HOW TO BECOME RICH
HOW TO BECOME RICH
Everyone
has dreams about winning the lottery and getting crazy rich overnight. People
want to get rich. Just do a search on Google Books and you can see that it’s
been a rising trend since the 90s.
Many
people are looking for ways to get their first 100K, or ways to invest for a
better retirement. Some are trying to succeed as entrepreneurs. People want to
have enough money to buy beautiful homes, powerful cars, and great vacations.
But not many know what getting rich really means and what it
takes.
Being rich is more than
about the dollar amount.
Being
rich is a state of mind. In a sense, you could be rich but still poor,
and vice versa.
You
can define “rich” in different ways. There are a lot of people who simply
consider it as having a lot of money. For them, rich
is equivalent to a being a millionaire.
But
rich can also be psychological richness. It is an achievement of being able
to live without the worry of money. You don’t necessarily need
to own a castle to be considered rich. Everyone can be rich as long as we are
able to do what we desire freely and to have the fulfilment in life. The key of
it is to live with or even less than what you have. To be “normal” even when
you are financially capable to do a lot more.
You
might have your own preference on which definition suits you better, but here
are some ways on how to get rich. It may help you achieve either (or both) of
them.
If you want to become
really really rich, make bold moves.
It’s
an ambitious goal to become a very rich person, and if you’re aiming for that,
do something big, and make some great changes in life.
1. Exploit your skill as a
self-employed expert and invest in it.
Make
it your goal to do one thing better than anyone: Work on it, train it, learn
it, practice, evaluate and refine it. You may find most sports-players or
entertainers are millionaires, and that is because they are utilizing
their skills fully. If there’s something you’re good at, it is likely you can
reap considerable rewards out of it.
2. Hit $100K, then invest
the rest.
Everyone
wants to be a millionaire. But a goal like this isn’t something you can easily
achieve in a short period of time. Aim at saving $100K first.
The
small amounts you save daily is powerful. You might only be able to put away $5
or $10 at a time, but each of these investments are your financial foundation.
3. Be an inventor and
consider it as an opportunity to serve.
Stop
thinking about making a lot of money and start thinking about serving a lot of
people. If you think about what people need, or things that could improve
society, your insights will have more impact. Not only that, you could be the
first to produce a trending product in the future.
When
you start to serve a lot of people, the effect of word of mouth is magnified –
not to mention, you’ll have much more helpful feedback to improve what you do.
Having
the patent of a popular invention could be the fast-lane ticket to prosper.
Just look at Snapchat.
It
would definitely be challenging, but consider it to be a way of serving, to
benefit those who actually need your invention. No business is successful
without the support of the public. Rather than squeezing every single dollar
out of your customers, show them you are actually working to make them better.
4. Join a start-up and get
stock.
Using
the same potential consideration of start-up in the above points, owning stocks
of one or more start-up companies could be a valuable investment if the company
thrives and either floats or is sold to a larger enterprise.
Only
a small minority of start-ups succeed in realizing large capital gains, so the
odds are not good. However, you can use your judgement to see which business
idea and which management team are likely to succeed. Early employees in Apple,
Google and Microsoft became millionaires on this basis.
5. Develop property.
Buying,
developing and selling property has always been a major way for people to
accumulate capital.
Borrowing
could be a key element in this method. Say you borrow $200,000 and put in
$50,000 of your own to buy a property for $250,000. Then you develop the
property and sell it for $400,000. The property has increased in value by 60%
but your $50,000 has now grown fourfold to $200,000. You have to select the
right properties in the right areas and develop them wisely.
You
are at risk from booms and busts in the property market. However, in the long
term this remains a proven way to accumulate wealth.
6. Build a portfolio of
stocks and shares.
If
you can make steady investments in stocks over a long period, choose wisely and
reinvest the dividends then you can build a large store of wealth. Of course
stocks can go either way and many small investors lose heart when their
portfolio plunges.
But
over the long-term, equities are as good an investment as property and much
more liquid. Stock market crashes represent great buying opportunities for
those with cash and strong nerves.
7. Start your own business
and eventually sell it
More
and more startup have seen success with great return in recent years. If you
can find a new approach towards a specific corner of the market and build a
business that addresses that need, then you have a potential of success in it.
If you want to become wealthier and live a better life,
build simple habits.
If you’re aiming for a stable life with
enough money to support a living, start with the everyday things you can do.
8. Find a job in the right
vehicle.
Choose
a job of your interest – do what you love and love what you do. No one succeeds
in doing what they hate.
You
might have to start at the bottom and work your way up. But chances are, if you
love what you do, it’s easier to make that happen. You’ll actually enjoy the
process of getting to the top.
Earn
the experience through different levels of work and when you feel like you have
gained all that you can from it, consider moving on in other companies
would widen your horizon on different business cultures. Putting more
experiences in various positions would make you a more valuable asset for
companies and making you a better option for higher rank duties.
Consider
how the rich are able to get in with the right companies, where there are
plenty of opportunities for growth. Seek places where you can grow your skill
and and are able to multiply your monthly income many times over
9. Cut your expenses.
The
biggest problem in some people’s path of getting rich is that they always spend
more than what they earn. Living below your means will be the easiest to get
rich.
Consistently
track your progress on how much you’re spending. Use an app or simply an Excel
spreadsheet to make sure you always know how much money you have what where
it’s going. This gives you a proper place to review and refine what does and
doesn’t make sense in terms of your spending.
Start
cutting the unnecessary spendings in your life. Do what you can to reduce your
bills: make sure you turn off the lights, plan meals to save at the grocery
store, and be disciplined about eating in. Focus your life with only the
necessities and in no time you will be saving a lot more than what you
previously did.
10. Save it in your bank.
Set
savings goals and routines to support those goals. Figure out ways that work
for you in saving money, and refine what doesn’t.
Many
banks have the option of creating separate savings accounts, as well as
automatic withdrawals. By setting up these automatic transfers, you save
passively and have to make an effort not to save.
Another
thing you can try is to increase the amount of savings by 1% in every interval
you wish. At first, it will be an insignificant change, but as time passes, you
will notice a big difference.
Give
yourself a reason and motivation to save as well. It is always important to
plan for the future and saving for retirement could be a great point to
persuade yourself to stay away from excessive spending.
11. Make investments wisely
Investment
is much more than pure luck. One investment mistake could tear away a large
chunk of your assets. So make sure whenever you are making decisions on
investments, whether on properties or stock, think twice. It will be better for
you to consider opinions from professionals and experts.
To
give you some ideas, legendary investor Warren Buffett suggested to put 10% of
the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500
index fund, so that if the market crash, you will still be fine by cashing the
10% rather than selling the stock with a bad price.
Getting Rich the Wise Way
There
are a lot more important things in life than accumulating wealth. Who wants to
end up rich, unloved, lonely and in poor health? However, if you can enjoy a
balanced life and at the same time become rich, why not do so?
Taking
combinations from the above suggestions may not guarantee you a prosperous
future, but it will surely eliminate a lot of financial troubles in your life.
With one step at a time, maybe you will also become the one you dreamed of.