Do you want to be Rich? Why? What for?



“Magpadatu ta nah!”(Let's Get Rich) – this statement used to piss me off; now I just smile and shake my head. I usually encounter this when someone invites me to ‘invest in something’ new or a system, sell a product, service and opportunity for business development or innovative breakthrough technology or the like.

So, let’s ask this simple yet complicated question: “Why do I want to be rich?”

Take a second (or more) and think about it (deeply).

For some reason, it is normal in our society to have this goal of becoming ‘rich’ but what does that even mean?

I believe that wealth is the ability to fully experience life. I personally want to be wealthy but not necessarily rich. It’s strange that not many people actually know the difference between being rich and being wealthy.

“Being rich is having money. Being wealthy is having time.” – Margaret Bonnano

You can have all the money in the world, but if you have no free time to spend it, what’s the point of being rich? Yes, we all need security but also there’s more to life than just being obsessed with making loads of money.

I want you to tap into ‘Self-Awareness’ to determine what you really want in life. This process is easier than obsessing over the normal financial goals that are now part of the marketing of financial products by banks, investment firms, and the like institutions.

If you want to make a lot of money, then that means you want to buy something. Then ask yourself, is that something worth all the effort, does it make you happy?

Take a step back and think about creating more purpose instead of dwelling on FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out.

You are in control of your life. Every day you decide what you’re going to be doing. You decide who you’re going to see, what to eat, where to travel. This is why I advocate ‘Lazy Investing’ for personal finance and investing which doesn’t have to take so much of your time.

Also, here’s a few (hidden) cost of 'Rich':
More money, more problems as they say.
You pay a larger percentage of your income to taxes.
Expectations of you increase to levels of unreasonableness.
Somebody (“New Relatives”) always wants something from you.
People start liking you for your money instead of your personality.
Social isolation: Society, politicians, media or relatives demonizes the rich getting richer.
Greed: If you don’t have a purpose, you will be trapped in this vicious cycle of wanting more.
There’s a chance that your children will not know hardship and become arrogant, conceited and entitled.

Also, Lifestyle Inflation kicks-in Hard: Not only do bigger houses, luxury cars and better schools cost more, but the everyday cost of maintaining fancier things can really add up.

It is not as easy as it seems, you feel a great deal of responsibility. Depending on how rich you are it varies from making smart investments and staying rich to how to use your money to make a difference in the world.

Ultimately being rich is a state of mind if you’re not happy it won’t matter how rich you become. If you’re not happy before you became rich, then you won’t become any happier.

So, when most people say they want to be rich, they really mean they want to be free. We don’t need millions in the bank to feel free. We just need to get our priorities straight. Determine your dreams or ambitions, and put a cost to it then work towards it.


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Do you want to be Rich? Why? What for? Do you want to be Rich? Why? What for? Reviewed by Vernon Joseph Go on Sunday, May 20, 2018 Rating: 5

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