By now you already know Robert Greene preaches how much our educational system has failed us in terms of financial education. It's mostly theories and not a single practical learning to prepare us for the world of money, investment, debt, and financial freedom.
School never prepared us for the real world especially when it has to do with the one thing that's said to answer all things... Money. Instead what we get are the assurances that getting out with good grades will give us the desired access to working our butt off and hoping that the government will fulfill their end of the bargain by giving us pensions funds.
For most people, the last part never happens and for some, the journey to the last part never even takes place not to talk about having the chance to reach for the pension funds.
Our educational system thus had us sucked in the false hopes that having a job is all that it takes to live wealthy and die wealthy. Whereas, time has changed so much that the old rules of getting our foot in the door of financial freedom had changed.
Morgan Housel had rightly explained that no one is crazy about how they deal with money because some of the things we witness today had not been around in their time. So our parents leading the lives of depending on their educational systems and finally the route to getting their pensions wasn't entirely crazy because that was attainable in their time.
But now the story has changed, from losing a chance to get pension through having to serve the government to witnessing the value of money depreciate as inflation ate deep into their savings & earnings and of course moving into the Great Depression which paved way for the era where 401(k), Roth IRA, etc became a thing.
Since everything has changed and even the way we move money has done so too, whereby, we are witnessing an era where money is not only moved around electronically but digitally as well. We are outrightly living in an era where money can travel several distances at the speed of light and isn't restricted by third parties or any of the things that hindered a lot of financial transactions in the past.
To this end, it will serve you better if you still have the fundamental rules around money that never changes no matter how the means of earning change. One of them is understanding the times and moving with it through your investment portfolio. You can never get ahead in this era if you don't invest.
Gone are the days when savings were tangible and lucrative. In the present economy, inflation will stab you in the back if you do such a thing as trying to mindlessly save without considering investing a chunk of that money.
This doesn't take away the fact that you will need to set aside a few amounts for emergencies. This is another timeless wisdom around handling money. This is mostly because life in itself is filled with uncertainties. And you need to always have a chunk of money lying around to sort yourself out when the need arises.
Now that we have a system where you can buy things with your future money. It's important to handle your credit score with care and caution. I would say your credit score is the difference between how fast you will be able to build leverage and step out of poverty and how slow and painful this particular journey will be.
So you must protect your credit score and not mindlessly borrow to squander on liabilities. Instead, use debt as leverage and buy appreciating assets or even move your business forward.
You must remember there will always be that insatiable nature of humans and since you are flesh and blood, you may not be able to live without it. But you can control your insatiable needs by embracing budgeting. Budgeting keeps your expenses in check and will help you last longer until an opportunity shows up for you to take advantage of.
So watch your lifestyle, understand the times and seasons, and make sure you are investing your way to financial freedom instead of depending on your certificate or job alone.
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