How to Get Out of the Rat Race?

Well, Before I answer the question "how to get out of the rat race?", I would like first to define a rat race and it's main characteristics.

In my opinion a rat race is a group of rats (or lets say people acting like mindless rats) trying to race their way either out of some danger or toward some goal.
And I suppose that randomness is the main characteristic of a rat race,,,

But wait, Winners in such a race are never chosen randomly!!!!
There is luck, But there are also hard workers. And here is how hard workers go out of a rat race!

1- Know yourself,
Yes, Know Yourself, This is your start point, your first step in the long journey of your successful life.
You should know everything about yourself, what do You like? what do You hate? what makes You happy?
what makes You sad? what empowers You? what weakens You?
And most important: What are your goals?

2- Know your friends,
It doesn't mean that everybody is your enemy only because he or she is racing with You.
You can't live all by yourself and You can't live all to yourself,,,
You will always need somebody to help You, to teach You, to guide You and sometimes to comfort You.Plus working together in groups has proven to give the best results in the shortest time.
There's another benefit for having friends along the way because your friend is your mirror,,, so if you think that your friend is not doing well start to worry about your own self.

3- Know your enemy,
We all have enemies, this is the nature of our life and a complete peaceful world never exist,,,
And knowing your enemy is an important factor if you decide it's time to fight him and be warned because your real enemy could be your own self,,,
** Time is the enemy of all human beings since the beginning of the universe.

4- Take care of false friends,
Those are people that seems to be your friends but deep inside them they are not: like the ones that would tell your secrets, or the ones that will give you weak excuses every time you need them.
Also some habits and ideas could be false friends like believing that all the people of a certain color or race are bad.

5- Have a model to follow,
Find yourself a model or two to follow their steps to success and try to find the models that started in similar circumstances like yours. This will remind You that it is possible to achieve your goals.
But remember: I said follow their steps and not copy their steps,,, What is good for someone is not always suitable to the other even in the same circumstances.

6- Be Yourself,
Remember when I said "Know Yourself"?! Now I say be yourself!!
If You know yourself well enough then you don't need others to think for you or to tell you what to do or what's good for You.
Be yourself means be unique,be different and don't be like butterflies and rush together towards the flames and get burnt.
People with genuine ideas are the only ones that achieve great success,,,Can you tell me how was the computer before Bill Gates?



7- Keep learning,
There's something new every moment those days,,, and what you have learned is not enough,,, believe me what you have learned in school or university is essential but it's not going to take you anywhere,,, simply because everybody knows it,,, and people have made quite every use possible from that old stuff,,, You should learn new things if you want to get new ideas other than those that people already got,,,

8- Plan it,
You sure noticed that the main characteristic of the rat race is the randomness, everybody act randomly, decide randomly and this is why they get lost in most case.
You will need to plan everything if you are really willing to get out of that race as a winner.
And the best way to plan anything in general is to divide things into a long term goal and short term goals. The short term goals are a series of goals that depend on each other gradually and the total of those short term goals is your long term goal.

Ex. You want to become a millionaire and you have only 1000$
Then: Your long term goal is 1000 000$ (say in 3 years)
Your first short term goal is to turn your 1000$ into 10 000$ (say in one year)
Your second term goal is to turn the 10 000$ from your first short term goal into 100 000$ (say in one year)
Your third short term goal is to turn the 100 000$ from your second short term goal into 1000 000$ (say in one year)
Which achieves your long term goal (in the total of 3 years).

You should also decide the period of time that you will need to achieve your mini goals and the the total time that you will need to achieve your great goal,,, comparing what you have achieved within a given period of time to your short term goals and your long term goal will be a good progress indicator to your performance,,,

9- You will do it,
If You doubt You can get out of that rat race then forgive me, but you are not going anywhere,,,,
Be confident and take things at your own speed,,,
What if You fail?
Keep trying,,, You will do it someday.

10- We are still human,
It's nice to work hard, nice to study hard, nice to achieve goals. But we don't forget that we do all that to make our life better.
So, it doesn't make sense if we work so so hard that we end up sick or depressed,,,,,, A bit of music, a little laugh, a nice walk, some time with family and friends and a lot of fun is not forgotten because we are human still.

This is how I believe we can get out of the rat race in simple words :Knowledge, Planning and Insistence are the key words.

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Make sure you have enough in savings
To figure out if you've saved enough, there are a number of helpful Web tools. Whatever the tool, be sure you understand -- and agree with -- its assumptions. Some calculators assume that you will need income only for 25 years. If you retire in your early 50s, you will need your money to last much longer.

If you'd rather consult an expert, you can hire financial institutions or planners to crunch numbers for you. Find one using the latest income-planning software that analyzes the probability of your money lasting based on assumptions about your spending and portfolio growth.

Whatever resources you use, don't make unrealistic assumptions about the returns your savings and investments will generate -- or about how much you'll spend.

"You have to be prepared for the absolute worst -- deep, long recessions -- and assume you'll spend at least as much as you do now," says Malcolm Makin, a financial adviser in Westerly, R.I. "Especially if you're retiring young, you'll want to do more traveling and upgrade your golf clubs."
Set up a portfolio for growth and income
Once you've got enough squirreled away, you need to establish a reliable system that allows you to invest in stocks for long-term growth, while holding enough in fixed income to give you a reliable source of income for years to come.

This is a tricky balance to strike. "If you put too much in fixed income, you risk running out of money because you won't get the growth you need," says Lynn Ballou, an investment adviser in Lafayette, Calif. "If you put too much in stocks, but you don't get the return you're hoping for, you'll be in big trouble.

Just imagine if you had retired in 1999 with the bulk of your portfolio in stocks. During the crash that followed, you'd have been selling assets while they were under water," Ballou says.
The three-pot retirement income engine
Many planners recommend organizing your portfolio into three pots:

* One for cash expenses expected in the next year

* One for fixed income investments to feed the first pot

* The last for stocks that will provide growth to fund the first two pots

The idea is that as cash reserves decline, you can replenish them with overflow from the other two pots.

When the stock market is down, you may want to do so with some interest and dividends, McGrath says. When the market is strong, you'll probably have a greater percentage of stocks than you intended. "So when you sell off stocks to rebalance, direct the proceeds into your cash pool," McGrath says.

You can also generate a constant flow of income if you diversify your fixed-income pot with investments of varying maturities. Stay away from maturities of 12 years or more. "You get much more volatility and not much more return," says financial planner Michael Chasnoff of Cincinnati.



When you're deciding how much money to put in each pot, think carefully about your needs and your risk tolerance. This can affect how you save for and how much cash you make available every year. "This is one of your most critical decisions -- it can make or break your retirement," Ballou says.

If your cash pot holds about a year's worth of expenses in a money-market fund, your fixed-income pot should harbor at least four years' expenses. Ballou suggests holding seven to 10 years' expenses in this pot. During the 1970s bear market, she says, it would have taken about that much to get through the rough years without having to sell stocks at depressed prices.

The rest of your retirement savings can go into stocks or stock funds. If you're a seasoned investor, you're probably already comfortable setting up a diversified portfolio. Divide your money between large and small issues, growth and value, domestic and international.

If you're a new investor, lots of advice is available. On this site, the Start Investing decision center is a good place to start.
Get the most from fixed investments
Deciding where to put your fixed-income money can be a challenge. Even many experienced investors aren't faced with this challenge until they retire.

The traditional approach is to diversify your fixed-income portfolio with Treasurys and investment-grade corporate bonds of differing maturities. But someone with a much longer investment horizon may want to be more discerning and creative to eke out more return, Chasnoff says.



Here are a number of fixed-income alternatives:

* Treasurys: Yields on Treasurys can be so meager that they only really make sense if you're an extremely risk-averse investor, Chasnoff says. Backed by the U.S. government, Treasurys are about as safe as they get -- but you sacrifice yield.

* Corporate bonds: Corporate bonds can be hard to analyze, and the costs of buying them are often hidden. The issuer often has the right to call a bond, or to redeem it before maturity. But, Makin says, you do get more yield. Stick with investment-grade corporate, and stay away from bonds with maturities of 12 or more years, Chasnoff says. And unless you have $200,000 or more to put into individual bonds, the cheapest way to invest is via a low-cost mutual fund, preferably an intermediate-term fund, says Morningstar analyst Scott Berry. These generate more income than short-term funds. Possible choices: Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond (VFICX) and Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond Index (VBIIX). If you're willing to take on more risk, check out high-yield bond funds. They invest in lower-quality corporate bonds and can produce high yields when market conditions are ripe. "With the economy improving and interest rates poised to go higher, this is an area that's going to perform well," Berry says. One choice: Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund (VWEHX). "This is not the place to put a lot of your fixed-income money. The risk level is similar to buying stocks," he says. "But if you want some spice, this is a good place to look."

* REITs: Real-estate investment trusts have generated yields in recent years that most people only dreamed about. REITs invest directly in real estate such as office buildings, apartments and shopping malls, or they carry mortgages on these properties. They pay no income taxes so long as 90% of net income is passed to investors as dividends. The best way to buy REITs now is through exchange-traded funds -- low-cost buckets of securities created by investment firms. Chasnoff recommends iShares Dow Jones Real Estate Index (IYR, news, msgs) and iShares Cohen and Steers Index (ICF, news, msgs). Another good bet is a low-cost traditional mutual fund.

* Convertible bonds: Convertibles are essentially bonds that can be converted into common stock. They follow the tail of the stock market, while providing downside protection. "A typical convertible will get 60% to 80% of the upside potential of the stock market, while giving you less than half the risk," says William Harding, a Morningstar analyst. Harding and other planners recommend the Vanguard Convertible Securities Fund (VCVSX). Harding also likes the Fidelity Convertible Securities fund (FCVSX).

* Dividend-paying stocks: Dividend yields are on the rise again because of tax breaks.

* Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities: TIPs, as they're called, are basically Treasurys with a bonus: Your principal is tied to inflation. While inflation is still low, it has been inching up as the economy perks up. Your return on a TIP comes in two parts: a fluctuating return that's based on the inflation rate and paid out at maturity, plus the current yield, a fixed return paid out annually. The downside: You pay taxes on any gains on your principal each year, though you won't get the money until maturity. (As a result, planners typically recommend holding TIPs in tax-favored accounts such as Individual Retirement Accounts or Keogh plans.) How to get in? Via low-cost mutual funds for the convenience.

* Municipal bonds: If you're in a high tax bracket, don't overlook munis, which are exempt from federal taxes. (If you buy one issued by your state, it will be exempt from state taxes, too.) The federal tax savings alone can make munis look a lot more attractive than other bonds. But buying individual munis isn't always easy. They're generally sold in lots of $25,000. So look to mutual funds here. Two good bets: Vanguard Limited Term Tax Exempt (VMLTX) or Intermediate-Term Tax-exempt funds (VWITX). They come with relateively low expense ratios, compared to other muni funds.

* Agency bonds: These bonds, issued by government agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are about as safe as you can get next to Treasurys and generally offer higher yields. Unless you have a large amount to invest -- $1 million or more -- stick with the lowest-cost mutual funds. Morningstar and many planners like two Vanguard funds -- Vanguard GNMA fund (VFIIX) and Vanguard Short-Term Federal fund (VSGBX).

The easy alternative
If you're overwhelmed by the task of creating your own portfolio, don't sweat it. An easy alternative is a fund that gives you broad exposure to various bonds.

There are people who make it, I am sure you can too! The Longest journey starts from the first step and the hardest step is the first one!

Many people live in rat race without realizing it. You may be a high corporate executive with a high paid job, but you work 12 hours a day and some time even more. You hardly see your family, let alone participate in your children school and social curriculum. You stress yourself out every day, meeting after meeting, never ending entertainments, traveling on the road or by plane are becoming part of your life, but you have no time for your family vacation for the last couple of years.

You keep on telling yourself, next year, I will have more freedom when I completed this project or get the promotion and increment when I meet the target. Each year, either you fail below the borderline or the company just past you off because some one seems to have a better rapport with people of influence or just seems to have better luck in achieving more than you. Each year you promise yourself and your family, that next year you will bring them for the vacation that you have been talking for years, not because you cannot afford, but you just need to prove to the company that you are the person for the job. You do not want the management to feel that you value your family more than your job when the timing of the company project clashed with your family vacation plan.

If you have this challenge, you are running in the rat race without realizing it and "The Problem of rat race is, even if you win; you are still a rat." Lily Tomlin.

Take some time off now, the corporate world is very realistic, nobody is indispensable. And if you haven't got it, let's repeat, NO BODY IS INDISPENSABLE! Many years, there are hundreds of thousand of fresh graduates matching into the corporate world; these graduates are more qualified in term of academic qualification and skill. They are young, energetic, and enthusiastic and willing to take on any projects assigned by the company. They may demand half and even one-third of your pay and doing the same job you are doing, only different are they may lack your experience, But then again, thing changes so fast in today knowledge management world that without continuous personal development, your experience is obsolete in just couple of years without you notice it.

So, take a couple of minutes of for yourself, in a quiet place to do some personal reflection of your life you want to be. If you still wanted to run the rat race and be a rat, fine, no body will say anything. It's your life any way; you chose to live the way you like. In case, you decided that you wanted to get out of the rat race, you must realize that you have to does something difference. Albert Einstein once said, "Insanity is do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result!"

Do something different and Get Your Life Back!

Try doing this step by Step :

Think it You are different
You are not alone in the world, many people believe this is the only way to live, but you are different. You chose to read these lines, take action and look for something better.

Deserve to live the life that you want!
Try legitimate business vehicle that allows you to create the financial freedom and personal freedom you are looking for:
1. Be your own boss
2. Set your own goals
3. Manage your own time
4. Work with like minded people in an exciting atmosphere
5. Get paid based on the real value you provide
6. Have fun again!
7. Exct.



Next step

1. Starting your own home business is not just a simple walk in park.
The secret of those who succeeded in their own home business is their determination, strong commitment to their chosen field, patience, creativity, hard work, and more hard work. The more time and effort you put into your home business, the better chances are for you to succeed.

2. Try Find out Fixed-income alternatives
Let's start with the simplest need, a safe haven for cash that you are going to need in the near future or on demand. Several types of securities provide this liquidity and security.

- Canada Savings Bonds ("CSBs")

These have been around since 1946, and although the terms and conditions vary from time to time, they are all essentially the same. The Bank of Canada issues CSBs each month and guarantees their principal and interest.

The big plus is that you can cash them at any time at any bank. In effect CSBs represent demand money. The disadvantages are that you cannot transfer CSBs so there is no secondary market and, more important, because CSBs are so popular, the government can issue them with very low and unattractive interest rates.

A few months ago CSBs were paying 1.35% for a one-year term. As a result, after paying as much as 46.4% in taxes, investors receive a 0.72% net return; that's less than last year's 1.3% increase in the cost of living. In my view, this is one time when safety doesn't pay. Right now you lose money - or at least purchasing power - with CSBs. So my suggestion is that you should keep CSB holdings to a minimum.

- Treasury Bills ("T-Bills")

These short term notes that the Bank of Canada sells every Tuesday (with initial terms of 91, 182 and 364 days) are ideal for investors who need a safe, short-term investment.

Investors like T-Bills because of the Government of Canada guarantee and the active secondary market. It's always easy to sell T-Bills or buy others for shorter periods with little or no loss and T-Bills are readily available from your bank in amounts as small as $1,000.

The odd thing about T-Bills is that they do not pay interest. You buy T-Bills at a discount and receive par or $100 on the maturity date. The difference between what you pay and the value at maturity is treated as income by the tax department.

For instance, a few months ago T-Bills with 338 days remaining were priced at $98.02 and paid $100 at maturity to yield 2.10%; considerably better than CSBs.

- Government Bonds

These are debt instruments issued by the federal government, the provinces and municipalities who guarantee their principal and interest.

There is an active secondary market for government bonds so that you can buy and sell them easily and keep track of their value. Keep in mind, though, that market values fluctuate which exposes you to the potential for either capital gains or losses.

As you would expect, Government of Canada bonds (also know as "Canadas") are the most senior and consequently offer relatively low yields. For example, the 7.25% Canadas due 1 June 2007, were recently trading at $111 to yield 4.95%. Still quite a bit better than T-Bills and CSBs.

At the same time, the Province of Ontario 6.16% bonds, maturing 12 September 2007, were priced at $105 to yield 5.15%, while the Metro Toronto 6.10% debentures, due August 15, 2007, were at $104 to yield 5.30%. Generally, the yields on provincial bonds are higher than those on Canadas white yields on municipal bonds are higher than on provincial issues.

- Preferred Shares ("Preferreds")

These securities are not really fixed-income issues at all; they pay the holder dividends rather than interest. As a matter of fact, preferred are a type of equity.

Companies issue preferred shares without any guarantee of capital repayment, and even the dividends are not payable until the corporate directors declare them each quarter. Nevertheless, because senior preferreds normally provide a steady stream of income, investors usually regard them as fixed-income securities. Certainly, some preferred offer attractive yields, especially because their dividends attract a lower rate of tax than the interest paid on bonds.
And, More Fixed Alternative Incomes where the best for you, That is your choice.

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3. Step up your payments
If you are in a company pension scheme, this dream could come true if you act now. By maximizing your contributions you can build up your pension more quickly, making early retirement or a career break a real possibility.

If you started pension planning late in life, or have had several years out of work, this is more difficult. But increasing contributions will help make up for some lost time and mean the difference between a frugal or a comfortable retirement.

Investing in your pension scheme is the best way to save for retirement because contributions are tax free. For a basic rate tax payer, pounds 100 of gross income is worth pounds 77 after tax. But, put into a pension, the full pounds 100 is contributed. As an employee you can put up to 15 per cent of salary into an occupational pension scheme each year, on top of contributions from your employer. There is an annual earnings cap of pounds 84,000, so the maximum you can contribute is pounds 12,600 a year.



4. Or you could change all your life.
You can your Life from one of this item below :

a. INCOME
Downshifting invariably means having to live on less money, so the first task is working out exactly how much you need to live on. For example, the average before-tax annual salary for workers in the City of London is [pound]73,587, compared with [pound]28,210 for the UK as a whole, according to the GMB Union. Write a list of all your expenses, including mortgage repayments, any outstanding credit card balances, loans, subscriptions, insurance premiums and regular bills such as utilities.
"Take a step-by-step approach, such as destroying one of your credit cards or cutting out three non-essential purchases the next time you go shopping, and see how you feel about it,"

b. MOVING HOUSE
Even if you have a clear idea of where you want to live, it's important to do your research. Log on to websites such as UpMyStreet.com, which can provide you with detailed information on everything from crime statistics to the number of local dentists in the vicinity.

c. MORTGAGES
This all depends on your personal circumstances, says David Hollingworth, spokesman for London & Country Mortgages. If you have plenty of equity in a house you are selling then you might only need a small mortgage when you buy your new home.

However, it's worth remembering that if you are staying in the same house, you will end up paying more as a proportion of your income if you are earning less money. As the mortgage is usually your biggest expense, consider making overpayments via a flexible home loan while you've still got cash available to reduce the size of the future burden.

d. PENSION AND SAVINGS
Don't overlook your pension planning when you downshift. Turning your back on a final salary pension scheme - if you are lucky enough to have one - could seriously deplete the amount of money you have to live on in retirement.

Get advice on your particular situation from an independent financial adviser. It's also worth putting as much spare cash away as possible prior to a downshift, so make sure, for example, that you use all your ISA savings allowances.

e. LIVING COSTS
Don't assume that living away from a major city will mean your living costs will immediately shrink. While you can expect to pay less for nights out, general expenses, ranging from a pint of milk to a television, will be much the same and some could actually be higher. The price of petrol, for example, is often higher in rural areas.

f. WORKING ABROAD

For some people it's not enough just escaping the office - they need to make a complete break. According to figures from the European Union, there are well over 700,000 Britons working overseas.

If you are flexible about your country choice, opt for somewhere that has a shortage for your particular skills and make several reconnaissance trips to your chosen area.

If you have own Business and Free Career, you will enjoy your life and can get Vacation, Traveling by nothing to worry bout your Financial and Your business!.

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How to Stay Healthy and Wealthy?

Staying healthy and wealthy is what every human beings on earth wants. Here are some important yet easy ways to stay healthy and wealthy!

Read on :)
Health and Wealth Lens!

Nowadays it's almost unfashionable for an online entrepreneur to not have a blog or two. Since the web abounds of personal blogs, informational blogs, art and poetry blogs, and so on, a business blog has to compete against all of the above-mentioned and business blogs for a high ranking in the search engine results pages.

For a blog to be successful it needs to be well written, frequently updated, well designed and honest!

Read this very Informative lens here:
How to Build a Successful Blog!

Online Forums are a great tool for you to make money.
Read this very informative Lens on how to make money easily from forums.

Check this out:
How to make money from Forums

How Do you Invest time?
Do you want to be more Happy and Successful?

Is investing time Important? And how can it help you be more Successful?

Invest your time really this lens and it could be one of your biggest time investment in life!

Invest your time reading it here:
Time Investing Lens