Not at all. Age is just a number. As the saying goes, when you wake up is your morning. Remember this is YOUR journey, not anyone else’s. There are three things you should keep in mind.
- It is your journey, so don’t compare yourself with anyone. Just start now and don’t procrastinate again.
- Give yourself a TARGET and make sure it is a S.M.A.R.T. target. This means your target should be Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
- You need to also understand your investment time horizon; because you are above 50 your time horizon will be lower than someone who is less than 50. If you fully understand this, you can then make your investment goals around your ITH.
In simple english, investment time horizon means the time one has left to save or invest before one retires or dies.
Let me show you how to calculate your Investment Time Horizon. On one side, place your age as of today; on the opposite end, identify your target age when you hope to achieve your most distant investing goal: (for many people, this is retirement). The intervening years between these two ages is the time horizon you have for that future target.
How can I ever be consistent with my investment goals to start creating wealth? I keep breaking my investment and am never able to meet up every year.
Like I always reiterate here, wealth creation is a ‘journey’ and not a get-rich-quick scheme. As much as consistency is key; having an investment goal is just one part of the journey. You need to be disciplined enough to focus on your goal/target, make sure your goal is within your income sources; that means if you earn 50,000 on a monthly basis, your investment goal should not be the same amount you earn.
Some weeks ago I showed us how to create an investment goal based on percentages after you have removed all your basic needs. To have a stress-less goal, set aside about 10-20% of your monthly earnings as your investment…anything more than that may cause you more stress than you can imagine. You will end up seeing yourself always going back to break into your investment to meet some other personal needs that you should have met.
If I start today, what are the three best actions you think I should take towards my wealth creation journey?
First of all, work on your belief system concerning wealth, money, wealth, prosperity, abundance, and all. All of this will either drive you towards building wealth or away from it. Sort this out first.
Start to look deeply at the beliefs you have around money. How you feel about money, and the actions you take towards money; all of these affect the way you think about this thing called money. Look inside your mind, and check out your beliefs and the meaning you put on money.
Step number two would be to learn some of the tools for wealth creation. If you intend to learn a trade, then you need to know how to use the tools; just like an automobile mechanic. Start to get an understanding about taxes and insurances, what to do with your money and how to budget and cash flow.
Generally, get some general knowledge around the actual utilization of your money. Learn a little bit more about the whole game of money itself.
And the third big thing is to get to know the actual mechanisms that people around the world use to utilize building wealth. Some people call it a wealth creation vehicle.
There’s property, shares, stocks, and business. Once you get started with these, you’ll be well on your way to building wealth in no time.
I am too young to start saving or investing; i still have many years ahead of me. Let me wait till when I am old enough.
Let me share with you a true-life story of a young lady who became a millionaire at 19.
She is from a humble family of 6, and the last in the family. An unfortunate event happened nine months after her birth, and she lost her dad before she could even pronounce ‘dada’ like others.
So, she grew up with her mum, she watched her mum fight to make ends meet; took loans and along with her pharmacy, to give her and her siblings the best she can. So, after high school, this young lady got admission into an expensive state school which she knew she couldn’t afford.
However, she had an uncle that came through at the start.
Her breakthrough came while she was going through an online page. That was the first time she came across Freelance writing. She took interest immediately and started.
At first, the money was coming in trickles, and it was hard getting jobs as there was cutthroat competition on the platform she registered with, but she refused to give up.
Then she started saving from the few cents she got from the freelance writing. She saved with a bank where they gave her 10% returns per annum on mutual funds. She was only 18 then.
Every month, she made sure she put some nickels aside. She kept saving and made a decision: “I’ll not only be rich, but I’ll have more than enough to give others.”
Eight months from that day, she had 1 million naira sitting in her mutual fund’s account. She made some more money from her freelance writing gig, and the good life started.
Fast Forward to 2021, she wasn’t only saving, she started investing in stock, real estate, etc.
She then gave her mum the nice pharmacy she had always wanted, paid school fees for other students, settled bills for the sick. Blessed people that couldn’t help themselves, etc.
So if you say you’re too young to embark on a wealth creation journey; then think again. Your age is in fact your currency. And when you start earning, don’t spend it on frivolous things. Save and invest.
I look forward to answering your questions and feel free to share with me your wealth creation journey.
and then