SURVIVING THE ECONOMY

Besides being involved with hip hop , I am also involved in commercial real estate finance. My firm is a private hedge fund and we lend money directly to purchase and refinance commercial real estate. Most of the younger generation and even some of the older generation do not pay attention to what is going on in the GLOBAL financial markets. This is the 2nd worst and some may say the worst EVER economy the world has seen. I hope Obama's stimulus package works or if not it's going to get really really bad. I don't just have the cnn.com widget on this site for nothing. Some people don't have time for the news but they have time to know all about the 50 Cent Rick Ross beef. When they lose their jobs things get put into perspective in terms of what's important and what;s not. Here are a few things we ALL can do to survive:

1. STOP WASTING MONEY ON THINGS YOU DON'T NEED!

Needs and wants are 2 different things! You don't need another pair of sneakers but you NEED to pay your credit card bill to keep your credit good.

2. TRY AND GET "LIQUID"

Wealthy people consider financial "ground zero" to be $100k cash in the bank and ZERO debt. For a lot of people that's seems unrealistic but if you add up all the things you waste money on you would probably have that and then some. Try and always keep CASH on hand and do not rely on credit.

3. INVEST YOUR MONEY WISELY

Join your company's 401K plan if you have one available to you. Invest in Treasury notes. Invest in companies that are "staples" such as Colgate, or companies that make things you use daily and that you NEED! It's also a good time to BUY real estate if you have the money and credit to do so.

4. EDUCATE YOURSELF

Spend at least an hour of your day watching local,nationwide and financial news. Know whats going on around you. This way your not surprised when you get laid off and can start working on plan B which you should always have.

5. INVEST IN YOURSELF

Stop being lazy and stop making excuses and DO IT! Don't get discouraged and when you do GET OVER IT AND KEEP PUSHING. Write your goals out on paper. Believe it or not this actually works. Make short and long term goals, write out the steps you need to follow to reach those goals and follow the steps out consistently! You always hear 50 talking about consistency, well he's right.