Wealth Building Basics

Parents spend eighteen years (or more!) teaching their children how to become responsible and successful in life when they become adults. It's unfortunate, but not too many parents actually succeed at this task 100% because they leave out one, very important bit of education: financial responsibility. In order to help our children become successful and responsible adults, we need to start including financial education in the mix, rather than sending our young adults out into the “real world” to figure out the hard way (the way most of us had to learn!)

Building Wealth: Prevent the Debt Disease

Most people forget that most health problems can be avoided through prevention. It isn't until we are sick or diseased and trying to overcome the illness that we think about what we could have done to prevent the problem. Debt is similar. With the exception of a few situations that could be considered “good debt”, debts are like diseases that take over your life. If all of your income goes toward paying off old debts, you have no money left to build wealth. Prevent as much debt as possible.

Building Wealth: Delay Marriage

In addition to marriage being the ultimate relationship commitment, it's also one of the biggest and most important financial decisions you will ever make. Before getting married, you should become financial independent with very little debt, and have a savings and investment strategy in place. The number one reason for divorce is financial difficulties – so if more people would delay marriage until they got their personal finances in order, we would probably see a decline in the divorce rate.

Building Wealth: Jobs with Growth Potential

If you're looking for new employment, whether it's your first job or you are ready to make a career change, there is a very important piece of information to consider that many job seekers overlook. In addition to understanding what your starting salary would be, and what type of benefits your position would receive in terms of health, time off, investment options, etc – you should take a look at what the CEO or the top paid employee is earning. If the top paid person is making $50,000 a year, you know that is going to be the ceiling of your own income potential. There is no chance of turning a six figure salary at a job where the leader is making $50,000.

Building Wealth: Don't Take A Job For The Salary Only

Many people accept positions simply because they know it will pay well and there is an opportunity for growth within the company. While very good reasons to select the position, the work you do in that job should be something you ENJOY DOING. There is no point taking a job you absolutely hate just to earn a high salary – pick a profession you love because it is that passion that will get you out of bed every morning and help you enjoy life on a day to day basis. Sometimes, finding joy in your life builds more wealth than money itself.