Building wealth is a life-long process that continues even after you die. Every single day, I hear a story about how our ancestors left us with virtually nothing. And I always think to myself, do I want to put my current and future family in that same situation? The answer, of course, is “no.” There are many reasons why I believe you should aim to be wealthy. It’s not always “about the money,” but the truth is that everything we do centers around money. Why do people always feel they don’t have enough time to spend with their children? Why is there not enough time in the day? Why are divorce rates so high in America? Why are many recent college graduates drowning in student debt? They all have one thing in common: money. Let’s get into more detail.
More Time and Freedom
One of the main reasons why you should strive to build wealth is to have more time and freedom. Time is our most valuable asset and if we spend virtually all of it at work, then how can we spend time with our loved ones? When we have more money, we don’t need to spend as much time working. As we’re building wealth and having more of our money work for us, we no longer have to spend so much time working for money. I recently spoke to a millionaire that defined retirement as when going to work now becomes an option instead of a requirement. Imagine waking up one day knowing that you don’t have to go to work in order to get your bills paid on time and live comfortably. I believe this is what the American dream should be about: to strive for financial freedom. Unfortunately, we’ve been drilled for decades to “go to school, get a job with a pension, and retire at 65.” I would much rather have financial freedom than worry about going to work until I’m at the age of 65 (which most people can’t even retire at that age now a days). And oh by the way: financial freedom is when your passive income (money you don’t have to work for) exceeds your daily living expenses.
So how does one create more time? By creating multiple streams of passive income. Passive income sources include rental real estate properties, car rentals, peer to peer lending, dividend-paying stocks, and many more. The more of these streams you build, the more income you’ll eventually have, and the less often you’ll have to work for money. I’ll get to the taxes later. And it’s perfectly okay to start off by working for money in the beginning so that you build up enough capital to attain passive sources of income. For example, most rental real estate properties require a down payment. So you may have to work a few years to build up that capital to acquire multiple properties which is perfectly fine. The key is, you must lay out a plan and develop strategies/a wealth-building mindset to help you attain passive income sources.
Another way to create more time is to pay people to help in areas you lack or don’t necessarily want to do due to the tedious nature of the task. For example, I utilize virtual assistants to take care of administrative tasks such as doing follow up calls with prospective clients and answering phone calls when I’m in a meeting. This allows me to free up time to focus on my core business activities and ultimately, generate more revenue and add more value to my clients. These assistants don’t get paid very much, yet they know how to get the job done and free up my time. Overall, when you free up time, you’ll have more time to spend with your family and do more of the things you love doing without having to worry about money. They say more money, more problems, but most people that have very little money tend to experience a lot of problems. Once you do become wealthy, you will be required to be more responsible so you must stay on top of it or more problems will appear.
More Power
Ever heard the words, “it’s not fair?” Well it’s true, life in general is not fair. We all know that wealthy people virtually rule the world. They have a much stronger voice and tend to get their way. Some unfortunately are very arrogant, but for the most part, some of the nicest people I’ve met in life were those with a lot of money. After all, the only true problems they have are rich people problems. They spend more time with their family, donate a lot of money, and just seem to naturally be happier. And last, but not least, the more money you have, the more impact you can make in society. A lot of the problems we face today have to do with money and when you have these resources, you can solve more problems.
Ability to Distribute
The wealthier you are, the more money you can donate to charities and support the causes you truly care about. This is one of the main reasons why I strive to build wealth each and every day. I want to make a positive impact in the lives of many people. I actually plan to donate 99% of my wealth throughout my lifetime as many billionaires such as Warren Buffett, my biggest idol in life, have committed to. Overall, people that give more tend to feel better on the inside which leads to more happiness. And as we all know, there’s more blessing in giving than receiving. When you give more, you get more. Just ask Warren Buffett.
More Tax Breaks
Of course, a tax person wouldn’t be writing this article without mentioning something about taxes. The truth is, the rich receive most of the tax breaks in America due to the way their income is structured. Remember passive income? Well that’s how most of the wealthy make their money. The wealthy invest money and own big businesses, which in turn creates jobs and stimulates the economy. This is why they get the most tax breaks. Sadly, those they create jobs for end up paying the most in taxes. It’s been known that the average American pays about 40% in taxes. Let’s just say Warren Buffett pays way less than this because he receives incentives for creating jobs and investing. This is really why the rich keep getting richer. Because of taxes. As your wealth grows, you’ll be able to invest even more and pay very little in taxes like the wealthy do.
Ability to Build a Legacy
This really hits home right here. Imagine how different your life would be today if your parents opened an IRA for you when you started working in their business and you had the ability to fund your college education off your IRA alone. Now imagine if they also opened a credit card in your name and led you to an 800+ credit score at the age of 18. Lastly, what if they established a college fund for you or showed you how to acquire real estate rental properties? How different would your life be today?
Remember, if you leave this world with nothing, you’ll be known for nothing. When you pass away and have the proper estate plan in place, you can distribute wealth to those you truly care about, such as your children. This will allow them to prosper and have a better head start in life. Just be sure to teach them wealth building principles at an early age. Overall, wealth is the key to building a legacy that passes on forever and ever.
Building wealth allows us the peace of mind to spend more time with our loved ones, have more influence in life, distribute wealth to those we care about, take advantage of various tax breaks, and ultimately, build a legacy. Money doesn’t solve all problems, but it will solve most problems if you use it wisely. As my idol Warren Buffett once said, “if you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.” Remember that the rich and the wealthy don’t have to work for money. I challenge you to strive to build wealth each and every day.
If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out.