After a conversation on Finances, a mentor of mine handed me a book. The title of the book was The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me.
Prior to seeing the book, I had never heard of Richard Paul Evans but diving into the book put paid to any misgivings I might have had. It’s a small book with just about 118 pages of content apart from the worksheets. Interestingly, the book was his response to his niece’s financial challenges. I quickly dove into the 5 lessons and found myself nodding as I read. I’ll share what I learnt with you 🙂
Lesson One-Decide to Be Wealthy. I resonated with this point a lot. I’ve found that because of the kind of society we live in, subconsciously, a lot of women want their husbands to be wealthy but hesitate at the thought of being wealthy themselves (or assume that they will become wealthy by marriage). Dealing with this mental block is a major step along the route to making wealth.
IBG Tip: Create a finance journal (Yes we love journals) and write at least one paragraph on what being wealthy means to you. How much do you want to earn, save and have access to.
Lesson Two-Take Responsibility for your Money. Again, in our society, a lot of women would rather delegate financial tasks. It is important to know how much money you have, know where your money comes from, know where your money is going and MOST importantly know what your money is doing.
IBG Tip: Take your last month statement and document everything you spent according to categories. Petrol, transport, beauty, clothing, food…can you see where your money is going? Try and see where to cut down on expenses
Lesson Three- Keep a Portion of Everything You Earn. The truth is that most people have a consumption mentality. It’s easy for them to spend their salaries on entertainment, clothes, internet data and many other things that are not necessities. If financial freedom is important to you, you need to learn how to harness the power of compound interest and putting money aside.
IBG Tip- Determine what percentage of your earnings you can save and open an account which does not have any ATM access to it.
Lesson Four- Win in the Margins. The author uses the word ‘margins’ to refer to side income. If you’re serious about creating wealth, you need to look at creating extra sources of income. Creating savings also adds up to winning in the margins.
IBG Tip- Practice and pay close attention on how to monetize your skills for additional sources of income
The final Lesson- Give Back. Richard says that the most honourable and enjoyable use of money is in serving others. Beyond giving the gift of your money, you also should share the principles that have helped you financially with other people. 🙂
IBG Tip- Find a charitable cause and make a monthly commitment towards it
The book was written with a lot of stories to make for an easy read. It’s the perfect money book with simple lessons that are easy to follow. This is a greatly summarised version, so if you’re interested in financial independence and in making your money work for you, you should pick this up!
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