It dawned upon me yesterday morning that being financially rich could mean a lot of things. It could be that you have a huge sum of money tied up in property, it could mean you have a huge amount tied up in business or it could mean that you have a huge amount tied up in shares.
My problem with this is while I don’t disagree with any as a means of building wealth, the money you have is just that “tied up”.
Essentially you could have a million dollars in property and not have a cent in your account that you can call upon at any time. Is this really what ‘rich’ is? Or does being rich mean your bank balance has an uncountable number of zeros at the end of it?
I assume most, if not all of you are investing in property to become ‘rich’. So what’s your idea of rich? What do you define as being rich?
Don’t be shy! [blush2]
I’ll start. My idea of being rich would be to have $1 million in my bank account.
Look forward to hearing some replies.
Until then [shades2] stay cool
My idea of rich is:
A Multi million dollar house owned outright.
A lazy 2 million in the bank
& 5 – 10 million (net worth) of assets.I will let you know if I ever get their!
[cigar]David
A huge amount of time to me is more important than a sum of money.
I will call myself “rich” when I have time to do what I want to do with enough mony coming in from investments to support my lifestyle.
I gave up working for a salary at 33, I now run my own business and invest in property, again that is “work” that requires my time so not quite rich yet [blush2]
Investment Property Management
http://www.adprop.com.auQuite right Dr.X;
Financially rich to me is the freedom to choose what you do with your time and your money.
I have a very good friend who makes an extremely good income, but his money habits have locked him into working long hours for the rest of his life. He is not financially free and will never be able to retire early unless he takes a massive lifestyle cut.
To me he is not financially rich although he looks it – he is really a slave.
On the other hand, I know someone who is effectively retired at 45. He works part-time because he enjoys his job and workmates and for the mental stimulation. He has a nice lifestyle (similar to friend A) and can do what he likes, goes on holidays several times a year.
That is financially rich.
Cheers,
Marc.
[email protected]“we get sent lemons; it’s up to us to make lemonade”
Wealthy is when you have choices.
Some may be wealthy on significantly less income than others.
Simon Macks
Residential and Commercial Finance Broker
[email protected]
0425 228 985Comments may not be relevant to individual circumstances. If you intend making any investment, financial or taxation decision you should consult a professional adviser.
Exactly Simon, but I would take it one step further.
Wealth gives you choice, but being rich is a state of mind.
Being involved in a rather messy divorce with kids involved I can say that I now feel richer than I have in years. It is my choice what and where I put my money and it will always benefit myself and my 2 girls.
My point is that even in the darkest times, we can be rich.
CATA
Asset Protection Specialist
[email protected]RICH….How about a rich chocolate mud cake….Yummm
AmandaBS
http://www.propertydivas.com.au
FREE online Property Resources“It is better to be inconspicuously wealthy, than to be ostentatiously poor…”
Being rich means having choices, the ability to choose to work not because you have to but because you love to; the ability to spend time doing things you love, with people you love; the ability to contribute to the society; the ability to appreciate what you have and being thankful for that; and lastly & most importantly, rich is loving and being loved.
Some people may achieve this with $5k in the bank account and others may not find it even with $1 million cash. You have to find out what’s important to you and define your own richness.
I FEEL RICH!!!cheers,
Sanjiv Gupta“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.†– Nelson Mandela
Originally posted by propertypower:Being rich means having choices, the ability to choose to work not because you have to but because you love to; the ability to spend time doing things you love, with people you love; the ability to contribute to the society; the ability to appreciate what you have and being thankful for that; and lastly & most importantly, rich is loving and being loved.
Some people may achieve this with $5k in the bank account and others may not find it even with $1 million cash. You have to find out what’s important to you and define your own richness.
I FEEL RICH!!!cheers,
Sanjiv Gupta“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.†– Nelson Mandela
I’m with you Sanjiv, that’s beautiful.
I think wealth comes in the form of passive income.
A monthly cashflow that replaces a salary and means that if you did not get out of bed tomorrow morning it would not matter, your wealth would not be affected.
For me I am not too concerned about asset base, it will grow as a by-product but to have a guaranteed passive income (of the level you desire), now that is real wealth!
Cheers
Peter____________________________
Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.Thank you for all your thoughts.
But let me ask you this: I certainly don’t deny that being rich means being rich in time. ie having the financial capacity to spend your time the way you want to. But is the financial goal you set for yourselves time related or number related?
For example, Dr.X, what goal are you striving for: having x amount of dollars in your bank account or having x amount of hours more to yourself in your week? I think it would be easier to measure a number in dollars rather than a number in time.
I hope that question makes sense [blink]
Originally posted by Pizang:Thank you for all your thoughts.
But let me ask you this: I certainly don’t deny that being rich means being rich in time. ie having the financial capacity to spend your time the way you want to. But is the financial goal you set for yourselves time related or number related?
For example, Dr.X, what goal are you striving for: having x amount of dollars in your bank account or having x amount of hours more to yourself in your week? I think it would be easier to measure a number in dollars rather than a number in time.
I hope that question makes sense [blink]
If you don’t mind; I can answer that one;
Not too long a go my wife and I were in well paid jobs that demanded a lot of our time (55+ hours per week). I have numerous friends who are like this still. If we measured richness by dollars then we would have probably passed, but our lives were hectic, stressed and not all happy.
Because we had little time to go on holidays or shopping for doodads, we used to pour much of our income into our residence and investments, thus we were asset and cash ‘rich’ – but time poor. It paid off as we accumulated some equity and assets, but we did not feel rich at all. We felt that we were on the treadmill and working to fund our house and future. We are not spenders or shoppers; actually quite the opposite, so this made the whole scene even more depressing. All work and no play.
A few years ago we restructured our lives and goals and had a child. Our goal was to be able to spend more time together and with our son, and travel. So we quit our good paying jobs.
Now my wife works part-time and I work occasionally. Our wealth still increases since then through the assets we have, but our incomes have certainly dropped. And yet we feel more rich now than ever before.
The main difference is the time available and what we do with it. Our lifestyle has improved as we have more time to go places and do things. We are still not shoppers; in fact we are pretty tight. We cut corners on spending every chance we can to save more money for the free time activities.
We feel rich now because we have both – income and time. One without the other is not much fun.
Cheers,
Marc.
[email protected]“we get sent lemons; it’s up to us to make lemonade”
Thanks LA,
That puts things in perspective. Ross Gittens wrote a piece this morning that’s saying that Australians are working much longer hours than they used to. Second only to Japan if I remember correctly.
FYI :
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/a-radical-idea-work-less-live-more/2007/03/13/1173722468319.html
Have a great day! [biggrin]
Brilliant story Marc, thanks for sharing!
I wish you all the best as the journey continues and your life becomes ‘richer’
Peter
____________________________
Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.Originally posted by cata:Exactly Simon, but I would take it one step further.
Wealth gives you choice, but being rich is a state of mind.
Being involved in a rather messy divorce with kids involved I can say that I now feel richer than I have in years. It is my choice what and where I put my money and it will always benefit myself and my 2 girls.
My point is that even in the darkest times, we can be rich.
CATA
Asset Protection Specialist
[email protected]Agreed. Just like how some wealthy people are not rich coz they don’t enjoy their lives, and some poor folks enjoy every waking moment even though they are financially insecure. You are rich because you know you are.
I personally feel that if you are rich in mind, physical wealth will be sure to follow.
“When you reach for the stars you might not get one,but you won’t end up with a handful of mud either”
“That is, unless you didn’t keep your other hand firmly on the nearest tree branch”[biggrin]Being rich for me is:
how many days/months can I go without working before everything collapses.
I guess, because of this definition of wealth, having income from assets is my priority. It is a bit of a different way of looking at “time-as-richness”.
Kelly
Originally posted by kellylock:Being rich for me is:
how many days/months can I go without working before everything collapses.
I guess, because of this definition of wealth, having income from assets is my priority. It is a bit of a different way of looking at “time-as-richness”.
Kelly
Maybe the goal might be that if you stopped working then nothing would collapse no matter how long [blush2]
Simon Macks
Residential and Commercial Finance Broker
[email protected]
0425 228 985Comments may not be relevant to individual circumstances. If you intend making any investment, financial or taxation decision you should consult a professional adviser.
My target is $10M worth of assets delivering 2% net return and growing annually. I am quite far from there yet, but when I get there I will be rich.
Gamay
My answer is below.
HI Pizang,
Sorry to change the topic of the thread, but a quick comment on your article about Australian working hours are only second to the Japanese.
The Japanese do not work long hours.
They are at work for long hours.
A Japanese working day also includes the 4-5 hours that may be spent at the local hostess bar discussing the economic virtues of the company.
Another reason they are at work for long hours is that their desk space is probably bigger than their living room and thus more attractive than going home.
Then again it might also be the rush hours on the sardine expresses (trains). The longer they stay at work the more chance they have of getting a seat on the train when going home.I'm sure most foreigners who have lived and worked in Japan would agree with the above.
C2
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