10 Reasons You Aren't Rich

By Jeffrey Strain, TheStreet.com

The reason why you aren't a millionaire (or on your way to becoming one) is really quite simple. You probably assume it's because you aren't earning enough money, but the truth is that for most people, whether or not you become a millionaire has very little to do with the amount of money you make. It's the way that you treat money in your daily life.
Here are 10 possible reasons you aren't a millionaire:

1. You Care What Your Neighbors Think: If you're competing against them and their material possessions, you're wasting your hard-earned money on toys to impress them instead of building your wealth.

2. You Aren't Patient: Until the era of credit cards, it was difficult to spend more than you had. That is not the case today. If you have credit card debt because you couldn't wait until you had enough money to purchase something in cash, you are making others wealthy while keeping yourself in debt.

3. You Have Bad Habits: Whether it's smoking, drinking, gambling or some other bad habit, the habit is using up a lot of money that could go toward building wealth. Most people don't realize that the cost of their bad habits extends far beyond the immediate cost. Take smoking, for example: It costs a lot more than the pack of cigarettes purchased. It also negatively affects your wealth in the form of higher insurance rates and decreased value of your home.

4. You Have No Goals: It's difficult to build wealth if you haven't taken the time to know what you want. If you haven't set wealth goals, you aren't likely to attain them. You need to do more than state, "I want to be a millionaire." You need to take the time to set saving and investing goals on a yearly basis and come up with a plan for how to achieve those goals.

5. You Haven't Prepared: Bad things happen to the best of people from time to time, and if you haven't prepared for such a thing to happen to you through insurance, any wealth that you might have built can be gone in an instant.

6. You Try to Make a Quick Buck: For the vast majority of us, wealth doesn't come instantly. You may believe that people winning the lottery are a dime a dozen, but the truth is you're far more likely to get struck by lightning than win the lottery. This desire to get rich quickly likely extends into the way you invest, with similar results.

7. You Rely on Others to Take Care of Your Money: You believe that others have more knowledge about money matters, and you rely exclusively on their judgment when deciding where you should invest your money. Unfortunately, most people want to make money themselves, and this is their primary objective when they tell you how to invest your money. Listen to other people's advice to get new ideas, but in the end you should know enough to make your own investing decisions.

8. You Invest in Things You Don't Understand: Your hear that Bob has made a lot of money doing it, and you want to get in on the gravy train. If Bob really did make money, he did so because he understood how the investment worked. Throwing in your money because someone else has made money without fully understanding how the investment works will keep you from being wealthy.

9. You're Financially Afraid: You are so scared of risk that you keep all your money in a savings account that is actually losing money when inflation is put into the equation, yet you refuse to move it to a place where higher rates of return are possible because you're afraid that you will lose money.

10. You Ignore Your Finances: You take the attitude that if you make enough, the finances will take care of themselves. If you currently have debt, it will somehow resolve itself in the future. Unfortunately, it takes planning to become wealthy. It doesn't magically happen to the vast majority of people.

In reality, it is probably not just one of the above bad habits that has kept you from becoming a millionaire, but a combination of a few of them. Take a hard look at the list, and do some reflecting. If you want to be a millionaire, it's well within your power, but you'll have to face the issues that are currently keeping you from creating that wealth before you will have a chance to call yourself one.

_____________________
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Replies

  • Love this, thanks for sharing!
  • I just read this article and it is right on. It goes along with my empowerment seminars. There is one idea that I teach over and over. The reason we don't anything is because we...don't! Keep sending these great tips. I for one need them more than once.

    Gloria J.
    The Coffe Lady
  • Great advice and very true.
  • This was a great article, I needed info in my life Today!
    Credit lady please post in a separate post that was great stuff!

    Thanks,
    Kathy "Billionaire" Brown
  • This is a really really powerful article Lashanda. Thanks for the discovery!
  • I am Credit Repair Expert/Specialist/Consultant and when I hold my Credit Education Seminars and consult clients I always share this:

    "What is the difference between rich people and poor people. What are the major differences between becoming rich and staying poor and what to do about it.

    Here are just a few examples:

    The rich believe money is good and the poor think it to be bad.

    The rich invest money and the poor spend it.

    The rich use debt to expand and the poor use debt to spend.

    The rich have financial plans and the poor have budgets.

    The rich expand regardless and the poor contract.
    The rich take advantage of the economy and the poor blame it.

    The rich solve problems and poor people have problems.

    The rich buy time and the poor waste it. (Don't be a PROCRASTINATER!!!!!! Remember being a PROCRASTINATER PROMOTES FAILURE!)

    The rich have multiple flows of income and the poor rely on one.
    The rich pay themselves first and the poor pay others first.
    It is critical during economic contractions that people and business know exactly what actions are absolutely necessary to ensure success and which one's to avoid. This is one of those times!

    Thanks for letting me share:)

    Katina "THE CREDIT LADY"
    • love it. you should post this in a separate post! I think we should start adding more motivational posts like this on BBWO. -lh
  • Good Morning LaShanda and all...smile

    Great post...with your permission, I will be posting this to my Digital Drum line

    Keep up the good work....we love you LaShanda

    • Thanks and by all means repost away. This is not my original post, which is why I made sure to include the author info and site at the top.

      LH
  • Great article on both a business AND professional level. I hope all who read it are inspired to DO something, not just read it, file it and/or pass it on. Especially in today's economic climate.

    Keep rising!
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