When discussing building wealth, people usually talk about practical, tangible actions, ignoring your money mindset. “Spend less on coffee” or “Travel less” are common tips from coworkers, friends, or family. However, making these practical shifts is only half the battle. The other half is your money mindset towards building wealth.
What is a Positive Money Mindset?
A money mindset applies to any thought process an individual has regarding money. This could be saving, making, spending, or investing money.
A positive money mindset focuses on making effective moves toward long-term goals. Specifically, moves that have long-term, wealth-building effects instead of short-term deprivation. All of this contributes to thinking rich.
This is where the coworker telling you to cut out Starbucks lattes has the wrong mindset. They are trying to generate long-term wealth by making small short-term sacrifices. These kinds of moves will lead to burnout without generating much wealth.
People with a positive money mindset would advise you to make long-term improvements, such as getting a raise or investing your spare cash. Moves like this will have massive effects on your wealth without depriving you of getting there.
We are humans, not robots. We can’t run 24/7 on nothing but $0.25 worth of electricity. We need enjoyment from our income to keep going. Don’t deprive yourself so much that you quit the race entirely.
Who NOT to Get Advice From
Think about it. I doubt any of the people you have heard these tips from are rich or getting rich themselves. More than likely, they are just giving their best advice to you, not knowing the whole way to get there. Meanwhile, they have struggled with their money or have not achieved their plans.
This isn’t to say that people with less money are less valuable or intelligent. Just that if you want to be trusted on a subject, you should prove yourself worthy of being an authority.
You may think, “Well, who the heck is this guy? I doubt he’s a millionaire.” And you’d be right. However, I am well on my way, seeing all of the tips I discuss in this blog play out in the real world. I have seen my finances and wealth positively impacted by the moves I speak on, always before I speak on it.
Everyone thinks they are an expert and wants to be an expert without putting in the effort to become truly knowledgeable. Absorbing mindsets from these people will lead you to their financial situation. Likely, that isn’t where you want to be.
Who TO Get Advice From
In general, you should listen to anyone who is already where you want to be or is clearly on the path to where you want to be. Everyone’s situation is unique. But these people are most likely to be able to advise you on following in their footsteps.
A fantastic indicator, spoken on by Alex Hormozi, is whether the person speaks in short or long timescales. Wealthy people think in 5, 10, or even 15-year timescales when building wealth or a business. On the other hand, “unwealthy” people speak in short timescales, such as a year or even a couple of months.
Thinking in long timescales indicates an ability to step back to see the complete picture and long-term success. If you only think about next week, next week may be very successful. But what about planning for changes a year down the road?
How to Develop a Positive Money Mindset
1. Think Long-Term
I spoke a bit on this above, but it is worth diving into more.
Consistently successful people always think in long timescales. When has the CEO of a large company or a successful investor like Warren Buffett spoken about moves they will make tomorrow? They talk about their plans for four years from now and how they are planning for them today.
On the other hand, “overnight successes” or “flashes in the pan” are obsessed with the short term. In the stock market, these are day traders. No day trader in the market’s history has made consistent money for long.
In business, these people blow all their funds on one short-term idea or event. Only for it to inevitably not live up to what they needed, and now they’re in an even worse situation than they began.
In the Stock Market
The stock market is inherently a long-term game. Companies take a long time to grow. Compounding takes years and years to grow like a snowball. Your consistent monthly investing takes a long time to reach a large sum.
Investors with short-term mindsets lose much money due to selling when the stock market drops. Investors with long-term mindsets realize the market will recover and continue buying, lowering their average cost and supercharging their gains.
2. Savings Shouldn’t Be Stagnant
Traditionally, saving involves stuffing your money in a mattress or bank account to earn practically nothing in interest. This is a shortsighted view of savings, where making money from your day job is the end of the road. But, you worked hard for that money – now have that money work for you.
Redefine “saving” to mean not spending your money on an expense instead of not doing anything with it. This definition enables you to utilize your savings to build even more wealth while you don’t need it. Having money just sitting there is a waste of time.
Utilizing your savings is a flexible concept. You could throw it in a high-yield savings account to earn a solid return while exposing it to no volatility and keeping it liquid. Or, you could invest in the overall market to generate higher returns with some volatility. Or, go all out and invest in individual stocks to try and generate the greatest returns.
Anything that puts your money in a situation to work for you is where you want to be. Examples of this are:
- The stock market
- Real estate/crowdfunding real estate
- Side hustles
- Personal business
- Health
- High-yield savings accounts
Putting your money into any of these will make your money work for you and provide you with returns. All of these options are better than your money sitting and doing nothing.
3. Make It Difficult to Spend Money
The main reason that many people spend too much money on unnecessary things is how available their savings are. If you save in a checking account or cash, you can spend it. If you save in a savings account, you have one quick transfer, and you’re done. Instead, let’s set up systems to make spending money more difficult.
The best way to do this is to invest your savings. This will move your savings into a third party, such as a brokerage or physical asset, where it is difficult to convert back into cash.
Ensure you have an emergency fund when you begin investing your savings. You never know what will happen in the short term, so you must be ready. An emergency fund also provides the peace of mind necessary for a consistent investor.
Once you have that emergency fund set up, invest the rest of your savings in one way or another. Even if you want to stick with very conservative investments, there is no excuse not to generate at least 3.5% returns on your savings.
Keeping your savings in this investment account(s) will keep your money “out of sight, out of mind”. You won’t want to spend nearly as much when you don’t see it as accessible.
4. You Aren’t Limited to Your Current Pay
Most people aren’t getting paid what they could be. The old-school way of thinking is to stay at a company for a long time. However, nowadays, that leads you to be underpaid.
In fact, staying at a single job for longer than two years leads to you being paid 50% less than if you had job-hopped. If you have been at the same job for a while, it may be worth considering switching it up.
Even if you decide to stay in the same job, more people should ask for a raise. Companies pay their employees as little as possible. If you have performed well at your job for a while and aren’t paid much more than the local average for your position, ask for one. The worst that your boss can say is no.
Getting a raise is a fantastic way to build wealth because you don’t have to move or undergo massive changes. You can continue as usual but get paid even more.
Don’t be afraid to know what you’re worth.
5. You Aren’t Limited to a Day Job
Sadly, there will inevitably be stagnant points in your career. Times when you are just gaining experience and skills and can’t request a raise or switch jobs yet. These times don’t mean your path to wealth has to plateau.
Specifically, this is done by realizing that there are wealth-building opportunities outside of your day job. In general, these are known as side hustles.
Don’t be scared away by the term “hustle”. None of us want to buy into the 24 hours a day grind that “hustle” implies. Instead, think of a side hustle as an additional, flexible source of income.
You can choose what and when you want to do and make additional money. Even working on a side hustle once a week can quickly bring in enough money to pay for food for the entire month. That is not an insignificant change.
Plus, many people who have a side hustle develop the goal for their side hustle to replace their day job. This has financial benefits like uncapping and diversifying your income. Not to mention the personal benefits of not having a job and unlocking far more flexible work schedules.
People who can generate a lot of wealth while still appearing as a standard employee from the outside usually have some side hustle. The first step is to shift your mindset to realize this is possible.
Lastly, a side hustle or personal business can be a fantastic investment vehicle. Most investments return around 10% annually. Investing in yourself or your business can quickly generate 10X returns.
Summary
It’s easy to get stuck in negative, old-school money mindsets. These mindsets hold you back from your wealth potential, even if you have all the technical knowledge. People open to shifting their perspective are far more likely to be successful. Be one of those people.
Shift your money mindset to absorb the five points discussed here to set yourself up for future wealth. Don’t underestimate the power of allowing yourself to think in a wealth-building way.
To learn more about the stock market and how it works behind the scenes, read the ultimate guide to the stock market.
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