Your No.1 asset

If you are an average working person, you are your No.1 asset. As long as you can work, you can produce income for your family. The problem, however, with being your own best asset is that you have all your eggs in one basket. If you become disabled in a traffic accident or suffer from a debilitating stroke, your family has just lost its income stream. But that's what insurance is for, right? Right; but insurance policies aren't perfect, and I'm not one to leave all of my risk in one spot. I'd rather produce enough other income-generating investments to replace my pay entirely. That, to me, is financial independence.

Diversify

Everyone who talks about finance will say something about diversification at some point. Many people don't know what they are talking about when they say it. True income diversity would include multiple forms of income. Working three different jobs is not income diversity. Having a job, investing in dividend stocks and investing in growth stocks represents income diversity. Everyone needs some diversity to make sure they will have income no matter what happens.

For example, I know a former colleague who makes a great salary at his new job. His wife works as well, and they don't have children yet. Many people would say they have it made with a double income and no children. I, however, believe they have it made because my friend has invested in rental properties. His two duplexes pay their own expenses and give him a second income source. To put the icing on the cake, my friend also invests in a low-cost mutual fund. If he really needed to, he could collect income from the rentals and the dividends from the mutual fund shares.

Create something

This is something I'm working on now. You see, if I were to replace my income with rental properties, I would need to have several million dollars of mortgage debt to my name. Rentals aren't 100 percent profit from rent, so it takes several units to even replace the median wage of $40,000 per year. But I don't need to go into debt to create something. Stephenie Meyer wrote "Twilight" after her kids went to bed at night. She made millions from three months of moonlighting! You can't do that with Vanguard index funds or by buying a duplex.

You don't have to be a writer to make something that replaces your income. Maybe you can design an app or a website. Maybe you can patent an improved design for backpack zippers. The guy who invented those whisk balls for shaker bottles doesn't make them; he owns a royalty to his idea and collects millions. Whatever it is, each of us can create an idea or product that can replace our current income. The hard part is the thinking. Take the time to think, and then put in the hours to create something. Once you've created it, sit back and binge-watch all you want on Netflix as your creations make money for you.

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Whether you call it a yard sale, rummage sale or a garage sale, the premise is the same: You're going to free yourself from objects you no longer use in exchange for cash. You get to clean out some space, and hopefully put the acquired funds to work for you. This all sounds great, until you suddenly remember that one time you had to waste away in the front yard as a kid, while your old toys got pawned off one by one. Here are the essentials to ensuring that you throw a yard sale like a boss, and the unsuccessful yard sale days are a thing of the past.

1. Organize all your stuff

Separate the stuff you're selling from the stuff that is just trash/recycleable material. Put all the VHS cassettes in one box. Keep all the toys together. Think about it — you're basically creating a store for one day. Do you like shopping in places with random junk strewn all about? No. Be a good store owner and organize everything. You'll sell more and you'll sell it more quickly.

2. Advertise

Spend the time and cents to do basic advertising. Facebook yard sale pages, Craigslist or other online venues will draw in people who may never have left their houses on the day of your sale. Put up large, legible signs to direct people to your sale. Don't write with pink marker on green poster board. Black marker on white poster paper in large letters is clear and legible. Give people the details of place, date and time range. Then watch them line up.

3. Set realistic expectations

Yes, you bought that lava lamp in 1985 for $50 and inflation sure has taken its toll. But, truth be told, it is not worth more than $10. By setting realistic price expectations, people are more willing to buy items. People (like my grandpa) often sit for weekends waiting for someone to buy their old, used stuff at full price. You don't have time to waste like that, and you aren't getting $50 for your one-armed out-of-the-box Yoda toy. Sell it for a fair and realistic price.

4. Call in reinforcements

A barebones sale is an unattractive sale. As a consumer, I probably won't stop my bike ride or walk to look at seven T-shirts fading in the sun. I want to see a lot of cool stuff from your basement. If you don't have enough to stop potential customers, talk to your friends and neighbors. You can hang out, listen to music and make some money together.

Follow these four steps and you will find yourself wondering how you could let so many yard sale opportunities slip through your hands in the past. Now, get your stuff together and prepare to increase your cash flow!

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We all want a treat every once in a while. I happen to want them very often. The problem with treats is their cheapness and availability these days. Cake, pie, and sugar bonbons can all be purchased for a few bucks at a store.

When sugar is cheap, it's hard to resist. But do you really have to abstain from treats? No. I just want you to make them yourself. Here's why making your own treats is the only way to go:

1. Save your money

Cheap treats are only cheap the first time. It's easy to be fooled by the signage and hand over a few coins today and then a few more tomorrow. In the long run, when we get used to buying a vending machine snack every day, we spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on sweets. What began as a one-time treat has become a staple.

If you haven't heard yet, making your own food to eat during the day can make you a millionaire. Buying a daily "treat" can keep you from reaching long-term financial goals. Baking your own goodies, however, will keep things cheap. Ingredient for baking are cheaper now than ever in history, so that isn't an issue. By taking the time to make your snacks yourself, time constraints will limit your consumption of them. You can't bake as many treats for yourself as Little Debbie can.

2. Make it a family affair

Food is social for most cultures in the world. Humans can get more variety and better quality food if they team up. As a family, it's a good idea to eat together regularly. Siblings might get along if they aren't dealing with "hanger," and parents and children can have pleasant discussions sitting around the table. It's not just about eating food, either.

Families can use food preparation as a great opportunity to pass down knowledge and spend quality time together. I remember my mother pulling me aside from homework or doodling and saying, "I'm going to teach you how to knead bread right now. You're going to live on your own some day and I won't be there to bake you bread."

3. Quality time

If you want treats and your kids want treats, you've got a team. At least once a month, if not once a week, stop what you are doing and work out a recipe together. Use the time to show your kids that we can all do harder, more time-consuming things - and those things can be rewarding.

More and more assignments and work tasks have lost their concrete nature, but you can show to your children that there is a literally sweet smell of success when you pull a fresh loaf of banana bread from the oven. So go out, bake your cake, and eat it!

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Money talks - why don't we?

At one point in his life, my grandfather was a millionaire. I say "at one point," because he spent his money in ways that rid him of that status. Don't worry; he's doing fine. But he isn't close to a millionaire any more. Most of that happened through ignorance.

Grandpa Simon came from a poor family, and his father never taught him about money. In turn, he never talked to my dad about money. At least, not about how it works and how to make it work for you. My dad didn't do much money-talk when I was growing up, either. For something that we spend 40+ hours away from our families to earn each week, it seems weird that we wouldn't discuss it more often. Teaching our kids about money, and teaching them when they are young, will have lasting benefits. You don't need to be an expert. Here are three tips on teaching your little ones about money. These tips may even help you to be better with your own finances as well.

1. Start a piggy bank

We started a piggy bank with our daughter when she turned three. I opted for a large, translucent milk jug with a slit in the lid. That way, she could see how the money piled up. Any time we had some spare change or found a coin on the sidewalk, we let her put it in her bank. This year she graduated to a ceramic bunny because she grasps the concept, but a clear jar or bottle is great for newbies. This will help them get excited, even though they don't fully understand money yet.

2. Talk about costs out loud

If you mention out loud the tiny things you do automatically, your kids will learn to think frugally. Say, "These are the same eggs, but it's cheaper to buy 18 than 12. We'll get 18." Talk through your mental calculations out loud. You're already doing them, so just say it so they can hear it. Now your child understands your thought process in making financial decisions. An added bonus: This may be the most practical math tutoring your child can get from you.

3. Let them set a savings goal

Talk to your children about individual savings goals. Then set and execute those goals. An example would be saving for a new bike, toy or even ballet or sports team fees. By setting a savings goal, putting the money in a bank they can see, and then using the money for that goal, your child will learn three important lessons about money. Firstly, we need to have patience and pay for things with cash. Secondly, using money means using your own time. Lastly, when you buy something, your total money is diminished.

If you talk to your children about money from a young age, they can feel empowered in making money decisions. Let them make mistakes with money while they are young. Saving for six months for a toy they don't play with much can keep them from demanding a $500 gaming system they also won't play with much in the future.

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Everyone needs a budget

If you don't know where your money is going, it's probably all going away - faster than you think. By tracking your expenses, you can understand what you spend your money on, how much you spend, and how much you're saving. Budgeting is time-consuming and boring (for most), so it can be a great idea to automate things. Automating things can save you time, effort and money in the long run. Here's a non-exhaustive list of budget items you can automate:

• Your paycheck (direct deposit)

• Your retirement contributions

• Your savings

• Your utilities (water, gas, electricity)

• You bills (internet, cable, loans)

• Your credit card (please automatically pay it in full and never carry a balance)

Looking at the list above, let's talk about the upside and downside of automating these major aspects of your budget.

Paycheck -

By using direct deposit, you don't waste your time going to a bank to deposit or cash it. You just get paid. For some people, this is not technically possible, and others don't mind depositing a check. I'd still recommend automating the process of getting paid as much as possible.

Retirement Contributions

• Retirement is a big deal, and any amount you can affect it for the positive is good. By automating deductions to a retirement account, you can contribute a larger amount than you would if you waited until you thought about it.

Savings

• Please do this. Automatically saving has been one of the best decisions of my life. Assign a percentage of your income you would like to save on a regular basis. Try for 10 percent. Set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to your savings account, and you won't spend it. Why won't you spend it? Because it isn't in your checking account. This has saved my bacon for unexpected expenses in the past because I have automated transfers into an emergency savings account.

Utilities -

Here's where things get muddy. You need these things, but do you need as much of them as you currently use? You can automate payments for your water, gas and electricity with few problems. But if you never see how much it costs you to shower for 30 minutes each morning, you may never wise up to the 5-minute version. Talk with your spouse to see if you are comfortable with your usage. If yes, then proceed to automatic payments.

Bills

• Sketchy, but potentially OK to automate. Bills can sneak up on us. Loan payments, cable, Internet, family cell phone plans, they can all add up quickly. If you are annoyed by paying them, you might start prioritizing which ones you should have anymore (i.e. is cable worth your money?)

Credit Card

• If you use a credit card responsibly, you are in the minority of consumers. Until you can prove to yourself you can spend less than you earn, you shouldn't use a credit card. If you can be a big boy-big girl about only spending money you earned, then you can automate a payment to pay off your credit card each month. Otherwise, don't use a credit card at all because you aren't responsible enough to use it.

Consider your spending habits. Of anything you could spend a few minutes on, your money usage is a good thing to think about. Take some time, figure out what you should and should not automate in your budget and start enjoying some more free time and energy on top of your automatically growing savings hoard.

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A side hustle is part-time work. The term seems to be pretty popular with personal finance bloggers, and I can see the appeal. It defines itself very well: you do it on the side, and it requires a little more hustle. Think about a coach telling his team to hustle. They can do more, and he knows it. Well, I know that you can do more, so here are my top three reasons for you to have a side hustle.

1. You can gain more control over your life

If you feel trapped by your full-time job, you can get stuck in the mindset of your life happening to you. You get home and feel powerless and wonder how you will ever get out of your current slump. By finding a side hustle, you are proactively changing your situation. As a contractor, you make the terms of the work, you choose your clients, and your time and effort determine results. Can you feel how empowering that is? Your side hustle might be babysitting, writing SEO articles or mowing your neighbor's lawn. You determine what it is. That's some freedom.

2. You can find out how much money your time is worth

Have you ever ripped out old carpet from an office building? I have. I charged $15 per hour. At the time, I was a student, and my on-campus job was $7 per hour. Doing a side hustle showed me I didn't need to accept my current reality as a permanent reality. Getting into side-hustles is a new world for most people, but it also means new opportunities.

If you aren't interested in financial news, you might have missed the news of an interest economic problem. Although the employment rates in many countries have recovered since the 2008 recession, the average pay for workers has remained flat. That's not a good thing for those workers. Economic recovery means that inflation has pushed on even though wages and salaries haven't. That means people are getting paid relatively less for the same amount of work. Most of us can't change that with our main employer, but the clever ones get side hustles.

3. You won't find your passion if you aren't looking for it

Most of us were told we could do whatever we wanted when we grew up. The problem is we grew up in classrooms and didn't get to work full time until we were grown up. There's a difference between daydreaming your way out of a cubicle and finding out just how much people will pay for your paintings. Because you are doing this on the side, your side hustle allows you to explore career options. Your normal job is (hopefully) paying for the basics. People and companies will pay for you to get better at carpentry, music composition, writing and any other skill out there. They are more eager to do so when you are a part-timer on contract work.

All of this is empowering and will give you some breathing room as you pull in some more funds. But I don't think the focus should be the money. The focus should be that it's your choice what you do for your side hustle. I've had many a colleague leave cubicle purgatory to pursue a career in something they didn't know they loved until after they had tried doing it on the side. Now, with all this power in your hands, go out there and hustle.

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Got debt? Most people do. In response, certain financial advisors will tell you debt is evil, imprisoning and always the wrong choice. Most of those advisors, even the famous ones, have had a bad history with debt that ended in bankruptcy. After they tell you to avoid debt, they will hypocritically advise you to invest in a diversified set of stocks and bonds. I say hypocritically because stocks and bonds are forms of debt. If they weren't, they wouldn't be a good investment. So don't let anyone tell you debt, or money, is inherently evil. Debt is a tool of leverage. If you use is properly, it can help you achieve more than you would on your own.

Lever-age

A lever is a simple machine. Think of a playground with lever-based toys. Put three kids on one side, and they can lift one parent off the ground. That's the added strength of leverage. If you think of debt as a lever, you can use some money now to move bigger things later.

Consumer debt: a consumer don't

Consumer debt, especially credit card debt, is not an even lever. We tend to buy things we want, not what we need with consumer debt. Once we've paid the debt off, the interest amount can leave quite a negative impact on our bank accounts.

Education

Unless you live in the Student Utopia that is Denmark, you won't get paid a stipend to attend your free adult schooling. Many once argued that education was worth going into debt. That's highly debatable now. If you can save up for your schooling, take a few more years to finish. It's annoying, but some people leveraged $50,000 or more just to get paid as much as a full-time welder. Beware the student loan.

Housing

Whether it is an apartment or a house, someone will argue to you that it ALWAYS makes sense to buy housing. There are no "always moments" in life; that person is wrong. If you're considering a mortgage for either an apartment or a house, I would advise you think about the see-saw on the playground. Is there a way you can get some more friends on your end of the see-saw?

For single people, buying a place and getting roommates helps pay off the mortgage faster. For families, it may be a wise investment to buy a duplex (or two apartments). At first, this may seem like you are over-leveraging yourself. How am I supposed to pay two mortgages? But you aren't paying both of them, you're starting to use debt to invest. By leveraging yourself for a property you can rent to someone else, you can pay the mortgage on the rental, make a little money on top of that to help pay your half of the mortgage, and you may end up owning two pieces of property in the end. The crazy part is, your renters paid for most of it because you were the one who was willing to go into debt.

You see? Debt isn't good or evil. It's just a tool. So be responsible when you use this tool: a hammer isn't always the best tool for the job, and debt isn't always the best way to get what you want.

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I say it's time we examine our need - as adults - for a bit of spontaneous, two-wheeled, human-powered mechanical wonder! Here's why.

1. Save time and reduce stress while running your simplest errands

Is it really any faster to find your keys, negotiate your way through traffic, find a parking spot and walk across the huge parking lot to get that cough syrup than it would be to cruise seemlessly from your home to the bike rack at the entrance to the pharmacy? Even if you have children with you, use a bike trailer and entertain them so you don't have to listen to them argue about which songs to play in the car. Throw on a backpack and cycle with a smile on your face as you ponder your affairs instead of dealing with the stranger in front of you who doesn't seem to notice green lights.

2. We could all use more physical activity

Seriously. Most of us work in front of screens, pull screens out of our pockets and return home tired to sit in front of more screens. We often hear other parents say, "When I was a kid, we played all day with other kids," or, "Why do these kids demand to be entertained all the time?" Let me get a little confrontational and ask you this: "What are you doing as a parent that looks any different?" If we aren't being physically active and entertaining ourselves, we shouldn't expect anyone else to. Which brings us to the next point...

3. You are an example of behavior

Whether you like it or not, you are a living example. As a parent, child, uncle, aunt or member of society, your actions say more about you than anything else. It's not motivating to have a lazy boss tell you to work hard. Get out and ride your bike for fun, for training, for errands. Live a good example. Show others how to spend time in meaningful, fulfilling ways!

4. You need to clear your mind

Unlike driving in a line of other cars and waiting for lights, pushing your way down the streets on your bike provides a strong sense of control over your pace. Riding a bicycle forces you to concentrate on what you are doing. Driving a car these days is frighteningly automated. You can't have thousands of frantic thoughts on a bike. You live in the moment. If you're like me, you need those quiet, focused moments more often than car life affords you.

5. You need to be outside having fun!

It's very cozy and safe in our homes and on our sofas. Too cozy and safe. As adults, we need to get off the couches, get outside and have a good time! Whether it's taking the kids to the park or hitting the town with friends, try using a bike to do it. You may even end up starting a bicycle gang.

Check out your local classifieds, get yourself a cheap old bike and go out to have fun! Your legs, lungs and kids will thank you for reaching back into your youth and becoming just a little bit more fun.

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Well, it's always easier to notice someone else's problems while ignoring our own. In fact, I caught myself enabling my daughter last week. She is in preschool, and yet I still treat her like she can barely talk or understand simple requests. Instead of asking her to take care of things, I find myself implementing a pattern I've set since she was a baby: I find it easier and quicker to take care of everything myself.

And that's what your neighbors with the man-child in their basement would say if you asked them why their son can't do anything. After 20 years of treating him like a baby, he is - unsurprisingly - still a baby.

Here are three of the most common ways you could be enabling your children. Can you catch yourself doing these and switch to healthier patterns?

1. You clean up after them

My daughter had just dumped a bowl of Cadbury chocolate eggs onto the living room rug. I stooped over to start picking them up when I remembered that she's more than capable enough to do that herself. Some people won't agree with me that picking up after a preschooler is enabling, but if I completely assume responsibility for her actions, I am enabling her. I asked her to pick the eggs up, and she just started doing it. Sure, she eventually asked for help, but that was only after she realized how long it took to clean up 40 little candy eggs. Big difference. In the first scenario, I wanted to do all the work. In the second, my daughter asked for help completing a task. Added bonus: no more egg-spilling games.

2. You feed them correct answers

I once made a woman very angry when I gave her child a tip for solving a math problem. You see, the tip was so obvious, the boy didn't have to think anymore. That's what made his mother so mad. When we feed answers to our children or give them "hints" that are basically answers, our kids miss out on the most important aspect of learning: critical thinking. In my limited experience, the Socratic method seems to work best. If your child asks you a question from his homework, ask him questions in response - questions that will help him think about the problem differently and come to a conclusion on his own. This builds confidence. Feeding him answers builds dependence.

3. You pay for everything

Money is always a sensitive topic, but you should not pay for everything in your child's life. As they grow up, kids get involved in more activities and social events, costing more and more. But like the egg situation above, your kid may be old enough to start earning money and paying for those expenses. Lemonade stands, newspaper routes, fundraisers, babysitting and mowing lawns are just some of the jobs young kids can take on. Once they start working and paying for things, kids can understand the value of working, budgeting and saving - but until you stop paying for everything, those are just hypothetical "grown-up terms."

There are many other ways we enable our children, but these points are easy places to start making changes. Remember, it may be hard for your child to stop depending on you for everything, but that's actually the goal. In the end, he has to take care of himself.

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Growing up, the summers were hot and humid. We spent a lot of time playing in the woods, collecting wild berries and trying to find a pool or creek to cool off in. There was one rule in our family that compounded the heat on sweltering days: everyone had to wear a real shirt (with sleeves) and a real pair of shorts (much longer than your pockets). My buddies were running around with no sticky shirt to weigh them down while I was carrying a sweat sack on my shoulders every day. But those were the rules. I wore a shirt everywhere I went. As a parent, I now understand my parents' logic.

You might be thinking that my family was prude - part of a never-ending Puritan-American heritage. My parents didn't know much about skin cancer risks until my oldest siblings were out of the house, so all this couldn't have been in the name of protecting our freckled noses or pasty shoulders. We just wore clothes. I eventually found it weird that some of my friends walked around their own houses in just their underwear. You see, my family wore clothes around the house as well. All of us. Two parents and six kids all not being naked around each other. What did that teach us?

Modesty is for everyone

The most important lesson I learned growing up in a house full of clothed people was that we should all be modest. My dad didn't hang out in his undies and my brothers didn't lounge on the couch in a towel after showering. The lesson of modesty was taught by rule and example. Both the boys and girls were held to the rules. These days, modesty debates often revolve around the control of female bodies. When modesty is only a rule for women, it truly is a power game and I understand how that can make women feel oppressed. However, when modesty is a rule for everyone, it is part of common decency.

One of my brothers was a huge fan of Charles Barkley when he played for the Phoenix Suns, and he loved to wear his "Sir Charles" jersey around. He wore it to school or just shooting hoops in the driveway. He wore his sleeveless jersey over a white T-shirt, though. For my parents, it didn't matter if that wasn't cool or typical. The shirt didn't have sleeves. My sisters couldn't wear spaghetti-strap tops, and we couldn't wear tank tops.

But there are exceptions, right?

When I joined the cross country team during freshman year of high school, I was fitted for a uniform right before team photos. I had never felt so naked in my entire life. The sleeveless jersey and almost nonexistent shorts revealed limbs so pale they could blind you in full sun exposure. But the uniform served a purpose. It identified me with my team and covered as little of me as possible so I could run quickly, unimpeded (though I was, nonetheless, very slow). My oldest sister found the same exception when playing varsity soccer. The shorts were shorter than we were allowed to wear, but the uniform served a function in the sport.

There are real activities that require us to wear less than we normally would, but for the sake of other people not needing to see our every detail, we still need to make sure that we aren't looking for excuses to romp around in the buff. To this day I wear an SPF 50 swimming shirt to the beach or the pool. I'm not there to compete, so I don't need a pair of racing briefs. Our children have obtained a skin tone similar to that of a fresh sheet of acid-free printer paper, so most people don't question us when putting them in bathing suits that cover their shoulders and thighs. But it's not just about preventing years of melanoma removal for us. It's about teaching a consistent idea. And that idea is that every single person should be modest. We need to respect our bodies and respect that others probably don't want to see them when we're in public. After all, if we don't respect ourselves, then who will?

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