FEATURE ARTICLE

How To Get Rich On Any Income.....even if you are in debt!

Part Nine: The Truth About Wealth

Groucho Marx gave us an enlightened view of money when he said:

It frees you from doing the things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy.

Being wealthy may not guarantee you happiness, but, as Groucho said, money comes in pretty handy at times. Most of us aspire to having that dream home or the holiday house by the beach; or to seeing the rest of the world while we still can; or being able to afford the best medical care if we need it; or to helping the kids financially should they need it; or giving to a local community group if we feel like it. I'm sure you'd have no trouble dreaming up ways of how you could spend your money if you were indeed wealthy.

But perhaps most importantly, wealth gives you the freedom to choose just when you retire: that is, to choose when to stop doing what you have to do and start doing what you really want to do. Wealth gives us financial freedom and it's my view that this is available to anyone who really wants it. This book sets out to show you a safe and easy way to build wealth and become financially independent. And the bonus is that it doesn't take rocket science to do it, just common sense.

You might ask, if it's so easy, why do so few of us achieve financial freedom? The answer is simple. The strategy I outline in these pages is a get-rich-slow recipe requiring 10 years or more. Our society, in contrast, prefers instant results. I want it now. I must have it right now. I can't possibly wait. We exhaust ourselves looking fro quick and easy ways to riches, but spend little energy on learning the principles of building wealth. Consequently, the get-rich-quick schemes and gambling games designed to exploit our hunger fro riches are overwhelmingly patronised. How money people do you know who have managed to achieve wealth in this way?

Perhaps patience is a lost virtue, but it's patience you need to build real wealth. How patient are you? Would you, back in your childhood, have passed the ' marshmallow' test? It goes like this.

Imagine you're a kid sitting at the kitchen table and your mother asks you to go on an errand. As a reward, you can have one marshmallow now before you go, or two if you can wait until you return. You just adore marshmallows. They're your favourites: the tem0ptation is awful. So you sit there drooling, trying to make this very important decision. One now? Two later? Can I wait? What if I don't? Maybe Mum will come good with two later, anyway. What do you decide?

Would you like an adult version of the 'marshmallow' test? This time, then image you're sitting at your own kitchen table reading a brochure advertising one of those super-duper stocktake sales to end all sales. Some of your favourite designer labels have been marked down, and buying new clothes makes you feel oh so good. You still have some money left from your last pay day. Will you spend it now on those bargains, or will you hold back and invest it for the future when you will be able to buy anything you want, plus so much more? The temptation is awful. So you sit there pondering this important decision. Spend now? Save it for later? Can I wait? What if I don't? I can always start saving next week, or even next year. Maybe by the time I retire, the government will have increased the age pension, so I shouldn't need to worry about saving and investing right now. What's your choice?

Mostly, people who succeed financially are those who are able to delay gratification, and patiently follow the surer, slower paths to riches. As young children, they would probably have passed the 'marshmallow' test with flying colours and as adults, they'd be more likely to be savers than spenders. Would you have passed these tests of patience? More to the point, are you heading towards wealth or welfare?

We are talking reality here. The marshmallow test described above was first implemented by the renowned social psychologist Walter Mischel, who identified instant and delayed gratification in children as young as four. The implications of this telling test, reported by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence, were that it offered 'a quick reading of the trajectory a child will probably take through life'. Marshmallows and money obviously have a lot in common. Which description best fits your personality? Do you seek instant or delay gratification?

The 'instant gratification' syndrome displayed by most of the children performing in Mischel's test corresponds to the 'live for today' outlook displayed by the majority of adults. But the good news is that it's never too late to learn the principles of building real wealth. How is real wealth measured, and what are these true and tried methods that lead to wealth, not welfare? If you'd like to know more about how average income earners can achieve financial independence, click here.