Every one of you is absolutely different. You have different skills, different assets, different worries, and different goals. You need to decide what you really want to do, how much you really want to make, what you are good at, what you are scared of, and what you feel comfortable with, then start developing a business plan.

Whether you are going to own 1 piece of property or 1,000, you are going to have a business.

Why is real estate investing the best wealth builder in the universe? The answer is simple: Everyone needs a place to live, and their values usually go up over time.

I can assure you that, in the next 20 years, your real estate property will probably double, triple, perhaps even quadruple in value. If you are in a hot market, it might even go up 10 to 20 times.

Selecting securities isn't the first thing investors do; choosing investments is just one of many elements in the process. To bulletproof your investing, you need to complete many tasks.

The following checklist outlines how you can build a successful investment plan that meets your individual needs and goals:

#1 Determine where you stand.

Many people find it difficult to shake off the notion that if they're not wealthy, they don't need to do any financial planning. Stock market volatility, inflation, changing interest rates, unemployment, illness, and hard times are part of life.

To do no financial planning or to let others (your spouse, employer, broker, or financial advisor) do all your planning is to flirt with disaster.

A lease option is similar to a purchase option in that it grants investors the right to purchase property at a predetermined price within a stipulated period of time. Lease options combine the basic lease or rental agreement with an option to purchase contract. The primary difference between these methods, however, is that lease options are typically used with property such as a single-family dwelling that might otherwise be rented to a tenant.

Using options is undoubtedly one of the most powerful ways available to investors today to gain control of real estate. Options give investors the legal right to purchase an asset at a predetermined price within a specified period of time. One of the primary reasons for using options stems from the high degree of leverage that can be obtained when purchasing stocks.

Before you can put your Web site up on the Internet, you should line up a host for your future home on the Web -- a company that will be responsible for keeping your site connected to the Internet at all times. The web host will park it on a high-speed computer (a server) that's fast enough to serve up your page to hundreds of visitors at once.

You have a few options here, including free Web space or extra space your Internet provider may have granted you as part of your monthly Internet subscription.

You don't need a Web host to develop and design a site. You can do it all from your personal computer. However, if you want to publish your site for the world to see, you need some Web server space. Fortunately, server space is abundant and inexpensive. This topic helps you sort through your options.

A Web host owns (or rents) the computer that serves the files of your Web site to your visitors, usually in exchange for a monthly fee.

Whether it's intended for personal or business use, having your own website is a great way to communicate with the world. But many prospective webmasters are deterred by expensive web-design software or the daunting task of mastering HTML. In fact, you don't need either of these to create and publish a professional-looking site, thanks to the wide range of building tools available online.

Every investor dreams of being an early stockowner in a Microsoft or Intel Corp. Dishonest brokers and stock promoters prey upon this greed and offer unsuspecting investors low-priced stocks in companies with new products or technologies (like the self-chilling soda can).

Many fraudulent Internet messages are about general stock-picking advice or mention other investment possibilities.

It's time to learn how to use your brain, not your bank account, to take control of a property and make money from it without ever actually buying it. Options are a smart and simple way to control property--especially highpriced real estate--with little or no cash. Options can generate lump sum profits, longer-term cash flow, or both--it's all in how you structure the deal.