Have you secured your future?
According to Robert Kiyosaki best known for his book called Rich Dad Poor Dad. Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, but why? Is it because there isn’t enough for everyone to go around, but everyone has to pay in? I personally would say yes, especially, if you are someone who looks forward to it. If you’re like me and still in your twenties you have to understand it won’t be there when you get there. This is why you have to take the necessary steps today to prepare for your future. Don’t allow time, regret, and procrastination to be your excuse in the end, because there won’t be one. It will be just you at 65, still forced to work because you planned to fail? What? You didn’t plan to fail? Did you plan to succeed? No? Then you planned to fail because you never took action. Here are some staggering statistics. 100 out of 100 people will die some day and 10 out of every 10 opportunities you never took will never work.
Don’t depend on the government, on your job, or that 401k to be there when you need it. Depend on God and the cash flow you’ve been diligently creating by making wise choices. How do I make wise choices, by making an educated choice to do something to plan your future. I’m not saying that having a 401k, a job, or receiving government assistance is bad, but don’t depend on it like a crutch. I’m not saying you have to make money your life in fact don’t make money your life. However, you need to make educating yourself a very, very, high priority.
(Photo credit: s_falkow)
If you look at your past as your closest indicator to your future performance what is the projection of your future look like? Would you be happy with what you saw? This is a question meant for self-reflection, but you must be honest. It’s just you and who knows you better than you? No one. So be the change that you want to see. Okay, Budget Guy, lets say you’re right and I do want to change, but I don’t know how. My past behavior has predicted that. So how do I change my future starting today?
No one gets rich overnight and those that do (AKA inheritance and the lottery) wind up worse than anyone else. So forget those as an option for now.
- The first thing you need to do is stop the bleeding. Stop investing in bad debt. That is number one. If you can’t buy it with cash, don’t buy it.
- Reduce your liabilities. For most people that means paying off their credit cards and other small loans like on their car. They decrease your flexibility and monthly cash flow.
- Teach yourself to delay gratification. If you want to buy something, plan ahead of time to buy it (and then maybe wait an extra week). You might find that you didn’t want it or you might find a better deal. This step is really for those that tend to be the impulsive buyer.
- Increase your means. Raise your level of income. This doesn’t mean you use a credit card. Remember we want to lower our liabilities and increase cashflow. So maybe this month you sell something, you perform a paid service, or you can earn some type of passive income. These are ways to increase income and are listed from the easiest to the hardest to obtain.
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Yes, I’m preparing for you (Photo credit: Tojosan)
Invest a portion of your income every month into educating yourself. This is the number one way you will grow. Learn about money, but most importantly learn about yourself. Sun Tzu a famous Military Mastermind who wrote the book “The Art of War” wrote “if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
- Ask someone whom you believe is successful to mentor you. This person should be in a place can help you get to where you want to be. This mentor should be someone who is successful in your perspective and is in a position that you want to be some day.
- Believe that God has blessed you with the ability to be where you wish to be. This may sound cheesy, but the reason you haven’t found success is because at some point you faltered in your belief that you could succeed.
- Teach others what you know. Become an influence in the lives of other people and they will invest in you. When people see you as a trust worthy source they will return to you time and time again.
- Focus. Develop a game plan, a best educated guess of your future. Use it as a guide, but be flexible. It is not the rule, but the guide. It is a compass of sorts allowing you to measure where you are in comparison to where you wanted to be.
- Finally. Save $1000 (outside of your emergency fund) and invest it into something you have become well-educated about that you believe WILL return an income of some kind on a monthly basis. You may fail or you may succeed, but either way you will learn something. You will learn something more valuable than that $1000. You will learn what worked and what didn’t. This information is invaluable to your financial future. The reasoning for doing this is simple. Most people never succeed because they never try. If you learn to overcome your fear of failure you will find your faith to succeed.
