“Getting rich” and “building wealth’ seem the same to many folks. They differ profoundly. It’s all about mindset.
Getting Rich
The mindset of getting rich often involves a desire for immediate gratification and external validation. Those who want to be rich concentrate on generating high income or larger net worth.
There’s a desire to quickly obtain large sums of money via a high-paying job, inheritance, or windfalls. Unfortunately, too many people think becoming really rich is accomplished by finding a rich fool and then taking advantage of him or skinning a lot of dumb people. Few folks express the truth that crudely, but many people view getting rich as winning a Darwinian contest.
Many people who strive to be rich spend money on luxury items and lifestyle enhancements that depreciate, such as expensive cars, designer clothes, and lavish vacations. Rich individuals tend to spend extravagantly to display their financial success and social status. Many accumulate debt to maintain their lifestyle.
Unfortunately, a few who aspire to get rich have not yet learned from foolish risks. The foolish rich may face financial difficulties if their income stream is disrupted and they lack substantial reserves like savings or investments.
Building Wealth
In contrast, wealth builders cautiously use savings and diversified investments to build wealth at a sustainable pace. Wealth builders focus on accumulating assets that can boost value, generate more net income, or appreciate, such as real estate, stocks, and bonds.
Many wealth builders prioritize financial security and sustainability. They often live below their means and reinvest their earnings. Warren Buffett is a good example. He’s one of the wealthiest people in the world and lives in the house he bought in 1958 for $31,500.
Wealth builders want the freedom to make life choices without being constrained by financial pressures and the ability to devote time to activities they value. They strive to create financial security that can last for generations.
Either getting rich or building wealth could be about getting more and more for me and mine, Building Legacy Wealth is different.
Building Legacy Wealth
I gave a lot of thought to the title of my book, Building Legacy Wealth: How to Build Wealth and Live a Life Worth Imitating. The goal was to share some techniques and tools for building wealth; my aim was, and is, to accent legacy and nobility.
Legacy is what people think, say, and do because of your influence. It is about more than the cash and the keys. Legacy is built by living out your values – by helping others lead better lives.
To live a life worth imitating means creating something new and better. That can be world-changing, like discovering a cure for polio or cancer, making peace between clans who have fought for generations, or ending a long-lived injustice. It can also be more mundane, like helping others succeed.
Your legacy is about what you build and how you do it.
~
Are you trying to get rich or build wealth?
What are you doing to leave a legacy?
-o0o-
Terry Moore, CCIM, is the author of Building Legacy Wealth: How to Build Wealth and Live a Life Worth Imitating. Read his “Welcome to My Blog.”