Most People Will Never Be Rich

Most people will never be rich. Why? Because most people (the middle class) are investing the same way as everyone else, and everyone else is not rich. The middle class are not wealthy, and if you are going to investing like the middle class then statistically speaking you will never be wealthy. You have to change the way you think and act about investing in order to achieve financial success.

You were probably told by your parents/friends/peers to go to school, get a good education, get a good job, save money, and invest your RRSP or 401k money in mutual funds. “Start early, and invest for the long-term. Invest in mutual funds, bonds, GICs, CDs, ETFs and term deposits for diversification”, you were probably told. But guess what? The majority of people are doing that already, yet the middle class will work till they are 65 (or longer) and then retire with barely enough money.

A quick review of some of the wealthiest people in the world will reveal that the most of them did not invest their money like the middle class. A MoneySense magazine article a few years back confirmed that rich people do not buy mutual funds, the majority of them invest on their own.

If you want to be financially free then start to invest like the wealthy. Research their methods and strategies, it’s no secret; most of them have written books about how they became wealthy, books like:

-          One Up on Wall Street, by Peter Lynch

-          The Dividend Connection, by Geraldine Weiss

-          The Investment Zoo, by Stephan Jarislowsky

-          The New Buffettology, by Mary Buffett

If you don’t have the time and energy to read these books, then consider taking an investing course, perhaps mine :). Knowledge is key and the secret to financial success. Investing knowledge is what separates the wealthy from the middle class, the wealthy are not smarter, or luckier than anyone else. Most financially free people started life as poor or middle class citizens. Knowledge allows people to succeed, the rest just copy everyone else and hope for the best (or buy lotto tickets). Spending that little extra time (skip TV for one night or two) to gain the investment knowledge will give you the financial freedom you seek sooner than later.

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Thanks to UpsideofMoney for including this post in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance.