Introduction
After over seven years of extensive experience with
hundreds of money-making programs (and examining several
thousand more), I've learned quite a bit about what
tends to work and what doesn't.
There are thousands of money-making programs. Many
are outright scams and the only people who make money
are the owners. There are also many programs where
the owners and some of the early promoters make money,
but hardly anyone else does. There are programs like
Amway with which anyone who's good at selling products
and recruiting other distributors can make good money.
Probably about 90% of Amway distributors make very
little money.
There are many programs that start out very good
and grow very fast. Often the owners/managers/personnel
can't handle the volume of work generated by rapid
growth and the program deteriorates -- sometimes to
the point of failure.
There are many high-yield programs offering 20%+
per month on money invested. Most are scams. Some
may continue for several years as ponzi-schemes, paying
early members out of new funds. Eventually they fail.
The fact that some high-yield program has been paying
out as promised for six months or a year is no guarantee
that it's legitimate and will continue to pay out.
Some high-yield programs invest in financial instruments
called "bank debentures," "medium term
notes (MTNs)," etc., or claim that they invest
in such. Most of theses programs are outright scams
and whatever money is put into them goes to the owners
and promoters and is never seen again. Many "authorities"
claim that there are no such things as "bank
debentures," "MTNs," etc. For more
information on this, see General Financial Independence
FAQ.
Two Experiences
Someone recently responded to the Risk Meter ratings:
>No 1 in my book is PLC. Wow! I've actually been
able to stop
>work just on purchasing 30 Units!! My payments
have not missed
>a beat yet! I Know what month I'm getting paid
like clockwork
>I really can count on. Simply The Best! If this
War Horse
>Publications is better than this I need to check
it out. Thanks
>for the the info!
The probability is very high that PLC is an example
of a program that trades successfully in high-yield
instruments that really exist. They have a three-year
track record of consistently making payments.
Someone else wrote (responding to one of
my financial reports):
>Yes the report was good and informative. It is
a pity that
>it was not around 3 years ago when we began our
quest for
>financial freedom. We heard of Investors International,
got
>some information from some Forum Participants
and began the
>journey. First of all just dabbling until last
year when we
>decided to sell the family home, get out of debt
and get
>serious. And now after 3 years we have money all
over the
>place except in our very expensive offshore Company
and Bank
>account. It seems we just kept selecting the wrong
vehicles.
>That is not to say all is lost but if we have
anything to
>this point it is merely figures in cyberspace.
IBFT got done.
>Mission Associates got done, although there is
still hope
>some four months after the due payout date. QEC
so far only
>figures on the net as I know of several people
here in
>Australia still waiting for payouts promised since
November.
>Elkosh was going OK until we put up our $20,000AUS.
That is
>now in limbo and the supposed insurance is not
willing to
>pay. And now ARMTrust is attempting to get the
money for the
>IBFT members while asking members to join their
organization
>with yet again more funds. It's like flogging
a dead horse,
>after three years of investing, not a cracker.
Oh I forgot
>about THE FLAMINGO GROUP which lost another $3500Aus
when
>some of their very secretive crew went even more
secretive
>with a great deal of the FLOCK'S MONEY. Forgive
me for being
>a little less than a whole-hearted believer in
the world of
>financial freedom. I will follow your segment
to see what
>comes up.
Of the above programs, I've only heard of Investors
International. It looks like all the others went "south."
They are presumably programs promoted or recommended
by Investors International.
Program Structures
It's important to realize that most money-making programs
fail, at least for most of the participants in them.
I get to look at hundreds of programs. Most I cast
aside within a few minutes of looking at them.
There are certain program structures that just won't
work for most people. For example, if you have to
pay $1,500 for a "financial package" of
which 90% goes to the distributor and 10% to the company,
some expert marketers will make great money, but about
95% of members will just lose their $1,500.
Any program that requires a member to recruit a large
downline and/or sell lots of products or services,
is likely to be a loser for most members.
Programs which require members to make monthly payments
tend to be losers for most participants. Most members
pay for a few months, then drop out. Most programs
requiring small one-time payments tend to be a waste
of time.
Most, if not all, free downline-building programs
are a waste of time. Almost always, the money-making
programs that they select to sponsor are ones that
I reject out of hand.
