How to Play (and Win) the Game of Making Money
If you want to make more money, there are two things you can do.
The first thing you can do is learn new skills so you get paid more for the hours you work. One of the most valuable skills you can learn is the ability to sell and create large profits for the organisation you work for. Learn this skill and you will be able to earn tens of thousands of extra dollars a year.
The second thing you can do is learn to invest your money better so your money works to make more money for you.
For best results, I suggest you do both things at the same time. In other words, increase your income each year AND put some of the extra money you earn into investments that will make it grow.
Here’s an example of how to do it:
I remember consulting with a struggling personal trainer who was losing the game of making money. When I first met him, he was making only $19,000 a year as a personal trainer and getting nowhere fast. I showed him how to get very good at selling his services … and within 18 months, he had increased his income to $193,000 a year. (Still, by the way, working as a one-man band.)
My client then wisely invested some of his extra money into income-producing assets. He bought the gym where I first met him. He then used his new sales skills to radically increase the turnover rate of his clients … and his income increased even more. He also used the extra money he was making to purchase six investment properties over the next five years. These properties are now worth well over a million dollars.
This personal trainer loves being involved in fitness and health, and is now winning the game of making money. But here’s the scary news about the game of making money …
Some two-thirds of people live from payday to payday. About 10% reach financial security … and only 2% or less achieve what we might call financial independence.
Working harder and harder each day will seldom help you become wealthy. What will is taking the time to increase your income and learn how to invest some of the extra money you now earn.
Think of making money as a game. (And, like any game, there are several different ways to play it.)
- Here’s how the poor play the game of making money:
The poor go to work to earn money. They pay their taxes and spend the rest. All their discretionary income goes to the latest toys. If not to toys, it’s to eating, drinking, smoking, or gambling. This keeps them poor forever.
- Here’s how the middle-class play the game of making money:
The middle-class go to work, earn money, pay their taxes, and spend the rest. A home, a pool, a bigger home, a little for retirement. They seldom become rich.
- Here’s how the rich play the game of making money:
The rich go to work and spend most of their money to build an asset base. They pay taxes on the rest. (Often less tax than the poor pay! They know how to play the game well.)
Here’s the point: When you work only for money, you basically work for the tax department. What you need to do instead is find a way to work for fun (in other words, by doing work you like), get paid very well at this work, and build up an asset base that will create ongoing income.
I just told you the story of the personal trainer I helped. Here’s another example of what I’m talking about …
In Message #1129, I talked about “The Millionaire Taxi Driver” I met in Australia a few years ago. This taxi driver lived in a million-dollar home (which was fully paid for) overlooking Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach. He owned six investment properties (all paid off). And he had business interests worth another million dollars or more. He had great health, and enjoyed an excellent relationship with his wife (to whom he had been married for over 30 years).
How did a humble taxicab driver get to this point?
- He did extensive research on all the major routes in and around Sydney. He learned exactly how long each route took, depending on the time of day. By becoming an expert at this, he became ultra-efficient at providing taxi service – and thus earned a far higher income.
- He worked his butt off and, for five years, saved every cent he earned as a driver. He used that money to purchase his first car. Officially, he was now in business for himself. This was a great investment in his future. He soon had a fleet of high-profit cabs.
If a personal trainer and a taxi driver can become wealthy, so can you, Make today the day you really get serious about the game of making money.