Example 1
Some years back, a mother of 3 children from UK won an amazing £50,000 in a bingo lottery. But soon she lost it all... on car, television, furniture, vacations and relatives. With no money left to send her children to school or even pay the rent, she had to seek her mother's support for her day-to-day survival. She could have done a lot with £50,000. Instead, she just blew it away.
Example 2
Mike Tyson earned about $300 million from his boxing career. Yet, within a few years, it was all gone... squandered away on mansions, mobiles, motorcycles, limousines etc. (he is supposed to have once spent $ 400,000 on a birthday party). Finally, he had to file for bankruptcy.
Example 3
Mukaram Jah, Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, once the richest man in the world, now supposedly lives in a small 2-bedroom apartment in Turkey. He frittered away his unlimited wealth on wasteful lifestyle, failed businesses, dishonest friends, greedy relatives and many divorces, a typical scenario with many such rich persons. All his education at the Doon School, Harrow, Cambridge and London School of Economics, could not save him from ending in financial distress.
These are, of course, a few of the numerous examples where people simply lost it all. They became millionaires, but sadly it was all gone. They got the taste of big money, but couldn't make it last long. They enjoyed their 'good fortune' for a limited time only, as if poverty was their destiny.
As you would have (rightly) guessed, there is one common thread running through all these tragic riches-to-rags saga — that earning or having money is not sufficient; you need to take "good" care of it, if you desire to "remain" rich.
No! Poverty was NOT their destiny. It was self-inflicted due to financial ignorance.
Unfortunately, we learn nothing from these instances. For us they are mere stories... meant to be read and forgotten.
That is why we spend many years in gaining education that would be the foundation of a lucrative career. However, we rarely learn anything about money management.
That is why we work 10-12 hours a day, practically 7 days a week, for 2-3 decades to earn money. Yet, we rarely spend time to deploy it productively.
I have never understood this apathy for something that is so dear to you. Like your children, you money too needs your time, care and support. You just can't hand it over to someone else.
Thankfully (unlike your children), managing money "appropriately" takes only an hour per week... yes a mere 60 minutes out of 10080 minutes in a week.
Believe me, these 60 minutes spent on money management would give you much higher ROI (Return on Investment) than the 60 hours spent on your job.
For example...
... you need to know a few basic rules of how to use your credit card
... you need to borrow for a few key purposes only and avoid too much debt
... you need to avoid most insurance policies except a couple of important ones
... you need to invest only in a few simple mutual fund schemes to create wealth
... you need to be aware of some elementary tax laws to minimize your tax liability
... you need to protect yourself from get-rich-quick schemes and mis-selling
So, is it a tall order to devote a measly 0.6% of your time to learning and managing your money — that too for your own good, not for someone else?
As is often said 'Time is Money'. Well, this is one way of utilizing Time to maximizing Money.
Some years back, a mother of 3 children from UK won an amazing £50,000 in a bingo lottery. But soon she lost it all... on car, television, furniture, vacations and relatives. With no money left to send her children to school or even pay the rent, she had to seek her mother's support for her day-to-day survival. She could have done a lot with £50,000. Instead, she just blew it away.
Example 2
Mike Tyson earned about $300 million from his boxing career. Yet, within a few years, it was all gone... squandered away on mansions, mobiles, motorcycles, limousines etc. (he is supposed to have once spent $ 400,000 on a birthday party). Finally, he had to file for bankruptcy.
Example 3
Mukaram Jah, Eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, once the richest man in the world, now supposedly lives in a small 2-bedroom apartment in Turkey. He frittered away his unlimited wealth on wasteful lifestyle, failed businesses, dishonest friends, greedy relatives and many divorces, a typical scenario with many such rich persons. All his education at the Doon School, Harrow, Cambridge and London School of Economics, could not save him from ending in financial distress.
These are, of course, a few of the numerous examples where people simply lost it all. They became millionaires, but sadly it was all gone. They got the taste of big money, but couldn't make it last long. They enjoyed their 'good fortune' for a limited time only, as if poverty was their destiny.
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| How to become VERY rich: (Little) Time = (More) Money |
As you would have (rightly) guessed, there is one common thread running through all these tragic riches-to-rags saga — that earning or having money is not sufficient; you need to take "good" care of it, if you desire to "remain" rich.
No! Poverty was NOT their destiny. It was self-inflicted due to financial ignorance.
Unfortunately, we learn nothing from these instances. For us they are mere stories... meant to be read and forgotten.
That is why we spend many years in gaining education that would be the foundation of a lucrative career. However, we rarely learn anything about money management.
That is why we work 10-12 hours a day, practically 7 days a week, for 2-3 decades to earn money. Yet, we rarely spend time to deploy it productively.
I have never understood this apathy for something that is so dear to you. Like your children, you money too needs your time, care and support. You just can't hand it over to someone else.
Thankfully (unlike your children), managing money "appropriately" takes only an hour per week... yes a mere 60 minutes out of 10080 minutes in a week.
Believe me, these 60 minutes spent on money management would give you much higher ROI (Return on Investment) than the 60 hours spent on your job.
For example...
... you need to know a few basic rules of how to use your credit card
... you need to borrow for a few key purposes only and avoid too much debt
... you need to avoid most insurance policies except a couple of important ones
... you need to invest only in a few simple mutual fund schemes to create wealth
... you need to be aware of some elementary tax laws to minimize your tax liability
... you need to protect yourself from get-rich-quick schemes and mis-selling
So, is it a tall order to devote a measly 0.6% of your time to learning and managing your money — that too for your own good, not for someone else?
As is often said 'Time is Money'. Well, this is one way of utilizing Time to maximizing Money.
