Working a 9-5 job and investing for long-term wealth are two totally different spheres of financial influence. One deals with money you can get now; the other deals with saving for a better financial future. One can teach you how to spend; the other can teach you how to be smart in your investments. Both are necessary to obtain the financial goals you'd like to achieve. If that's the case, there is nothing wrong with either, right?
The answer to that question is two-fold. While there is inherently nothing wrong with either, there is something wrong with how we approach the underlying factor in both: money. If someone were to drop $1,000,000 onto your lap, how quickly would it disappear? Just ask all the lottery winners how quickly their "winnings" went down the drain. Whether you realize it or not, winning the lottery is not the answer to striking it rich. There are certain "dark" caveats to winning the jackpot. They say that "money is the root of all evil". Well, they misquoted that biblical reference:
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." - 1 Timothy 6:10
You see, money itself is a tool. But those who obtain the "jackpot" right away - which is a very small percentage - realize their true character. In short, for some - not all - money pulls out the "real you". In American education, we are taught consumerism more so than saving. Other countries, such as India and Japan, are best known for making smart money choices. It all boils down to the principles of money management.
Going back to the lottery example, what really happens when one wins the lottery is more depressing than actually obtaining millions through hard work and sweat equity. From people's livelihoods changing in a more negative direction to the IRS taking their money's worth (around 24% of the lottery funds), people who "win it big" actually become the losers (don't take my word for it; read the article here: https://www.businessinsider.com/what-it-is-really-like-to-win-the-lottery-2018-10#when-you-win-a-lottery-that-prize-money-is-taxed-the-irs-will-collect-24-of-it-14)
Now if you are a lottery winner reading this, you may think me a bit biased. You may be making smart money choices right now. In which case, congratulations! You are part of the less than 0.001% who are applying the principles of money management. I'm just saying that the majority of lottery winners who are not taught money management don't really know how to manage the mega millions they won. Which goes back to the question I posed earlier: if you had $1,000,000 dropped onto your lap, how quickly would it go?
If you have the mind of a consumer, it'd more than likely leave your life as soon as it came. Yet, we sit here, wondering why the rich get richer? Surely, they should be having the same problems as us when having $1,000,000 lining their pockets, correct? Actually, no. They understand that money is a tool; and have an investment mindset rather than a consumer mindset. They understand how to manage their money. It does one no good to make $1,000,000, yet doesn't know how to manage that $1,000,000 and cause it to grow to $1,000,000,000.
Money may be the issue to so many people's marriages/relationships, careers, forgotten dreams, health, etc. But the underlying root to it is managing money, not making money. When we learn how to manage money properly, the growth of that money will automatically come to pass, without us "trying" to make it happen. And money management principles are not a secret. They have been biblically proven to stand the test of time, even during a global pandemic.
"Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow." - Proverbs 13:11
Money management all starts with gathering, or saving, money little by little; not large chunk by large chunk. In the world of Forex trading, this couldn't be a truer statement. I've been trading in the forex market for 6 years and counting. What I learned in those 6 years, however, is that you can't approach Forex trading with a consumer mindset. You certainly can't approach the markets with a 9-5 salary mindset, either. I've learned that the best way to see growth in any forex account is to do what Proverbs 13:11 says, "gather little by little". No matter how significant or insignificant the amount is, a little goes a long way. Also, it matters that one maximizes profits and minimizes losses. In other words, manage and monitor your losses in such a way that equates to what you are psychologically ready to lose. If you can psychologically afford to lose $10, then that's no biggie. If you can't, then you may need to take a step back and "take inventory" of yourself. After all, risking big in order to gain big won't happen if you can't handle risking small.
Although Forex trading is one example, there are several other examples, such as Real Estate investing, flipping homes, investing in a small business, and a wide variety of investment choices out there. The money you need to achieve your dreams is, actually, within reach. But in order to get to that type of money, you need to learn how to manage what you already have in your bank account. When you can master money management, the biblical way, you'll start to see growth in your finances in such a way, it'll scare you (more like it's scary good)!
Don't take my word for it. Mark Sapaula (AKA: The Money Smart Guy) goes into more detail on biblical money management principles in today's recommended video:
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