Rich = Evil?
The other day I was thinking about how people perceive the idea of being rich. Right now, our president and news media is in the habit of demonizing big corporations, mainly for missuse of bail out money. I'm not saying that corporations shouldn't be regulated in this area, but the message to the American people seems to be that being a rich CEO means you don't respect the little guy and you hoard money all for yourself. There's also a big thing with Obama about taxing the rich in America so that the government can have more money to create jobs and programs for the poor.
OK, I know that not all rich people are on the up and up. Take people in the porn industry that are making big bucks and all those celebrities that we see falling down in a drunken stupor on Entertainment Tonight and there is no shortage of big business scandals either. I'm not talking about those people I'm talking about the self made millionaire, the first generation rich, that have become that way because they were able to expand there minds and get up and do something about it.
This is one of the biggest reasons people never become rich is because of the stigma attached to it. Another is the fear of money or rather the disbelief that making that kind of money even exists. Do you remember when you first heard how much a house cost, I do. I was probably in my teens and when I heard a house could cost above 10,000 I freaked. I thought I could never buy a house. How would I ever be able to make that kind of money? Seven to ten years later here I am in a house of my own. The process in going from disbelieving I couldn't afford a house to owning one is a similar one when it comes to believing that you can become rich. It takes a different way of thinking, education, research, guts, and the realization that other people do it to.
Rich, you mean like a million dollars right? Not exactly. You can be rich and not have x amount of dollars. My definition of rich is being wealthy. Being wealthy is simply that you have enough income that you can pay your annual basic needs (lights, heat, car, house, debt, food,) twice in one year. An example of this is that you have a day job, but also you own rental houses that with the rental income you can pay your basic needs. So your day job is just gravy. Also maybe another definition of wealth is the total amount of your passive income meets your annual expenses to where you don't have to have a steady job. Referring to my first example, if you make $200,000 a year net, and you live on $100,000 of that and save the rest. Then if you repeat this for 10 years you will have $1 million, and that's taking in to consideration that there is no capital gains on that money. A lot of high income earners have a good opportunity to become wealthy, but unfortunately some go by the motto, earn more spend more. So what happens is that a person making $100,000 is living pay check to pay check just like the poor folk. There are other examples of passive income like investing in an Internet business, or paper assets like stocks, bonds, and so on. Like I said, to do these things you will have to stop the 'I can never do that' attitude and start believing in yourself. One of the best ways to do this is to start reading about the subject. The books I have reviewed in this blog have inspired me to try to go another level. I think they will work for you to.
Why become rich? Some of the richest people in our country tend to be the most honest, giving people out there. If you are making becoming rich all about money then you are missing the big picture. When you become wealthy you can spend more time with family and with the things that really jazz you. You can give like no one else and contribute to something you really believe in. See it's about taking part in life, stop sitting around and watching people do cool things and go do them. It's about being able to give the very best part of yourself, to the people who are in the most need of it. To be free to love your family and friends anytime you want. To be able to give back to God without wondering if you can put food on the table as well. You see if you are rich in mind, spirit and in your bank account there is no stopping the good that will flow from that!!!
