In school, we learned that our basic needs are food, clothes, and shelter. But we never learned how to acquire these basic needs. Our teachers never told us that we needed money for it.

Money is something that everyone wants. People work all their lives chasing money. People kill for money. There’s something magical about money that it lets people do so many uncertain things.

Most people have the sole purpose in life to make money. Their goal is to work their asses off and (hopefully) make enough to enjoy their lives in the future.

Now that is just sad.

The Importance of Financial Education

In the book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki says that financial education is all you need to become rich. You have to know how money works. He says that the rich don’t work for money, instead, they make their money work for them.

The saddest part is that we never learn about money in school. They teach us how to work for money – to get a high-paying job. If only we were taught about money in school, we would have fewer money problems in our lives.

Financial education is important because it not only teaches you how to make money, but it also teaches you what to do with it.

You need to be financially literate if you want to avoid money problems in life. How? By studying the rich. You don’t have to take a course and become a money master. There are a lot of books written on the topic and there is plenty of information online. You only have to know where to look.

How do the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer? What is it that the rich know about money that others don’t? You need to find the answer to these questions and do what the rich do.

Seek Financial Independence

Although I have been talking about rich people, the purpose of this article is to inform you about financial independence. Becoming rich takes a lot of effort and hard work. It is easier said than done. Your goal should be to become financially independent – to avoid money problems in life. In the process of becoming financially independent, you will find your path to riches as well.

I am by no means an expert on this topic. I only share the things that I have read, researched, and experienced myself. When it comes to financial literacy, I have learned about it in many ways – by reading books on financial intelligence, by studying the lives of the riches (what they do, how they work, how their money works, etc.), and a little from my own experience (which I will be sharing later in this post).

The #1 Secret of Rich People

There are many ways to avoid money problems in life. But it all comes down to this – the number one secret that all the riches use to never have money problems in their lives is:

Multiple sources of income.

Most people are living on only a single source of income, which is usually their day job. They are working for that paycheck at the end of the month, or week (depending on where you live).

Here’s the problem with having only a single source of income: What if you lose the job? What if you are laid off from it? People living paycheck-to-paycheck will have a difficult time surviving.

It is often said that rich people have at least 7 sources of income. But that’s only a generic assumption. I’d say that you need at least 5 sources of income, which is easily doable.

How To Create Multiple Sources of Income?

Most people would say that they don’t have time to focus on things other than their job. If you are trading time for money, it’s not going to make you rich, or financially independent.

The first thing you have to do if you want to create multiple sources of income is to learn. Find out how you can make a few extra money doing something other than your regular work. It doesn’t have to be a big business or anything like that. There are ways where you can keep your day job and still have multiple sources of income. Go online and do your learning. Study the riches. Find opportunities. If you don’t have the time to learn, then you will not have the time to earn as well.

There are a lot of ways to make money. You just have to be willing to find them and learn about them. Here are a few popular ones.

• Dividends from investing in stocks
• Interest income (Savings and Fixed Accounts)
• Blogging
• YouTube
• Affiliate Marketing
• Selling products/services online
• Online courses
• Teaching/Tutoring
• Freelancing
• Part-time jobs

The first thing that might come to your mind is that you don’t know how to do any of these things. That’s where the learning part comes. You don’t have to do it all at once. Take one step at a time. Once you go from one income-source to another, start learning and building the third one. Yes, it will take time but you will eventually build strong income-generating sources that will allow you to achieve financial independence.

What I Learned About Financial Independence

The book Rich Dad Poor Dad changed my thinking about money. It has made a big impact on my life. I started studying the riches and learning about personal finance. Here’s a picture that sums up what I have learned about money.

Whether it is relationships or money, the more you chase it, the further away it goes. Instead, you have to become better and valuable so that it will chase you.

I learned that you have to think differently if you want to make money, and I don’t mean different in a genius (like Steve Jobs) kind of way. You only have to change your mentality of the status quo – go to school, get a job, save money, retire, and die.

My advice to you is to learn. Avoid spending money on things you don’t need and start saving. Start investing. Build your skills. As I said, you don’t have to leave your job. Keep learning and building skills while you are at your job. If you are persistent and if you believe in yourself, soon, you will not need the job that you don’t really like. Learn to make passive income. Passive income is the income generated from sources that you don’t have to actively work for.

“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.” 

– Warren Buffett

 

“If you are born poor, it’s not your mistake. If you die poor, it’s your mistake.”

– Bill Gates

Summary

• You must pursue financial education to become financially independent and avoid money problems.
• Financial independence should be your goal, not becoming rich. Becoming rich will be easier once you become financially independent.
• The #1 secret of rich people is that they have multiple sources of income.
• Focus on learning and building skills.
• Change your beliefs about money. Avoid the status quo.
• Don’t chase the cat. If you have what the cat wants, it will chase you.
• Create passive income.