Today, I would strongly recommend you this book: The Millionaire Next Door. This is a book that I would highly recommend if you seek to build wealth through your life, but you are worried that you cannot do it due to your circumstances. For this book, the authors had interviewed over 500 millionaires and tried to understand the principles that they have to accumulate their wealth.
These are some of the interesting observations that they have made:
1. High income (>US$100,000) does not necessarily mean that the person is successful in building wealth
2. The typical millionaire does not have the typical image that we have of a rich person (They do not live in an affluent neighborhood unless they can afford it. They do not buy designer suits or the most expensive car that he can afford)
3. They are more comfortable with eating barbeque, drinking beer, and scotch than appreciating fine wine and caviar.
In this book, the millionaire is defined by his net worth; Asset (business, stocks, bonds, cash) - Liabilities (mortgages. installments, debts). They have also created a way to gauge if someone is building their wealth (while taking into consideration their income and age).
This is the formula:
Expected net worth = (Age)*(Pre-tax household income)/10 - inheritance
There are 3 major categories of people:
1. PAW - Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth (Actual Net Worth) / (Expected Net Worth) >=
2. AAW - Average Accumulator of Wealth (Actual Net Worth) / (Expected Net Worth) = 1
3. UAW - Under Accumulator of Wealth (Actual Net Worth) / (Expected Net Worth) <= 0.5
To give you an example:
I have an annual income of $12,000 (don't laugh, I'm trying here)
My expected net worth would be 12,000*24/10 = $28,800
My investment is around $28,311 in total value. Hence, from my investment, I am an AAW. Not too shabby. I hope to be a PAW by the time I am 30.
Thoughts and comments:
This is a really good book, showing us that wealth is not accumulated by high-income earners. People who practice frugality, patience, and discipline in planning their own finances are more likely to accumulate wealth. The book has also focused on the objective of building wealth; It is not just about buying more stuff, but to improve your family's quality of life, tackle financial insecurities actively or to contribute to a cause that you believe in.
Here are the 6 key lessons from the book and this also serves as a summary of the book:
1. Millionaires are not high-income earners (Their wealth comes from saving, investing and living below their means. A majority of them have an annual pre-tax income of US$80,000)
2. They hold onto their vehicles for a long time, even when they buy, a substantial portion would choose used cars (This is in contrast with UAWs, where a majority of them believes that people should drive the best vehicle that they can afford)
3. They spent a large amount of time planning their finances (They can spend up to 40 hours planning for their annual budgets, expenses, long-term and short-term goals. This is in contrast to UAWs, as PAWs choose to face their fears of not enough money by planning for it)
4. They do not trade frequently (They hold on to their investment for an average of 3 years)
5. Their self-worth is not based on their possessions (Their self-worth is build based on their achievements, their family, the values that he holds. This is in contrast to UAWs, who based their value on their possessions)
6. Frugal parents bring up frugal children (Children that are taught by their parents on the value of money are more likely to be PAWs. Children who receive help, financially or academically, are more likely to be UAWS that cannot sustain an affluent lifestyle when they go out to work)
So yes, I bet you would want to be a PAW as well, so I have devised an action plan for myself after I have finished reading the book and I want to share it with you. Here are the steps that you can take to begin accumulating wealth:
1. Know your income, spendings:
You cannot make changes to things that you don't measure. Categorize your spending habits. What are the things that are essential? What are the things that are luxury? What are the things that add up to a large amount if you spend every day (HINT: Your daily Starbucks may be one. Cut back on the luxuries to just one or two. (AKA: LIVING BELOW YOUR MEANS)
You can also do this by automating your money to an investing/saving account when you receive your salary. This is such that you will not be tempted to spend the money. (AKA: PAYING YOURSELF FIRST)
2.When your income increase, your spendings DOESN'T:
When we receive a pay raise, we would be tempted to increase our lifestyle accordingly. This can be in terms of going to our favourite cafe weekly, buying a nicer car or house. Remember, you accumulate wealth when you save. NOT WHEN YOU SPEND. (AKA: AVOID LIFESTYLE INFLATION)
3. Diversify your income stream:
This can be in the form of teaching tuition, driving grab, starting a side business. This is such that you won't be in trouble if your main job is affected. Also, set aside an emergency fund according to your needs (6 months of expense if single, 6 months of income if married, 12 months of income if married with kids) (AKA: DIVERSIFICATION IS KEY)
4. Improve your financial literacy:
There is no point in saving up, diversifying our income, and living below our means if we do not know how to manage our own finance. I am pretty sure my parents have saved quite a nice amount of money when they were younger. But now, they are having trouble retiring because they do not have the knowledge to manage their money. Instead, they bought financial products that they are upsold to, even though it is not the best product for them. (AKA: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER)
I would like to reiterate here that I am not born into a rich family. The achievement and the money that I have accumulated up to this point is the result of hard work, opportunities, and assistance that I received. That's why this book resonated with me. It gave me hope that, by being frugal, I may also bring improvements to my family and I can contribute to the greater community.
For those of you that are in a similar position, I would strongly encourage you to read it. You will be encouraged by how simple people, with all the disadvantages in the world, achieved success. I do not know if I will achieve it or not. But I believe that I will regret not trying.
Till then,
Stay vested, stay frugal my friends.
Dionysius
Source:
The Millionaire Next Door
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