12 November 2021

---

Are you accumulating enough?

Author: Luigi Campopiano

---

If you want to increase your wealth, you need to lay the foundations by acquiring a set of good habits, and the sooner you start doing it, the better. Here are nine signs that you are probably not on the right track:

1. Only work hard, but not smart: to ensure a substantial fortune, you must also work smart. One way to do this is to invest in the stock market or in a pension fund to take advantage of compound interest so that your money generates more money. You can do it without taking enormous risks, without making great efforts, and without wasting a lot of time;

2. Too much importance to savings and not to earnings: it is necessary to increase income, not only with savings, but also with earnings. In addition to saving, reducing expenses, managing your cash flow, and not giving in to so-called lifestyle inflation (the more I earn, the more I spend) is important, but if you fail to increase your income, it will always be difficult. There is no need to abandon the concrete strategies you follow to save but, if you want to increase your assets a lot, you have to stop worrying about running out of money and focus on how to earn more;

3. Buying Things You Can't Afford: If you live beyond means, you won't get rich. If you start earning more or get a raise, don't take it as an excuse to move to a more comfortable lifestyle, especially when it comes to the home you live in. This does not mean that you cannot buy beautiful things or pay to live experiences you care about, but it is difficult for you to accumulate a fortune if you continue to spend more and more;

4. Fixed salary: many people choose to be paid based on time, while to increase wealth, it is better to get paid based on results. Self-employment is the quickest way to get rich;

5. Do not invest: one of the most effective ways to increase earnings over time is to invest them, and the sooner you start, the more conspicuous will be the capital obtained. Their wealth depends not only on the money they earn each year but also on how they save and invest over time. You don't need to be a finance expert or come from a rich family or have a huge salary to invest in the stock market. To get started, just invest in a low-cost pension fund or index fund, and you can get huge returns in the long run;

6. Pursuing the dream of others: to be successful, you need to love what you do, identify it and dedicate everything to it. Once you have identified what you love to do, you need to master it: honing a skill will prove to be the most powerful weapon in order to accumulate wealth and have a satisfying career (in this way, you can generate more earnings, more autonomy, and freedom of action with respect to how to generate those earnings and more flexibility to determine when and how to work);

7. Not having set goals in relation to money: it is necessary to have a clear and specific purpose (s), put it in black and white and establish a savings plan in order to achieve it (s). It takes determination, courage, knowledge and a lot of effort but, with well-defined goals and a clear vision, it can be done. The first reason most people don't get what they want is that they don't know what they want;

8. Spend and then put aside the remaining money: pay yourself first. Most people, when they earn a certain amount, pay everyone else first: instead of spending and then putting aside the remaining money, they prioritize saving. It is advisable to set aside the income corresponding to one working hour per day in an emergency fund, a pension fund, or a savings account or some other type and automate the process. In this way, it is ensured that the money increases exponentially over time, thanks to compound interest;

9. Believe that wealth is out of reach: many believe that wealth is a privilege granted only to those who are lucky but, in a capitalist country, you have every right to be rich if you are willing to create enormous value for others.