The Mindset of a Millionaire

What exactly, is wealth? It’s freedom. There are many people who earn a lot of money, but don’t have true wealth – they work to make enough money to spend on things, then have to keep working to make even more money. They never have a comfortable financial cushion in case they lose (or decide to quit) their jobs, and they rarely, if ever, enjoy the fruits of their labors or learn the benefits of creating wealth and leverage.

But real wealth means that you can live your life fully, spending quality time with your family and friends, taking trips to exotic locations, or enjoying close-to-home adventures on your boat or at your mountain cabin. If you’re working 45 or 59 hours a week at a job you hate, coming home exhausted and angry every night, then spending your one week of vacation doing chores around the house … you’re not really living. You’re working purely to exist, and existing only to work.

There is no nobility in being poor – in fact, it’s often humiliating, and uses up a lot of your time and energy just working to get by. The struggle to pay the bills and put food on the table has kept countless men and women from achieving their full potential, keeping them from painting, writing, composing operas or contributing to society in other valuable ways, all because they spent so much of their creative energies simply working to survive.

It’s unfair to be sure but, to fully partake of all that society has to offer, we need money to buy things, whether those things are plane tickets to explore other cultures or equipment to create art, music or technology that will benefit millions of other people. In a world where money is the most important thing we need to survive, the highest calling that one can answer is the calling to become wealthy – along with our inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we also have an inalienable right to strive for material wealth.

It sound horribly materialistic, but it’s just simple truth. As humans, we have the ability to better ourselves, to achieve great things in the world, and to advance to the highest planes of existence possible. We have the minds to understand what that entails, and the drive and intelligence to work towards it. To be content with less than the best that we can be, have and produce is a waste of these unique abilities that we alone as animals have been given.

There’s a verse in the Bible that asks, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” But the same can be asked about the man who fails to strive for material success as well – without money, you can’t afford healthy food, or decent clothing, or a pleasant home. So, then, you could also ask what it profits a man to work so hard when he’s unable to enjoy his life? Wanting to become rich is not only understandable, it’s one of the most laudable achievements you can hope to attain. It means that you want the best for yourself, and for your family. Once you’ve achieved wealth, you can truly fulfill your dreams and the dreams of others.

Most of the wealthiest people in the world don’t look that way at first glance. You’d never look at them twice in an elevator or on the street, in fact. That’s because the truly wealthy don’t flash their money by driving high-profile cars or wearing designer clothes. The surprising fact about genuinely wealthy people is that, unlike middle-class folks who try to look richer than they are, the really rich aren’t big spenders.

According to the book “The Millionaire Mind” by Thomas J. Stanley, millionaires are far less profligate with their money than most people think. For starters, they live below their means and have very little debt – most of them pay off their credit cards every month, and over a third of them have no mortgages on their homes. They put a large amount of income into savings and investments – 20 percent, on average – and they think about value when they shop, driving older cars and wearing off-the-rack clothes.

Millionaires are also self-made. Most didn’t inherit their money – they earned it themselves through their work as executives or business owners. And most of them are well educated, as 90 percent are college graduates with over half of them holding advanced degrees. They weren’t the valedictorians, however. Most were ‘B’ students, coming out of college with an appreciation for hard work and discipline. Over half of them attend church at least once a month, with over a third of millionaires considering themselves very religious.

So what does this mean to you? It means that the rich aren’t as different from the rest of us as we imagined. Very few of the inherited their money – that means that it’s possible for you to become a millionaire yourself, if you find the right combination of opportunity, attitude and commitment. When asked by Stanley what the ingredients of success were, luck wasn’t a factor. Their answer: integrity, discipline, social skills, a supportive spouse, and hard work.

The biggest difference between the wealthy and everyone else is that they’re investors rather than consumers. They’re frugal with their spending, keeping a close watch on how much they spend on disposable items that offer no return on their investment like food, clothes, cars and household items. Instead, they try to make their money work for them by buying real estate, investing in stocks and mutual funds, and buying insurance with a guaranteed return.

To put it another way, wealthy people look at their money differently. They use it in ways that it will grow, ensuring that they continue to have lots of money in the future. If you’re like most people, you look at money as something to spend – you get paid, then you pay your bills and, if there’s anything left over, you buy something with it. If you’re feeling unhappy or stressed, you buy a DVD or go to a nice restaurant. When you have a sudden emergency, like car repairs or a broken water heater, you pay for it with a credit card because you don’t have the money. Your habits are the habits of poor people, not of rich people, and it affects your bank balance.

So start thinking and acting like a wealthy person. Make a budget and stick to it. Shop for bargains. Avoid credit cards, and pay down the debt you already have. Start putting money into savings, even if it’s just a small amount each month. With the right outlook, you’ll find that your own personal wealth will start to grow.

You want money. You want success. But do you live your life in such a way that you attract good things or, instead, do you walk around acting as if nothing good will ever happen to you because you just don’t deserve it? Getting ahead in life takes a certain amount of luck, determination and elbow grease but, as many wise people have said in many different ways, luck and opportunity are out of your control – success, however, comes from seizing those opportunities and making something of them. If you want to have more money and more success in your life, you need to take the necessary steps to attract them:

Know what, exactly, you want. Don’t be wishy-washy about what you want – want it with all your heart! And be specific. Don’t say, “I’d like more money.” Instead, admit that you want to make $100,000 a year at a job that you love. The clearer you are about your desires, the more likely you are to achieve them.

Heed your intuition. How many times have you talked yourself out of taking a risk, failed to apply for a job you really wanted, or let some other great opportunity pass you by, telling yourself that you’d never really get it anyway? Your gut will tell you what direction you should be heading – don’t let fear or low self-esteem stop you from reaching higher!

Use daily affirmations to reaffirm your goals. Jot down a positive statement declaring that you’re ready for success. “The promotion is mine,” or “My bank account grows each month.” Write it on a Post-It and stick it on your bathroom mirror or your computer monitor, somewhere that you’ll see it, read it and think it every day.

Focus on the positive. You get back what you generate in life, and nowhere is that more true than when it comes to money and success. If you’re never thinking about anything other than how much you hate your job, or how little money you have, all of your energies are focused on the negative – and that’s what you’ll get in return. Instead, say, “I will be happier when I’m hired for that new job,” or “Money is coming my way,” and you’ll attract more positive events.

Visualize your goal, and ask for help. Get a vivid, detailed picture in your mind of your goal, and hold on to that. Come back to it a few times each day, knowing that you will achieve it. While visualizing, ask your higher power, whoever or whatever it may be, for guidance in reaching that goal – you’ll be surprised to find that the way becomes clearer once you do.

Just do it. It’s something of an ad-campaign cliche, but it’s valid advice – just wishing for money and success won’t make it drop in your lap, you have to work for it. The famous newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane once said, “Opportunity comes like a snail, and once it has passed you it changes into a fleet rabbit and is gone.” To go back even further, the Greek playwright Aeschylus wrote, “When a man is willing and eager, the gods join in.” Once you start working toward your goal, you’ll find that the universe will drop opportunities to help you along – but that first step is yours to take.

Follow your passions. Have you always wanted to sell your own gourmet chocolates, or own a motorcycle shop, or become a used book dealer? The best way to become successful is to embrace something you’re passionate about, and to make that your life’s work. With a little brainstorming, you can probably find several ways that your passion could become your business. Money and success follow when you live your life in a positive, fulfilled way – so listen to your heart and follow your dreams!

7 Steps to Creating Wealth

Everybody wants to be wealthy, but few people really commit themselves to doing what it takes to achieve their dream. The road to wealth is a simple one, but takes determination, capital and commitment – if you’re willing to take the steps to get there, you can make your dreams of wealth a reality:

Savings. A commitment to building up your savings is the foundation of any financial plan. The conventional wisdom says to pay yourself first – even if it’s just 5 percent of your income, take it off the top before you do anything else. There are always other things to use your money for, and if you don’t make savings your top priority, you’re unlikely to save at all.

Investing in the stock market. You don’t need to be a millionaire to invest in stocks. Take a little time to learn about trading stocks, set up a simple trading plan, and spread out your risk – put some of your money higher risk stock, some in more stable, lower risk stocks. Building a portfolio should be a cornerstone of financial planning.

Investing in property. Putting some of your money into real estate will provide consistent cash flow, particularly if you own income property like an apartment building or rental homes. You don’t have to make huge investments in property, just carefully chosen ones.

Investing in business. Whether it’s your own business or someone else’s, putting money into a business is good for the economy and good for your portfolio.

Tax Minimization. This is where a good accountant comes in – they can help you figure out ways to lower your tax burden by setting limited liability partnerships or helping you incorporate, private annuities, deferments and other strategies. The less you pay in taxes, the more you have to invest.

Asset protection. Some of this overlaps with tax minimization, with limited partnerships, insurance policies and other strategies helping you avoid paying too many taxes while keeping your money safe. As you acquire more and more money, you’ll want good advice from an accountant or investment counselor – you may even want to invest in off-shore interests for the tax breaks.

Retirement funding. Make sure that you’re prepared for the future by having a solid strategy for your retirement funds. You can invest in a single fun and just let it grow for the next 30 years, or break your investments up into a collection of different funds. Either way, you may make the decisions about how to invest yourself or seek advice from a professional, who can help you choose stable funds for long-term growth.

Creating wealth is more an art than a science, and there’s no one way to achieve your goals. It takes creativity, hard work, a certain amount of luck and a commitment to your financial plan. The biggest mistake people make as they earn more money is to spend more, too – manage your money with savings and investments, and acquire annuities that will assure you have a comfortable life in your golden years.

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