The RRSP Secret: Defend and Build Your Wealth with This Powerful Investment Strategy - Hardcover

Habstritt, Greg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470736526 ISBN 13: 9780470736524

Publisher: Wiley, 2014

Synopsis

If you're a Canadian investor who's feeling ripped off lately, you're not alone. Canadians pay the highest fees in the world when it comes to investments in RRSPs and other registered accounts. Is this just because Canadians are foolish, or is there something more sinister at work?

Now, and for the first time, The RRSP Secret reveals many of the financial industry's most closely guarded secrets - providing the individual investor an unprecedented view into how the financial system negatively impacts the financial freedom of most Canadians. More importantly, the book outlines specifically how to defend your wealth and use a little-known strategy to create double-digit returns - the same way the banks do.

You'll never hear a bank manager or financial advisor tell you about this secret strategy, and you won't read about it in the newspaper. Why? Because they'd rather continue selling you underperforming investments that increase their profits instead of making you wealthy. The financial industry is a massive marketing machine that isn't designed to make you money, and the only way you'll become financially free is if you take control of your financial future - and this is your opportunity.

In The RRSP Secret, Greg Habstritt teaches you how to use the money in your RRSP, TFSA and other registered savings accounts to invest in one of the most reliable and secure investments available to you - and it's exactly the same strategy that the banks use to create profits themselves. You'll finally be empowered to turn the tables on the financial industry, and beat them at their own game. You'll learn how to invest for double-digit returns without having to take massive risks, or pay hidden fees and commissions.

Stop being taken advantage of, and start making better decisions with your money. Your financial future starts now!

Testimonials: 

" Greg Habstritt is a multi-millionaire who can show you exactly how to build massive wealth by using cutting-edge strategies and a formula for predicting markets. I teach people to learn from the best, and there's no one better than Greg!"

~ T. Harv Eker, Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

 

"I have known Greg Habstritt for several years and have always appreciated his integrity, honest approach, and willingness to ‘tell it like it is.' The concepts you'll read about have been used by wealthy Canadians for decades and now, for the first time, they're being shared in a very straightforward, step-by-step guide."

~ Don R. Campbell, President of the Real Estate Investing Network and bestselling author of Real Estate Investing In Canada 2.0

 

"If you need street-smart skills on how to make millions in real estate like the pros do, then stop looking! Greg Habstritt teaches his secrets on how to build massive wealth through real estate investing. Greg teaches what he does and what works, and you can take that to the bank."

~ Keith J. Cunningham, Master Teacher of Business, Keys to the Vault Business School for Entrepreneurs

About this title

About the Author

Reading this book is likely the single most important thing you can do to defend and build your wealth, and you will be able to implement what you learn immediately―I guarantee it!

―Greg Habstritt, Founder, SimpleWealth Inc.

From the Back Cover

If you’re looking to change your financial future, this is your chance.

You’re about to embark on an exciting journey, one that will take you “behind the scenes” to see what’s really going on in the financial industry. My goal in writing this book is to help you see things for what they really are―you’ll discover how you’ve been purposely misled and how dirty little tricks are being used against you.

Once you’ve learned why the system is stacked against you, I’ll then give you a blueprint to begin creating double-digit returns, using the very same strategy the banks use―a strategy they hope you won’t find out about.

No matter what kinds of investments you hold, this book will give you a powerful foundation of knowledge and an inside perspective on the financial system. You will be empowered to take control of your money and make better financial and investment decisions. You’ll finally be able to make your own investment decisions confidently, without blindly handing your money over to an “expert” and hoping they know what they’re doing.

“Greg Habstritt is a multi-millionaire who can show you exactly how to build massive wealth by using cutting-edge strategies and a formula for predicting markets. I teach people to learn from the best, and there’s no one better than Greg!”

~T. Harv Eker, Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

“The concepts you’ll read about in The RRSP Secret have been used by wealthy Canadians for decades and now, for the first time, they’re being shared in a very straightforward, step-by-step guide.”

~Don R. Campbell, President of the Real Estate Investing Network and bestselling author of Real Estate Investing In Canada 2.0

Now, and for the first time, The RRSP Secret reveals many of the financial industry's most closely guarded secrets - providing the individual investor an unprecedented view into how the financial system negatively impacts the financial freedom of most Canadians. More importantly, the book outlines specifically how to defend your wealth and use a little-known strategy to create double-digit returns - the same way the banks do.

You'll never hear a bank manager or financial advisor tell you about this secret strategy, and you won't read about it in the newspaper. Why? Because they'd rather continue selling you underperforming investments that increase their profits instead of making you wealthy. The financial industry is a massive marketing machine that isn't designed to make you money, and the only way you'll become financially free is if you take control of your financial future - and this is your opportunity.

In The RRSP Secret, Greg Habstritt teaches you how to use the money in your RRSP, TFSA and other registered savings accounts to invest in one of the most reliable and secure investments available to you - and it's exactly the same strategy that the banks use to create profits themselves. You'll finally be empowered to turn the tables on the financial industry, and beat them at their own game. You'll learn how to invest for double-digit returns without having to take massive risks, or pay hidden fees and commissions.

Stop being taken advantage of, and start making better decisions with your money. Your financial future starts now!

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The RRSP Secret

Defend and Build Your Wealth with This Powerful Investment StrategyBy Greg Habstritt

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-73652-4

Chapter One

I've Met the Enemy, and the Enemy Is Me!

When I'm left on my own, I'm my own worst enemy. —Ron Wood

I'm going to start with the single most important thing for you to understand if you're going to change your financial circumstances and create prosperity for yourself and your family. You're probably not going to like what I'm about to tell you, but here's something I can guarantee: your financial future depends on your ability to believe and accept what I'm about to reveal to you. In fact, I'm starting with this because without question it is absolutely the main reason that most people never achieve financial success.

The reality is that the biggest reason you've been held back financially is you. You are literally your own worst enemy when it comes to money and investing. Most people don't like to hear this, but let me remind you that this applies to everyone, including me.

It's important for you to understand some of the thinking and behaviours you have right now that are hurting your financial future, because once you're aware of them, you can change them. Sadly, most Canadians never take the time to try and learn anything about how investing, finance or money works. They simply listen to the "experts," hand their money over to others who claim to be professionals and hope for the best. To many people, investing and money management are some kind of voodoo magic, and they don't really understand it. It's too painful to try and learn it, so they avoid the topic—and their financial statements reflect this sad reality.

So why is it that so many investors are fearful of making decisions? Why do so many people avoid learning about simple concepts when it comes to investing and managing their own money?

This can be easily explained by what I call the "Financial Overwhelm Loop."

THE FINANCIAL OVERWHELM LOOP

As you grow up and get through high school and then possibly university or college or go directly into the workforce, you become acutely aware of all the financial things out in the world you know nothing about. You begin to hear about the stock market, RRSPs, mutual funds, real estate, taxes, corporations, stockbrokers, cash flow, contribution matching, market timing, diversification, dollar-cost averaging—the list is endless.

Predictably, since you've never formally been taught any of these things, they cause you anxiety and concern, because you have no idea what they are or what you should be doing about them. As you accumulate some money, you have a sense that you should be doing something with that money, but you just don't know what that should be. You begin to feel a sense of being overwhelmed by trying to figure out what to do. Fear and trepidation set in, too.

There doesn't appear to be any other logical solution. Your parents don't seem to be able to offer any intelligent advice and your friends don't seem to understand things any more than you do, so you do what most people do in this situation and turn to a financial advisor to ask for some help. And then it begins.

You feel a sense of relief as you hand your responsibilities over to an "expert" who will take care of your money. When you meet with him (or her, as the case may be), he sounds very smart and he gains your confidence that you've selected the right person.

Of course, since you don't know to ask, he doesn't discuss his compensation or how he is going to profit from working with you. Rarely is the nature of your relationship with him discussed in detail. All you know is that he is going to manage your money and grow it so that you can enjoy a wonderful retirement.

You then essentially ignore your financial situation, trusting it to someone else. You don't educate yourself, or learn about new products and services coming out in the marketplace. You don't pay a lot of attention to the fundamentals of the markets. In fact, you can't, because you wouldn't know where to start.

But you carry on with your career or your business, your family and all the other priorities you have. Besides, you've got enough going on in your life, and the last thing you need to do is try to become a financial expert. You've never been good with numbers, and it's just not your skill set. You do what you need to do, your advisor manages your money, and everyone lives happily ever after. Right?

Unfortunately, most investors find out at some point that while this fairy tale is easy to believe, it rarely comes true. Eventually, out of nowhere, some kind of financial problem arises. There's a meltdown in the stock market, or interest rates are increased without warning, or your portfolio takes a hit for some reason that you're not clear on.

And here you are, looking to your advisor for help and reassurance. And what does he tell you? "Don't worry," he says. "Now is not the time to panic. We're in for the long haul, and now is a terrible time to pull out." He tells you that he thinks the market's about to come back, and tries to calm you down.

You're feeling trapped, because you don't have any idea how to interpret what's going on and you're blindly relying on someone you hope knows what they're doing. You're again feeling overwhelmed, because you don't know whether you should fire your advisor, or if you should stick with it "for the long run."

And this vicious circle continues over and over, blindly trusting others with your money and then failing to become educated so that you can make better decisions in the future. For many investors, this cycle repeats itself for their entire lifetime. Some investors switch advisors during a downturn, while others stick with theirs, hoping that at some point things will turn around.

Now, don't get me wrong—as I'll outline in the next chapter, I don't think that the entire financial industry is out to get you, or that you can't trust any financial advisor. While there are definitely some serious problems in the way that the system is structured (and works against the interest of the individual investor), I do believe that most of the people in the financial sector are honest and want to help you. Unfortunately, as you'll see, many of them don't even know the damage they're causing to their clients.

In any case, the point you need to get right now is that no one will take better care of your money than you will.

PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE

One of my key beliefs is that in life, when something negative happens to you, there are three primary ways in which you can respond.

1. Blame. One response might be to place blame on why the negative outcome occurred. For example, let's assume that an investor places $10,000 in a stock that his stockbroker recommends. The stock goes to zero, and he loses his entire $10,000 investment. He immediately jumps up and down, and points his finger at the broker, blaming him for putting him into a bad investment. Placing blame is the primary method in which most investors respond to losses.

2. Justify. Another response to a negative situation is to work to find good reasons for why it happened—investors attempt to justify the outcome. For example, a real estate investor who loses money suggests that the reason for the loss is that the market is soft, and there's not much he can do about something like that. The cause of the problem is out of his control, and he just shrugs his shoulders.

3. Take Responsibility. The third response to something negative is to take responsibility for the outcome. The investor accepts that the reason for the negative outcome was either in whole or part due to the actions (or inactions) that he personally took. If you look at the first example above, where the investor lost $10,000, instead of blaming his broker he could instead look at what he did personally to contribute to the negative outcome (the loss).

Out of curiosity, how did you respond to the last loss that you took on an investment? When you checked your portfolio and saw that it has gone down several percentage points, did you blame anybody and anything but yourself?

If you look carefully at these three ways of responding to something negative, you'll notice that the first two—placing blame and justifying—put the power into the hands of someone or something else, and you cannot control the outcome. That's another way of saying that you are a victim. You're really saying that it's not your fault, and therefore it must be the fault of someone or something else.

In the third response, taking responsibility, you are forced to step up and recognize what role you played in the negative outcome. Of course, most investors don't like to do this, as it's much easier to point the finger at someone else, or come up with a good reason (excuse) as to why things didn't turn out as hoped.

Accepting This Important Truth

Until you are willing to identify and take responsibility for negative investment outcomes, you'll be powerless to stop them because you are putting yourself in the role of victim. Let me go back to the examples above to illustrate my point.

In the situation where the investor lost $10,000 because he trusted his broker, it's easy for the investor to point at the broker and blame him. After all, the broker suggested that stock. But what role did the investor play? Or, more importantly, what role could the investor have played?

If the investor had been willing to be responsible and accountable, one of the things he likely would have done is tried to learn more about the investment that the broker was recommending. He would have played an active role in the investment, as opposed to just sitting back and hoping that his broker had made a good suggestion.

Blindly throwing money at an investment without understanding it is no different than placing a bet in Las Vegas. Any time you invest in something you don't understand, you're gambling, not investing.

In this case, the investor needs to accept responsibility for investing in something that he really didn't understand. By the way, this isn't the exception, this is the rule! Most investors are putting their money into investments in which they have no knowledge or understanding, so it's not surprising that most investors do not do very well.

In 2005, Ellen Roseman reported in the Toronto Star on a survey of Canadian investors in mutual funds that underlines this point. Of those surveyed, 60% didn't know what an "MER" was (it stands for "management expense ratio"), and 40% couldn't name the fund that they were invested in.

Think about that for a moment: 40% of the investors didn't even know what it was that their money was invested in! That's like having money invested in real estate, but not knowing in what city or province.

THE H.A.P. INVESTING STRATEGY

I'm about to reveal to you the most popular investment strategy in the world today. It's particularly popular because it takes virtually no time to learn or to apply, and you can use it in any kind of investment vehicle. You don't even need a financial planner or stockbroker to utilize this strategy and, in fact, most investors do it themselves because it's so easy. It also happens to be the most popular strategy used by Canadians, and has been since the dawn of time. My guess is that at some point, you've applied this strategy yourself and perhaps still are.

What I'm talking about is the Hope and Pray (H.A.P.) Investing Strategy—what most investors are relying on to create their financial future and retire in comfort. It involves simply hoping and praying that things are going to turn out okay, but my guess is that if you're reading this book you already know that this is a fairy tale. The H.A.P. strategy hasn't worked for you.

Hoping and praying is what you have to do if you decide to hand over your money to someone and let them take care of it. You have to hope they know what they're doing, and pray that they make decisions in your best interest and don't lose it all. It's truly a loser's strategy, and it's one that I hope you'll never apply after reading this book.

VICTIM NO MORE

At this point, I hope it's clear why being a victim is so damaging to your net worth and your financial future, and I hope I've inspired you to decide that you're not going to choose to be a victim anymore. I'm also hoping you're recognizing why this discussion of psychology is as important, if not more important, than talking about investment principles, facts and figures!

If you're prepared to STOP being a victim with your money and investing, I have a very effective tool that I personally created when trying to overcome the desire to be a victim.

Asking "What Role Did I Play in This?"

"What role did I play in this?" This is a question I created for myself many years ago, I find that it immediately takes me out of the victim mentality and plants me squarely in reality. It forces me to think about what role I've played in an outcome, and helps me avoid the trap of blaming and justifying.

Asking yourself this question forces you to be accountable for at least some portion of the outcome. The more you ask the question, and the more honestly you answer it, the more you begin to realize that you-not someone or something else—were primarily responsible for the outcome.

Let me again look at the $10,000 investment loss to demonstrate the use of this powerful tool. In that case, when the investor lost his $10,000 in the stock recommended by the broker, he was quick to condemn and blame the broker for making the bad decision.

However, if that investor stopped and asked himself what role he played, he would soon have to face the reality that he invested his money without understanding the stock. He would have to admit that he was blindly hoping and praying that the broker was going to do a good job. Thinking about it further, he'd likely come to the realization that if he had done some research on the stock and was able to ask intelligent questions, he may have been able to see a reason why that stock wasn't the best choice.

I certainly feel that the broker played some role here, since providing good advice is supposed to be part of the job. But when we're talking about an investor who doesn't even pretend like he wants to learn anything or be involved, it's rare that this situation works out well for everyone.

Let me emphasize this point by looking beyond the investment world and sharing with you what I believe is one of the most profound and important statements that I'll make in this entire book.

I believe that a direct indicator of how successful you will be in life (not just financially) is based on your willingness to be accountable for your results.

This applies not only to investing and money but equally to relationships and other areas of your life. For example, if you continually blame your spouse for the problems you have in your marriage, and you're not willing to step up and assume responsibility for some of your faults, then that relationship is doomed.

Taking Full Responsibility, No Matter What

If you want to be successful, you must immediately begin assuming responsibility and being accountable for all the negative things that happen in your life. The more that you can eliminate blame and justification from your vocabulary, the more successful you will be.

I often get challenged on this, because someone will say to me, "Well, my car got broken into last night, and they took my briefcase with my laptop. I lost all of my documents for the past three years. And you're telling me this is my fault?"

Actually, yes I am. Before you decide to return this book, I'm not saying that you caused the break-in, but you did make several decisions that brought about the negative outcome. First, you decided where to park your car. That likely contributed to the outcome. Next, you left a valuable asset in the car, when I think most of us realize that's usually not a good idea. You chose not to take the briefcase with you, wherever you were going. Maybe you felt you had a good reason for this—perhaps you were going for dinner with your spouse, or going to the gym. In any case, whether you had a good reason or not, recognize that you made the decision that led to the outcome. All of the documents for the past three years are gone. That would imply you didn't have a backup of your documents. And whose responsibility was that?

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The RRSP Secretby Greg Habstritt Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Excerpted by permission of John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470736526
• ISBN 13: 9780470736524
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256