Wealth Creation…Have you been misled?

When it comes to wealth creation, there are age-old concepts that you will have been brought up to believe will get you results.

But are they still valid in this modern world?

Let’s face it, the world is changing and everybody, including you, needs to adapt.

For example, there are many reports in the media about the changing nature of the workplace.

It is projected that over the next decade more and more jobs will be replaced by automation and technology advances. The move to more work from home jobs is also going to increase. Especially now that it has worked for many.

You only have to go to a shopping centre to see the reduced number of cashier staff that have been replaced by do it yourself counters or the redundant toll collectors replaced by automatic toll booths.

There is also a growing demand for freelance work as more and more people look to build their businesses without the constraints of employees. Just look at the growth in companies like Fiverr and Upwork.

So these changes to employment structures require us to look at the conventional theory for wealth creation to determine if they are still valid.

Conventional Wealth Creation Theory

You will be familiar with the following wisdom for wealth creation:

1. Go To School
2. Get a Job
3. Work Hard
4. Pay Your Taxes
5. Save Your Money
6. Get Out of Debt
7. Invest for the Long Term
8. Retire

I think we need to review this wisdom and see whether it is misleading in this modern society.

Now I am not going to suggest there is any problem with point number one. Everyone should be educated, but that is another issue that we don’t need to get into here.

The next one, get a job, now that is worth exploring…

What will a job mean to those graduating in the coming years?

You are going to need to be more adaptable and potentially take more of an entrepreneurial perspective to what a job means. There just isn’t going to be the same number of full-time jobs.

Points three and four I don’t suggest we argue with…

Everyone can have their own ideas of what work hard means. For me, working hard means applying yourself to your chosen endeavour and seeking to achieve the best outcomes you can. Having said that, it is important to acknowledge that wealth creation is NOT about working yourself into the ground. Work smarter, not necessarily harder.

And everyone should pay their taxes, although I would suggest that you only pay what you legally have to and no more.

A wealthy Australian businessman once told a Government enquiry into his tax affairs that the Government wasn’t doing a very good job with the money they were receiving so anybody giving more than they legally had to, were insane.

Saving, Debt and Investing

So now we get to the part that is a little more difficult…

Save your money, get out of debt and invest for the long term.

What does that really mean in this modern world?

Firstly, let’s consider whether this is misleading when it comes to wealth creation…

There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with saving, getting out of debt and investing for the long term. In fact, it is a message that I have supported in this blog…to an extent.

The thing is, modern society has become so focussed on instant gratification that we have become highly burdened with debt.

This has resulted in the concepts of saving and investing becoming harder to make a habit and unfortunately, a forgotten art.

And to make matters more difficult, we were always told to invest our money into the Stock Market and let the Economy take care of us. The plan was always simple…

We would invest and let other people do the hard work. We would hope to get a 10% passive income stream from our hard work and savings.

But the real misleading part of this is the notion that you can hand over your wealth to others and expect to become wealthy.

This is one of the reasons that I started The Investor’s Way…

Wealth Managers are Not The Answer

I’ve seen too many people hand over responsibility for their wealth to advisors and managers and not achieve the results they were looking for. In a lot of cases, the advisor or manager makes money at the expense of you.

When it comes to your wealth, I suggest that you need to take a more active role in creating the outcomes you seek.

The one thing about the conventional wisdom that there is no argument with, is the concept of creating passive income, in fact, these days you need multiple streams of passive income.

This is the key concept that the wealthy have always known, create multiple streams of passive income.

Saving money and hoping that those savings will somehow lead to wealth is absolutely a waste of time and energy. It’s such a waste that it’s downright nuts.

For passive income, we used to just turn to the stock market, but today, the world has changed.

It’s time we evolved as well.

The Way Forward

Here’s the #1 advice I can give you today.

Stop relying on OTHER people to take care of your future. Not your parents. The Government. No one.

For you to succeed in wealth creation, the cold hard reality is…it is up to YOU.

You need to be the one working to create passive income streams.

The good news… There are multiple ways to create passive income streams, and the short story is, there are three straight forward options:

• Property
• Shares
• Business (your own or one you invest in with some control)

We are in a new age. We’re in the DIGITAL age. This is leading to some major opportunities for everyone and is changing the way you manage wealth creation.

The only question is, are you ready to take the opportunity?

Conclusion

Wealth creation is now your job, it is not something you can outsource and expect to achieve the results that you desire.

Stop being misled by others and start being the driver of your own wealth creation.

Spend some time thinking about what taking control of your money will give you. Can you see it, can you describe it. Get really specific so you can see it and feel it…

Leave me a message below, tell me what taking control will give you, what it looks like to you.