Time and money are your two most crucial resources. Your time decreases with each passing day; it is a diminishing resource.
You have 24 hours per day. What you do with those hours will decide your (financial) future. Unless you come from a wealthy family, you probably did not start your life with plenty of money. Thus, you need to know how to “convert” your time into wealth throughout your earning years.
How much you earn is important, but that’s not the ultimate factor. How much you save, before you spend, every single month, will determine how fast you achieve your financial goals. You must work hard – and work smart – to earn more money, save it and then invest with time. Any type of investment – fixed deposits, bonds, stocks, properties, businesses – requires time to generate profitable interest.
Employers pay employees for their time, skill, and knowledge. Patients use their money to pay for treatment in order to live longer or cure their illness. In that sense, money not only equals time; it evens buy a lease on life.
Once a certain amount of money is spent, it actually means that the time (or part of your life) that was used to earn that amount of money is “spent” as well. You have to use some more of your ever-diminishing time, to earn that money back. For those who have made huge financial mistakes or have lost their life-savings (for any reason), it’s as though they have just lost their “lives” or part of it.
Consequently, in order to earn back the same amount of money, they would have to continue working for the rest of their lives (and they might not have much time left). This can be the worst case scenario as BOTH time and money are already lost.
What we are emphasizing here is that you should be financially literate. You may not be able to avoid making financial mistakes, but you could minimize them. Not only that, you should learn how to recover your “losses” quickly.
While small mistakes have little impact on your well-being, the big ones could affect the other compartments of your life. Plan and manage finances well. Start saving as early as possible, set a budget, get familiar with your balance sheet, and invest wisely. It is worth the time and effort.
It is more important now than ever before to be financially literate and committed to your financial future. For those who are too busy to do all these on their own, seek the expertise of a competent financial planner.
Here are some common mistakes that will slow you down:
- Investment losses
- Unplanned marriage
- Terminal illness
- Business failure
- Medical bills
- Bad financial habits
- Lack of financial expertise
- Too busy to plan
- Too much unpaid debts
- Too much “unexpected” expenses
- Last minutes sourcing for children’s tertiary education
- Lack of discipline
- Outstanding tax
- Huge & long-term mortgage
- Gambling losses
Everyone can achieve financial independence. It has nothing to do with your income level or whether you come from a financially well-endowed family. If you can remember and understand that time is equivalent to money, you will make full use of one to create the other. Think of the ultimate financial reward you would gain when you focus and commit consistently to your budget and financial plan.
Be cautious when dealing with your expenditures and investment decision. Life is too precious to be wasted away. Life is worth it.
