Sadly money doesn’t grow on trees and there is no get rich quick button in life but these 11 tried and tested wealth building cornerstones are vital to building wealth and long-term financial success:
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Build savings first
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Track where your money goes
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Set financial objectives & goals
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Identify what really matters when spending
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Pay off debts
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Focus on your career
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Start investing
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Unlock new streams of income
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Plan for retirement
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Keep learning
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Evolve and Adjust
Though these strategies won’t instantly make you wealthy, if applied consistently and followed through, they can lead to incredible financial improvements and help you build wealth that will bring you closer to achieving the financial goals that you didn’t think were possible.
Read on for some great tips and a further explanation of each wealth building cornerstone to help you start implementing them in your life as you start your wealth building journey.
1. Build Savings First
Before making any investments or loans, it’s important to set aside a portion of your income as savings. Having a reliable financial cushion in an emergency or when you need access to extra funds is essential for achieving long-term financial stability, and if you choose the right account, can earn you free money too!
Even if you can only put away a small amount each month – maybe just 5 or 10 dollars – doing so will ensure you are taking the steps necessary to improve your finances in the long run. Don’t be afraid to move your savings to accounts with higher interest rates as the better rate you get the more extra money you will earn without lifting a finger.
An easy way to build wealth is to set up an automatic payment to a savings account or pension pot each month to ensure you don’t forget to pay your savings pot each month. Then you can sit back, and watch as more money accumulates in your account.
2. Track Where Your Money Goes
Without an understanding of our spending habits, it can be almost impossible for us to make strides towards growing our wealth. Maintaining a budget provides transparency into our financial realities, allowing us to make more informed decisions about where we can reallocate money in order to meet our long-term goals.
After receiving your paycheck, it can be tempting to spend, spend, spend, but when you see how much cash slips away through frivolous spending like lunches, coffees, and other non-essential spending, it’s much easier to embrace the idea of budgeting and taking control of spending.
Start by writing down a list of your monthly expenses and try to group them into categories like entertainment, groceries, bills and rent. This will help you get an overview of the major costs associated with your lifestyle, so that you can budget for them more accurately and make any necessary adjustments.
From here, automating your finances is the simplest and safest way to ensure you are always on track with your budgeting and savings goals. Whenever possible, automate payments such as rent, bills and debt repayments . Not only is this a great way to make sure you don’t miss payments, but it also frees up mental energy for more important decisions.
3. Set Financial Objectives & Goals
It’s important to have a clear vision of what you want your financial future to look like in order to build wealth. This could include anything from buying valuable assets like a house, being able to live of rental income, or taking an extended vacation or investing in stocks and bonds.
When setting your goals, try to avoid broad statements like “I want to save money.” Instead write something like “I want to save $20,000 over five years so that I can put a deposit on a house and stop renting. Now your goals are short term and specific while providing a great motivation to stay disciplined when it comes to keeping on track with your budgeting.
By creating clear, quantifiable goals that tap into motivations such as family, love, happiness and adventure, you will find yourself working toward true wealth and infinite prosperity.
Identify your monetary values
4. Identify What Really Matters When Spending
Knowing where your values lie is an essential part of learning how to build wealth, as it helps you to create attainable goals and gain a clearer understanding of what truly makes you happy.
It’s so easy to fall victim to the temptation of buying things solely for the purpose of impressing others or keeping up with trends; but at the end of the day, these items that we buy often have little to no value or meaning for us. As such, we need to be mindful about where our purchasing decisions are going.
Instead of mindlessly buying stuff, do some soul-searching and figure out what matters most to you, and whether you can really justify high levels of spending on certain items. For example, if you tend to splurge on designer clothes, ask yourself if this gives you any more joy when wearing a regular item of clothing. The chances are, you may end up questioning why you are buying things in the first place if you don’t have a tangible reason for doing so.
5. Pay Off Debts
Getting out of debt can be a challenge and takes discipline, but it’s essential if you want to create financial stability and pave the path towards wealth. One way of moving towards being debt free is the debt snowball method which can help clear student loan debt, credit card debt and other funds owed in a manageable way.
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This method starts by organizing your debt from smallest balance to largest.
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Each month, you pay the minimum on all the debt except for the one with the smallest balance, and then you dedicate as much money as possible to it until it’s gone.
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After that loan is paid off, you move onto the next smallest one and apply those same tactics until all your debt is gone.
This incremental approach helps to keep you motivated and ensure success over an extended period of time. Taking the steps to begin life free from debt opens up a world of possibilities. Once you are debt free, be strict on the only debt that you will be willing to take on again. This should be for important purchases such as further education and furnishing a home, not day to day shopping habits.
6. Focus On Your Career
The single biggest influence on your ability to build long term wealth comes from the income you will earn over your lifetime from your career. As such, it pays (quite literally), to invest in getting the most that you can from your working years.
Commit to your career by growing, learning and being better. Rather than just showing up each day, find out what you can do to advance or move up in your field. Doing research, attending conferences or taking seminars related to your field are great methods of improving yourself and stepping up your career game. Even more important is forging connections with experts in your sector and industry-wide leaders; these people will provide invaluable knowledge and mentorship.
Overall, prioritising your career will help you to increase your income by winning pay rises, bonuses and promotions. All of these will contribute to your wealth without having to change your spending habits drastically.
7. Start Investing
Investing your money is an important part of creating and building wealth. While your career may provide the majority of your income, investing can supplement that and help you to reach specific financial goals.
The great thing about investing is that it needn’t be complicated. A simple index based mutual fund portfolio with regular monthly deposits should suffice for those looking for an easy option to increase their savings quickly. For those who prefer a more hands-on approach, there are more complex and involving types of investing such as day trading that can be undertaken.
Whichever route you decide to take, make sure that you do your research and understand fully the investment vehicles you are using. With discipline and effort, investing can be a powerful way to create wealth over time.
8. Unlock New Streams Of Income
Another key way to increase your wealth is by looking into ways of earning extra income on top of your current salary. This could be in the form of starting a side business or selling products/services online, renting out a property or offering freelance services.
The great thing about generating extra income is that it can be done with limited resources and effort (depending on the type of business) and can provide you with an additional source of income that could add up to significant amounts over time. Side businesses also give you the chance to explore new skills and interests, as well as giving you the freedom of having your own business.
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Whatever form of extra income you choose to pursue, make sure that it is an area that both interests and motivates you – this will increase your chances of success.
9. Plan For Retirement Income Streams
Pre retirement planning should be an important part of your wealth building strategy. Having a well thought out plan for saving money that will provide an income to live on in your retirement years is something you need to plan for long before you’re close to retiring.
Saving money long term means you benefit from compound interest which makes an efficient accumulation of funds available to you when you need them. This will help ensure that you have enough money set aside to cover living expenses when you decide to hang up your work boots.
Start by educating yourself on the basics of retirement – such as types of accounts and investment options available, tax minimization strategies, and the time-value of money. You can also use retirement calculators and tools to help you plan your savings goals and come up with an appropriate asset allocation that suits your needs.
And finally, no matter how much your income increases over the years, it is important to stay disciplined when it comes to setting aside money for retirement. Making sure that you are taking advantage of employer-sponsored retirement plans and paying yourself first will help ensure that your wealth building plans can see you through your golden years in comfort.
10. Keep Learning
Even when you’ve got the hang of practicing and implementing these great wealth building cornerstones, it’s important to never stop learning about personal finance. Staying informed and up to date with new products and tax laws ensures that you are in the know when it comes to taking control of your wealth.
To help with this, read magazines or blogs related to personal finance, as well as watching the news so you can stay informed on current events that could have an impact on your wealth. Even if all the articles don’t apply to you, it doesn’t hurt to look at other perspectives and get ideas on how more money can be saved and investments made. By continuing to learn about personal finance, you increase the likelihood that you can keep growing and maintaining your wealth.
11. Evolve & Adjust
Evolving and adjustment, change and adaptation, are an important part of building wealth. Life takes many turns, and what may have been a goal years ago, may now no longer work for you so flexibility is key for making sure you are on the right path.
For instance, you may always have wanted to retire early, but then come across a dream job that you can’t turn down. It could also be that your previous goal of having $5 million in the bank is no longer necessary to make you happy, as you have adapted to a more sustainable and economical way of living.
To ensure happiness in life, it’s important to review your goals and values every few years and adjust them accordingly if they don’t fit anymore. Adaptation can be the key towards reaching financial success.
Summary
The road to wealth is paved with consistent effort and dedication. As any successful businessman or businesswoman will tell you, to achieve wealth, you need a combination of smart decisions and focused work.
While a get-rich-quick scheme may be tempting, the returns are usually fleeting at best. To secure your financial success in the long term, utilizing the wealth building cornerstones discussed in this article is highly recommended.
Establishing such cornerstones can put you on track for countless possibilities; both in terms of finances and lifestyle choices. Whether that’s early retirement, being able to invest in the stock market, high levels of earned income, or cash in the bank, by developing these foundations for success, you can look forward to the prosperity you want to achieve.