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What you’ll learn in this episode:
Are you someone who has built wealth?
If you want to survive and thrive, you need money to do so. Many people struggle with money, with having either very little or no money, or having to chase after money all the time.
It’s not necessary, and it’s no fun.
From what I’ve seen and the many, many conversations I’ve had with clients and others who are struggling with money, I believe it’s robbing people of expressing their full potential.
Today, I’m going to share the top 5 most important things I think you need in order to build wealth. These 5 things are not hard, some of them are actually very easy, and all of them you can start today. And I hope you do!
Here’s a glance at this episode:
- Absolutely anyone can be wealthy, regardless of your background or past history with money.
- Wealth is as much as state of mind, as it is a set of consistent and strong behaviors.
- Small actions taken consistently are cornerstones to building wealth.
- Money can heal and create a lot of good in the world, especially if it comes from people who have earned it well, respect it, have a strong relationship with their money and how they spend it, and are focused on going out there and creating more of it and more incredible things with it.
Mentioned in this episode:
Automatic Millionaire by David Bach
Consults That Convert FREE Training
Work/Connect with me:
Consults That Convert FREE Training
Business and Rejuvenation Retreat
[01:00] Jessica: Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s episode of the practical mindset podcast. I’m so excited to have you here to talk about this week’s topic of building wealth.
[01:10] It is no secret that having and achieving whatever you want and building a thriving business are some of the cornerstones of my work. And through that work, I am on a mission to help people get reach, earn money, and build wealth. And if you were ever wondering why money and wealth are such an important thing to me, here’s why:
[01:33] In 2022, when we’re recording it, money is the primary means of exchange in the world. We no longer live in an era where we barter or trade cows for things we need to live comfortably and support our loved ones and our lifestyles. We now buy and sell things through the exchange of money. And thus, if you want to survive and thrive, you need money to do so.
[01:57] Related to what I mentioned above, I want to help people get out of their struggle with money, with having either very little or no money, or having to chase after money all the time. It’s not necessary, it’s no fun (from what I’ve seen and the many, many conversations I’ve had with clients and others who are struggling with money), and I think it’s robbing people of expressing their full potential.
[02:20] I believe money can heal and create a lot of good in the world, especially if it comes from people who have earned it well, respect it, have a strong relationship with their money and how they spend it, and are focused on going out there and creating more of it and more incredible things with it.
[02:35] My interest with money and wealth came at young age. I grew up in a big Italian family, and my immediate family was a family of 6. I’m the oldest of 4 children (I have 2 sisters and a brother), and although we didn’t want for anything really, we didn’t have an incredible amount of expendable income. My parents worked hard and instilled in us a respect for money, and they also helped me develop a sense of pride for earning and having money. I remember having many conversations about money with my Dad specifically, and him telling me to be proud of what I earned and to “never sell myself short”. He told me to go after what I wanted and to always try and put yourself out there because you never know what could come out of it. And you would never know if you didn’t try. I also had an aunt who was an accountant by trade, and she would tell me to make sure as a woman that I made my own money and to be able to support myself. As a young adult I really took that to heart, and it was a guiding principle throughout my life. From there I became really interested in how people made money, invested it, how companies worked, and how innovation was born from investments in things that at one point were just a dream and then became something that changed lives on a huge scale.
[03:47] Fast forward to today, I have learned how to build wealth and have helped so many others learn how to do the same thing. It’s one of the things I am most proud of, and that I share openly about as much as can so that others can see it’s something they can be proud of too. I also think building wealth is one of the most important things you can learn as an individual (and I believe absolutely anyone can be wealthy. It doesn’t matter what your background is or where you come from. If you want to be wealthy, especially in this country, you can do it. And there’s no better time in history than now to start) And building wealth is also important to share and to pass on the knowledge to others – whether it’s your friends, children, neighbors – whomever.
[04:26] So today I want to share the top 5 most important things I think you need in order to build wealth. These 5 things are not hard, some of them are actually very easy, and all of them you can start today. And I hope you do.
[04:42] Alright, let’s jump in:
[04:44] #1 – You need to be educated around money
[04:48] Basic principles of economics, general bank terminology, what the different investment modalities are, what the stock market is, what interest is. You want to get comfortable with how money works and what the things are that are surrounding it. You cannot build wealth if you aren’t educated about it on a basic level. And especially as a business owner. There are so many things that you can do with the money your business makes, and that will help you make more money and set your business up to be stable for the long run. SO many people, and business owners, walk around not knowing anything about money, especially their own money. They don’t understand what it means to put money in savings account or compounding interest or the interest on their mortgage. There is no reason for this. There is so much information right at your fingertips. You can google anything. And there are people and podcasts that can help you understand this. But you have to take the initiative. Getting educated is the first step. And even if you’re listening to this thinking that you know nothing about anything related to money, you can start right now. And know that everyone started from knowing nothing, and then they learned.
[06:38] So my question to you is how educated are you about money? And what is one thing you can do today to increase your knowledge? What can you look up on the web or who can you talk to or ask? After you listen to this podcast, I want you to go do one thing that will increase your knowledge.
[06:58] #2 – You need to save and sequester your money
[07:02] Part of building wealth is not just making money. If making the money was the only piece of the wealth equation, we would all be working until the day we die with nothing to show for it. Building wealth is about making, spending, and HAVING money. You need all of those pieces in order to build true wealth. One of the easiest ways I have found to jump start this process is to save some portion of your money. Back when I got my first job, the first thing I did was I opened up a savings account. It was after I read a book by David Back called The Automatic Millionaire. It’s great book, easy to read, and I’d highly recommend it. He talked about saving 10% of everything you made. So I started to do that. Back in the day, internet banking was just becoming a thing. And so I opened up an HSBC online banking account. I had found it on bankrate.com (another great website for information and to see interest rates on all types of accounts), and they were offering a high interest rate to try it out and to be online only. So I jumped in and started to save my 10%. The cool thing about it, although I didn’t realize it at the time, was that in order for you to get your money in this HSBC account you needed to transfer it over and it took 3-5 days for it to clear. So whatever money I put in there was not easily accessible, and it was in a completely different account, so I couldn’t see it. So it made it very difficult to get the money out, and you really couldn’t access it if you were in a pinch. So the money just sat in that account. And it grew, sequestered away from all my other accounts I had access to it. Over time, that money added up and compounded and the account grew to be so large that I used it as part of the down payment my husband and I put on our house.
[09:11] The power of taking a little bit of money and saving it and sequestering it in a place you can’t get to it, is really powerful. This is the same principle in essence of putting money into a retirement account. You have a percentage taken out immediately, and you put it in a place where you can’t access it (without a penalty) and it grows over time.
[09:36] Not only did I end up making and saving a large amount of money, but by watching it continue to grow and knowing I had it in that account, my sense of self-worth grew. I became someone who had money, who was making money, who knew how to make money through consistent behavior, diligence, and basic investing. And I will tell you that I have done this same exercise several times in my life, and I teach my clients to do it too, and it works every single time.
[10:13] So today, I want you to take some of your money and siphon it off the top of whatever you have in your account, or the next client you sign, and I want you to consider opening another account and putting that money in there. You can even have some fun with it like I did and put any cash back bonuses you get, or birthday money, or anything you might get as extra money. Add it in there too. Bonus points if you can automate this so that you don’t become the stop gap in the equation (we as humans can always find a reason we need the extra $10, so if you can take yourself out of the equation by automation you’re better off). And watch how quickly your money adds up before your eyes.
[11:06] #3 – You need to invest your money
[11:09] We’ve all heard the saying that money makes money. And it’s true. The way our economy works, when you take money and invest it, it makes more money. There are several different ways you can do this, and there are all different levels of risk and strategies about how to do this for your specific situation (and I don’t pretend to be a financial planner, so you should definitely consult one to understand what makes the most sense for you), but investing your money on a simple level, is one of the fastest ways to start to build wealth. The second you invest, your money starts working for you. And when your invested money starts to gain interest, compounded over time, the numbers can get very big very fast. Also, money invested over long periods of time is also very powerful. So when they say that “the best time to invest was yesterday, the second best time is right now” they mean it.
[12:08] If you’re not investing any money at the moment, what’s one thing you can research as an investment vehicle? A 401K, SEPIRA, savings account? I’m challenging you to go out and find an investment vehicle you’re comfortable with, research it and invest some of your money. And as I said, keep it simple and low risk, and consult a professional if you want to get fancy.
[12:34] #4 – You need to have financial goals, and you need to track your progress to your goals
[12:39] First, you need to have a goal for your money. The chances of you ever being wealthy in a deliberate way, or hitting a the number you want, is very small if you don’t set a specific goal. On top of that, if you’re not tracking it you are likely either grossly under or overestimating how well your progress is. This is true of wealth or money or just about anything you want to intentionally do in your life. We need to be able to see our progress, to know if we’re on or off track, and to course correct when needed. Every year my husband and I sit down and map out our financial goals. Sometimes we do it with our financial planner so it’s more formal, other times it’s just a conversation and some back of the number calculations. It doesn’t have to be super sophisticated, but it does need to be done and it needs to be clear. I do this with my business as well. In fact today I just took my clients in my Accelerator program through this exercise. We picked 2022 financial targets, and then I created a calculator for them to be able to plug in the different income streams in their business so they could see exactly how they could hit that number. It also includes a part of it where they can track the numbers as they go along, and then every month they need to look at the revenue they generated and cash they bought in. The more you track, the more successful you will be. And the more wealth you will create.
[14:07] Don’t be someone who shows up and is surprised by what is happening with their money or where it’s going. I used to be one of these people who “didn’t want to know” or “didn’t want to look at it”. I discovered I had so much more control when I was tracking it and I was empowered around what I was doing with my money and the path I was on to building the wealth I wanted.
[14:31] And last, but certainly not least (this may actually be the most important piece to building wealth) is that…
[14:39] #5 – You need a strong and positive relationship with your money Belief, Mindset, Identity
[14:48] Building wealth in so many ways is a state of mind. It starts with what you think about money, what you think about people who have or don’t have money, and so on. All those things make up your beliefs about money. And those beliefs are driving the bus in how you show up to make money, spend it, or have it (or not to have it). Have you ever explored your beliefs around money? If not, I recommend you start exploring that right now. Because if you’re someone who believes money is evil, wealthy people are greedy, or you’re under the surface villainizing money, you will have a very difficult time creating the wealth you want. As a human being it is very hard for us to become or create the very things we think are terrible subconsciously.
[15:43] One of the most pervasive thoughts out there in my experience is that people think that money is a zero sum game. That if I make money, it means someone else doesn’t. And thus, you are taking money away from someone else, and it’s bad to have it, if you make a lot of money. This could not be further than the truth. Money in and of itself is an inanimate object. It’s not good or bad, it’s just a piece of paper. We as humans give it meaning, and we also give it power depending on what we do with it – we can do good things and we can do bad things. It’s up to us.
[16:29] From my perspective, I believe money is the great multiplier. It can take whatever you do with it, and it can make it expand. And from how I have seen it work man, many times, is that when you create wealth, and you do it from a place of service to others and respect for the power it holds, money becomes a vehicle for so much good and so much positive impact on others. And often it allows other people to flourish and to create more money and more incredible things in the world, and the impact just keeps growing and growing from there.
[17:04] So one of the most important things you can do on your journey to wealth is to get clean about your thoughts and beliefs around money. Dig inside and see what might be holding you back. If you aren’t making the money you want, or you seem to be in a constant struggle with money, I can almost promise you that there’s something under the surface that you believe about money that is getting in the way of creating or having the money you want. Once you clear that up, things will start to shift.
[17:32] And most of all, be proud of your wealth and your money. Be proud of earning it and making a positive contribution to yourself, your family, society, the world. This is one of the best times in history for the average person, as well as extraordinary people like all of you listening to this podcast, to build wealth. There is literally so much opportunity at the tips of your fingers. The sky is the limit. You just need to dream it and go!
[18:12] So in summary, the top 5 most important things I think you need in order to build wealth are
#1 Get educated around your money
#2 – Save and sequester your money
#3 – Invest your money and make it work for you
#4 – Have financial goals and track your progress to your goals
#5 – Have a strong and positive relationship with your money
[18:38] From there anything is possible, and you can be on your way to building true wealth, wealth to do amazing things in this world and to be proud of, today.
