The Secret To Money That Wealthy People Know (And You Don’t)
I have a great job with a pretty great salary. It’s given me the means to experience some amazing things (like a trip to Peru
Yet here I sit in a home much smaller than those my friends are buying. I drive a car that is 11 years old. I only get my hair done every 6 months. I shop at H&M and Target because the prices at Nordstrom still make me cringe. I take my lunch to work. Every day.
I have the means to live exponentially better than I do now, and yet I’m still so frugal you’d think I was barely scraping by. I could afford the monthly payment on a new car. I could buy a bigger home. I could shop at J. Crew and Anthropologie and Lululemon. I could live without split ends. But I don’t. Why am I not allowing myself to “enjoy the best in life”?
I live this way because I learned a wealthy-people secret at a fairly young age that allowed me to amass a net worth of $200K (20 times the national average) before my 30th birthday. This secret is easy to understand, but many choose to ignore. A secret that has transformed even the most middle-class of us into millionaires. This is the secret:
You can have it all. You just can’t have it all right now.
Just what you wanted to hear, I’m sure. Let’s be honest: we millennials are a generation of “we want it, and we want it now.” We’ve grown up in an age where everything is just a click away (Steve Jobs, we’re blaming you here), and it’s rewired the way we think. We LOVE instant satisfaction. Some of our friends are buying the new cars and four-bedroom homes and fancy vacations all before the age of 30. And really, why wait? Some of the more fortunately-employed can easily manage a $400/month car payment and still have money to go out on the weekends. These friends are killing it, right?
Well, maybe. But maybe not. See, the problem is that by spending that money now, you negate spending more of it later. Because you want the nice clothes and latest iPhone and best Crossfit membership, you are more than likely skimping on funding your retirement or building your emergency fund or saving to put 20% down on a house. And you know what that means? It’s costing you extra money. And potentially YEARS of secure, comfortable retirement.
Think of it like this: all that money you’re spending on rounds at the bar could have been thrown into savings and used as an additional down payment on your home. Now, however, instead of putting down 20% to get a lower interest rate and avoid PMI (i.e. things that will save you serious cash), you can only afford a 10% down payment, meaning you are losing thousands every year that those 20%-down-payers don’t have to worry about.
Or, let’s say you haven’t quite gotten around to building an emergency fund. No big deal…until your company gets acquired, and you lose your job with nothing to fall back on. You end up having to take an underpaying job just to pay the bills, but damn, do you hate it. Out of nowhere, you’ve found yourself in a situation where you dread going to work in the mornings and are maxing out your credit cards just to stay above water. Sucks, right? It dies, and it happens more commonly than you think.
If you truly want to “have it all,” you need to become a master of delayed gratification. You have to be willing to give up a little now in order to get a lot later. I know, easier said than done; but it’s a habit that can be learned. And coming from someone who knows, the promise of financial stability and more “fun money” down the road is definitely worth it. All it takes is a little willpower. And I’m here to show you how to develop it.
1. Set goals that support your “Why.”
You know which promises are the easiest to break? The ones you don’t care about. The same thing goes for your goals.
If you don’t set a worthwhile financial goal, there is no way you will sacrifice your wants and needs now for your wants and needs later. Yes, we can all say we’d like to be debt-free. But honestly, the delayed, abstract idea of gratification from nixing a $300 monthly credit card payment doesn’t really compute: it doesn’t make sacrificing our current Thursday night happy hours or weekly personal training sessions feel very worthwhile.
That’s why you need to figure out your “why.” Why it’s important to reach your goal. Why you want to be on better financial footing. Why giving up your time and energy and comfort now will be worth it down the road. For instance, let’s say your goal is to pay off debt. Great. I’m all for it. But if that’s where you leave it, you’re not going to find the motivation to stick with it. You need to figure out the root cause behind why you want to free up your cash. Is it to use that extra money to save for a house so you can expand your family? Finally take a honeymoon? Just be able to go out to dinner and buy a pair of shoes without feeling guilty? Whatever it is, make it something you are 100% behind, excited about, and sure that reason can remain the focus of your efforts for a long time.
2. Set reminders.
Day-to-day life can sometimes get in the way of our long-term goals. You get last-minute invites to happy hour after a stressful day, opportunities to donate to a friend’s charity, or find a really expensive pair of shoes on sale and all of a sudden, you’ve blown your budget. Again. That’s why setting reminders of those long-term goals is so important: it keeps you focused on the end goal.
Here’s what you need to do: change your desktop background to a picture that represents your Why. Do the same for your phone. Put an actual photo up somewhere in your house, or even better: in your wallet next to your credit card. Heck, even set periodic reminders on your phone calendar. These little reminders will keep you on the straight and narrow, and when you pass by those boots you’ve been eyeing at Nordstrom, you’ll have a much easier time walking away.
3. Take the Net Worth Challenge.
Here’s the competitor in me coming out again. Most people believe that having a high salary is what makes you wealthy, but they’re wrong. It’s your net worth (more assets like cars and homes, fewer financial liabilities like debt) that’s the most important number when determining true wealth. And for me, getting that number to increase has been one of the most motivating factors in sticking to the delayed gratification course.
A higher net worth means a lot of things to different people: an earlier retirement, the ability to fund their kids’ college, the means to travel. Whatever it is, having a higher worth is always going to be a positive. Focusing on this (taking the time to periodically crunch the numbers to calculate the difference between your assets and debts) will allow you to truly see the progress you are making.
4. Set your budget.
Yes, I will be reiterating this point until you actually do it.
Budgeting is the #1 way to ensure you are getting the most out of your money, and when you have financial goals you want to hit, that’s hella important. It’ll also allow you to squeeze in a little fun while you’re in Sacrifice Mode so that you don’t absolutely hate your life until you’ve hit those goals. Because as much as we’d all love to eat Ramen every day in order to pay off debt, we have to also try to keep our sanity intact during the process. That’s hella important, too.
Having your cake and eating it, too, is possible. It’s all just a matter of self-control and willpower. If your “why” is strong enough, you’ll find it’s easier than you thought to give up a little now to gain a whole lot later. So find your “why,” pick your “why image, set your reminders, calculate your net worth, set your budget, and get ready for the challenge. You’re going to get everything you hoped for — you just have to wait until later in the party to have it.
What are some of the financial goals you’re chasing? And what are you doing now to reach them?
Brittney is a CPA in Indianapolis who loves any & all carbs and in her spare time runs the blog Britt & the Benjamins, which is focused on helping people, especially women, achieve financial independence and kill it in their careers.
Image via Picjumbo
