Today’s news:

There wasn’t too much going on today because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The stock markets were closed and there were parades all over. I filled in for Clark (see the photo our engineer Clint Reed took of me in “Clark’s” studio). Still, we were able to help more than a dozen people with their financial problems.

We’ll post the show in a few days, so be sure to check back. In the meantime, here are some of the things we talked about today.

How to Invest Your Money Right Now – March 27, 2010 – Save The Date

Ilyce Glink and Real World Seminar’s Latest Event

The worst economy in decades has been followed by an incredible 70 percent bounce in the stock market. Some economists are predicting we’ll have a double-dip recession while others think the worst is behind us. Most investors are scratching their heads, wondering “What’s next?”

Will the economy move forward?
Will it fall back into recession?
Will the stock market move forward or retest market lows?
Should you play it safer or take on more risk?

For our next event, How To Invest In 2010, we’ll bring together the best local investment advisors, financial planners, tax experts and successful investors.

Together, we’ll explore this new world of investing. We’ll look at short-term and long-term investments, retirement savings and your child’s college education fund. We’ll look at stocks, bonds, ETFs, real estate investing and the biggest mistakes investors make.

So plan to join me on March 27, 2010 for my How To Invest In 2010.

The ticket window is open.

We’re offering a 2-for-1 deal, or 50 percent off the ticket price.

Use Discount Code: clark

You can also purchase a VIP ticket, or a special package of financial ebooks we’re creating especially for this event.

You’ll have face-to-face time with our experts who are there to share information, not sell you on a solution. And you’ll be able to get answers to your own investing questions.

So, SAVE THE DATE and join us March 27, 2010 for How To Invest In 2010.

New ThinkGlink Ebooks About Investing in Real Estate Are Now Available

We created five new ebooks that together provide you with more than 100 pages of important, money-saving information about investing successful in real estate. here are the five topics:

  1. 1031 Tax-Deferred Exchanges. Everything you need to know about 1031 Exchanges (also known as Starker Trusts) and how to use them to defer capital gains and recapture taxes.
  2. LLCs, Corporations, And Other Ways Of Holding Title To Real Estate. The time to start thinking about you’re going to hold title is BEFORE you buy an investment property. This ebook walks you through the different ownership options and what you need to know.
  3. How to Profit From Foreclosures: 9 Top Tips From Investors. Avoid the most common and most devastating mistakes real estate investors make by reading this ebook.
  4. Finding Great Tenants And Profitably Managing Real Estate Investments. If you don’t have good tenants, you’ll wind up with losing money with your real estate investment – or perhaps destroying your credit. This ebook tells you how to find great tenants, how to price your unit to rent, and how to manage your property effectively and efficiently.
  5. The Successful Real Estate Investors Guide: Top Tax Tips. Investing successfully means you’ve got to keep your expenses low. That means, watch what you pay in taxes. This book walks you through the major tax areas you’ll encounter with real estate investing.

You can get a FREE copy of my book 50 Simple Steps You Can Take to Disaster Proof Your Finances” or “The REALLY Useful Guide to Working Smarter Not Harder” at the ThinkGlink.com store. You pay the shipping and we’ll send you any number of books for free!

Order Your ThinkGlink Ebook or Free Book Today!

Buy 3 Ebooks and Get 1 Free Ebook DEAL!

If you select 3 ebooks from our store and enter the discount code “freeebook” (no quotes), you’ll get one of those ebooks for free. It works with all of our ebooks. Just use the code to get the discount. It will show up when you check out of the ThinkGlink store.

New Tools, New Decade: RightSIZING Your Life

My mantra this year (until I think up something else) is going to be this: New tools, new decade. I think times are so tough, that it requires a reengineering of how we think about money and what satisfies us. I call this RightSIZING and I’d like to invite you to participate in a grand experiment in which I work with a family on rightsizing their life based on a new financial reality.

I talked a little more about RightSIZING on the Clark Howard show today. I think most of the folks who live on Main Street (which is everyone who doesn’t live on Wall Street, or have that Wall Street state of mind), realize that times have changed. You may not be in financial trouble, but I’m guessing you know someone who is in trouble. And, the trouble can be mild or major – and folks really need help.

RightSIZING is about changing your mindset – mourning the loss of your old life, complete with maybe the house you had to leave and the lifestyle you no longer have – but learning to be happy and content with what you do have in life. It’s a new/old way of thinking and I want you to figure it out.

More on this later in the week, but if you’d like some help, please email me at [email protected].

Calls From Today’s Clark Howard Show

How To Find a Financial Planner

We took a couple of calls from folks who need financial planners. Wyn inherited money and wants to pay off her house, but also will have about $75,000 to invest for retirement.

I suggested several times on the show today that if you have a lot of cash and are facing a big decision about investing, you should speak with a fee-only financial planner who can help you make the most of your money.

READ MORE:

How to Qualify a Financial Planner

Financial Planning: How To Find The Right Person To Manage Your Money

Do Your Homework On Your Real Estate Agent, Mortgage Lender And Personal Finance Advisor

Calling All Authors: Self-Publishing Books and Ebooks

We had a call from a poet on the show who wanted to know how to get her books published. She was working with a self-publisher and didn’t know if she was getting a good deal.

Here are some self-publishing companies that I have heard are pretty good. WARNING: I haven’t used these companies and I’m not necessarily endorsing them. But if you look at these companies, and get bids from each of them, you’ll start to understand more about the process of self-publishing, what the costs are and what you get.

Keep in mind that my deep down feeling is (as the author of 12 books), your job as an author begins once the books are published. You have to take on all of the marketing involved with selling your book as well.

AuthorHouse.com

iUniverse.com

Lulu.com

Also, Amazon has started a self-publishing program for its Kindle. Watch for this to grow over the next few years.