I’ve received all kinds of questions over the years about money and wealth creation.
Some are totally legit, but some are silly, like…
- “I’m 46. Isn’t it too late for me?”
- “What if I have kids? Kids cost money.”
- “I have a house to pay for. I can’t save anything.”
Can you see what these people are doing?
Many of These Questions are Excuses In Disguise
These kinds of people are doing one thing – looking for an excuse not to take action, and because of this, they will remain the same as they are now.
They’ll come up with any way to categorize themselves as “different” than everyone else so they can protect themselves from having to change.
This is hugely limiting behavior for personal development. Please don’t let this be you.
It sounds really silly on the surface, but the fact is, we all do this on some level. We are all looking for a way to relate the situation we are about to get into to someone similar to has already had success in that situation.
I can’t fault you for doing research. Just don’t limit yourself because you’re just a little bit scared to change.
Consider the following situations (excuses) that people give for not leading a rich and successful life. If you can eliminate even half of these, you’ll be in a really solid situation moving on for the rest of the course and your life.
“What if I have kids?”
This is all the more reason to invest your money.
Yes, you have the expenses of children, but you also need to think even more about your future, because you don’t want your financial burden to land on your kids, and you also want to have something left over to help them out in their future.
All it takes is a few simple adjustments to your cash flow, and you’ll be able to save enough to make a huge difference for you, and them – without even noticing the impact on your day to day lifestyle.
“What if I don’t know anything about stocks / investing?”
It’s not necessary to be an expert investor to manage a basic portfolio.
In fact, it can even work to your advantage because you won’t be tempted to tweak things over and over. There are now automated investing resources out there, such as Betterment, that you can just drop your money into, and let it ride, and they far cheaper than a personal financial adviser.
“My company already handles my money for me.”
Some companies have money managers that handle retirement plans like 401ks, but these money mangers have NO IDEA what your personal financial situation is and they are only allowed to set up very basic options for people – called your default options.
If you want to go beyond the basic options of your retirement planning, which will definitely not make you wealthy, then you need to take control of your money.
Otherwise you have no excuse when you do not achieve your goals.
“What if I don’t have any extra money?”
Save first. Spend second. That’s an investment strategy for the ages, regardless of your type of situation.
In my more advanced material I offer you guidance on how to strategically reduce your expenses, and increase your income at the same time.
This will help you free up money so you can invest in your future.
From there, you can simply automate your investments so you never have to worry about getting into that situation again.
“What if I am (20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, insert age here)?”
Starting young is an incredible advantage with investing and money management. It allows you to build up your nest egg and take advantage of the snowball effect of investing much earlier in life.
But even if you’re older, say in your late 30s or 40s, you still need something to live on.
Age doesn’t matter for your choice to invest or not. The answer to that questions is always yes.
“What if am going to change jobs soon?”
Any money you invest in a company retirement plan is yours to keep. The same is true with an IRA plan, or your own personal brokerage account.
If you do have a company sponsored plan, you simply have to roll it into your new 401k plan, or roll it over into an IRA plan.
It’s 100% yours and no one can take it away from you (not even creditors because 401ks are creditor protected).
The only thing that you might have to wait on is your employer matched money and profit sharing. That will need to undergo a vesting period, usually 6 months to a few years.
“I just don’t have a lot of time right now…”
Understandable. We all have a lot going on, but I can almost guarantee the older you get, the busier you will be. Take it from someone who has been there.
The awesome thing about personal finance is almost 100% of it can be automated. Make a few key decisions, and then simply set it all up and let it ride.
To learn what you need to know, can you carve out 30 minutes a week to learn about things like automated investing, etc?
If not, well then you’re not that serious about learning how to create a better financial future.
“Isn’t it a bad time to invest?”
Investing for your future is not about today, tomorrow, this week, or this month. Sure, some times are better than others, but almost everything is going to be more expensive in the future.
If the market is down, it’s a GREAT time to invest, because you can invest at a discount, and make up a lot of ground very quickly.
If the market is up, well, if you think it’s high now, just wait until 5 years from now. You’ll be punching yourself for not investing now.
“But won’t I have less money to spend if I save money?”
At first, you might feel a small financial pinch, but eventually you will get used to your new spending habits (typically about 1-2 months), and from there you can learn how to lower your expenses and increase your income so you will have more money to save, and spend.
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No more excuses. Now it’s up to you.
If you’ve been struggling with what to do with your money, and want to make far more money with it, why wouldn’t you learn as much as possible, starting now?