MOST STYLISH RAPPERS

The Most Fashionable Hip-Hop Artists

Photo Credit: (Photo © Gareth Cattermole / Getty)

When it comes to hip-hop fashion, these artists lead the way. From crisp suits to hard bottoms, these hip-hop artists stay flyer than a parakeet. Here are the 10 hip-hop fashion icons to inspire your style.

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Mos Def/Yasiin Bey

Photo Credit: (Photo © Slaven Vlasic / Getty)

Dante Smith started his hip-hop career as Mos Def and now goes by Yasiin Bey. Whatever you call him, he's one of the best-dressed men to step in front of a mic. Bey's live shows are fashion events. You can find him in tailored suits, clean ties, and hard bottoms. Mos raises expectations and brings a level of sophistication to hip-hop fashion. Even his mic is stylish.

3 of 11

Nas

Photo Credit: (Photo © Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)

From the moment he stepped onto the scene clad in all black, Nas was ready to hit the fashion playground. In the 90s, Nasty Nas rocked camo fatigues, puffer jackets, wheat Timbs, gold rope chains and his beloved QB fitted. In the 2000s, he transitioned to a more grown and sexy look: crisp button downs, fly suits and classic hard-bottom kicks. He even rocked a shawl cardigan for his "Daughters" video.

4 of 11

T.I.

Photo Credit: (Photo © Johnny Nunez / Getty)

T.I.'s style is an extension of his split personality. The Kang can flip from a classic cocktail suit to socks and flip flops and still look like he could tae bo kick you in a fight. The father of six isn't shy to rock bold colors, either. He's worn just about everything on the chart, from burgundy to turquoise.

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LL Cool J

Photo Credit: (Photo © Kevin Winter/Getty)

LL Cool J changed the game in the 80s with his signature bucket hats and gold chains. These days, LL can roll up to a swank shindig in a bespoke suit or get his Shemar Moore on in a muscle-busting wife beater. For 20 years straight, Cool J has endured an image as the man ladies want and some fellas want to look like.

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Big Daddy Kane

Photo Credit: (Photo © Gabe Ginsberg/Getty)

From his signature high top fades to his velour suits and dookie chains, Big Daddy Kane was one of the most influential hip-hop style icons of the 80s. Kane helped inspire the hip-hop fashion of his era and continues to outdress his younger peers today.

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Jay Z

Photo Credit: (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Jay Z is cool as the summer breeze. When he ditched throwbacks for button ups, the rest of hip-hop followed suit. Jay won't jump out of the window to wow you with risky pieces. Hov is more of a Darth Vader/Storm Trooper guy who keeps things eloquent in all-black or all-white pieces. You want pastel colors? Go visit Kanye West.

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Diddy

Photo Credit: (Photo © Gareth Cattermole / Getty)

Sean Combs is a hip-hop style icon. With his Sean John collection, Diddy helped transform hip-hop fashion. The Diddy Style is all about the smart and sophisticated look. His spectrum is vast, from drug-dealer fresh to downtown chic.

9 of 11

Kanye West

No matter what you think of his music, Kanye West is a hip-hop fashion leader for his generation. West has always considered himself a designer first, an artist second. His style constanty turns heads -- eccentric pop pastiche, classic kicks, left-field accessories (ski masks, hello), dazzling frames, with a relentless desire to make his silhouettes seem boundaryless instead of irreverent.

10 of 11

Andre 3000

Photo Credit: (Photo © Jon Furniss / Getty)

Tweed suits, wool cardigans, razor-sharp pants. Andre "3000" Benjamin is a distinguished fashion plate with a style that embraces vintage Brit chic. Dre straddles the line between serious and sardonic. Except for that one time he wore a Roddy Piper kilt in a UGK video.

11 of 11

Pharrell

Photo Credit: (Photo © Kevin Winter / Getty)

Pharrell is not even a real person. He's an ageless fashion god. A master of the simple-sophisticated look. Most of us would look like clowns in half the stuff P wears. He could rock a terry cloth and somehow make it look like the hottest thing on all planets.

MOST STYLISH RAPPERS

The Most Fashionable Hip-Hop Artists

Photo Credit: (Photo © Gareth Cattermole / Getty)

When it comes to hip-hop fashion, these artists lead the way. From crisp suits to hard bottoms, these hip-hop artists stay flyer than a parakeet. Here are the 10 hip-hop fashion icons to inspire your style.

2 of 11

Mos Def/Yasiin Bey

Photo Credit: (Photo © Slaven Vlasic / Getty)

Dante Smith started his hip-hop career as Mos Def and now goes by Yasiin Bey. Whatever you call him, he's one of the best-dressed men to step in front of a mic. Bey's live shows are fashion events. You can find him in tailored suits, clean ties, and hard bottoms. Mos raises expectations and brings a level of sophistication to hip-hop fashion. Even his mic is stylish.

3 of 11

Nas

Photo Credit: (Photo © Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)

From the moment he stepped onto the scene clad in all black, Nas was ready to hit the fashion playground. In the 90s, Nasty Nas rocked camo fatigues, puffer jackets, wheat Timbs, gold rope chains and his beloved QB fitted. In the 2000s, he transitioned to a more grown and sexy look: crisp button downs, fly suits and classic hard-bottom kicks. He even rocked a shawl cardigan for his "Daughters" video.

4 of 11

T.I.

Photo Credit: (Photo © Johnny Nunez / Getty)

T.I.'s style is an extension of his split personality. The Kang can flip from a classic cocktail suit to socks and flip flops and still look like he could tae bo kick you in a fight. The father of six isn't shy to rock bold colors, either. He's worn just about everything on the chart, from burgundy to turquoise.

5 of 11

LL Cool J

Photo Credit: (Photo © Kevin Winter/Getty)

LL Cool J changed the game in the 80s with his signature bucket hats and gold chains. These days, LL can roll up to a swank shindig in a bespoke suit or get his Shemar Moore on in a muscle-busting wife beater. For 20 years straight, Cool J has endured an image as the man ladies want and some fellas want to look like.

6 of 11

Big Daddy Kane

Photo Credit: (Photo © Gabe Ginsberg/Getty)

From his signature high top fades to his velour suits and dookie chains, Big Daddy Kane was one of the most influential hip-hop style icons of the 80s. Kane helped inspire the hip-hop fashion of his era and continues to outdress his younger peers today.

7 of 11

Jay Z

Photo Credit: (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Jay Z is cool as the summer breeze. When he ditched throwbacks for button ups, the rest of hip-hop followed suit. Jay won't jump out of the window to wow you with risky pieces. Hov is more of a Darth Vader/Storm Trooper guy who keeps things eloquent in all-black or all-white pieces. You want pastel colors? Go visit Kanye West.

8 of 11

Diddy

Photo Credit: (Photo © Gareth Cattermole / Getty)

Sean Combs is a hip-hop style icon. With his Sean John collection, Diddy helped transform hip-hop fashion. The Diddy Style is all about the smart and sophisticated look. His spectrum is vast, from drug-dealer fresh to downtown chic.

9 of 11

Kanye West

No matter what you think of his music, Kanye West is a hip-hop fashion leader for his generation. West has always considered himself a designer first, an artist second. His style constanty turns heads -- eccentric pop pastiche, classic kicks, left-field accessories (ski masks, hello), dazzling frames, with a relentless desire to make his silhouettes seem boundaryless instead of irreverent.

10 of 11

Andre 3000

Photo Credit: (Photo © Jon Furniss / Getty)

Tweed suits, wool cardigans, razor-sharp pants. Andre "3000" Benjamin is a distinguished fashion plate with a style that embraces vintage Brit chic. Dre straddles the line between serious and sardonic. Except for that one time he wore a Roddy Piper kilt in a UGK video.

11 of 11

Pharrell

Photo Credit: (Photo © Kevin Winter / Getty)

Pharrell is not even a real person. He's an ageless fashion god. A master of the simple-sophisticated look. Most of us would look like clowns in half the stuff P wears. He could rock a terry cloth and somehow make it look like the hottest thing on all planets.

HIP-HOP BIGGEST MYTHS

Photo Credit: (Photo © Theo Wargo/Getty)

"If the society that we're talking about is a society that starts wars all over the world, degrades indigenous cultures, is misogynistic in itself, if that's the society we're talking about, then it's not a bad thing if hip-hop did degrade that society." — KRS-One
I could hear the disgust in my Uber driver's voice. He'd just learned that I listen to rap music. "I don't like that gangsta rap stuff,” he said.

“It degrades women."

He exemplified the judgmental sentiment of almost everyone who hates rap music. Hip-hop gets a bad rap, some deserved and some unfair. None of it is unique to hip-hop.
Hip-hop is often criticized for misogyny, but misogyny is not unique to hip-hop. Critics knock hip-hop for vulgarity and violence, but you can find vulgarity and violence in movies, video games, high school books, TV shows and Target's toy section. You can find violence and misogyny in every music genre.
That's not to say that hip-hop is perfect. It isn't. What I'm saying is that hip-hop shoulders a disproportionately high section of the blame for century-old societal problems. When outsiders attack hip-hop, they're attacking much more than hip-hop.
Most hip-hop misconceptions are rooted in a misunderstanding of the culture. Without an intimate understanding of the history of hip-hop it's almost impossible for an outsider to completely appreciate the genre.
Time to separate fact from fiction. Here are the most common hip-hop misconceptions that need to go.

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Hip-hop promotes negative ideals.

Lil Wayne. Photo Credit: © Cash Money/UMG

One of the most common hip-hop misconceptions is that it promotes bad behavior. Yet studies show no justifiable link between hip-hop and bad behavior.
In fact, we've seen more people act up after watching a show or a movie. Did you hear the one about the guy who killed his friend after watching The Walking Dead because he thought his friend would turn into a zombie?
The point is that good and evil exist.

And some people will do evil, no matter what's pumping out their speakers. It's a dangerous misconception to attach negative behavior to a form of music without evidence.

The truth is that hip-hop inspires, motivates and entertains. In college, I used to listen to Nas before exams. I felt motivated when I heard Jay Z rap about his ambitious ways on "Ambition." Songs like "C.R.E.A.M." and "NY State of Mind" give those from less-glamorous roots a way to visualize a brighter future.
Rap is the soundtrack of our lives. When rappers tell their stories, we visualize a future better than the one promised. We invite them into our world and they pull us into theirs.

3 of 6

Hip-hop is all about violence and shaking your booty in the club.

Kendrick Lamar. Photo Credit: Chris Weeks/Getty Images

Hip-hop is entertainment. It will always have an entertainment component. But it also has educational components. It inspires, teaches, motivates, and moves us to action.
Unfortunately, when people hear the word "rap" they associate it with violence and misogyny. I mentioned my Uber driver earlier. Notice how he reacted to my statement. I said "rap," he heard "gangsta rap."
Political commentary, for instance, has been a core focus in rap since the early days.

From Public Enemy and N.W.A. all the way to Talib Kweli and Mos Def, rappers have been shining light on social issues from the beginning. They rap about injustice, racism and personal responsibility. They hold us accountable and lift our spirits in dark times.

Today, the likes of Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole carry on this tradition of positive narratives. On To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar captures the journey of being black in America today. Kanye West--rap's favorite scapegoat--has had moments of purpose with songs like "Jesus Walks" and "New Slaves." And these were all works that made huge waves in pop culture. This myth, like most hip-hop myths, makes absolutely no sense.

4 of 6

Hip-hop isn't real music.

You've heard this one before. Critics say hip-hop is an unoriginal art form. They say it's a cacophony of sounds--a bunch of fast talkers over noisy beats.
Wrong again.
Hip-hop is one of the most innovative art forms around. The way hip-hop artists flip and reinvent sounds should be admired. Considering that early musical equipment were not originally created with rap in mind, hip-hop is as original as it gets.
Rap is poetry. Period. Eminem sometimes rhymes multiple words within a bar. Rakim used to draw lines in his notebook to create the smoothest flow possible. The talent it takes to make magic out of mere words is a thing of beauty.
If hip-hop isn't real music then nothing is.

5 of 6

Hip-hop lacks substance.

Photo Credit: (Photo © Rick Diamond/Getty)

 People who say this are simply looking for validation of long held misconceptions. So they wait for the white noise, pounce on it and say “See? See? I told you so!”
There's also the issue of false representation. Bun B sums this up perfectly.
"You can always pick the worst example out of an element, use that to represent the element, and say that that is what the element is. That's what people are doing with hip-hop," said Bun B explains.

"They're taking the worst example of expression and entertainment in hip-hop and using that as a litmus test, so to speak, to basically say that all hip-hop is like this."

6 of 6

Real rappers flow off the top.

People assume the art of freestylin means you have to go off the top. Rappers get dissed for pre-writing some of their rhymes.
This is misguided. Look no further than the word “freestyle” for its true meaning. The word freestyle means that you rhymes are free of style. Hence, the art of freestylin’ with or without a beat.
Now, I'm not saying you should go all Canibus and bust out a notebook in the middle of a freestyle battle.
That's wack.
I'm saying, a freestyle is a freestyle whether you thought it up on the fly or before you left the crib.

RICH VS WEALTHY

Everybody wants to be rich. Most want to get rich quick. Most fail, and fail miserably.
Why?
Because what they are really after is becoming wealthy, not rich.
There is a big difference between riches and wealth. Unfortunately, most people do not realize it. Instead of becoming rich they concentrate on becoming wealthy. And they fail.
They fail in two ways:

• Most wealth seekers simply fail to obtain the wealth they seek.
  Thus, they never achieve what they want.
  In a way, these are the lucky ones. At least they have never gotten out of their misery. So they are used to it.
• The others succeed in obtaining their wealth.
  Then they lose it. They suffer more than the first group. They have experienced the “easy life”. And they miss it. They ache for it painfully but cannot regain it.
  That hurts. It hurts very much.

Wealth is fleeting. Wealth comes and goes. Riches are forever.
There is an abundance of wealth building programs. There is an abundance of books on building your wealth. But there is very little information about what it entails to be rich.

The Difference Between Wealth and Riches

The key to economic and financial independence is in understanding the difference between wealth and riches.

Wealth

Wealth is simply the state of your wallet. It is how much you have:

• Money in the bank;
• The value of your stock certificates;
• The real estate you own.

Things like that.
All of these have one thing in common: They are external to you. They are not who or what you are.
All of these are subject to change. Their value may increase, and it may decrease.
Most importantly: You can lose them all.

Riches

Riches are a state of mind. Riches are an attitude. You either are rich or you are not rich. No one can change that, except you.
Being rich has nothing to do with what you have.
Being rich has nothing to do with how much you own.
Being rich has nothing to do with what or whom you control.
Being rich has everything to do with how you look at the world. Being rich has everything to do with how you look at yourself. Being rich is an attitude. Being rich is a state of mind.
Being rich is the ability of seeing opportunity where no one else sees one.
Being rich is the ability of taking a risk where no one else wants to take one.
And yes, being rich is the willingness to put all of your eggs into the same basket when everyone else is diversifying. The willingness to buy when everyone else is selling, and to sell when everyone else is buying. The willingness and ability not to go with the crowd.
It takes guts to be rich.

Opposites

The opposite of rich is poor. The opposite of wealthy is broke. Just as rich is not the same as wealthy, poor is not the same as broke.
Broke, like wealthy, is a state of your wallet: If it is full, you are wealthy. If it is empty, you are broke.
Poor, like rich, is an attitude and state of mind, the way you look at the world and yourself.
No one can force poverty on a rich person. And certainly no one can give riches to a poor. Wealth yes, riches no.
Poverty, like riches, is forever. Unless the poor changes his attitude, nothing in the world can make him rich. Not fame, not fortune, not government help, not education, not his job.
How many people have obtained stardom, and the wealth that usually comes with it: Famous signers, actors, ball players. Many earned millions. Yet several years later, most of them are struggling to barely survive.
Why?
Because they are poor, that’s why. Not even money can turn a poor person into a rich one.
Does that mean that a poor person cannot become rich?
Of course not. But he has to change his attitude, not his wealth. And few do. Not because they are stupid, but because they do not realize the difference between riches and wealth. They confuse wealth for riches, and that hurts them.
Unfortunately in our modern society, there are many wealth building programs, but very few ways to learn how to be rich.

The Rich Attract Wealth, the Poor Do Not

It is true: Rich people attract wealth, poor do not.
It is certainly possible for a rich person to be broke. Heck, most are at some point in their lives. But wealth seems to pour to them. It seems to find them, even if they are not looking for it.
It is equally possible for a poor person to be wealthy. Just like the stars I mentioned. Or he can win the lottery, unlikely as that may be. Or inherit money. But the poor will inevitably lose their wealth.
I like to play a little game. I watch the TV show Wheel of Fortune. At the beginning of the show I try to indentify which of the players are rich and which are poor. Not wealthy and broke. Rich and poor.
I watch their attitude. With some people it is quite obvious, at least to me (I have been doing it for a while, so I got quite good at it). With others, it is not that obvious, but I can find the rich and poor ones in maybe 80% of the cases right at the beginning of the show.
Inevitably, the poor players get unlucky: They spin the wheel and hit bankrupt or losse-a-turn every single time. Statistically, this is supposed to be impossible. Yet, it happens all the time. Or they do get to choose a letter, but the letter is wrong.
The rich players, on the other hand, seem to be very lucky. Sometimes, there is one rich player in the game, and two poor ones. The rich player wins all rounds, the poor win absolutely nothing.
The rich attract wealth. The poor do not.

How to Get Rich

Remember, you either are rich, or you are not. You cannot be somewhat rich any more than you can be somewhat pregnant. Nor can you be “on your way to riches” (though you can be on your way to wealth, since the rich attract wealth, but not necessarily overnight).
So, you actually can get rich quick. Not just quick but instantly. The moment you change your attitude, you turn rich. Instantly. Not wealthy yet, but that will follow. After all, the rich attract wealth.
So, work on your attitude.
Here are some characteristics of rich people. If you have them, you are rich already, even if you are not wealthy (yet). If not, change. That’s all it takes.

• Detachment. Yes, the rich are detached. They do not seek wealth, wealth seeks them. They are not stingy. They are generous. They are willing to give. That is not to say they waste money (the poor do), only that they are not attached to it.
• The rich are willing to take risk. This has something to do with their detachment.
  The poor always look for safety. For example, they put their money in a bank because it is insured by the government so they cannot lose. They cannot win either, but they do not see that.
  The rich, on the other hand, are willing to take risk. They may lose. They do lose. But they also win. In the long run they win more than they lose.
• The rich do not look for handouts. They do not seek a career or a safe job that will “take care” of them. They like to take care of themselves, and often of others as well.
  Again, that is not to say the rich will not accept handouts in the time of need. Since most of the rich are broke at some point in their lives, they do work for others, or even accept government welfare when they need it. But it is always a temporary thing for them.
  Indeed, a rich person may take a job that does not pay them as much as another job they might get. They take the job because it allows them to acquire a skill, not because it takes care of them.
• The rich are independent minded. They do not accept things because “everyone knows they are true.” They like to try things out on their own and find their own answers. They are willing to go against the grain.
• The rich are not afraid of failure. They see it as an opportunity to learn, rather than as an embarassing mistake to avoid.
  
• The rich learn from other rich. While they are still broke, they do not hate and resent those who are successful.
  Instead, they study their success and see how they can succeed as well.
• The rich always look for new ways of doing things. They know that once something has been done, well, it has been done. Something else has to be done now, something no one has done before.
• The rich are producers, not consumers. They create things for others instead of expecting others to create things for them.
• The rich are movers, not participants. They do not accept things as they are. They change things and improve them.

BECOME FILTHY FUCKING RICH!

I am not real.
I am a man made creation.
But still.
I control you.
I’m on your mind every single day.
You think of me more than you think of your loved ones.
You think of me more than you think of boning the hot waitress who works at your favorite restaurant.
I call the shots.
I make you sit in traffic.
I make you lose sleep.
I make your health decline.
I make you kiss your bosses ass.
I make you miss your son’s birthday.
I make you miss your daughter’s recital.
I put bags under your lifeless eyes.
I turn you into a slave.
I’m the reason you do shit you hate.
I’m the reason you have gray hairs.
I’m the reason you are full of worry and stress.
I’m the reason you will never create a life worth living.
I’m the reason why you have or will waste 40+ years of your life.
Who am I?
I am a piece of paper. I am money.
–
Make money your slave, my friend. Don’t become a slave to money.
1. Find out what type of lifestyle you want to lead.
2. Figure out the amount of money you need to sustain the lifestyle of your choice. 
3. Work insanely hard for five years. 
4. Save at least 10% of every pay check you receive and put it in an investment fund. 
5. Invest in assets.
6. Live off your investments. Use the proceeds from your investments to repeat steps 4 and 5 so you can continue making more and more money. 
Make your money make money.
That’s how you make money your slave.
Exchanging time for money is a sucker’s game.
A game that I played. A game that I lost.
As a young teen, I used to pick blueberries at a local farm.
I would wake up at 5 am. Hit the farm at 6 am. Pick berries until 8 pm.
At the end of the day, I only had $50 to show for all my backbreaking work.
My co-workers shared a similar fate. Some made a little less. Some made a little more.
But you know who made a killing?
The dude who would spend his entire day sitting in the shade.
Most of the time he was sleeping, but he was the one who owned the farm so he got paid to sleep.
He wasn’t any smarter than my co-workers and I.
In fact, he didn’t even know how to speak English.
But that didn’t matter. Only his actions mattered.
He bought assets that made him money.
The farm was an asset. The farm made him money.
He thought different so he lived a different life.
He was playing a different game.
In his game, I was the prostitute and he was the pimp.
-
They always tell you…
Either you’re a pawn or you’re a king…so everyone strives to be the king.
But that’s wrong.
I don’t want to be the king.
Because this man wasn’t a pawn nor a king.
The true players of life are not pawns and kings, the true players of life recruit pawns and kings to play the game of chess.
The true players of life are owners…the ones who own the chess board.
Become a true player and stop playing someone else’s version of chess.
Own the board, create your own chess, and recruit pawns and kings to play.
That’s how you become filthy fucking rich.
Peace.

WAYS TO TURN INERTIA INTO FINANCIAL MOMENTUM

Too many choices and inexperience with complex issues are two of the biggest impediments to creating wealth. Limiting choices and automation, on the other hand, are great ways to improve your decision-making.
In their excellent book “Nudge,” authors Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler identify a couple of reasons why most people are not very good at managing money. Through analyzing data, they concluded that people get better at stuff with experience and by receiving immediate feedback.
This is a big reason why most of us struggle with decisions regarding our retirement plans but find it pretty easy to find bargains when shopping online. We’re constantly shopping at places like Amazon, where we acquire vast experience and get instant feedback. It’s just the opposite with retirement planning. We don’t spend very much time on this task and receive virtually no guidance on our decisions. As a matter of fact, the feedback we do receive often comes decades after our choices are implemented. If we were wrong initially, the results could be devastating.
We’re also prone to inertia, with “do nothing” as our default setting when we’re confused or overwhelmed. We tend to become paralyzed when we have too many choices. So it’s not hard to see why we have so many problems planning for retirement.
Rather than try to overcome these tendencies, the best strategy may be to turn them to your advantage — like judo athletes using opponents’ own strength against them. Your default setting of doing nothing can become the foundation of a solid financial plan. As Warren Buffett likes to say, “Benign neglect, bordering on sloth, remains the hallmark of our investment process.”
With that in mind, here are five ways to automate your financial planning and improve your decision-making by eliminating unnecessary choices.
1. Sign up for your employer’s retirement plan as soon as you can. Contribute enough to at least receive the company match, and increase your contribution automatically each year. Try to increase your contributions by at least as much as your annual raise. If you change jobs, roll the money in your plan into an IRA or your new company’s retirement plan, and repeat the process. Invest in a low-cost target-date fund or a few inexpensive mutual funds and rebalance your investments every couple of years if necessary.
2. If married, get a low-cost term life insurance policy. Look for a policy with a death benefit of a couple million dollars and a term of 20 or 30 years and sign up. Have premiums taken out of your checking account automatically. You should receive a discount if you pay annually rather than in monthly installments. In addition, signing up at a young age enables you to pay much lower annual premiums.
3. When your first child is born, immediately open a 529 college savings account. Arrange to contribute $200 a month. Consider a direct low-cost plan from Vanguard to avoid the expense of a middleman. Choose a moderate age-based model, and move on with your life. Assuming a 7% annual return, this strategy over 18 years will bear great fruit — well over $80,000 to help pay for the cost of college. If you have another child, start a new account and fund it the same way.
4. Find a no-fee credit card that offers 1%-2% cash back. Allocate your reward dollars to a 529 or a personal investment account. Make sure you set up automatic payments from your checking account and pay the bill in full each month. If you put your monthly expenses on this card, a $1,000 bill each month could lead to the card company paying you $240 a year! And that’s not including any investment return or the miraculous effect of compounding over time.
5. Link the checking account where your paycheck is deposited to a credit union savings account or Treasury Direct. Set up automated transfers so that in a couple of years you will have accumulated three to six months’ wages for an emergency reserve fund. This will help you cover unexpected but inevitable expenses without having to borrow money.
While you may not be able to do all of these things, even just a couple would be a great start. The key is limiting your choices and automating. Let inertia work in your favor — instead of diminishing your chances for success, inertia will enhance it. Set up these programs and then do nothing. Take advantage of your natural inclination to accept the status quo. Properly funded and easily understandable automated systems will run on autopilot.
To again borrow the words of Warren Buffett, “There are no bonus points for complicated investments.” This goes double for anything else regarding your finances.

SECRET TO GET RICH

It's boring, but that doesn't mean it's easy.

The media likes to paint a certain picture of what it means to be rich — huge mansions, expensive cars, high-powered Wall Street or tech-startup-type jobs. If you buy into that image, being rich may feel like an impossible dream.
But the truth is that most “rich” people live very normal lives. You probably wouldn’t even know they were rich if you saw them because they don’t fit the stereotype. Most rich people are a lot like you and me. They just know a secret that, while incredibly effective, isn’t very sexy.

The secret to getting rich

The secret to getting rich is as powerful as it is unexciting: live below your means.
That’s it. The bigger the difference between what you earn and what you spend, the sooner you’ll find yourself with enough money to do what you want with your life.
Now, I realize that “live below your means” may sound obvious or trite. That doesn’t make it easy. It’s actually much harder than it sounds. Many of the people you see with big houses and fancy cars are up to their eyeballs in debt, which means they’re violating this basic principle. They aren’t rich at all. They’re in debt.
The challenge is recognizing that you can’t amass real wealth if you try to keep up with such people. Real wealth comes from spending less than you earn, again and again, month after month, year after year. It’s a slow and steady process. It isn’t particularly exciting. But it is the surest way to reach your biggest financial goals.

Practical ways to live below your means

So if the key is living below your means, does that mean holding onto your ratty old futon from college rather than buying a comfy couch? That kind of thing is certainly an option. But here are some more practical steps to could consider:

1. Ditch your big monthly bills. Switch to a low-cost cellphone company. Or get rid of cable. Technology is allowing us to do more for less, and you can take advantage.
2. Automate saving by transferring money out of checking and into savings at the beginning of every month. This forces you to live on less.
3. Increase your savings rate by 1% every six months. Set a calendar reminder to help you remember. You’ll hardly notice the difference, and it will really add up over time.
4. Put 50% of all raises towards savings. You still get to increase your lifestyle, but you do it in a sustainable way.

Redefining rich

Central to all of this is redefining what it means to be rich. If you need a huge home and an expensive car to “feel” rich, then this advice won’t work for you. But if you define affluence as the ability to spend time with friends and family, to travel, to do work you love and to stop worrying about money, then living below your means is all it takes.
Real freedom is the ability to make life choices that make you happy. Frugality puts money in your pocket so you can do just that.

TERRORISTS PSYCOLOGY

Why do some people become terrorists?

Why would a person become a terrorist?
Why would a person kill innocent people?
Should we blame religion for it?
If the problem of terrorism was connected to religion then two things would have happened, All religious people would have been terrorists and no non-religious-person would have been a terrorist. But as we all know both of those things aren't true.
Yes of course some people become terrorists as a result of misunderstanding some religious scriptures but this is not the main reason those people turn into terrorists. The main reason those people became terrorists is that they were searching for something to help them achieve their destructive unconscious goals and they found a way to do that by missunderstanding the message of religion.
Each person sees the world from his own angle. The person who wants to find a reason to do something will usually twist his own perception so that he gets the justification he is looking for. In my previous article Why do people Twist the facts to support their beliefs i explained how humans can alter their perception of things just to reach one of the important goals in their minds.
In other words that person became a terrorist because he had a very important need for killing. If that person didn't kill or terrorize anybody then he would become psychologically unstable and very depressed. See also why some men use violence against women.

The psychology of terrorists

All humans , without exceptions, want to be successful. The problem here is the definition of success. For a sane and normal person success would be doing something useful. For a mentally disturbed person success is being good at something even if it was going to cause harm to the surrounding humans.
Under the pressure of both inferiority and the complete failure in succeeding in life in a useful way some people turn to Terrorism in order feel worthy. In other words the person who failed to feel worthy by doing something that is socially acceptable might try to feel worthy by doing something that is not.
It's the same exactly as the two students who strive for attention in class using two different strategies. While the first student might study hard to be the first the other might just turn into a problem child in order to catch attention.
Both children might have the goal of catching attention but one does it while caring for others and the other does it with disregard to anything.
Social interest, or the feeling of connection to the people around us, is the thing that can differentiate between a normal person and a terrorist.
While the normal person would put people in mind before doing anything the terrorist would just try to satisfy his desires with disregard to people. See the psychology of criminals.

When more than one problem come together

A person who always felt rejected by the people around him might use terrorism as a way to seek revenge. In addition to the fact that this person feels worthless and that he has no social interest he also has another important goal which is seeking revenge.
Terrorism in many cases is an act of revenge against. Some people want to take revenge against certain groups, others want to revenge against certain countries while a third group want revenge against the whole world.
In short a Terrorist isn't a religious person who is executing what he believes to be God's word but he is a mentally unstable person who twisted some facts in order to give himself an excuse to achieve his destructive unconscious goals.
As for a non religious terrorist the story will also be the same. That person will still find an excuse such as bringing justice to the world or making the bad people pay for what they have done.

RICH MADE BY SMART?

Are all rich people smart?

So many people suffer from lack of self confidence because they don't have an explanation for why they aren't rich. Those people assume that if a person is a hard worker and smart then he will get rich.
When those people work hard but don't get rich they tend to believe that either something is wrong with them or that they are not smart.
This leads us to the ultimate question : Does being smart guarantee that a person will become rich?
No this is not correct and the evidence is available to everybody.
There are so many smart people who aren't rich and there are so many not so smart people who are very rich.
Had this been a rule every smart person would have been rich and the opposite would have been true. See also what rich people do differently.
So where is the problem exactly?

The world is not linear

The reason you are asking yourself that question is that you believe that the world follows 'a one plus one equals two' approach. I am sure you believe that if you worked hard enough while being smart enough then you would eventually become rich but things don't always work this way.
Yes the world we live in has rules but those rules are very different from the ones we believe in. The fact that we want more control over our lives have led us to believe that we are 100% in control of our lives while that's not true. See the illusion of control.
So why do we want to believe that we have control over everything?
Here are some of the possible reasons:

• We are egoistic
• We overly praise rich people
• We want to be in control
• We fear loss of control
• We want to understand how the world works
• We want to follow clear rules

There are many other reasons that motivate us to believe in those rules we created but i believe those ones are the most powerful. Under the effect of those forces we created the rules that make us feel good the most then we believed in them.

What happens when the rules don't work?

When the rules we created don't work. Many of us lose confidence and feel bad about ourselves. While we remain puzzled in the face of the events we are facing we refuse to admit that the world might be following different rules than the ones we believe in.
If you have been reading 2knowmyself articles for a while then most probably you already know that i am a big fan of hard work and persistence but those are only two parts of a bigger puzzle.
Yes hard work can help a lot but there are cases where it can't do something on its own. The same goes for intelligence which can help a great deal in some cases while in some other cases it can't.
The thing you need to realize is that not being rich doesn't make you less worthy for there are many other factors apart from the ones you believe in ,such as hard work or smartness, that can impact your life.
Keep trying, never give up but realize that you don't have the level of control you think you have.
The Solid confidence program was launched by 2knowmyself.com; the program will either help you become more confident or give you your money back.

KNOWING MYSELF

Do you feel lost?

So many people ask themselves that question everyday.
How can i find myself?
When i ask any of the people who ask that question to explain what they mean by 'finding themselves' most people fail to find the right words simply because they don't really understand what's going on.
People who want to find themselves are the ones who usually didn't know who they were. The problem isn't usually with finding themselves again but it's all about getting to understand who they are at the first place.
roughly one out of each ten people , if not less, can explain the reasons behind their emotions. The problem with emotions is that so many people get lost within them without managing to look through them.
When things go well the person ,who does't understand himself , feels good and so he doesn't believe that he is lost. When things go really bad the same person , who still doesn't understand himself, feels lost.
The main reason behind those feelings are:

• 1) Not knowing what he really wants in life. See what success really is
• Failing to understand the bad emotions
• Not knowing how to become happy

All of those symptoms boil down to one problem which is lack of self understanding.

What self understanding really means

Most people claim that they perfectly understand themselves, many people claim that they can understand people very well but as soon as those people experience a bad emotion they become totally helpless.
To understand yourself means to first realize your needs and wants for many of the emotions you experience on daily basis are strongly connected to those needs.
But in order to understand those needs you will have to also understand your unconscious goals and motives. The unconscious goals are simply the goals your subconscious mind is trying to achieve in order to fulfill your important psychological needs.
But you won't be able to understand your psychological goals or needs before getting to understand your past, and your unhealed wounds. When you understand how the experiences you have been through resulted in some wounds that didn't heal yet you will be able to figure out why you are behaving in a certain way.
Everything you feel or do isn't random but it's connected to the bigger you which includes all what was describe above.
The state of feeling lost is all about seeing a snapshot in your life without really being able to connect it to the bigger picture. Once you get an understanding of those elements you will be able to connect the dots in your life and manage to understand perfectly what is going on.

The identity crisis is a reminder of an existing problem

The identity crisis , or the state of being confused about who you are, isn't an event that happens all of a sudden but it's just an event that happens as a result of living for a long period of time without knowing who you are.
When things go well you will hardly feel lost and confused but when it rains you will easily collapse and start questioning who you are.
You know how to use a computer, a smart phone and maybe a car. You managed to operate so many devices successfully because you spent some time learning about them.
How many days you spent trying to understand your own self?