Every so often I see or hear someone asking what the secret is to getting ahead.
“What’s the secret sauce”?
“What am I missing”?
What they are really asking is, “how can I get ahead taking shortcuts or without putting in the necessary work?”
They may have read or heard something about the lotto or bitcoin millionaire or the amazing stock picker who rode Tesla from bottom to the top. Or the amazing property investor who retired at 30 that is missing essential details in the story like how they borrowed $300,000 from their parents or how they got in to the market on the best possible day.
These stories all have a couple of things in common. They are rare and they rely on luck.
Luck is not a strategy.
Hard work, discipline and a plan are a strategy.
I know you don’t want to hear there are no shortcuts.
Of course there are things you can do reduce your expenses or increase your income. But that is on you.
You can try and find the next diamond in the rough company. Or try and time the bottom of the housing market. But more often than not, this will result in a large amount of risk by not being diversified and a more than even chance of being worse off than you would otherwise.
You can try some moonshots with a small percentage of your wealth if you wish. Heck, you can do anything you want. But all too frequently we only hear about those that hit the moon with their gambles and good luck. We don’t hear about the thousands who missed.
So just beware of the shortcuts:
Investing in a few individual stocks
Saving money in the stock market for a near time large purchase
Speculating on any asset
Investing too much in growth assets in relation your time horizon
Borrowing more money than you can afford to repay
Shortcuts can work. But more often than not, they will actually slow you down and sometimes even derail your plans completely.
The most significant impact you can make towards wealth building that doesn’t require a large amount of luck is to grow the gap between your income and spending and invest the difference.
At the beginning, the progress will appear very slow. Give it time though, and eventually you won’t need to perform any moon shots. You will already be there and can slam dunk it home, waiting for those who took the shortcuts and didn’t develop good savings habits, instead relying on luck.
If you need an investment plan or recommendations , then get in touch today.
The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here