Education is the Key to Building Wealth

What’s the difference between the wealthiest people in the world and those who will never achieve significant personal wealth? Education. Yes, it really is that simple; however, the process of becoming educated is not always comfortable or easy. We’re not talking about formal university education, although formal education is valuable; we’re talking about learning how to ask the right questions and find the right answers.

The ultimate goal of any type of education should be to develop a better understanding of our lives and our world. Again, it’s not always easy, but the most valuable educational experiences often require us to look at things with a fresh perspective and to unlearn wrong and harmful perceptions that are limiting our success.

Our focus at Reyes Capital Group is on educating our clients to ask some simple but profound questions about home ownership. The following is a partial list of questions that even the most intelligent people often cannot answer confidently or accurately. Even most mortgage industry experts are incapable of giving straight answers to these simple questions. The reason is not because the questions are inherently difficult; it’s because there are very strong economic interests in the banking industry to disseminate complicated, confusing, and often contradictory information to consumers. And it’s not hard to understand why: The more complicated something becomes, the less capable “non-experts” will be at deciphering the terms and seeing the real costs and benefits of a given transaction, which of course increases consumers' dependence on the "experts."

Simple questions that deserve simple answers:

• Is home ownership really a good investment?
• Can I really profit from selling my home?
• Is a 30-year fixed rate mortgage really safe?
• Is my “fixed” rate mortgage really fixed if I don’t keep the mortgage for the full 30 years?
• What's the difference between home "ownership" and home "mortgageship"?
• Do all the interest payments on my home really need to be “front-loaded” thus preventing me from building equity?
• Why isn’t the interest on credit cards and other forms of debt “front-loaded”?
• Why can’t my payments go toward my principal first?
• Have mortgages always worked the way they do today?
• Are there better ways to finance a home?
• Does it really need to take 30 years to pay off my home?
• Does my mortgage account really need to be separate from my checking account?
• Why should I have to pay even more money to refinance just to access the equity in my home?
• Can my home mortgage hurt my business cash flow?
• Can my home mortgage help my business cash flow?

These are just some of the questions that you’ll find answers to throughout the pages of our website. If you keep these questions in mind as you study all our other free resources, you will begin to understand why renowned financial and business experts like Robert Kiyosaki, author of the international bestseller Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Jack Guttentag, Professor of Finance at the prestigious Wharton School of Business, have been saying for decades that traditional mortgages are harmful to your personal and economic well being.

The answers to some of the questions above may shock you, but there’s nothing mysterious about the principles you will be exploring on this website. In fact, if you’re like most people, you will quickly realize that the answers are quite intuitive and elegantly simple.

Most importantly, be patient. Sometimes it takes a little time for people to wrap their minds around new principles—even simple ones—when they’re still under the influence of previous misconceptions. Indeed, by learning these principles you are taking the first step toward a more fulfilling and prosperous future for you and your loved ones.

For a more detailed discussion about the rampant misperceptions and inherent dangers associated to 30-year fixed rate mortgages, read this Asher Institute Study.