Search results
38 results found.
4 Things to Know Before You Start Investing
How do you know if you’re ready to start investing? Here’s a thought experiment to see if you have the right mindset.
Imagine you’re at a conference and you happen to sit next to the former chairman of the Nasdaq.
He proposes an investment opportunity to you with guaranteed returns of somewhere between 13% to 20%. Would you get in?
If you do, then you’re doing something “natural.” Many people base their decisions on credentials. Well, that guy was Bernie Madoff, and he made that offer to many smart investors. He had all the credentials:
5 Steps to Become a “Millionaire Next Door”
When researcher Thomas Stanley tried to learn how people became wealthy, he started by visiting upscale neighborhoods across America.
He discovered that many people who lived in expensive homes didn’t have much wealth. Instead, each millionaire he found didn’t look like a millionaire.
- They lived in middle-class neighborhoods, instead of “upscale addresses”
- They didn’t own the latest model cars or expensive watches
- They didn’t wear luxury clothing brands
- and so forth.
Stanley also expected most wealthy people to be descendants of old-money families, like the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, he found ordinary people who built their wealth by themselves, in one generation.
His insights led him to write the bestselling book, The Millionaire Next Door. The book’s findings were simple but powerful:
“We discovered who the wealthy really are and who they are not. And, most important, we have determined how ordinary people can become wealthy.”
A lot of people confuse wealth with income. Wealth is not income. Even if you have a high income, spending it all means you won’t get wealthy. It’s all about living a fulfilling lifestyle you want below your means.
I used to have goals like, “I’d like to make a million dollars a year!” But that’s too dependent on outcomes. It gets you trapped in a cycle of chasing after more and more. And more money doesn’t lead to financial independence.
Here are the 5 steps you can take to build wealth and eventually become a “millionaire next door.”
5 Money Mistakes You Can Avoid to Achieve Financial Freedom
I came across a study the other day that asked people where they burned most of their hard-earned money.
The answer of over 64 million Americans? “Having fun.” I don’t think there’s much wrong with having fun. But when we spend too much on having fun, we often end up regretting it when we suffer financially.
The problem is especially when we spend money we don’t have. Looking back, most people don’t think it’s worth it to work yourself into debt.
When we overspend, it’s usually for leisure or on things we desire, but don’t really need. It’s a classic money mistake that many of us have made.
It really makes a difference when we stop spending money on the things we don’t need. When we do that every day, and if we invest our money wisely, we build inevitable wealth.
How To Control Your Attention When You’re Feeling Anxious
As I’m writing this in June 2020, we’re going through the rockiest months in decades. We have a health crisis, an economic crisis, and a social crisis on our hands. Most of us are dealing with challenges to stay focused on our tasks. Our attention is all over the place.
One of my readers replied this on one of my member-only emails, a monthly 1000-word email that I send out to my clients and students:
“I just caught myself scrolling up and down your email: I know its important, but at the same time I already am thinking about my next task and cannot even focus on finish reading the email. I think I am going through some kind of entrepreneurial anxiety, so much information, difficult to filter, and therefore lacking focus.”