Becoming Wealthy is Much Easier Than Becoming Rich

But you can’t be both

In spite of what you’ve heard, a rich person has nothing in common with a wealthy person.

Rich is something that can come in an instant, such as with a great promotion. It can come in the form of a lottery win or a large inheritance. You can become rich overnight, but wealth takes a really long time, and a lot of discipline to build.

Someone who is rich typically enjoys fancy cars and fitted suits. He reads the right books and drinks in the right bars, but he doesn’t value money. He spends it as fast as he can make it, because he believes that dressing the part is halfway to having the part.

You’ll always spot him at the trendiest bars, and when he pulls out his American Express; it’s the platinum kind that has specks of real gold encased inside. (It probably exists right?)

This person hasn’t realised that spending money is the enemy of having money, and that rather than impressing people, he’s alienating them.

The rich person is the one who spends high on credit cards and manages to pay them down but never off. This person probably has a high salary, which ensures he stays rich. However because of his reckless spending and insane debt, if he ever lost that job, he’d be royally screwed.

A bad injury or tragic incident that forced him to take time off work would cripple him financially, so he’s chained to his desk. He slaves away from 9am to 5pm so that he can be a baller all night long.

These traits have almost nothing in common with a wealthy person.

The wealthy person works, but would be ok if he didn’t. If tragedy struck and he were laid off, he’d be just fine until he got back on his feet.

That’s because this person put aside a lot of money while he was still young and had lots of energy to pull every shift he could.

Pulling two or three jobs to make as much money as possible, this person put away 50% to 70% of his salary every month (he’s single and loves baked beans).

At first he wanted to build up a safety net that would pay him 6 months worth of salary if he were ever laid off, he unexpectedly achieved that goal in under a year.

After he achieved his goal he started funnelling money into ETF’s, shares and bonds. He ensured that he was choosing investments that paid dividends and grew roughly 10% a year. He then re-balanced every quarter, selling investments that didn’t grow fast enough and buying ones that would.

Eventually his dividends and interests paid so much money that he quit two of his three jobs and just held onto the one he liked.

He now works leisurely and enjoys life. He got married and had kids and his family really appreciates the money that’s always coming in from the investment accounts.

His investments pay their mortgage, so they never have to worry about having somewhere to live. He bought his car outright, and only has a credit card to ensure a good credit rating. He’d never dream of accumulating household debt because the interest rates are ridiculous. Instead, he lives within his means and enjoys life without financial stress.

You’d never be able to spot this person in a crowd because he wears regular clothes and drives a perfectly average car. The only way you’d really be able to spot him is by the calm expression on his face.

While the eyes of the rich person are manic with fear and anxiety, the eyes of the wealthy person are calm and content. He’s got nothing to prove to anyone.

For this analogy I used the gender describer ‘he’ and ‘him’ because that’s how I identify. But regardless of where you fall on the gender spectrum, this article could be talking about you.

Becoming rich isn’t easy because it often takes a certain amount of circumstance, luck, and privilege to make it happen. But becoming wealthy is far easier, because all it takes is discipline and hard work.

If you’re earning a salary at any age, you can be putting even 10% of it away. Each dollar saved and (responsibility) invested is one step closer to wealth. If you’re in debt, pay it off first, then start investing.

Search within yourself for what you want and write it down. Every penny you save is buying you that future, so put that Prada bag down.

We eat beans now, so that we can eat steak later. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.