I hate to say this, but it has to be said. To get rich, we must stop behaving like the typical retail investor. We must stop calling ourselves the Aam Aadmi or the middle class. Btw no one reading this belongs to the Indian middle class. They may have a middle-class mindset, but that does not make them middle-class.
What behaviour am I referring to? Always complaining about taxes. Always wanting tax breaks. Searching high and low for that extra discount, extra reward points, cashback, extra returns. Constantly feeling entitled to receive benefits from the government, hoping the government or regulator will save us*. No one ever got rich doing all this.
* The govt is not going to help us or save us! We have to do that ourselves!
We must accept that taxes are inevitable and stop wasting time trying to reduce them. A penny saved is just a penny saved. Earning them will take a lot more effort. And to become rich, taxes should be treated as the peanuts tossed towards the government on our way to becoming multi-crorepatis.
Use the new tax regime and focus on paying more tax each year by increasing income. See: New tax regime wants us to shift from tax-saving to wealth-creation mode – are we ready?
🔥Secure your future with our Robo-advisory tool trusted by over 3,500 investors and advisors. From effortless retirement planning to funding your children’s biggest dreams, turn your financial goals into reality. 🔥
Subscribe for money management solutions via email! (Link takes you to our email sign-up form) Join 32,000+ readers in our community.
👉 New Tool Alert! NaviPlan: A Privacy-Focused Multi-asset Tracker and Goal Planner 👈
Chasing after that extra 0.5% FD return or that small cap fund with recent performance will not make us rich. We need money to make more money. The only way to become rich is by
- increasing income
- ensuring expenses do not increase at the same rate as income.
- keeping debt as low as possible
- investing as much as possible in a risk-balanced diversified portfolio
- increase the investment as much as possible as often as possible.
Becoming wealthy and changing our social situation takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice. We have to plan and work every single free minute we have.
A dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
And if we do that, we will not have time to behave like a typical retail investor – sit and complain, crib and whinge on social media.
To get rich, we need to first think like rich people. Stop complaining about short-term issues and focus on long-term goals.
So, let us go ahead and visualise ourselves as rich. Write yourself that cheque for Ten Crores. Let us ignore trivialities (discounts, reward points, cashback, charges, fees, 0.5% drop in interest rates, etc.) and focus on the big picture (start early, invest right and invest big). The first step in getting rich is to believe that we will be. It is just a matter of time and effort.
You take the blue pill and stay where you are. Or you take the red pill, wake up and strive to change your life. Time is running out. – paraphrased from The Matrix (1999)