BECOMING RICH

Everybody wants to become rich and everybody wants to know the secrets.  While many are giving their opinions about the right ways to earn, to save and to become wealthy, not all really understand what wealth really means.  What immediately comes in our mind when we say wealthy is basically having the bulky savings, tangible and valued properties.  We can easily recall the powerful names of the business tycoons, industry leaders, owners of the giant conglomerates, and CEO entrepreneurs because they practically own the biggest space where we live.   Although it always associated with money and ownership but we can look richness at the bigger picture and put ourselves in some equations.  Talking about wealth is talking about money. Giving an unsolicited advice about money matter is not my forte.  I am not expert in business, neither a financial expert, planner nor adviser for I would be a financially stable if I am.  But learning that there are people out there who are in debt, in dire expense and trying to make ends meet despite earning far heftier than I am, I feel a bit confident to stand and give my 2-cent about some financial literacy.

Based on personal experience, the big lessons in life that I’d learned the hard way are the rejection from borrowing and knowing your limit.  As soon as I able to survive the toughest financial battle I had, I enforced myself to value the importance of budget.  Despite my smaller earning compare to those I know collecting decent pay, I had able to manage my finance just enough with my needs.  For decades I was never into debt except in recent year when I had a lapse of judgment of obtaining it for the purpose of purchasing a property that was not certain.  That is another story but going back to financial literacy, I am not obsessed in luxuries such as gadgets, perfumes, signature apparels and food trips in fine dining restaurants.   I think many people are too addicted and hyped to join in trends taking for granted to save.

Spending gratifies us, out of control on it will infect us into the epidemic debt.  Managing money is a matter of money mindset.  I am not saying I have a robust savings on my bank account while in fact I don’t really have but at least I don’t have debt due to financial inflation.  But I believe and in fact practicing it that to save, you have to adhere to the equation that goes earning less saving is equal to expenses.  The speed of growing your savings is up now on how much you will less for your savings.

Yes, wealthy is richness.  However, wealth has different perceptions depend on the individual’s opinion.  Our precooked and subjective perception is that it’s about money and property.  But at the end of the day, it is really depends on individual how they define wealth.  For some health is wealth which is really very true.  For what is the value of your hard earned savings if you are just using them in your severe illness?  Treasure your health for if you are well you can work and make a savings.  If wealth is being healthy, some people look at it in a more humanitarian way where they attribute wealth into family and friends.  The love, respect and care you are giving to your family and relatives will make you rich someway.  If you are kind, you will become rich in friends because true friends are blessing that is incomparable to any amount of monetary.  Being kind is wealth that cannot equal to any valued materials for men are not in bread alone.

It doesn’t really has to compete for the biggest savings and assets to call you rich for the real rich are those who can response to their needs anytime they need, whatever it may be.  It really depends on what is your need.  If your requirements in life are to have simple foods ready on the table, attain peace of mind in your social being and well-being, can enjoy simple less expensive happiness and you can easily have them in any given time, then you are rich indeed. It doesn’t really mean you need to have millions of money as long as you have the resource to sustain your chosen lifestyle.  You may just have tenth of million but your lifestyle’s need and requirements fit in a very low cost of living, you are rich for that amount of wealth is more than enough to you.  This might be hypothetical but it can happen.  Learn to live within your means.  I always advise to learn the art of living the simplicity for life should just be really simple.

By Alex V. Villamayor
May 29, 2015