Welcome to another week in the school of money.One of the major reasons many people live a life of lack and hardship is the money mistakes that they make in life. Many people have made and will continue to make a lot of money mistakes in their personal finance,their investments and even in their business. In this new series,I want to share with you some of the common money mistakes and believe it will be beneficial to you. I will be using MM to represent money mistakes.
MM ONE : REFUSING TO MAKE FINANCIAL EDUCATION A PRIORITY
It is amazing to realise that even though millions of people wake up very early everyday and come back late in the night all in search of and because of money,yet the same set of people are not willing to invest time and money in their financial education.
Lack of financial intelligence is a major reason many people are poor and tied down in the rat race of life. The golden handcuffs of paid employment has limited the potential of many who have settled for the rat race because that’s all they know. Even if you win the rat race,you will still remain a rat. In life, it is not how much you make that matters but what you do with what you make,and that is where proper financial education comes in,it helps you do the right thing with every money you make. Schools don’t teach financial intelligence and academic education is not enough to guarantee financial freedom hence the need for financial education. It’s time to give financial education a pride of place in your life and be intentional about your personal development so this mistake can stop. We have numerous books,audio programmes etc that can help you in this all important aspect of your life.
MM TWO : REFUSING TO PRACTICE AND ACT ON WHAT YOU KNOW
As I travel round the world speaking and consulting, one thing that has become clear to me is that next to ignorance,the major problem in the life of many is inaction. Ignorance is darkness and ignorance is bondage,which is why knowledge is power, but what is the benefit of a knowledge that is not applied?. One thousand good intention is not as powerful as one action and I have seen many people who have been well thought and schooled in the world of financial intelligence yet they remain poor and struggle financially. This is simply because they refuse to practice what they know to be the way forward. Excuses are the trademark of failures and when confronted about their inaction,all these set of people give is excuses. Please note very clearly,in life nothing just happens and the fact that you know something does not mean you will benefit from it if you don’t do the needful. So to put it right,it is not just knowledge that is power,but it is applied knowledge that is the real power.
MM THREE : IGNORING THE CULTURE OF SAVING
Wealth creation is not rocket science and any one with basic common sense will know that anyone that does not save money is not safe financially. Money is tripartite in nature and also tripartite in operation.
# Money is a spirit,money has a soul and money lives in a body.
# Money has a past, a present and a future
Time will not permit me go into details to explain these concepts,but do note that for every money that comes to you,there is a part of that money that belongs to your future and it should be saved. Everyone should have between six month to one year of their living expenses saved up in cash in case of unexpected winds in life. Many people are poor because they ignore the culture of saving and always claim that they cannot afford to save,but the real truth is that you cannot afford not to save if you want to have a future.
The wisest man who also doubles as the richest man that ever lived puts it succinctly when he said in the goodnews translation of proverbs 21 and verse 20
“Wise people live in wealth and luxury, but stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it.”
If you really want to be financially free and create wealth,then a minimum of 10% of all your income must be saved.
The money mistakes are numerous and have great consequences so ensure you avoid all the mistakes I will be unveiling in this unique series.
Join me next week for another class in the school of money .
Keep your dreams alive.