Ten More Reasons Why You’re Not Rich
Posted by
eli
on 12/29/09• Categorized as Consulting
Many people assume they aren’t rich because they don’t earn enough money. If I only earned a little more, I could save and invest better, they say. 
This is part of a thought-provoking article which I have stumbled upon while browsing the net yesterday. It was written by Jeffrey Strain, and published in The Street.com. I think the article is worth sharing to you, as the thoughts are appropriate as inputs in coming up with resolutions for the New Year, which is 3 days from now.
Becoming a millionaire has less to do with how much you make, it’s how you treat money in your daily life.
The list of reasons you may not be rich doesn’t end at 10. Caring what your neighbors think, not being patient, having bad habits, not having goals, not being prepared, trying to make a quick buck, relying on others to handle your money, investing in things you don’t understand, being financially afraid and ignoring your finances.
Here are 10 more possible reasons you aren’t rich:
1. You care what your car looks like: A car is a means of transportation to get from one place to another, but many people don’t view it that way. Instead, they consider it a reflection of themselves and spend money every two years or so to impress others instead of driving the car for its entire useful life and investing the money saved.
2. You feel entitlement: If you believe you deserve to live a certain lifestyle, have certain things and spend a certain amount before you have earned to live that way, you will have to borrow money. That large chunk of debt will keep you from building wealth.
3. You lack diversification: There is a reason one of the oldest pieces of financial advice is to not keep all your eggs in a single basket. Having a diversified investment portfolio makes it much less likely that wealth will suddenly disappear.
4. You started too late: The magic of compound interest works best over long periods of time. If you find you’re always saying there will be time to save and invest in a couple more years, you’ll wake up one day to find retirement is just around the corner and there is still nothing in your retirement account.
5. You don’t do what you enjoy: While your job doesn’t necessarily need to be your dream job, you need to enjoy it. If you choose a job you don’t like just for the money, you’ll likely spend all that extra cash trying to relieve the stress of doing work you hate.
6. You don’t like to learn: You may have assumed that once you graduated from college, there was no need to study or learn. That attitude might be enough to get you your first job or keep you employed, but it will never make you rich. A willingness to learn to improve your career and finances are essential if you want to eventually become wealthy.
7. You buy things you don’t use: Take a look around your house, in the closets, basement, attic and garage and see if there are a lot of things you haven’t used in the past year. If there are, chances are that all those things you purchased were wasted money that could have been used to increase your net worth.
8. You don’t understand value: You buy things for any number of reasons besides the value that the purchase brings to you. This is not limited to those who feel the need to buy the most expensive items, but can also apply to those who always purchase the cheapest goods. Rarely are either the best value, and it’s only when you learn to purchase good value that you have money left over to invest for your future.
9. Your house is too big: When you buy a house that is bigger than you can afford or need, you end up spending extra money on longer debt payments, increased taxes, higher upkeep and more things to fill it. Some people will try to argue that the increased value of the house makes it a good investment, but the truth is that unless you are willing to downgrade your living standards, which most people are not, it will never be a liquid asset or money that you can ever use and enjoy.
10. You fail to take advantage of opportunities: There has probably been more than one occasion where you heard about someone who has made it big and thought to yourself, “I could have thought of that.” There are plenty of opportunities if you have the will and determination to keep your eyes open.
I believe these 10 more reasons why you are not rich are valuable food for thought today and, as already stated, as inputs in preparing for our New Year’s resolutions.
Mmm, I think one main reason I’m not rich (apart from being lazy, which should definitely be up on your list) is that I’m not rich already!!
Let’s face it, the old adage: ‘Money comes to money’ is true. If you have enough money to invest, then (assuming you invest wisely) you’re likely to make more money. Whilst those of us scrimping and scraping by, which most people are really, don’t have the opportunity to invest.
Not to say that should stop you, but it makes things harder.
Happy new year!
Good advice, but there are many other choices people make that end them up in the “not rich” group. I suppose those who do succeed in making money would lump them into “failing to take advantage of opportunities.” But there are often other priorities for using cash (helping a relative), taking lower paying jobs (many reasons… ethical, personal, expected lifestyle, etc), and you can’t save enough for retirement, no matter what you do, if all you can save is $1 a week. Compound interest can’t overcome that.
Pretty negative post. I don’t suppose you could come up with something more positive that would give hope to those who up until now haven’t been able to level themselves with ideas like “you started too late” — ok, so somebody was/is “too late” — how can they break through such a barrier?
Happy New Year!
Let’s face it, the way the world is becoming, it’s more of the haves and have nots, you have to decide how hard, no matter what age, you are willing to work for being on the side of the haves. Hell failures, YES, you’ll have them all the time. I know I have had my share of three people and yet I still keep trying. The adage a a quitter never wins and a winner never quits, is truer today then ever.
I live in a town where they race the finest horses in the world and the difference between the winning horse and the one in second is a matter of inches and tenths of seconds. Yet you never hear about the horse that came in second. I talk to the trainers and they know it all comes down to trying and never quitting. And that winning horse works just as hard the next week as the one that came in second to stay in the first place slot.
So this time of year all the lists come out and we look back. We make resolutions. Two things we start off our new year to set us up for more of the same. So stop looking back and make a resolution to stop making resolutions.
The one thing we both can agree on, is we are blessed to have family, friends, health(I hope), great memories and not one of those can be bought.
God your right this post can be depressing, but in the end, We Can’t Take A DIME with us.
Please send this article on ten reasons why you are not rich to my box. I need to dis cuss some of this issues with my family. It will help us take som bold steps to reposition ourselves for better and more glorious living. Thank you.