What’s going on guys? Ever get the feeling that your overdraft fees from your bank were a little too coincidental for their benefit? How the timing was always stacked in the bank’s favor? Every. Single. Time?

Sure, it was fishy, but you couldn’t prove it. Or was it that times were good back in the day, and it wasn’t worth the trouble to investigate and clear up?

Well, the banks were laughing all the way to the..er, bank. Literally. Nationwide, banks and credit unions collected almost $24 billion in overdraft fees in 2008, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

Not anymore you fat cats. Times have been tough and people aren’t letting it go anymore.

Case in point, Wells Fargo. Recently, a San Francisco judge’s scathing ruling ordering Wells Fargo to pay its customers $203 million for manipulating debit transactions to maximize overdraft fees might be just the start of troubles for the bank. Ah ha! Busted!

U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s 90-page opinion Tuesday described Wells Fargo’s motive as profiteering and said the San Francisco-based bank’s goal was to “maximize the number of overdrafts and squeeze as much as possible” out of customers.

But wait. The hefty tab represents only what the bank owes its California customers. That figure is far smaller than the potential bill from a separate suit in which Wells’ clients in other states have accused the bank of the same unfair practices.

That case, consolidated in federal court in Miami, includes similar claims against 30 other lending institutions, including Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, Union Bank and U.S. Bank.

The crux of the claims is that the banks processed debit transactions from the largest to the smallest, instead of the order in which they occurred, depleting accounts faster and boosting the number of overdrafts, which cost as much as $35 per transaction.

So, what does this mean for the case in Florida? Well, it could affect the outcome of that case, even though the judge there is not legally bound to follow it.

But the point is folks, be on the look out for your pay out from your bank soon. Don’t spend the money though, however small the eventual amount is. Save it, invest it. You’ll thank me later.

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Hi guys, while it has been a looong seven days since I last posted (yes, my consistency sucks), but I’m back again to impart more wisdom, or insanity (however you want to look at it).

Today, I will be giving you the one thing you should focus on investing in during these tough times: You. Let me explain.

The problem with investing during a recession is that you have to invest in things that people can’t, or won’t do without such as food, cigarettes, medicine, etc., and these investments are usually slow movers. Besides, there is no way to know when a recession will end or how bad it will get and if you have to pull your money out to save yourself, you might end up having to do it at a market low and actually lose on your investment.

Take my advice: history has a way of repeating itself in one way or another, so learn from the trends. I took a look at what kind of people came through the Great Depression on top. It turned out to be people who were out of debt. In fact, some of those people became rich during the Depression.

The same holds true during a recession. Check it out. If your $800 per month BMW loan is at 6% and you pay it off, then you just got a 6% return on your investment plus have an extra $800 per month from a payment you are no longer making. Same goes for your home equity loans, credit card balances, consumer loans, etc.

Take a look at the interest rate on some of those loans and try to find an investment that can give you a guaranteed return like that. No bloody likely. When you invest by paying off debt, you get a guaranteed, no risk return that can’t be matched anywhere else. Yes, it’s no fun, but you will come out way ahead for it.

The average American family pays out about $2,000 per month in debt payments (counting the mortgage.) Imagine getting that all paid off and having $2,000 per month to do with as you please. You can finally afford that epargne afer life insurance policy. Try to find an investment that can do that!

And if the recession gets really bad, every debt that you pay off is extra money you no longer need. Then, when the recession does finally end, you come out of it in great financial shape with whatever your debt payments were to start investing with.

That’s it for today! Go forth and invest in yourself!

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Now, for my French fans!

Salut les gars, pendant que cet a été un looong Sept jours puisque je dernier posté (oui, mon homogénéité suce), mais je suis de retour encore de donner plus de sagesse, ou la folie (cependant vous voulez le regarder).

Cela l’est pour aujourd’hui ! Aller en avant et investir dans vous !

Hi guys, welcome back to another session of how to get rich and stay rich. Today I want to focus on how to develop leadership qualities. Because, let’s face it, the captain gets the largest share of the booty. Always.

In these economic times, making money all by your lonesome is very difficult. We just don’t have enough resources individually. The trend has been to pool resources together for businesses and splitting the profits. You invest less, and do less, but still see returns. The trick is to have a great leader.

Whether you are choosing a leader, or want to be one yourself, there are a few traits that a good leader must always possess or develop. A good leader must be able to remove roadblocks. If there is a problem, you better be able to solve it, or at least motivate the team to come up with a solution.

A good leader must be able to facilitate open, and honest communication. Never sugar coat things, or lie. It will always come back and bite you in the ass. Always.

Do as I do. Never do as I say. A good leader must always model behavior that he or she wants from the team. On the same vein, act instead of react. A good leader can facilitate decision making and discussions. He or she must be able to see the big picture and communicate each member’s role in that context. Don’t make it personal.

A good leader must be able to recognize the strengths of each team member and focus those strengths to the benefit of the team. Remember, everyone is good at something. The trick is to encourage independent thinking and trust each team member to make good decisions. And when assembling your team, a leader must be able to gather team members with complementary skill sets and draw from the strengths of each member.

Hope this helps some of you guys. Now go assemble your dream team and tackle that 200 unit condominium conversion! See you in seven (or less!).

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Hey, what’s going on guys? In yesterday’s post, I showed you how to attract new customers to your business using web directories. Well, usually there is a space for your company website on most those directory forms. Who doesn’t have a website these days? If not, get one now!

So, the problem with most websites is that the information on them gets outdated quickly. When that happens, the search engines stop picking it up and no one ends up going there. Then, no new customers for your business.

My suggestion? Run a regular blog on your website along with the other pertinent information you’ve got on there. Post up news in your industry, your thoughts on the news, and maybe your solutions to current problems. This will attract new customers as well as keeping your existing ones. Better yet, get paid to do this!

Enter blog advertising. Not only do you improve your writing, but you also get paid for it. That’s like getting a grant to go to school!

In fact, blog advertising is much more effective than traditional methods. Let me ask you, what do you do during a commercial creak when you watch television? You get up and go to the bathroom, get a snack, and anything that isn’t watching the commercials!

Now, what do you do when you visit a website and a pop up come sup? You get annoyed and close it as soon as possible right? And some company has paid top dollar for those ad spaces. With blog advertising, people who are actually interested in your business is already reading your blog! Advertisers would kill for these type of advertisements! But, not only do you not have to pay for it, YOU are getting paid!

Sounds great right? Now get to it! There are plenty of great blogging for money type sites out there. Pick a few within your industry and either bid on the right to get paid for a particular article or wait for someone to buy a post from you.

Alright, see you in seven (though it seems like everyday now, doesn’t it?). Get rich and stay rich guys!

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Hey guys! Here are some tips on real estate investing that I couldn’t wait seven days to let you know about.

As many of you real estate moguls have already been experiencing, buying and selling real estate has not been as easy as it once was. “Flipping” has taken another meaning altogether. Instead of buying low, fixing up, and “flipping” a house for profit, investors are now “flipping” their lids or “flipping” out, at the mortgage payments, property tax, and defaulting renters.

My suggestion? Think smaller. Houses are not selling? Try manufactured homes. I’ll wait till you finish laughing. No, go ahead. You’ll want to pay attention.

If you can find a piece of land that is within a mile, or relatively close to, the mobile home, then you can make even more profit. But the trick is to obtain a nice three bedroom two bath mobile home at an auction or foreclosure sale, and plant it on another vacant land investment property you have. While prices may vary by location, but a budget of $150,000 is quite sufficient. Clever planning on amenities such as electricity, gas, water and sewer connections can see even more savings.

This process should take no more than three months. This will include the permit process, purchasing the land and mobile home, and various home upgrades to make it presentable. Upon completion, an asking price of $185,000 to $200,000 should be considered affordable almost anywhere in the States. $35,000 to $50,000 profit for three months of work? Not too shabby in this economy, right?

But, for argument’s sake, let’s say you can’t sell it, so you rent it out. Now, you have to deal with tenants that potentially may default on their rent. Enter my next tip.

Here is how you can make sure you get your rent on time each month. Put into the rental contract that monthly rent is to be automatically deducted from the renter’s savings or checking account. Or, even better, if your tenant works for a company that will allow it, set them up on payroll deduction/direct deposit for their monthly rent.

Now, you can immediately know if there will be a problem before the two weeks the bank takes to let you know that a check has bounced. Therefore, you can minimize your potential damages by starting the eviction process earlier.

Sure, some renters will freak at this. Well, then there’s a problem, and you shouldn’t be renting to them. But okay, beggars can’t be choosers in this economy right? Some milder things you can do is to send them deposit slips and prepaid envelopes.

Well, I hope you were able to take something away with you guys today. See you in seven (or less!). Get Rich, and stay rich, people!

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