I thought I’d switch gears today and talk about another subject that I am very interested in and have been studying and actively engaged in for the past 18 years – wealth building.
This is an introduction to a multi-part series in the subject. I have nothing to sell here and this information is probably worth exactly what you’re paying for it, but nonetheless at the very least I hope it will be interesting for you and perhaps even provide some ideas that may help you in your own life.
This series is intended to be interactive, so not only will I provide the basic information, but I will also suggest some assignments that will help you to apply this information to your life and your situation. Since I don’t claim to know everything there is about this subject, I welcome comments, questions, and suggestions. You may either comment directly on the blog or if you prefer to have a private discussion please feel free to e-mail me at
johnnydangerously64@gmail.com .
Please note that all this information will be very general in nature – I will not provide any specific investment information. I do not hold myself out to be a financial advisor; my licenses for this sort of thing have long since expired. I am coming to you simply as someone who has some experience in this subject that I would like to share with others. I welcome you to this dialog!
Some things that I will be covering in this series are:
- Financial Assessment – how to objectively determine what your current financial situation is.
- Budgeting – ideas on budgeting and common mistakes people make.
- Planning – techniques for deciding what actions to take.
- Actions – how to execute your plan.
- Financial knowledge base – basic things you need to understand about how finance works and how to make your finances work for you.
These are just some of the high level concepts that I will be discussing. As we go along I will also provide other items that may be of interest and useful to you on this subject.
It may seem odd to say this, but the first step to building wealth is to reconcile with yourself that it’s OK to be wealthy. With all the rhetoric out there today about the “evil rich” one would think that being wealthy and being a good, responsible member of society cannot coexist. I submit to you that this notion is patently false! As I’ve mentioned in a previous comment on this very blog, being wealthy is all about the attitude and how you use that wealth.
Another key step to take in beginning this journey is to determine exactly what it means to you to be wealthy and what your motivations are. If hoarding money and gaining material possessions are your only goals here then may I suggest that you pick up another hobby, because people who view wealth in this way are never happy. This is because they simply never have enough.
To start this process, I recommend that you sit down and decide why wealth building is important to you. Are you working to improve your quality of life? Do you want to be able to be generous to friends, family, or people in need? Do you want to be able to send your kids to college? Do you want financial security in your golden years? How would you define wealth within the context your own life? What are your specific financial goals in life and is it worth what it will take to achieve those objectives? This is certainly not an exhaustive list of questions that you should ask yourself, but you get the idea.
- Assignment 1: Take about 5 – 10 minutes to brainstorm and make a list of these questions. Once you have that list, take another 20 minutes or so to answer these questions.
Tomorrow’s post will focus on assessment. I hope you will join me for that!
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