Have you ever dreamed of owning a rest house? Being your own boss someday? Owning your dream car? Isn't it nice to work flexibly or take a vacation whenever you please? The rich sure are lucky, but it ain't just luck!
In the words of Warren Buffett, the greatest investor of all time, he said that "the rich invest in time, the poor invest in money." How is that? Of course the rich invests money too. And when we speak about investments --- either in properties or financials --- we all know that a tangible factor is needed in order to measure our worth. And that factor is obviously, money.
Most, if not everyone, has some sort of an emotional attachment with money. Try borrowing a 1000-peso bill from a friend and tear it in front of him / her. You'll see what I mean. Mr. Buffet is somehow referring to our attitude and perception on investments. And it makes sense. The emotional attachment makes it all hard for us to put our cash into something with the expectation of capital gains over a period of time. We tend to shut down investment opportunities because of the risks attached to it. It's normal. Of course, we must do all we can to safeguard our finances.
But have you ever thought why it seems easier for us to spend on shopping and other activities rather than saving up for the future? There is another factor involved --- time. The period of waiting before we could gain satisfaction for purchasing something we really like tests our emotional quotient. So by the time we receive our salary, our intention of saving up would again take the backseat. Worst case scenario, we splurge on things that we don't necessarily need.
The act of investing, along with the expectation of future gains even though it is not guaranteed should not be attributed as something similar to gambling. And for whatever amount you put in investments, you will need a lot of patience and hard work before you will reap the reward of high returns. But if working hard means higher chances of living a comfortable and secured future, then the small sacrifices we have to go through is all worth it.
We can say that the rich can invest in time since they have extra money to spare. But that should not discourage those with little or no savings at this point. It's not too late to start. A quick check on your spending habits and being clear on what you want to achieve in the future will really help get you back on track. Start small and think big. Before you know it, you're already in the ranks of the successful rich men and women who also started with little or none at all.
