Financial Truths

I’ve blogged at length and self-published a book about the five financial truths that led our average American family to personal finance success. Now, two years on and under decidedly different global economic conditions, I find myself re-examining the financial truths. Additionally, it seems like since retiring from the relative financial stability of a military career and becoming a civilian again, our personal finances have stayed in a constant state of churn for the past four years!

Most of the churn is self-inflicted, and certainly not bad, but it surely causes one to pause and question if we are still doing it right! After some contemplation over the first few months of 2023, I strongly feel the financial truths remain solid despite the economic times and our marked life changes. While I’ve written pages and pages on the truths, I feel compelled to recite them again for posterity’s sake.

Invest Early, Invest Often. For the majority of us, building wealth is a marathon, not a sprint. To build wealth, saving must remain a priority over a lifetime which inevitably means giving up access to hard earned income during the here and now. I started investing at 23, about five years too late in my opinion. The time value of compounding money can’t be underestimated. Bottom line, the worker has to be an aggressive saver in order to build wealth.

Be Frugal. Popular culture is full of stories about today’s most powerful billionaires who lived frugal lives when they started out. If it worked for them, it can work for us! To build wealth the worker must watch every dime and always save more relative to spending. At the base level, this comes down to understanding needs versus wants and showing self-control.

Collect Rent, Don’t Pay It. Real estate is a significant portion of many financially successful people’s net worth. Stated another way, paying rent for a whole lifetime will make it challenging to grow one’s net worth. Investing in rental properties has been a true blessing for our family and a big part of our success. That being said, owning real estate and rental properties is more than just an investment, it is a bona fide side hustle that requires a commitment!

Be Diligent. This is more than just working a double shift to fatten up a paycheck. Diligence is more life value or discipline rather than a how to for building wealth. When something is broke, fix it…now. Don’t walk past a wrong, take immediate action. When these behaviors are a part of our value system, it makes an incredible impact on many aspects of life, especially in our ability to earn and save money.

Knowledge is Money. This truth refers to two kinds of knowledge. First, is self-study and lifelong learning in order to make informed decisions about finances. From the most basic purchases to which investment products are best, every single financial decision requires gaining knowledge to make good choices. The second type of knowledge is the more traditional definition of the term, formal education and training. It’s just a fact, without a degree or a certification / license, it will be incredibly hard to increase income over a working career.  

Yep, even with inflation on the rise, a recession looming and just a general funk across the land, these five financial truths remain timeless! We haven’t gotten every aspect of our life perfect, but considering where we started, I’d say we came pretty close in the area of personal finance. These truths helped us achieve stability in these uncertain times and are leading to our ultimate goal of financial freedom.

Looking for a good how-to on wealth building? Check out my book, Millionaire on a Worker’s Budget: Five Financial Truth’s to Build Wealth on sale now at Amazon!

Interested in rental property investing? Look for “Collect Rent, Don’t Pay It: A Beginner’s Guide to Rental Property Investing” on Amazon to learn how our family turned rental property investing into a successful side hustle!

The commentary provided in this blog is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a source of financial or investing advice.

Use the links in the about section below to follow on social media or subscribe for emails to receive updates on the latest weekly blog at www.normspivey.com!