Everyone in my life has told me that “I’m great with money” and they are only half right. You can exude a presence of being “great with money” even if you only make $10 an hour.
Just like you, I’ve wasted money on dumb stuff. Just like you, I’ve purchased take out when I have a fridge full of food waiting at home. Riches in developed nations are built from the ability of the average person to waste money without withering away.
Most people hear some soundbite, advice column, or money video telling them to save more money, and they say to themselves: “Yeah! Saving money sounds cool. I should save more money and be smart like these guys!”
What they don’t tell you is that those same advice givers make loads of money telling you to do things they don’t do themselves. Suze Orman, the #1 financial guru on T.V., tells us “buy stocks and get rich” when she makes her fortune selling books telling people to buy stocks to get rich. When the stock market crashes, she sells even more books because people lose money and are looking for financial guidance.
The mainstream advice on savings is to have 3 – 12 months of expenses saved so you can go without a job until you find another one. The rest of the money, they say, should be invested in stocks and bonds.
This is average advice for average people and it gets average results. You will be better off than the dirtbag who goes into crisis mode every time the electricity bill is $20 more than expected, but there is still something missing. The mainstream advice on saving is black and white: it will protect you from hardship, but it won’t free you.
Lots of poor people around me think if they knew about stocks they would have it made. They idolize middle class people with stocks and bonds, newer cars and houses in a slightly nicer neighborhood as “making it.” They think they will achieve bliss and total happiness “if only” they could be like them.
The middle class are in the same boat. They look at the rich with their nicer cars in nicer neighborhoods with better investments and think those people have it made. “If only” they say, and work on saving and investing until, they too, can achieve bliss and complete happiness.
I used to think this way too. I was on my way to a middle class lifestyle by going to college and getting a good job. People said “I was good with money” so I studied to be a financial adviser.
It was not before long that I realized saving and investing is a rat race. You save to invest, and you hand over your destiny to other men and the fate of the markets. I realized I wanted to be my own man, and create my own destiny. Don’t you?
The number one reason to save money is not to put a down payment on a luxury automobile to impress people. The number one reason to save money is not to be able to buy Apple V100 gizmo when it’s new and cool. The number one reason to save money is not even to “invest” in the traditional sense.
Those uses of money are self medication rather than self actualization. My plan for savings leads to self actualization, which gets rid of the need for self medication.
Saving is for one thing, and one thing only: to buy time. Time is the most valuable asset class there is: if you don’t believe me ask a 99 year old billionaire what he would like to buy if he could use his vast riches to buy anything.
The trick to buying time is how you leverage the time.
Time must be used to catapult yourself into a new world. Most time bought with savings is squandered by a search for another job or “taking a break.”
Baby, when that job lets you go have an attack plan in place to kill it in the real world with your big boy pants!
Never quit without a plan, and preferably quit when you have another source of money coming in, but either way you will need some savings to keep you afloat.
I was planning to quit for a long time, and it was a good thing I did because I got fired from my job 3 months before I planned to quit. I make “side” money hosting on Air-Bnb, so I am not worried about my boss trying to screw me out of unemployment. I also have a good chunk of savings that would carry me afloat if my bookings dried up.
Real money is made without a job. Unless you want to grind it out as a licensed M.D., a lawyer, or an investment banker, you will never make big bucks working a job.
Big bucks= freedom. All those hucksters showing us Lambos and mansions are in chains. Live below your means as you make more money! People will think you are a financial genius when you can make big moves with your accumulating cash.
They tell us getting a trade is a great way to make money in a world with half-wits getting useless paper degrees. This is true, but the real money is made once Joe the Plumber has a fleet of 8 trucks ready to service every sink in town.
Real estate is another great way to make money. There are ways to make money “zero-down” but they require time. Savings can also be used to get a down payment on a great investment property. Imagine losing your job, but still having rent money come in from a property you purchased.
There are guys killing it out there doing freelance web design or copywriting. Wouldn’t it be great to get a few clients, and then have the savings to quit your main gig whenever your freelancing started to pick up? Clients can sense desperation, and it repels them. Keep your confidence with a chunk of savings that will weather any client drought.
The true purpose of savings is power. Having money tucked under the mattress or in the bank allows you more time to work without a payday, so you can get a bigger payday tomorrow.
When working a job, you get a payday like a morphine drip. It’s just enough to keep you alive and comfortable, but not enough to change your life. Save every penny you can so you can change your life for the better when the time is right!
Everyone who works a job has some kind of skill. Everyone has some kind of talent that is going unused. There are many ways to get paid in this world!
This is the secret to people looking at you as someone “great with money.” You can pretend to be great with money by buying stocks and bonds, but that path is a slow trip to mediocre city. Investing in YOURSELF and YOUR OWN dream with your savings always pays more than investing into a tiny slice of someone else’s dream with your savings.
Having a “diversified portfolio” does not motivate anyone to save money. Boring! Imaging your ideal lifestyle built by your own hands is a REAL motivation to save.
The secret to motivating yourself to save the money is to IMAGINE your ideal way to make money and work hard to get there. Too much free time picks away at your savings. Money piles up like magic while you are focused on earning!
Invest in stocks in bonds only when you start making REAL money. You should feel like a rapper in a music video throwing money at dancers when buying stocks and bonds. If you can’t afford to lose it, don’t give it to someone else.
Once you master these lessons, you will be on your way to transforming your black and white relationship with savings and money into a fulfilling full-color universe of abundance.
Right now I am piercing the veil, and I can surely say life is much better on the other side of the equation.
Sean Weston
P.S.
You can start with a spare shared bedroom now, and work your way up to a down payment on a multi-family property that you fill with tenants or air-bnb guests. A rule of thumb is that you can earn 2-3x your areas market-rate for rent on short term rentals (air-Bnb) vs. traditional long term rentals.
I got my first two bookings overnight when I wasn’t even sure I wanted to start hosting. My listing was the realtor’s empty room photos and they asked me if they should bring air mattresses! I was most definitely under priced.
I started adjusting prices myself, but it took a lot of time, and I knew I was charging too little some days and too much other days. I started making a lot more money using Wheelhouse to automate my prices based on demand in the area.
Hosting is a personally rewarding occupation. You get to set your own hours and meet people from all over your country, or around the world! I originally did it solely for the money but now I enjoy it. Money piles up like magic when you enjoy what you do because you don’t have to “self medicate” to get though life.
