There are misconceptions about money, and reasons why more and more people don’t get rich, including a number of common mistakes. The most important prerequisite for getting rich is taking responsibility for your money.
Most people who come into possession of a lot of money and then lose it all, have placed too much trust in consultants, without having developed their own financial skills. If you don’t know anything about finance, you won’t even be able to judge which consultant is up to the task.
Misconceptions 1 – You get rich by investing in stocks –
This is simply wrong. Take a look at any list of the richest people in the world and you will hardly find someone who has become rich thanks to their investments in stocks. Warren Buffett is often cited as an exception, but he is not a typical equity investor, and even if you take him as an example, he is a very, very rare exception.
On the contrary, many have become rich thanks to the real estate sector, while the vast majority have become rich through entrepreneurial activities. Studies carried out in the United States have also shown that the vast majority of American millionaires have made money as entrepreneurs. Stocks are an excellent investment opportunity – to stay rich, not to become rich.
Misconceptions 2 – It used to be easier to get rich –
It is often argued that the majority of the richest people in the world inherited their fortunes – and that it has become almost impossible to get rich through their own efforts. This is a misconception.
Again, the proof is to be found in Forbes’ annual ranking of the richest people in the world. Most of the people who are in that rank have made money by becoming first-generation entrepreneurs.
Globally, the percentage is likely to be significantly higher. The internet in particular has created a number of self-made billionaires in the hi-tech industry – including Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Larry Page, and Sergey Brin (Google). There are also some Chinese billionaires who have thrived on the internet, such as Jack Ma (Alibaba).
Misconceptions 3 – I prefer to be poor and healthy rather than rich and sick –
This is another misconception, in fact, scientific studies have shown that rich people are also the healthiest and live longer than poor people (obvious it seems to me). If you think that having more money is bad for your health, you are subconsciously giving up future wealth.
Another belief that prevents getting rich is the illusion of – zero-sum – the rich thrive at the expense of the poor. This too is absolute nonsense. The number of the rich has steadily increased over the past twenty years, while the number of the poor in the world has fallen by a billion. According to the zero-sum theory, this could not have happened.
Misconception 4 – If I want to get rich, I need to know how to do it first
Most people believe that if you want to get rich, you must first have a clear idea of how to achieve your goal. This is wrong. It is much more important to know why you want to get rich, and not to know how to get rich.
Most people say they want to have more money, but that’s not enough to get rich. If you want to get rich, you need a strong motivation that will guide you for years or even decades. For this reason why is much more important than how.
You need a reason to make you rich. Incidentally, most wealthy people don’t want to have a lot of money to afford to buy expensive watches, villas, and cars (although this can be nice too). No, what they want above all is economic freedom and independence. And what they mean by independence is this, true economic freedom.
No longer having the need to work
Decide for yourself whether to work
Where to work
What to do
When to work
How and with whom to work.