Building Wealth Like me, I suspect many of you have set one or two New Year's resolutions. I've already come up with a couple of health ideas and relationship tips I'll apply to my life. Maybe I'll get a little closer to that ever-elusive peace and happiness.
I believe life is a constant journey and struggle for self-improvement. At the very least, I'm trying to make things better, selfishly in a way, for myself and the ones close to me.
That's what led me to contemplate what I might share with you as we welcome 2016. My team and I are giving you one essay per day, over each of the next five days, to help you improve your wealth.
Wealth is certainly not the be-all/end-all of life, but it is one area of expertise I feel comfortable talking about... More important, everyone can easily make great strides by changing the way he or she thinks about wealth in just a few small ways.
That's why I'm sending you this series of short essays I'm calling, "Five Days for a Wealthy 2016."
Each day, I'll send you a little note on one of the key thoughts that will help you become a better and richer earner, investor, and saver.
The fact that you are a Retirement Millionaire Daily reader means that you've already taken my first key to wealth to heart. But let me repeat, the key to great wealth is remembering one truth...
No one will care about your wealth as much as you will.
You need to be the one who cares about your wealth and your retirement. No one else will.
The government won't. You can't count on Social Security or the government to pay for your retirement. For decades, the folks in Washington screamed how broke the fund was. And each year, they took away more and more of what was promised from the money you paid.
For example, make more than $25,000 a year in retirement, and you lose half your payments to taxes. Make more than $34,000, and you lose 85% of it back to the federales in taxes.
And you can't count on financial planners to protect you either. When I talk to people about their investment planning, they say something like, "I don't know. My guy has got me invested in some funds or something."
That simply doesn't cut it. Your "guy," as good as he may be, doesn't care about your wealth as much as you do. Many are happy to take your cash in fees or annual charges... money you could easily use to improve your retirement if you paid a little more attention.
This doesn't mean you need to spend all day trading stocks or becoming an expert in finance. You just need to know what your guy is doing and why. If he won't sit down and explain it, fire him.
You don't need to be an expert, but you need to be financially literate. You need to know the words "diversification," "asset allocation," and "compounding." (These are a few of the topics I'll be covering in our "Five Days to a Wealthy 2016.")
Take 10 minutes to understand a little bit about stocks, bonds, and mutual funds this week. You'll want to learn about the fees you're paying, who is getting the money, and if you even need to pay fees at all.
Why? Because no one else will. The only person who truly cares about the future of you and your family is you.
I've dedicated myself to helping people learn the things that they need to learn. I believe that a year or so of reading my newsletter teaches people how to understand finance and investing.
If you're feeling a little behind on fully fixing your finances, here's what I want you to do...
First, resolve that this is the year you'll set your financial plan in motion. Read "Five Days to a Wealthy 2016" and take our lessons to heart.
Next, come up with a simple two-step saving and investing plan that works for you. If you're working with an advisor, have him explain his thought process behind regular saving and investing.
And if you're new to investing, resolve to invest in your first mutual fund (more on these in a bit) by the end of February.
It doesn't need to be a lot. You can invest small amounts by using an online service like Capital One Investing. Start with $50, or even $25. You can do it.
You can and should use the help of experts. But remember, they're working for you, not the other way around.
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Again, I'll put it simply:
- You have to (and can) understand your finances.
- You have to (and can) make a simple plan for your retirement future.
- And you are the only one you can count on to do it.
Once you have this powerful attitude in place, you can easily learn the other important lessons of finance. I'll be back tomorrow with the key to the most powerful force in all of investing.