Kendra Pierce

The poor and middle class work for money, The rich have their money work for them - I have heard this before but never understood the true meaning of it. The poor and middle class work the majority of their lives so that they can feel like they are accomplishing something and contributing to their family. The rich work because they enjoy what they are doing. As well as they are acquiring skills that could help them in the future.

Knowledge is Power - The more knowledge you have the better off you will be in terms of money. Just like with any trade. The more you know about car parts labor the better the mechanic you will be. The same goes for money. The more you know about your money, where it is, how it is working, the importance of it, how long it needs to be in certain places, when to invest it and when to hold off, etc. There are so many different avenues that need to be understood in order to use your money in a way that it will be benefiting you the most. You can never have enough knowledge. The more knowledge you have the more power you will have.

A job is a short-term solution to a long term problem- People need things in life. Whether they are materialistic things like new cars, nice houses, advanced technology, or necessary things like shelter, food, and basic clothing. Most of us get trapped in the mind set that we wake up, go to work, work all day, invest in a few simple investments, use the company insurance plan, save for retirement, and finance the things that we want. Spend our lives as slaves to the life we have created thru borrowing money for car loans, home loans, education, travel etc. We spend and we are happy for that moment, until the next best thing comes out and then we need to update. Therefore we spend some more. Life passes us by because we are slaves to working and can not truly see the joy in working or in spending.

It’s not how much money you make, its how much money you keep- People get in the day to day mind set of if only I made more money….. But the reality is that if you did make more money you would spend more money. For example people that win millions in the lottery or pro sports players that come into a large amount of money can soon become broke. This is due to miss managing your money, not understanding your spending habits and not understanding the way money works. Money without financial intelligence is money soon gone.

Keep track of Income statements and Balance sheets- Keeping a balance sheet and income statement can help you understand what your money is doing for you or what you are doing for your money. The rich acquire assets. The poor and middle class acquire what they think are assets but end up turning into liabilities because of the way that they are managed. The middle class use money from the income section of the income statement to pay for expenses and liabilities. The wealthy use income from the assets section of the balance sheet to pay to the income section on the income statement. Without seeing both of these together it is hard to tell where you and your money are at.

Focus on your assets column not your income statement. - Assets are what potentially provide income to the wealthy. By focusing on what is in your asset column means you are focusing on what you are doing to provide income. If you focus on what your income statement says you are only seeing what is coming in and what is going out.

Robin Hood is not a hero, he is a crook- The poor and middle class think that they need to rob the rich to help the poor. The rich implement their knowledge is power method and find ways around the tax laws that not only benefit when it comes time for taxes but also keeps their money working for them. By the poor and middle class voting that the tax laws target the rich and the rich working their way around the taxes the people it hurts the most is the middle class. The middle class is not in a position to work their way around it and is then stuck paying it. The rich get richer and the poor and middle class gets poorer.

Take risk and be confident- Most people never win because they’re more afraid of losing. By taking risk we not only loose or gain money but we gain experience and knowledge that we would not have had if we had not taken the risk. “Sometimes you win sometimes you learn either way you have to take the risk. Most people don’t succeed financially because the pain of losing money is greater then the joy of being rich”

Associate with smart people- Be around people who are smarter then you are. This will keep your mind moving forward and put you in a position to learn everything that you can.