Wealth is often a two-sided sword for most people: they despire those who have it and spend their entire life trying to attain it. Most people never get wealthy in terms of dollars, so how can you be different?
You might think that you need to inherit a fortune or win the lottery to be rich, but there are thousands of people just like you who end up "rich." What's different about those people?
They learn to think about money in a different way. People who become wealthy don't think about money in the same way normal people do - they learn how to save money, they learn how to put money to work for them, and they are willing to take risks.
The first thing you need to learn to become wealthy is to think differently about savings. Saving your money each month is learning a key aspect to becoming wealthy - your money can earn interest and work while you aren't. Wealthy people learn to put their money to work for them so they don't have to continue working.
They reduce "bad" debt and use "good" debt. Wealthy people learn how to eliminate bad debt such as pay day loans and credit cards from their everyday lives. Instead, they use "good" debt such as home loans where they get a lower interest rate than they normally earn on their investments. With interest rates of 12%, 18%, even 24%, you will never be able to escape from "living paycheck to paycheck" with a lot of credit card debt.
Put a plan in place. If you do want to become wealthy, you need to create a financial plan. If you're making $35,000 a year right now, it's unreasonable to assume you will be a millionaire in 10 years - it just isn't likely to happen. Without a financial plan, its guaranteed it won't happen in 30 years. Work with a financial advisor to develop a savings and financial plan for you.
Steps
Tithe first, save second, pay everything else third. The first thing you should do each month when you receive your income is to tithe (or donate something to charity). The second thing you need to do is to save money. As you learned above, saving money is putting it to work for you instead of you having to work. Think about it like this: you work for someone else right now - renting out your time to them. They are leveraging you (say with a salary of $80,000) to earn something more for the company (for example, $125,000). They have learned to leverage your time to make them money.
As you invest, and get an average return on the stock market of 8%, you are putting money to work for you and your family.
Cut up those credit cards. Yes, you need credit cards for emergencies and travel. But do you need them for groceries? Clothes? That new big screen tv? The answer is NO! Credit cards are costing you a considerable amount of your income in fees. The second step to becoming wealthy is to stop using those credit cards.
Pay off the credit cards. You need to create a plan to pay off your credit cards. First, find all of your loans and credit cards. Write down all of the minimum payment amounts. Add them up, then figure out how much more than the minimums can you pay each month. For example, your minimum credit card payments might be $420 a month, but you have $600 to pay off your credit cards.
Take any cards which have a low balance (under $1,500 for example) and apply the extra $180 to them first. So, let's say you have four cards:
Mastercard Min Payment $120
Visa Min Payment $100
Discover Min Payment $40
Store Card Min Payment $160The Discover card has the lowest minimum payment, but it only has $1,200 on it. Pay that one off first. Two things: you will reduce the number of cards you pay on AND you will feel like you accomplished something paying it off!
Once you have paid it off, apply the extra $220 ($180 + $40 Discover payment) to the card with the highest interest rate until you have it paid off. Repeat through all of your cards.
Start small! You don't have to save a ton of money each month for it to matter, start with a small goal. Now that we have started a saving plan and started paying off credit cards, begin saving money each month. Once you have tithed, set aside $25 or $50 each month before paying your bills. This can just go into a savings account or mutual fund. Now pay all of your bills. Yes, you'll be broke (like always!), but now you have a little bit going into savings each month.
Be disciplined. Be disciplined about your savings - I have mine automatically taken out of my checking account each month so I know I will be savings. Don't start skipping a month or dip into savings for frivolous purchases.
Create a budget. You need to create a budget to figure out how much money is going out each month. Cut some items out of your budget and save the money instead - do you really need all of those movie channels? Can you do without going out to eat every night this week? Saving just a little bit now will payoff in the future.
Track your progress. Create a graph or chart showing your savings progress - it will give you great pride that you're able to do it!
Get some professional advice. I use Edward Jones for professional financial advice because they give great advice and I have known my advisor for years. Find someone you are comfortable with to get some (free) financial advice.
Tips and Tactics
Don't give up! People often give up on their financial plans at the first sign of trouble. Learn from your mistakes and move on.
