Education

When it comes to the blogs and other tracts providing information on building wealth, frugality carries most of the weight. And it makes sense. The greater the difference of income over spending is a strong determinant of the level of wealth an individual will achieve during their lifetime as compared to their income level. 

As important as frugality is, spending is even more important, even if it doesn’t garner the required column inches the matter deserves. Spending less than you earn is the seed money for investments and without investments it is impossible to build significant wealth.

As an accountant I see people from all spectrums of income. Frugality, even hyper-frugality, is the hallmark of those with modest levels of wealth. Even the lowest income earners can amass a half million or more in a working career when frugality is taken to religious levels, with the excess invested in equities like index funds.

Mid-levels of income also do well with only the single tool of frugality. As their wealth grows they sometimes seek out professionals to help them. These clients tend to want short consulting sessions once a year with a review at tax time. 

Then come the serious achievers. These people sometimes have modest incomes, sometimes large incomes.  Regardless their income level, these people smack it out of the park. Their level of wealth is well beyond what would be expected for their income level or level of frugality (the excess of income above spending).

Super-achievers in wealth building focus on spending more than frugality. They know spending is more important. And they know most spending drains their energy and wealth while proper spending can actually make them richer!

Reading is the foundation of every form of wealth: mental, spiritual and financial. There is even an argument to be made that reading good books is good for you physically, as you can learn to eat better and exercise more productively. 

Books are the cornerstone of knowledge. The more you immerse yourself in quality material, the better decisions you can make. 

Focusing on only recently published books is a mistake. Avoiding novels is also an error. A well rounded education comes from digesting material from all genres, even topics you normally find uninteresting. Even fiction can teach us plenty about the world around us and ourselves.

The knowledge doesn’t have to come from you, I continued. You would be surprised how often the best insights come from other students as they ask questions and debate answers. 

As I said to Kimberly, it is unlikely we will ever cross paths again. There is nothing to lose. Nothing to be embarrassed about. This was not about personal gain; it was about paying-it-forward. It is the only thing that gives life meaning; helping others find meaning in their’s.

There are many forms of communication; none are as vital as the written word. It is the edited word which conveys more information than any other media. Sure, video is superior when showing majestic vistas, but words, when edited well, are the most powerful learning tool we have. There is a reason the written word has survived so long even with radio, television and YouTube desperate to overturn the monarchy.

Wealthy people the world over credit their success to reading. From Warren Buffett to Bill Gates to Elon Musk to Richard Branson to your favorite accountant, good books are part of the history of the people currently in the winner’s circle. Educated people possess the tools to create the future the rest of us are forced to live in. Most failures can be traced back to a lack of understanding or misunderstanding.

For these reasons I’ve been a dedicated reader since my late high school years. Before that I couldn’t get myself to read a book the the end and it showed. I struggled with direction in life until the magical day I picked up a book from the school library on weather. It was a mere 128 pages and there were a few drawings of clouds and cloud formations, but when I finished that book something clicked and I never looked back.

Large conferences are hard to understand before attending first. FinCon has multiple cultures under one roof. Virtually every interest in the financial community is covered. Finding people with similar interests is easy. Finding sessions tailored to your goals is equally easy. So why did I fail the first year and sail the second?

The Event you have been waiting for your entire life had finally arrived! Save Thursday, October 11th (starting at 5:00 p.m.) to Sunday, October 14th (quitting time is vague as an after Camp party is planned, mountain biking and a trip to the local Hot Springs).

I don’t know about you, but I’m tingly all over. Camp Accountant is different from any camp you’ve attended in the FI community. All proceeds go to support the local Boys and Girls Club. In fact, all the registration money is collected by the Club. They pay for the cost of running the camp and put the rest to work serving the community. Everybody wins! Many of the venues are provided at low or no cost so more money ends up helping the Boys and Girls Club.

When you think of the most powerful, motivating speeches ever given, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address comes to mind. In less than three hundred words* Lincoln encompassed the issues facing the nation. As great as the speech was, it was backward looking (Four score and seven years ago) with hope to the future. Lincoln was able to clearly articulate his message in a few minutes. He struggled up to the moment of addressing the crowd as Gettysburg. It was the planning and preparation that lent to the quality of the message.

Closer to home we might consider the commencement address Steve Jobs gave at Stanford in 2005. At fifteen minutes, Jobs communicated a narrower message with significant reinforcement of his theme. Once again, serious planning took place prior to the presentation. Jobs was legendary in his drive toward excellence. He could speak before a crowd extemporaneously, but preferred formal presentations he could and did practice again and again until everything was choreographed to perfection. Errors were ironed out. He practiced so much that when he was live he could continue without missing a beat if technology failed while he was on stage. A Steve Jobs presentation

My adrenaline was pumping as I entered the room full of judges and FVTC staff. My entrepreneurship teacher was also running the show. I had to make him proud as my entrepreneurship teacher is the reason I’ve come so far. My pitch went great and the judges seemed interested in my teaching style I created and the opportunities for people in the valley and around the world to become employed by me. I’m an ambitious little thing that doesn’t let my size determine how big my dreams can be.

I won first place at the Fox Trap Pitch Contest. This was one of the first times I’ve seen myself succeed at something and then be told that I need to continue with my plan. I learned many things when I prepared and presented my 90-second pitch. The most important thing I learned was that writing a pitch is nearly identical in writing an essay for a scholarship.