From time to time someone will comment at ESI Money with something along the lines of "what does it mean to be rich?"It's a topic I've thought about a lot, have wanted to cover for some time, and will likely write about again even with this post discussing the issue.Obviously one aspect of being "rich" is monetary.In fact, if you look up "rich" in the dictionary the … [Read more...]
Use These 10 Behavioral Finance Tips to Super Charge Your Finances
I think many of you know that I was a marketing executive during my career.One thing you need to be successful at marketing is to understand psychology. If you know what the consumer is thinking, you can tailor your message to be best received by him. ;)Psychology is also important in managing money, which is why I'm thrilled to have a guest post today from Dr. Brenda, … [Read more...]
How Assassin’s Creed Can Help You Become Wealthy
I'm going to give you a warning up front -- this could get a little geeky.But hey, we're all money nerds anyway, so what's a little geekiness to boot?I've mentioned a few times how I like to play video games. I have a specific type of game I prefer: the ones where there's a hero, an open world, and where both stealth and fighting are part of the success formula.This … [Read more...]
Five Reasons High Income Doesn’t Lead to High Net Worth
In How to Ignore the Basics of Personal Finance and Still Become Rich I addressed those who say it's "easy" to become wealthy if you have a high income.I pointed out that income and net worth are not correlated, as many assume. In other words, it does not mean you'll be wealthy simply because you have a high income.A few sources to support this line of thinking include … [Read more...]
Simple Money Resolutions the ESI Way (And 30 Days to Great Finances!)
I am a New Year's resolutions guy.For the past 20+ years or so I have set goals at the beginning of each year, then spent the next 365 days working towards them.I adjust along the way as needed. Some get added and some eliminated, but I'd say a good 80% of those initial goals get accomplished in some form over the next year.This system has been very kind to me. … [Read more...]
How Do You Define Net Worth?
After our fun discussion about whether to pay off a mortgage or invest first, I thought a nice follow-up would be to chat about another topic with advocates on two sides.So today I'd like to address the subject of how to calculate net worth.Specifically here's the question I'd like us to address (this is the summary -- there are more questions at the end): Do you … [Read more...]
Millionaire Stories: How 7 Everyday People Became Wealthy and What We Can Learn from Them
We've now completed 100 millionaire interviews, run the numbers/stats/demos on them, and shared top learnings.Now I'd like to dig deeper into some of the more interesting and useful questions. I think this will help us add to the wisdom these wealthy individuals have to share.Today we'll focus on answers to this question: How did you accumulate your net worth? I ask … [Read more...]
Three Sentences that Lead to Wealth
A few months ago the Freakonomics podcast ran an episode titled "Everything You Wanted to Know about Money But Were Afraid to Ask."A major part of the show featured the author of The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to Be Complicated.The book, a best-seller for sure, basically said that everything anyone needs to know about money can be written on an index … [Read more...]
Examples of How to Get Rich on a Small Income
In my post titled You Can Become Wealthy with a Lower Income, one reader commented: I agree with your original commenter, and would personally like to see more stories of people who make AVERAGE incomes because they love teaching elementary school, or working as a substance abuse counselor, or massage therapist or whatever. There are millions out there to whom even a $50k or … [Read more...]
Millionaire Interview 9
Here’s our latest interview with a millionaire as we seek to learn from those who have grown their wealth to high heights.If you’d like to be considered for an interview, drop me a note and we can chat about specifics.My questions are in bold italics and his responses follow in black.Let's get started...How old are you (and spouse if applicable, plus how long … [Read more...]
