Building Wealth Skills
Value Your Money
Building wealth requires that
you understand the value of each and every dollar that flows into your
life.
Why?
Because developing the attitude
of respect is how you achieve an understanding of what true prosperity
is.
A dollar is just a simple piece of paper. It
doesn’t appear to be worth much. So what if you waste one, or
lose one or throw one away? It’s just a dollar. Losing value every
second. It's just a dollar. Use it or lose it.
Or is it?
Truly prosperous people don't think a dollar
as just a dollar. To them it is a seed....a money seed...that
has the power to grow into a huge money tree, giving off fruit to
fulfill every one of their dreams.
And they are absolutely right.
Every dollar is a money seed. Just like a
tiny acorn contains the power to grow into a mighty oak tree, each
dollar has the power to grow into a mighty money tree. If you destroy
an acorn, the oak tree inside also dies. So, too, with a money seed.
That's why it is so important to preserve and
protect each of these money seeds. Every time you waste one of those
silly, green pieces of paper, it's just like throwing away a money
seed. Or rather, a tree!
So, how much is one of these seeds really
worth?
That depends on how long you let it grow and
at what rate of growth.
Let's suppose you take one dollar and put it
into a special bank account that will let the dollar grow, untouched
by taxes and fees.
How long will it take for this one dollar to
grow into a MILLION DOLLARS? That depends on what interest rate the
bank account pays.
At 3% it will take 468 years for a single
dollar bill to grow into a million dollars.
Rather than just planting one money seed,
could you plant them more often? Could you afford a dollar a day? Just
a dollar a day. $30 bucks a month! You can do that.
Well, a dollar a day at 3% grows into a
million dollars in only 147 years. That's still not fast enough, is
it?
Raising the interest rate to 5% cuts the time
down to about 100 years. A ten percent interest rate will reduce the
time to 56 years.
A dollar a day becomes a million dollars in
only 56 years -- the span of a normal lifetime. If you put just
a dollar a day away for each of your children or grandchildren on the
day they were born, they could all be lifetime millionaires.
There are ways to fertilize your dollars so
that they grow even faster.
Suppose someone started saving money for
you? They put a dollar a day under their mattress. They started
the day you were born and continued every day thereafter. By the time
you reach retirement age there would be $25,000 waiting for you.
If they deposit the same money in a bank at
3% there would be about $75,000; At 5% there would be just under
$200,000; At ten percent interest, there would be $2.7 million; At 15%
there would be $50,000,000. And at 20% there would be......One
Billion Dollars!. All from one dollar a day.
Most of us waste dozens of dollars a day
without even thinking. No big deal. It's just a dollar. But truly
prosperous people know the real truth about dollar bills. Each dollar
bill is a million dollar money seed. After all, it only takes a
dollar- a-day.......JUST A DOLLAR.....to grow into a fortune.
You could be a millionaire in about 30 years
on JUST A DOLLAR A DAY!
Could you plant two or three seeds a day? Or
five? Or ten? What does that do? If you put ten dollars a day away
every single day and put it in the right mutual funds, or stocks or
real estate and let the clock tick at 20%, you're a millionaire in
just 20 years!
What makes a few dollar a day grow into such
huge amounts of money?
It's the power of compound interest.
You've heard of this before but you to
understand the concept because it's going to power you on to your
dreams. Einstein himself, said, "The most powerful invention of
man is compound interest." Compound interest is a magic money
multiplier. Compound interest works for you while you sleep.
Remember, money that's compounding never
sleeps. Every second of every day. 24 hours a day. 365 days a year.
You've got to figure out a way to get money working for you instead of
you working for money. And all it takes is a few lousy bucks a day!
You don't have to be a financial genius. You don't have to own a big
company. You can do it from your kitchen table using the money that
you're now foolishly throwing away. If you just re-divert a few of
your ill-spent dollars and funnel them to some well-timed investments,
you can achieve financial success. It's within your grasp.
Every time you save one of those money seeds,
you start your way to building wealth. The real key is to keep saving
the money, even if it’s only a dollar, consistently, day after day.
Save. Save. Save. Invest. Invest. Invest. It will take
discipline, persistence, sacrifice. Do it anyway.
This is true prosperity. If
you're an atheist or an agnostic, or in any way squeamish about the
subject of God, then you need to stop and reevaluate your
thinking. True prosperity does not come from man. It comes
from God. YOU may deny the existence of God, but your denial
does not cancel the universal truth of the law sowing and reaping.
Suppose you started building wealth by saving
$200 per month. You set a target to have it grow at 20% per year for
the next 20 years. Now, 20% is no small feat.....but with some fancy
stock picks, some real estate and perhaps a small business on the
side, you think you can pull it off. According to my calculator, $200
per month at 20% for 20 years grows into $632,000.
If you wait a year to get started you have 19
years of growth instead of 20. How much is in your bank account in 20
years from today? Only $516,000. That's $116,000 less than what you
could have had if you had started on schedule. In other words, the
delay cost you $116,000 future dollars!
Every hour you wait costs you more than $13.
You are wasting 13 dollars an hour, 24 hours a day.
People who understand true prosperity know
that God is the source of their prosperity. They are just
caretakers over it.
And since they know the true source, and
understand the law of giving, they are glad to pay 10% of it
back.
Think of the men of great wealth who have
given their wealth away. Do they know something the rest of us
don't?
Sharing 10% with others will remind you that
God owns everything and we're transients here.
And finally, Account for every penny.
This is the part that all of us seem to hate
so much.....accounting for every penny. Every successful money manager
is scrupulously meticulous about knowing where every penny goes.
The subject of budgeting and saving seems
tedious to most Americans. But these skills or habits must become part
of your life if you ever hope to achieve any measure of financial
success.
Remember, building wealth starts with
understanding the value of a single dollar bill.
The
Seven Secrets of Building Wealth
Building Wealth Skill #1.
Value Your Money
Building
Wealth Skill #2. Control Your Money
Building
Wealth Skill #3. Save Your Money
Building
Wealth Skill #4. Invest Your Money
Building
Wealth Skill #5. Making Money
Building
Wealth Skill #6. Shield Your Money
Building
Wealth Skill #7. Share Your Money
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