Five Habits of Financially Smart People

 Here is my most shared tweet this week:

Will Smith once gave this advice in a movie:

Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something.

You got a dream … you gotta protect it.

People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it.

If you want something, go get it. Period.

 
Five Habits of Financially Smart People

A 15-year-old got lured into sexual acts by an older man.

She had a dream of being a singer. The illegal acts were the price she paid. Later she left the pop star life behind.

She transformed. She stopped giving a fudge. The music got angry.

She sang about going down on guys in theatres.

Her voice was edgy. It was alternative. It was grunge. It was slightly rock. There wasn’t a genre for this level of music badassery. As a punk 90s kid I fell in love with a few of her songs. Her name is Alanis Morissette. Recently I watched the documentary about her life called “Jagged.”

At the end of the film she’s in a bathtub after making millions of dollars and releasing the second most purchased album in history.

This line punched me in my big nose.

“I can create what I want because I don’t have to worry about putting food on my plate.”

The first thing financially smart people do is buy back their time, so they can explore their creativity without boundaries.

 
They don’t get stuck in ant mode

Youtuber Ali Abdaal is petrified of getting stuck in ant mode.

The old tale of the ant and the grasshopper goes like this. The ant works in the summer instead of Netflix and chill so they can store food for the winter. The grasshopper parties like it’s 1999.

The takeaway from the story is to work hard and save up your money for tough times. It’s good ol’ fashion factory worker p*rn. The ant says to rely on the government, too, to provide for you and make life a joy.

Ali quotes Bill Perkins’ book “Die with Zero.”

Bill thinks we should work towards basic financial security and a simple life. Once we get there he believes we should switch our focus from building our bank account to working on our quality of life.

Experiences lead to a quality life.

The challenge is many of us keep going beyond the threshold of money we need to get access to experiences.

What’s kept me in ant mode for far too long is a false sense that I need more financial safety. Also, working hard for money feels like the right thing to do. Ali shares this kickass formula.

Life Energy → Work → Money → Access to Fulfilling Experiences

Spend less time in ant mode. You’re overcompensating for how much money you actually need.

 
They see money as a game of karma

Act like an a-hole and become broke.

That’s a bitter pill to swallow. I let ego run my financial goals in my 20s. I accumulated plenty of cashola, and left a trail of dead bodies behind me.

I thought casualties were all part of the money game — until those casualties began to be reborn as zombies that wanted my head on the end of a spear. (The classic “money is war and I’m a General” lie.)

You can’t make money without other people. Read that again.

The fastest way to attract other people is to generate good karma. Say thank you. Be nice to people. Like the flogger today on Twitter who replied to my tweet about writing online with “it’s because you’re an asshole.”

What a gentleman.

I click his profile. No audience. Angry. Screaming about algorithms.

The temptation is to throw a pie in someone’s face. Don’t. Smile and move on. Your reputation behind closed doors brings you money opportunities later. You just can’t see it. People don’t say, “I spent money with you because you’re a good human being.” Nope.

They just purchase, partner, and refer in silence. All that silence builds tiny online empires.

Invest in karma. It pays higher returns than stocks.

 
They question the stock market frequently

Thanks to high inflation that causes prices to rise a lot, we’re all forced to invest our money.

Financially smart people question stocks. The global stock market is mainly run by Wall Street.

2008 showed us they’re not the most honest bunch of humans in pinstripe suits. Still, I like stocks. Last night tech CEO Michael Saylor said on mainstream news the following:

If you put your money in the S&P 500 Index fund, all the CEOs print more stock and dilute your money.

Many people know money can get created out of thin air by governments — it’s also known as money printing.

What most people don’t know about is stock printing. It’s where stocks can also get created out of thin air.

The false illusion average investors have is that stocks are ownership in a company. Theoretically yes. In a 2008-style event or major recession, not necessarily.

It pays not to join the flock of sheep.

If you take all investing advice on face value you can run into trouble. It may take decades for the lie to expose itself.

Puzzle: if more money gets created out of thin air, and stocks go up in price, and real estate goes up too — is it the value of assets that went up, or the number of dollars in the system?

Markets are complex by design. Question everything about money.

Don’t get sucked in by money cliches like “owning real estate is the safest investment in the world.” Nothing in finance is black and white.

 
Their idea of time opens a door to another world

I’d much rather have a lifestyle business that makes $10k/month and lets me live my life on my own terms vs a startup that makes $100k/month and requires all of my attention — Andrea Bosoni

Employees drain your attention. Buying a Lambo drains your time stored in money. A job in a big city that requires your butt in your employer’s office chair requires hours every day to commute back and forth to.

Money is time.

The younger you are the richer you are.

Warren Buffet is financially smart and a billionaire. But he’s really bankrupt because he’s an 80-something-year-old that eats McDonald’s, drinks coke, and doesn’t have much life left to live.

Being financially smart is about prioritizing time over money above all else.

This article is for informational purposes only, it should not be considered financial, tax or legal advice. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.

Tim Denning

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