I’m sure you’ve seen things online and on social media about people who win the lottery and have all this money to spend, and then a couple of years later have nothing left to show for it.
I’m sure too that you know people who earn lots of money, but who never seem to have any to spend.
And I’m also sure you know people who don’t earn very much, who seem to live a lifestyle where you can’t imagine where the money actually comes from!
Here’s the thing: being wealthy isn’t about how much money you’ve got.
Ultimately, being wealthy is much more to do with money mindset, your attitude to spending and what you DO with your money, than how much money you have.
But this isn’t necessarily stuff you know automatically.
It’s definitely not something they teach you at school! It’s something we each need to find out or have someone teach us. And often, that’s what wealthy people do – parents teach their children and have trusted advisers to help.
Being wealthy is about experiencing the freedom that money gives you, and what you can do with the money that you have. There are a few key rules that I teach all my clients to follow, so that they can keep more of the money they make and enhance their quality of life along the way.
So what are the three key things that wealthy people know… so you can do the same?
Wealth Rule #1: Earn more than you spend every month
Which means looking at your numbers and maybe doing a budget planner or having separate accounts for separate purposes.
The key point is that if you haven’t got more money coming in than going out each month, you’re always going to feel like you’re just scraping by or chasing your toes.
Wealthy people have a good handle on how much money is coming in and what they want to spend their money on. They get clear on the things that are really important to them and then they divert their money towards them.
To be very clear here, this isn’t all about lavish spending. Like I said before, many wealthy people are actually not high earners and are not in a top income bracket. But they’ve built those healthy money habits, which mean they feel like every pound has a purpose.
I recently held the ‘Pause & Ping’ Money Challenge with a group of 20 participants – where I brought to life one little strategy which, combined with a simple mindset shift, allowed them to find money from their everyday spending.
It wasn’t a relentless drive to make more money and push for more sales. Nor was it about being frugal and skimping or cutting back.
It was just finding money that was already there, by diverting it from one pot into things that are more important to them.
And the results were amazing. Quite incredible, really. In the first few days, people were already sharing in the group how much money they had found. It was about different spending choices and how to divert money in simple ways – like from your grocery or petrol costs, into something more meaningful instead.
So that’s the first thing wealthy people do – get clear on what those long and short term goals are and understand where their money fits into achieving these goals.
Rather than spending each pound without conscious intent and then wondering where it’s all gone and why there never seems to be enough!
Which leads us nicely to:
Wealth Rule #2: Balance the future with living today
There’s a very good reason our tagline is “Balancing today’s needs with tomorrow’s dreams”.
We all want to have a good quality of life now and to enjoy life’s journey. Sounds a bit of a cliché I know, but there we go.
But we DO need to be mindful of the fact that we need money for the future. At some point we may want to retire, or step away from our business, or work part time. We’re going to need a way to fill the financial gap and so need to put some things in place to get there.
It’s no good waking up when you’re 60 years old, deciding you want to retire but having made no provision to do that. Which goes back to experiencing the freedom (or not) that wealth gives you.
Wealthy people know that it takes time to grow money – and that if you want money for the future, you need to think about it today, to give it time to do what it needs to do.
And if you don’t know how to grow money because again, it’s not something you’ve ever been taught:
Wealth Rule #3: Surround yourself with experts who will help you
The third thing wealthy people know, is that you can’t do it all on your own.
Many people’s stereotypical view of a wealthy person is a big Downton Abbey style house, with servants and gardeners and people driving the car. We’re not talking about that type of help.
What we are talking about are the areas where you don’t feel confident, and paying an expert to help you fill that gap. It might be an accountant, a financial adviser, a business coach. Without support to fill that gap, it gets in your way and stops you from achieving your goals.
When it comes to looking at your finances, there’s often a feeling that it’s cheaper to do it yourself. I know when I started in business, I did my own tax return. After all, it’s an online form, I’m computer savvy and my business wasn’t that complicated in terms of money in and money out.
I didn’t get an accountant for the first three years and even when I did, it was only because I needed an accountant’s reference to get a mortgage.
But you know what?
That year the accountant saved me more than TWICE what I paid him to complete my accounts, because he showed me things I didn’t know that I could claim and saved me a massive amount on my tax bill. He gave me all sorts of other advice because it was his area of expertise, and not mine.
In my financial advice business, I see it time and time again that when people go for a DIY or cheaper option, it doesn’t involve a qualified professional and the results have not been as good.
Like when people see a pop up advert and decide to DIY it and set up a cheap pension online – only to find that they don’t know how much money to put in; or how much they will need for retirement; or what to invest in; or how much risk to take. They end up feeling confused and out of their depth, which is never a nice place to be.
Whereas working with a financial adviser allows you to have the right assets, in the right tax wrapper, in the right name. The money is ready when you want it because they take their expertise and pass it on to you, as the client.
Wealthy people know that although you need to pay for experts to help you in all sorts of areas of your life and business, it’s an investment and not a cost. It’s something you will get a return on either now or in your future, and / or in generations to come.
And those people who win the lottery and are wealthy long term? They change their money habits. They get expert advice from the right people, rather than a friend on Facebook or their dad’s mate down the pub. They make wise choices where they balance enjoying winning the lottery and spending money now with their long term goals, and what they want their future to look like.
They decide what’s important to them, get expert advice and act accordingly. They don’t pay off all their mortgage, if they want to use some of the money to go travelling. They don’t gift it all to their children and then not have any money for retirement. They don’t buy a Lamborghini and then have to go back to work in two years’ time, because the money has run out.
If you want to know more about turning the money you make into lasting wealth, click here now to find out about The Asset Accelerator®.
It’s the perfect balance of 1:1 planning and strategy with a qualified financial expert (me!), with ongoing support and accountability to get your finances in order and take action to move towards your goals.
Working together over 9 months, you’ll gain all the knowledge you need to build lasting wealth AND get the tasks done that you need to, to confidently grow your assets… basically all the financial stuff you know you need to both a) figure out and b) actually do, but never seem to get around to.
Because like we said at the start, being wealthy is much more about what you DO with your money, than how much money you have…
Here’s the link again to take control and start taking action on being wealthy!
Until next time,
Claire
