I passed through another quarterly rebalance, and although I submitted the rebalance, I failed to post a blog entry about it. No matter, it was as uneventful as most of the others have been lately (although, I was surprised to see the slant toward International Equity this quarter).
Instead of another rebalance discussion though, I wanted to share this brief article I saw today that I felt reworded tired principles in a new wisdom.
Money Expert Jaspreet Singh Says ‘Becoming Wealthy Is Surprisingly Simple’ — Here’s Why
by Cameron Diiorio
What’s the one piece of money advice you wish everyone would follow and why?
The one piece of money advice I wish everyone would follow is: make yourself rich before you make everyone else around you rich. When you go out and wear Lululemon pants with your Gucci belt and Apple AirPods — you look rich, but the people who are actually getting rich are Lululemon, Gucci, and Apple (not to mention their shareholders, too). The person who isn’t getting rich is you. I want you to flip it around. Make yourself rich first by using your money to buy investments. Then, go out and buy all the Lululemon, Gucci, and Apple you want when you can afford it.
What’s the most important thing to do to build wealth?
Becoming wealthy is surprisingly simple. That doesn’t mean it is easy, it’s actually really tough, but there are only three steps. First, you have to spend less than what you make. Second, you have to work to earn more money. And third, you have to invest the money you don’t spend. Starting with step one, if you spend all of your money, you will never have a chance to become wealthy. This is where most Americans fail. Most Americans work to buy nice things like fast cars, nice vacations, and luxury clothes. But if you spend all your money, you will never become wealthy. Then, you have to work to earn more money. Regardless of how cheap you are, there will always be a limit to how many expenses you can cut. But there’s no limit to how much money you can earn. That means you have more upside by learning how to make more money. YouTube has made this financial education much more accessible, and it’s free! Finally, you have to invest the money. Just like how you can’t get rich by spending all your money. You also won’t become wealthy by saving all your money. You have to invest your money if you want to become wealthy. Where do you invest? Stocks, rental properties, businesses, and your own education. While this can sound very daunting, the good news is you can start investing with less than $100. You just have to get started!
What’s your best tip for fighting the impacts of inflation?
High inflation disproportionately benefits asset owners and it hurts consumers. In other words, inflation makes investors richer and it makes regular people poorer. So, what can you do? Own investments. Diversification doesn’t hurt either. For example, 2% of my investment portfolio is physical gold. When you have high inflation, the value of the dollar falls, causing the price of gold to go up. But, of course, always do your own due diligence before you make an investment and consult a licensed financial advisor.
What’s the biggest mistake people make when it comes to money, and what should they do instead?
The biggest money mistake people make is not doing anything. Time is our most valuable asset [and] wealth takes time to build. If you don’t start, you will never see any of the success — while your time gets sucked away. Get started. Experience is the best teacher and you can’t get experience until you start.
