Mar 09 2010
Creating Personal Wealth Beyond The Material
Wealth is technically the amount of liquefiable assets you possess. This means the value of your home, car or stocks all add up to the amount of your wealth. It is different than the amount of money you earn through income because your wealth is how you have chosen to freeze up your money (through the purchase of the above mentioned possessions).
There is another type of wealth that is commonly overlooked in a fast-paced society. This is not about the price tag of your bedding collection, or your car this is about how you interact with your possessions and personal relationships. Being able to clearly control your material wealth and have a healthy balance in your personal life is essential.
When you find yourself struggling to pay your bills, you will probably have a hard time concentrating on anything else. This is because you base your survival on being able to pay your mortgage and buy food. If this is the case you will soon find that both aspects of your life (financial and personal) work to complement each other.
With this said, it does not mean you have to give up your leather brown boots if you can truly afford having them. The moral of the story is about not caving into temptation if you are bound to pay the financial and personal burden of it later. When you are constantly worrying about bills you are probably carrying around a load of stress as well.
If you are looking for ways to get out of a financial rut and build wealth, you have to be determined and put in the hard work. Regardless of your income savings, at least 10% of your annual salary can mean thousands of dollars over a few years, in the most conservative estimate. It does not matter whether you make money online, or have a traditional income - putting away at the very least 10% of your earnings will multiply with time.
Be honest with yourself and control your expenses. Since debt levels are very high, people may have been missing the message and living beyond their means for far too long. Take a look at what your earnings are, what your spending habits look like and what you are saving.
In all actuality, you know in the back of your mind and heart that you are living beyond your means. Living beyond your means to impress your friends is unhealthy. The only person that will have to pay the price both financially and emotionally is you.
