Blog #6: Path to Riches
By: Michael Joseph
Everyone wants to be financially stable in the far future, to make and to have enough money to ensure a happy future. Growing up my dad began teaching me the importance of money and the meaning of wealth. He gave me THREE rules to follow to ensure a wealthy future saving 10% of my income, investing my income to generate more income, and living below my income. He did mention a couple more rules but in my opinion, these are the big THREE.
SAVING
Saving is the first step toward generating wealth. Not many understand how to properly safe, none of my friends do that for sure. When you're saving you must save at least 10% of your income, 10% because anything lowers you might not live long enough to see it grow high enough. You will need to be consistent, this is why most people do not successfully save no matter how small your paycheck is you must take 10% or more. When you take 10%, 10 times you will have 100% more, and DO NOT TOUCH IT, let it grow.
INVESTING / NOT GAMBLING
With the amount of money you saved, you must resist spending it, can be tempting sometimes but do not let in. So what do you do with it? Have that money sitting around doing nothing work for you. There are many ways to use the money to make money, this is called PASSIVE INCOME. You can invest in the markets by buying dividend stocks, ETFs, or Forex. Not many people like that idea but you must be smart and wise about investing, research, study, and predict, DO NOT GAMBLE. If you're not an investor you can use other passive income ideas, writing blogs, making videos, or selling courses. (Invest in ads). The pros to this idea are that you get paid on the Quality of your work and not a salary. Con takes a little time.
Great points, Michael. Wealth building, money management, and other finance-related topics are so intriguing to me. It's amazing how financial discipline REALLY works. You can secure your future and see real results as long as you are willing to sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteProblem is, most people do not have the discipline. Gambling is fun, laziness is rewarded in our society, and people are simply not educated enough to explore passive income. That said, taking little steps like reading your blog and opening up your mind to such possibilities is important. Thanks for sharing!
Your tips on how to save money are great! Although some of those tips may not work for everyone. In your paragraph about saving money you say “no matter how small your paycheck is you must save 10% of it” Some people living paycheck to paycheck simply cannot do that. Although it is a good tip for those who do have the extra money to save, since many people do overspend on unnecessary things. I can see how that tip could benefit some people.
ReplyDeleteAlso I have a similar issue with your idea of investing and started a side hustle. Some people living below poverty level work many hours in order to generate a living wage. So they may not have time to pursue a second source of income or have the funds to start those pursuits. Although like my first point, this is a great tip for people who do have extra time on their hands.
-Sara Smolock
It’s great that your dad taught you about how to save money and be smart about how to spend it, although not everyone is lucky enough to learn while they are young. A lot of kids have parents who aren't responsible with money or never learned how to properly save either. On top of that most schools don’t teach their students how to manage their money. (which is odd since most highschoolers are told to get a job their junior or senior year) On another note, i do like all of your tips and they are super helpful, but i feel as though saving 10% of your paycheck is difficult for people with less money who depend on every single penny to pay their bills. Other than that i also think most people can’t learn about how to invest or look into the stock market because they simply don’t have time to learn. It’s sad that people have to look outside of their jobs which are supposed to give them enough money to survive for extra income.
ReplyDelete- Emily Smolock
These are helpful tips, Michael; I think most young adults don't think of the importance of saving and investing and do not know where to start. Some people cannot afford to invest or save money because they rely on that paycheck to spend on necessities such as food and rent. I wanted to start looking for ways to save money and look into how investing works. Most young teenagers and adults spend their paycheck quickly and do not take the time to set some money aside to save. If all of us stick to these tips, we'd be able to save money smartly and build a better future for ourselves. Thanks for sharing these tips with us!
ReplyDeleteMichael, thank you for the very helpful tips. When reading this I noticed that I can relate because my father tells me almost the exact same thing, to save and be smart. Saving is very important and I think that many individuals struggle with the importance of saving whether they are financially struggling or not. For those who are, the struggles come with great costs and to get back up one must fight. Typically when money is presented, immediately the thought to young teens and adults is "spend, spend, spend." but then what? Left with nothing I presume and that is another issue that occurs."Money can buy happiness", but can it really?
ReplyDelete-Julia Brubaker
I believe it is essential for every individual, regardless of age, to understand the significance of preserving the money they earn and distinguish what purchases are a necessity versus a want. It is drastically easier to spend money rather than saving it, however, the outcome of putting your money away will present a higher reward than any other strategy. Money can not be thought of in terms that only benefit an individual in the present because that leads to inevitable monetary instability. The three rules provided in the blog to ensure a "healthy future" are important for everyone to be aware of especially young adults.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these tips! It is nice to be reminded to be financially smart because I personally have a REALLY BAD habit of spending. It is important for people our age to become more knowledgeable towards finances because unfortunately we can not live off of our parents forever. I knew anything about investing up until a few months ago. Shoutout to you and your dad for being ahead of the game. :)
ReplyDeleteI probably have the worst saving method, which is that I just stash my money in a little box and thoughtlessly remove how ever much I want. Most of my income goes into buying food. My excuse is that i want to "treat" myself, but I've used the excuse so much that my friends and I started mocking it. Your simplified steps makes smart financial decisions achievable, for even someone ass bad as myself!
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that your dad taught you these things growing up! He sounds very responsible, and so do you for following his suggestions, and also for sharing his rules with us. While I don't spend ridiculous amounts of money, I always try to keep my spending to a minimum, because I feel bad otherwise and like I have to justify it. While I don't know much about investing or stocks, it seems like a smart idea. Thanks for the tips, Michael!
ReplyDelete– Antonia Sussina.
These tips were amazing! Thank you. I have decent spending and saving habit but they can improve. It's amazing that you had someone to help you with your finances while growing up. Your tips were super helpful and I may use them from now on.
ReplyDeleteAs young adults, majority of us are still unsure about your financial future. It may not seem important to save on a regular basis, but I have been through my fair shares of ups and downs of my financial life. I grew up in a family of seven, and living life in a poorly developed country, Bangladesh, was especially tough. I strongly agree with your dad Michael, believe it or not my dad told me at one point. If you have 3 rice balls for lunch, before you eat the last one think about dinner. You might not have anything for dinner, you already ate two and you could save this one. His point is that we should always think about our future, and never take anything for granted. The journey of savings may be irritating at the beginning, but I promise the end result is worth every seconds of waiting.
ReplyDeleteHey!! I'm glad you shared this with us, I know I was looking for some advice money wise. I especially love your 3 big tips, and I think that if people stick to this, they will most definitely see a change in their money and habits. Thank you again!!
ReplyDelete~Zoe Yllanes
Thank you for these tips, they really opened up my mind to saving more. I've taking personal business finance in high school, but they never really teach you about passive income, on how to spend money wisely to make more money. I really never thought about investing into stocks, but at young age I think I should start investing, being able to make more money toward the future.
ReplyDelete