The sad fact is most people will retire or die having only managed to save a few pennies.
It is the dream of most people to happily retire and have no financial difficulties. The sad fact, however is most people will retire or die having only saved a few pennies.
Here are five personal habits that can be costly and ensure you die poor.
You are a full-time member of YOLO team
Nothing is harmful with having a little bit of fun, after all you can only be young once, right!.
That is great and even recommended the only problem is living each day like it’s your last. The minute you get a little bit of money and there you go to have a little fun in the spirit of thanking yourself for working hard, before you know it every other weekend you are out blowing money fast, leaving nothing to be saved.
Business mogul, Chris Kirubi puts it beautifully on YOLO
“Although ‘You only live once’ (YOLO), you don’t live all of it on a single night. Tomorrow will still require you to pay your rent, your school feels and all your other bills. Do not blow all your hard earned cash on some extravagant expenses so that you barely survive.”
It is not that rich guys don’t party, they do but in a moderate and responsible manner emphasizing more on quality time rather than quantity.
You have a 9 am – 5 pm salaried job
Monthly salary has a way of entrapping you to think life will always be fine. Every end month you are sure of having money in your account so you think you can afford to blow the little money you have now and wait until end month.
After all, you can always request for an advance anytime you want, you my friend are in an ‘illusionary comfort’ thinking you have finally made it and your mama and papa can finally be proud of you, well, that is how people die poor.
You must learn to think like an entrepreneur, start a business here and there and once you make enough money quit your job and go be your own boss.
You only work hard not smart
In school it was always drummed into you the importance of working hard, it is a virtue that will get you ahead in life teacher after teacher reiterated.
Well, when it comes to making money, that is only half the truth and you need to work smart in order to make anything worthy for yourself.
When it comes to work, Warren Buffett said, “If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”
You live beyond your means
This is the most common vicious cycle most people find themselves in.
Driven by peer pressure and ignorance majority of employed people always readjust their living standards the minute they get a promotion or get a hefty salary raise.
Rich people also normally only buy stuff they need and not want. The secret to richness is to always keep your daily expenses low and constant, leaving a bigger chunk of your salary for investment opportunities.
Kenyan industrialist Dr. Manu Chandaria, The chairman of Comcraft Group, a multi-billion dollar industrial conglomerate spread across 50 countries for instance only owns four suits.
And when the time comes to buy a new one, he gives out one of the old ones to someone in need of it.
“I can afford to have fifty, hundred or even a thousand suits,” he says. “But are they necessary?”
The same cannot be said about some people of average means who insist on 'chocking' their wardrobe with uncountable shoes and clothes they barely wear.
You spend first and only save what's left over
A lot of people are guilty of this dangerous trait.
If you want to be rich you must learn to always set aside money for saving before spending not the other way round.
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