to go around your house and identify things you bought but probably didn’t want or need. A quick way to do this is to find things you haven’t touched in months. These were probably impulse buys. Add up the cost of these things, multiply them by 7, and you’ll arrive at the amount of money you could have had if you’d invested that money at 10 percent for 20 years rather than wasting it.

And when you do this, consider the stuff in your closet, the stuff in your garage, the rooms of your house that you heat and cool but don’t use, the new cars you’ve bought when used would have worked. The truth is that most of us have already blown the opportunity to achieve financial independence much sooner. Maybe now’s the time to stop.
9. Thou shalt not put off till tomorrow what thou can save today.

Shortly after I began my television career in 1988, I went on set with a pack of smokes, a can of soda, and a candy bar. I explained that these things represented the kind of money most of us throw away every day without thinking about it – at the time, about $5. But compound $5 at 10 percent for 30 years, and you’ll end up with about $340,000. That’s why learning to save a few bucks here and there and investing it is so important.

Fortunes are rarely made by investing big bucks, nor are they often made late in life. Wealth most often comes from starting small and early.

In short, there are limited ways to get rich. You can inherit, marry well, build a valuable business, successfully capitalize on exceptional talent, get exceedingly lucky – or spend less than you make and consistently invest your savings over time. Even if you’re on the road to any of the former, why not do the latter?
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s stuff.

If this commandment sounds familiar, that’s because it resembles the Biblical 10th commandment:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s. (Exodus 20:17)

Envy may not be the root of all evil, but it is the root of much wasted money. As I’m fond of saying, you can either look rich or be rich, but you probably won’t live long enough to accomplish both. I’ve lived both ways, and trust me: Being rich is way better than using debt to look rich.

We’ll all admit that when on the verge of making a purchase decision, we’re often thinking of what our friends will say when they see it. Normal human behavior? Sure, but it’s not in your best interest, or theirs. Making your friends feel jealous isn’t nice, and feeling envy for other people’s possessions is silly. Possessions have never made anyone happy, nor will they.

Decide what really makes you happy, then spend – or not – accordingly. When your friends make an impressive addition to their collection of material possessions, be happy for them. One of the stupidest expressions ever coined was: “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” When you’re on your death bed, you won’t be thinking about the things you had – you’ll be thinking about the times you had.

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