It all started out when I picked up a book by a well-known personal finance guru in my local bookstore about six years ago. I really had no idea why I picked up this particular book n it may have been displayed in the window or in the store itself. All I remember is thinking that something was intriguing about this book and that I had to have it right then and there. I guess that somehow, I was ready for a financial education.
Money on my Mind
When I got it home, it became immediately apparent that the book was deceptively simple. 
It took me no longer than one day to finish the book and it was as compelling to read as a great novel. But I was hungry for the substance of life experience rather than another airy, fictional distraction. Money was foremost in my mind and I needed answers.
One of the beliefs I held at that time was that financial literature is just plain boring. And in fairness, sometimes that’s true. This belief about financial matters being boring – it went beyond books about finances – probably came from the influence of my parents.
My father was a tax collector in his early years, during a time when engaging in such a profession was a form of social leprosy. Sometimes he would pick me up from school. He had learned to ignore the negative comments and rudeness of some of some of my classmates’ parents who owed taxes. He endured these slights with resignation. On the other hand, I was mortified.
I felt ashamed during these encounters and found ways to come home on my own even if it meant walking a great distance in lousy weather. Loving my father, I rationalized away all things financial as being boring because that was infinitely better than thinking them shameful. It took quite a while to finally put that belief to rest.
Playing the Cash-Flow Game
Years later, armed with the excellent financial advice found within my financial guru’s book, I was ready to face up to my beliefs about finances. 
I was intrigued by the ideas and concepts in the book and recommended it to some friends.
A few weeks later I found out about a cash flow game, which lead to a weekly circle of my friends playing the game for over a year. It was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed it immensely, but it wasn’t easy in the beginning to get out of the rat race and fulfill our dreams n the goal of the game.
Finances had gone from boring to fun. I was hooked and began to learn more.
It was now time to put my money where my mouth was. My wife Aviva and I bought a house on the Big Island of Hawaii, a huge financial move for us. 2006 was the year of the house flip and we wanted our share of the profits everyone was making in real estate. There were plenty of houses on the market and, after reviewing a few, we decided on a newly built, three-bedroom house.
At that time Countrywide Financial was giving loans to anyone with a pulse who could hold a pen. My wife and I obtained an ARM with three years fixed interest (3-ARM) and we were excited about our coming windfall. During that three years we planned to flip the house and sell it at a tidy profit.
Finances weren’t so bad after all, were they?
Buying into the Bubble
What we failed to account for – due to our own ignorance – was the true state of the financial markets at the time. 
We did not pay attention to interest rates, politics, or the resulting economic situation that soon replaced everyone’s enthusiasm with gloomy anxiety. The bubble had burst. The 2006 highs quickly plummeted as the real estate market faltered. Our supposed profits had turned to pain.
The next shock came three years later. The ARM was up and we needed to modify the loan application to a fixed rate we could live with. It had to happen immediately and it had to happen within very narrow parameters.
Meanwhile, our mortgage shot up over $400 per month. Before this adjustment we had been breaking even, with the incoming rent offsetting the mortgage. After the adjustment it was a disaster in more ways than one. We not only had to pay $400 more towards the mortgage each month, rental income had tanked and we were getting $200 less per month in rent than we had just a few weeks before. In no time at all, we were in the red about $600 per month.
We were not alone. Millions of others had gotten slapped by the economy in one way or another. Like everyone else, my wife and I were pretty upset. Like everyone else, we blamed the banks and the government for creating (and bursting) this bubble. Unlike many, however, we quickly decided not to play the blame game as pointing fingers and getting upset would ultimately do nothing to change our situation.
Turning it Around
It was time to uncover our own deeply held personal issues around money and to begin to a new course of educating ourselves about finances. We had handed our power to an expert, the real estate agent who helped us pick that particular house in that particular market.
We went along with the deal and accepted the terms of the mortgage, not thinking about any possible risks involved. Like our real estate agent and banker, we were absolutely certain our foray into real estate was a win-win situation. Until everything went red.
A few false starts. Some uncertainty along the way. We found a solution. We survived. We continued our financial education, by now having read over two dozen books on creating money, investing, the FED, the banking industry, the history of money and banking, precious metals, stocks, and the politics of finance. We even dug into various conspiracy theories surrounding the field like a cloud of gnats.
The New Rules of Money
Slowly, the puzzle fell into place as we began to see a more exact picture. It was then that finances and money came alive for us and once more engaged our perceptions and energies. 
But much of what we had uncovered was shocking and disturbing. For weeks we felt paralyzed as we struggled to get our heads around some of the things we had discovered.
We thought we had known the rules. We discovered what we came to call the New Rules of Money – and you will never even be aware of them if you always rely on the ‘experts’ to give you sound financial and investment advice without considering the whole money puzzle.
Aviva and I learned many things in the course of our financial education, things that we would like to share with you. Because you see, what we learned really can be claimed and put to use by everyone. What we learned fanned the flames of our entrepreneurial business spirit and provided the tools we needed to succeed with our finances. You will find these tools in the Wealth Building Course.
Understand What’s Going On
The Wealth Building Course is a 90-day online training course specially designed to teach you the New Rules of Money, how you can beat the current global economic crisis, and even learn to prosper in it. This crisis is only a ‘crisis’ from the standpoint of certain persons who want to manipulate people’s fears around it.
It is in fact the biggest transfer of wealth in history, which means that a lot of people will lose everything, even while a select few will make tremendous gains. Losing everything will be due to lack of awareness and perception. Tremendous gains can be made either ethically or unscrupulously – the choice to lose or gain, and how you do so, is entirely yours to make.
Until we have a better, more equitable financial system in place you will have to make a choice. Either you can be poor or you can be rich. Chances are you already understand this. You are getting poorer every day. Soon, you will no longer be in the middle class because it will cease to exist. You will be poor like most others. There is only one remedy to this situation: you must start to educate yourself financially and you must begin immediately.
A Financial GPS
Global financial meltdown has to happen before we can build a better system. We may have to dismantle nearly everything we consider ‘normal’ about our monetary systems. 
We may have to rethink our markets. We may have to sacrifice a great deal. We can resist and experience greater pain or we can create something better and get on with it. It’s a matter of evolution – both personally and on the macro scale.
The Wealth Building Course will help you gain a profound understanding of what is really going on financially, not only in the US but also globally. It is the edge you need, this ability to see the bigger picture along with the smaller one.
This new knowledge will present the choices you need to make to be free to set a new course for the future. Think of it as your own financial GPS. Where in the world will you choose to go financially? Would you opt for a serene paradise or a warzone in turmoil?
Are you ready for the adventure?
Thomas Herold – Aviva Engel
Founders of the Wealth Building Course
