(photo: Chronomarchie)
1. “The wealthy are just lucky.”
So they keep waiting to get lucky. And somehow never do. Sure the wealthy got some lucky breaks. But they also learned to recognize them and what to do when they popped up. Because lucky breaks, like the morning dew, evaporate fast.
2. “I need this new BMW. And I can afford the payments.”
By the time they pay it off and eat the depreciation it probably cost them 70% more than MSRP. Never pay interest on depreciating assets. Buy for 0% interest or pay cash. Period. Oh, and leasing is just financing.
3.“Look at all the money we’ll save and the fun we’ll have with our new motor home and boat.”
Same as #1, only on steroids. Add paying for storage, repairs, maintenance and the opportunity cost of wasted money. Cha-ching. You could take a really nice vacation.
4. “I need to go to a prestigious college all four years to get a good job.”
And spend $40,000 per year getting general ed classes which will be on your student loan. Get two years done cheap. Employers only care about where you graduated from. And often not even that.
5. “I’ll start saving later. Right after . . . .”
Fill in the blanks. Only one small problem. Later never becomes today until it really is later. And too late. Instead start now. Automate. Make it hit your investment account not your checkbook. Then enjoy later.
6. “I’ll stay in cash for now. Invest when everything is safe.”
No one rings a bell at the bottom or top. And by the time everything looks safe everyone else has already jumped in and driven up the price. Never could understand buying cars on sale but not investments.
7. “I want to get rich quick and easy.”
And someone is always promising exactly that. Except the only one seeing that happen is the guy promising it. The one waiting for the magic trick will still be waiting. Better to build wealth easy and slow.
8. “I’ll never get wealthy anyway. Might as well enjoy it all now.”
So true. Those with that perspective are 100% correct. They never will get wealthy. But those who believe they will and stop making dumb ass mistakes will find they’re correct too.
The good news is building wealth or staying poor is mostly your choice.
Sure some have an easier time because of their circumstances.
But ultimately you get to choose. You don’t need to be a victim. You can be a victor.
At least, that was my plan.
Building wealth is less about luck and more about taking advantage of it.