This is why I don't really like reading fiction. For me it isn't valuable as reading material. If I want a story I will just watch a movie. It takes less time and it is easier to visualise. I cannot visualise fiction in a book and find myself reading the same page over and over again.
However, I have decided to spend more time reading. The first book I picked up to start my habit is "Why we want you to be rich" by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.
I chose this particular book because in the past I have read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki and found it quite interesting. I had also recently seen the TV show "The Apprentice", featuring Donald Trump, for the first time just a few months ago. I liked the way he spoke and his reasons for firing people.
My father had lent me this book a year or so ago to read, with other 'get rich' books. For many years now he has drilled money talk into my head. "Financial education is the most important education. Do not turn out like me, still working in my 50's. Be free quicker. Do not rely on the government, rely on yourself." This is they type of things my dad kept telling me, but in the past I had other issues in my head I knew I had to solve before I could focus on anything. Now that I am happy with my life, it is time to gain more. It is time to be free.
On our fridge my partner and I have a white board where we write our future plans. It is mostly things we have been invited to or shows we have planned. This is what I have on it now:
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| All other plans blurred because you have no business knowing where I will be at which date |
This is a reminder of what is ahead. We will be rich, because we are both studying and researching. We are educating ourselves how to be rich, and most importantly understand why we need to be rich.
The 'why' is important. As per the book I am currently reading, too many people rely on others for money, mostly the government. People become dependent on their jobs. Then during retirement they become dependent on their pensions, which is money that comes from the government. There is no way the government can support everyone. This is why people should grow up and be independent, completely!
This 'why' has some conflict with my job. In my current job I place money from the government into other people's bank accounts for those who are eligible to receive it. There are so many people who rely on that money, even when they have a job and are still quite young. Many times I have clients calling and letting me know how difficult it is to pay their mortgage and expenses and they are in desperate need of that money. They have become dependent on the government for pocket money. This is sad. I often question why they are living beyond there means. I am the same age as a lot of them and am living very comfortably. Why are they struggling while I am not? I'm not receiving any cash from the government, yet I have more than enough to live on.
I have always tried to find a way to give those people the money faster, to help them out, but now I know that it isn't helping them at all. A lot have created a mindset that the money they are receiving from the government in a right. I see it as something that is limiting them. It is taking the easy way out instead of the better way out. It is creating dependence instead of independence. What happens when the government no longer has any more money to give? Or is trillion of dollars in debt because no one has the initiative to take care of themselves?
In my line of work, we lodge an average of 1.5 million dollars into people's bank accounts a week. That is 1.5 million dollars leaving the government every week. We are only one department that offer government money. There are others that give away much more money away, not to mention all the pensions. I don't understand why the people complain that governments are spending too much money. They are spending a big portion of it on the people because the people are too lazy to get their own money. To the people: grow up!
It isn't entirely the people's fault. They probably have no idea that they can be financially independent. A lot of times people hide behind excuses or do not realise that they will not be physically and/or mentally able to work for the rest of their lives. If a job is your only income source, what happens when you no longer work? Why are people okay with relying on others to feed them? Why do people work so hard their entire lives instead of working smarter? Why are people just accepting one way of acquiring an income: a job?
I found this article on the Internet from yourlifechoices.com. In a nutshell, a pensioner committed suicide because the money he was receiving from the government was not enough to support himself. It is a tragic story. What is more tragic are the comments. People blame the government for not giving pensioners enough money after all their hard labour during their lifetime. What the people do not understand is that not everyone makes the life choice to do hard labour their whole lives. Some choose a better option and do not end up relying on the government for pension money. Some people choose to work smart and not hard. What would you prefer? Working hard your whole life in a job and then be dependent on the government and other people? Or work hard at first, researching, educating yourself about money, learning how to use money, until eventually you can use money to generate more money without necessarily going to a job every day, then not rely on anybody for money until the end of days? Would you rather be a victim with victim mentality? Or would you rather be a winner with success in mind?
My father is nearing sixty. He has worked very hard his entire life, since the age of 11. Only a few year ago when he was unable to work did he realise that that was a mistake. He was working hard for nothing. In his early 50's he learned that he should not rely on the government for his pension. That is a high risk choice with no guarantees. In other words, it is a stupid strategy. So he started reading books and learning during the time he was out of work. He decided to become financially smarter. He now has 3 properties and building another. He says he could easily retire with the income he is receiving from them without relying on the government. He did this in about 7 years, which shows me that it is not too late for anyone! However he is still working hard in a job, because of me. He is delaying retirement to make sure I have something other than a job. He wants me to have something working for me instead of me working for others. He will not rest until I assure him that I will not go down the same path he went down most of his life. He is helping me and sacrificing himself on the way, and I am grateful for that. In his sacrifice he will be giving me half a fish while also forcing me to learn how to fish for the other half.
My father will not be anything like that Greek pensioner who committed suicide. However, if he did not go without a job in his late 40's to early 50's and was forced to find another way to gain money other than a job, he very well could have ended up the same as that Greek pensioner.
I understand very well why I need to get rich, so that is my plan. Next step is to read, learn and educate myself! I do not want to take the high risk of relying on others for my pension money. That's just crazy!
I will be occasionally writing what I learn, to revise and also to demonstrate my process. This way I can look back and see exactly how I got to where I will get, and others can also follow.
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