Archive for March 2nd, 2009

I wrote a new article for my financial blog about how to achieve financial freedom the other day. The article is inspired by a book I’m currently reading “The Millionaire Next Door”, which is a breakdown of some of the myths about the wealthy.

What’s struck me most from reading this book is that from the research the authors have done into American millionaires, is that most of the millionaires surveyed live very down to earth, mundane lives. The people that actually live like how we perceive millionaires are usually not millionaires, but have high incomes which get spent on items that make them feel successful, such as flash cars, flash houses (and flash consumer durables for their houses), boats, expensive clothes, watches and exotic holidays.

This has changed my outlook on things greatly. I can also see how I used to think is clearly not condusive to obtaining financial security or freedom for that matter. I used to be obsessed with building up a successful business that would allow me to have a high income, but the only reason I wanted this was because I wanted to be able to spend lots of money. I can now see that I’m far better off building a successful business, but keeping my income relatively low, and using the excess profits to invest rather than worry about wanting a nice car or a nice house.

Maybe some people get this concept very early on in their lives, unfortunately for me it’s taken the best part of thirty years to figure this out, and not without the help of various books that I’ve read, including the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series amongst others. With a bit of luck, the next time we have a recession, I’ll be better placed to deal with it, having put into practice what I’ve learnt from my readings.