{This is Part 2 of a 3-Part series. Check out Part 1 here.}
There is a shortcut to massive wealth…
And you can learn that shortcut by listening to successful people that have come before us.
I asked experts from all over the globe this question:
If you could tell yourself one piece of financial advice, what would it be?
Be sure to implement these strategies, and true wealth is yours!
Valerie Jennings, CEO of JSMM
Surround yourself with extremely wealthy people who are knowledgeable in niche areas such as law, finance, accounting and professional development.
By doing this you can avoid the pitfalls of becoming broke emotionally, spiritually and professionally so you don’t have to spend too much time learning the past mistakes of others. The old adage: ‘Time is money’ applies here.
Many people are willing and happy to mentor young professionals free of charge. It’s worth the effort to find these people early on and pay it forward later on in your career. The cost of doing so: priceless!
Anthony Kure, Owner / President of Kure Net Worth Management
My one piece of advice sound simple but it’s true and will trump any piece of investing know-how. The advice: Always, always spend less than you earn.
Gretchen Marks, Washington Energy Services
Buy real estate as soon as you can reasonably afford to.
I have had several chances to get this right, but didn’t get the message. I was an executive making over six figures with perfect credit, but renting until I was 40. In 1997 I was 36 and living in an apartment in Manhattan on 111th street that was actually for sale for about $80,000. I was renting it for $1600 a month! Had I purchased it, my mortgage payments would have been half of that. My good friend was in a similar situation at that time, and purchased her apartment. She later sold it for triple that amount.
Now I am 53 and still working. My next door neighbors, who knew about buying houses, started buying properties when they were 21. They are a similar age, but are retired with a steady stream of rental income.
I can make all of the excuses for this, such as “I didn’t know if I wanted to live there permanently” or “My parents never told me about real estate”, both of which are true… but I can only really blame myself because it would have been a great investment even for the short term.
And yes, today I do own a home. 🙂
Dr. Shawn Council, Esquire, LPD
If I were younger, I would advise myself to continue working and not take out student loans. I could have gotten my education at a state university and continued to work. Then I could have avoided student loans. If you can pay your way through, it is far better than taking out student loans.
Student loans erode one’s disposable net income and decreases one’s purchasing power. They have a deleterious effect on the national economy.
Mark Steines, Journalist & Host of Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family
Money is rewarding but opportunities are fulfilling.
The process of making lots of money isn’t a straight line, its filled with twists & turn and ups & downs that winds its way through important and meaningful relationships. Harvest those relationships and the wealth will follow. I wish I knew the deeper benefits of this much earlier in life.
The best way to catch money is to chase opportunities!
Coach Mike Basevic, Behavioral Strategist/Performance Coach/Auhtor/Speaker, and creator of No Limits
I would tell my younger self like everything else in this Universe, money is only energy and is created from an internal State of Being of wealth, confidence, abundance and certainty.
The State of Being is the cause, the external manifestation of money and wealth is the effect. When you are in a consistent state of being and expectation of wealth, money will come to you easily…you will make the wise decisions, you will make the correct investments, you will be presented with the strong opportunities and you will easily gain the knowledge needed to build your portfolio.
In addition, it is important to stay focused on what your end goal is, whether it’s creating more money, investing wisely or becoming a millionaire. Then, it is the expectation of reaching your goals without the need of reaching those goals that will bring what you desire to you. A State of Being of need or lack for example will only create more need and lack which will keep what you desire away from you. Instead, set the goal, stay focused on the goal while having the internal expectation that you will have what you desire.
The key is to get into the State of Being of wealth and abundance and have a wealth mindset and all else will magnetize to you.
Jan Cullinane, Author, The Single Woman’s Guide to Retirement
Spend more money on experiences and less money on things.
The anticipation and the savoring of an experience bring richer rewards than buying and accumulating “stuff.”
Research backs this up – it’s called hedonic adaptation. We get used to things; but we get a little bump of happiness every time we re-live a pleasant experience.
Dan Nainan, Comedian, ComedianDan.com
The wealth advice I would give to my younger self is to learn as much as possible about how one’s credit rating is affected. I would say read up as much as possible on what factors affect one’s credit score, and by all means, save as much as possible and don’t spend money on materialistic things just to impress others. I would say just simplify – a materialistic lifestyle is completely unnecessary, and it’s bad for the environment.
When I was younger, I had a whole bunch of credit cards and maxed them out and ruined my credit rating. Credit card companies had a hit man after me LOL. Fortunately, I carefully studied what I had to do to get back on track, and now I have a pristine credit rating with an 800 score.
Tracy Freese, MA, MFP, CTEP* and co-founder of Home of Wealth
I wish my younger self would have immediately enrolled in her 401(k) plan and contributed 10% as soon as she landed her “big girl” job out of college.
I would have told that Tracy to simply choose a long-range target date index fund and put 100% of contributions into it. Since target date funds are simple and automatically rebalanced as a worker ages, she would have socked 10% away and checked her statements annually.
Elliott Orsillo, CFP (Certified Financial Planner) and founding member of Season Investments
The number one thing young people need to know about money is that saving at an early age is extremely powerful due to the impact of compound interest over very long time periods.
Someone who starts saving and investing at an early age will not need to put away nearly as much money as those that get started later on in life.
It makes a big difference to start early.
Bracha Goetz, Author
Who is rich? The person who is happy with what he has.
Such amazing advice all around. In summary:
- Surround yourself with the right people. And don’t take advice from broke people!
- Learn from other’s mistakes, as “time is money!”
- Always, always spend less than you earn.
- If it fits your situation, real estate can be a huge piece to your wealth equation.
- Avoid student debt! (Or pay it off ASAP if you already have it. See my path to pay off $80,000 in debt here.)
- Accept the twists and turns of any path towards success.
- Relationships, relationships, relationships. It is all about relationships and people at the end of the day.
- Money and wealth is created from an internal ‘State of Being’. Create it and use it.
- Stay focused on what your end goal is.
- Spend more money on experiences, and less money on things!
- Your Credit score matters. Take care of it! (But also, you can recover from a bad credit score. It just takes time!)
- Open a 401k as soon as you can, and contribute as much as possible. Consider target-date funds, per Tracy.
- The power of compound interest is amazing. You must start as early as possible and let it work!
- The richest people are not the ones with the most money or things, but the ones that are most fulfilled with what they have.
