5 Ways to Become Rich Using These Good Habits

Become Rich With Good, Honest, Hard Work to Start

Become rich, seems impossible. But when you consider the real definition, it is possible. Become Rich is defined as the process of having all that you need and much of what you don’t. The needs include all bills paid monthly, money in the bank, investments, 401k, low-debt, and understanding finance. All of these will put you on the road to become rich.

A surprising number of people don’t have most of what they need, and many who do, have very little excess after bills are paid. To Become Rich understand it begins with hard work and ends with saving money.

Most folks will swear they work hard, including young folks. But, when questioned about tactics common to successful people they fail.

They don’t research the best jobs or work enough hours to get promoted. They are not constantly improving themselves with training and education, they admit to being negligent.

The earlier you start working hard, the more likely you are to achieve financial success and end up with a job you like.

Also, you will have more time to save and accomplish your long-term goals when it comes to paying bills, general savings, and retirement savings.

Work hard when you are young since you have better health and more energy, and time to accomplish life-long goals.

Don’t Over Invest in Education

In today’s educational climate, you can spend $10,000 on college living at home with no student loan debt, or $200,000 going away to college. Going away could leave you with huge student loan balances. You can get the same degree and job with a $200,000 student loan debt as a $10,000 student loan debt.

If you have rich parents who don’t mind paying the larger bill that is fine. But, to take out student loans on the larger college cost makes no financial sense at all.

When you add the emotional toll it will take when you try to pay down huge student loan debt for the next 25 years.

Student Loan Debt

Those large student loan payments are amortized like a mortgage, which makes it even harder since the loan is paid over such a long period of time.

Do your research, know the total cost of all colleges you are considering. List several colleges you or your child is interested in and include the cost of tuition, books, room, and board, and then add 5% for hidden cost.

The more expensive the college is, the more student loan debt you will have to take out. Choose from affordable colleges. Financial aid only covers about 80% of costs for the poorest students, concentrates on scholarships, and family support.

How Many Degrees Are Necessary At Once

So no matter what your financial level, you will always need to come up with some out of pocket money. The exception is if you are covered by a full guaranteed scholarship, but these are rare.

Once you get a marketable degree, concentrate on getting a job after your training, instead of more degrees. Some people get multiple degrees, and therefore, deep in student loan debt.

Later you find out the first college degree was perfectly adequate. Many who make the mistake of choosing a college with too much student loan debt find they spend most of their time figuring out how to get student loan debt under control.

Research Everything, Before You Take Personal Finance Tips

We were taught to do research in college, remember all of those late-night college research papers, but now many of you do what I call the anti-research. The anti-research is when you approach salespeople and ask them what you should buy. Don’t blindly take personal finance tips either.

Salespeople mysteriously suggest the most overstocked item on the shelf since they need to make room for new stock. The most overstocked item may be such, due to high returns or bad reviews also. This is the same with personal finance tips from online, unknown brokers, or friends. Get the facts before you do anything.

Personal Finance Research is Important

Do your research about everything, especially big-ticket items such as cars, homes, home building, mortgages, colleges, and investment companies. Use these personal finance tips to start your finance journey.

I mention investment companies because of Bernie Madoff of Madoff Investments. Madoff was not a registered Investment Advisor most of the time he was in business, but none of his victims checked his credentials at finra.org.

You can start your checking by calling the company you are interested in and asking a lot of questions. Try to get a list of 10 questions, then search government websites to find information on the industry or company in question.

Where to Find Information

Check independent consumer sites for reviews, and lastly, ask those who have used the company or services you are considering.

It is hard to get the truth about some companies because there is so much false information in circulation. But if you do your research you can reasonably be sure you will get most of the truth.

Some buyers make purchases based on a “free-gift seminar”, buying anything based on a free gift is what I call high-risk buying. I call it high-risk because it is usually something you don’t need and the gift is charged back to you with your purchase.

Some buyers even sign long term loan commitments based on a seminar gift and presentation, only to regret it later.

Live Below Your Means

This sounds like it is good old fashion common sense. But one of the biggest reasons for home foreclosures and personal bankruptcies is because many people believe it is ok to live above their means.

Living below your means you will have a much greater chance of keeping your home or car if you get laid off your job or pay decrease. It also means you will have money freed up to save for important things, such as home maintenance, car repairs, and vacations. Keep home foreclosures and personal bankruptcies at a distance before you have trouble with your job.

Make Savings A Bill

You know what happens when you get a bill, you do everything you can to pay that bill, no matter what. Some bills are on automatic deduct, which makes them really easy to pay since you don’t even have to write a check.

Do the same with savings, it is easy when you make “savings a bill”, making it an auto deduct bill. Savings should include; emergency savings, extra to retirement savings, college savings, and vacation savings.

A habit that makes us poor is, every time we need money for emergencies, we borrow the money by charging them on high-interest credit cards. The lowest credit card payment is amortized over a 20 year period. Making “savings a bill” makes saving money easy.

Sometimes it is necessary to use a credit card, like securing a hotel room, renting a car, or getting credit card points. Just keep it within an affordable range, and use them sparingly. Make more than the minimum payment to get the balance paid off quickly. Making savings a bill will increase your savings balance instead of a credit balance. 

When you have substantial savings based on monthly additions to a few accounts, emergency, basic needs, vacation, and retirement; you will see yourself on the road to become rich beyond your wildest dreams.

Summary

It is time to become uber conscious about your personal finance using the above personal tips. Understanding what it means to become rich, will enable you to grow your money the right way. You will put your savings on autopilot by making your savings a bill. Home foreclosures and personal bankruptcies will never become a threat. You will know how to keep student loan debt low, and you will have financial peace of mind.