Are you neglecting your finances?

So much of our thinking, the way we approach life comes from our upbringing. We go with the flow and don’t even think to challenge it. Especially if we’ve come from a position of relative comfort and security. There’s no need to challenge or change the traditional way of doing things.

It reminds me of a story; a man asks his wife why she prepares and cooks her chicken in a certain way. She responds, “I don’t know why – it’s just the way my mother showed me.” They then visit her mother and ask her the same question and she also responds: “That’s the way my mother did it, so that’s how I do it.”

I’ve noticed that that’s often why those who come from adversity are more willing to challenge what they’ve seen or learned – as they know that this may not be the best way of doing something.

I also struggled a little with the idea of wealth at the beginning, but it struck me: people are going to hold wealth in this world. If I’m a good and kind person, it’s ok to be rich. We need more good people to be rich and do good in the world; bring opportunity, serve the community, create jobs and provide affordable housing! So why can’t it be you?

One of the most important things I learned about wealth was back when I was an insurance salesman and my boss told me to read a book, “The richest man in Babylon” to get me started in understanding more about money.

The one thing I took away from this book at the time was that to build wealth, you need to have both cashflow and assets.

It took me a while to apply this in my own life. Initially I focussed entirely on increasing my income in my career and spent my savings on a home and a car, which wouldn’t produce me an ongoing income. I eventually realised how important asset building was, and at that point, made it my focus, and this is how I started investing in property.

Many years later, I combined this concept with a Chinese concept around ‘right-hand / left-hand’ thinking and this has evolved to become a key concept that we teach our investors at Ironfish.

1. Your left hand is your career – study hard, work hard and grow your income.
2. Your right hand is your assets – investing a portion of your salary into income-producing assets, so your money can make more money for you.