Why some might never be rich and why we soldier on? (UPDATED)

I had a blog post published in December last year titled "Helping more people discover a path to financial freedom". 

Note that I did not say "the" path.

I want to highlight again that there are many paths we could take and it is never my way or the highway.





When I was chatting with a reader last night on FB, he shared with me the problem he has with convincing his elder brother to do something about his financial health. 

Apparently, his brother is doing very well in sales and enjoys a high income.

Now, when we are doing very well in anything, there is a chance we might feel invincible. 

That is a nice but dangerous feeling to have.





It is worth reminding the reader's elder brother that he might not always make so much money but when a person is doing so well, good advice could sound rather sour. 

They easily fall on deaf ears.

The elder brother doesn't necessarily have to invest his money, he just needs to be prudent and save more of his earned income. 

If he continues to enjoy good health and be very successful in his job, he might have so much money that he does not need to invest to grow his wealth. 

However, he must first listen and appreciate a couple of hard truths.





Here are 2 reasons why he might never be rich:

1. Spends money freely. 

Bought himself a brand new $300K car, for example. 

Having said this, he is not selfish. 

He has been very generous towards his family, showering them with expensive gifts on their birthdays (which makes the problem worse). 

I don't know what kind of housing he has.





2. Doesn't believe in having insurance. 

He says he has about $100K in savings at any one time and that it should be enough. 

There are two issues here really: not having insurance and an inadequate emergency fund. 

If he were to die, how long would that $100K last his parents. 

If he were to not die but were unable to work, how long would that $100K last him and his family. 

I shudder at the thought.





It is very clear to me that the reader's elder brother does not have a sound financial plan and he really doesn't understand why he could be setting himself up for trouble. 

Unfortunately, for many people, they would have to experience failure before they understand what they did wrong.

In "Helping more people discover a path to financial freedom", I said that I was sure readers were spreading the word about my blog. 

Quite a few readers have told me that to convince people to take ownership of their financial well being and to take action to improve on their financial health is harder than they think. 

Tell me about it.





Although I might not be blogging as much as before, I am spending more and more time online. 

It is probably unhealthy. 

So, I am going away on a short holiday with my parents and I wouldn't have any access to the internet for a few days. 

Also, I haven't gone on a holiday with my parents for about two years. 

They are quite excited about the trip.





Before I go, I will leave you with this thought for the long weekend:

Financial freedom is out there. 

Financial freedom is not a race. 

There are no losers at the end of the journey. 

It is not a competitive sport. 

At the end of the journey, everyone is a winner.





So, although it might not be an easy thing to do, look for friends to go on the journey together and keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

Soldier on! 

Now, this is an appropriate metaphor as we celebrate SG50!






Related posts:
1. Journey to financial freedom is not a race.

2. If we are not rich, don't act rich.
3. Survivability and opportunity. (Added in 2018.)

Did you miss some stuff AK shared on Facebook in July?

I don't blog as much as I used to but I am actually still quite active in Facebook.

As I started being active in Facebook pretty late as a blogger, I think many of ASSI's readers don't follow me on Facebook. They probably use other means to follow my blog. After all, I have been blogging for almost 6 years but I have been active in Facebook for only about 2 years.

So, from now, I think I will try to share periodically in my blog what I share on my Facebook wall. However, if you think you might get to read something profound, you would probably be disappointed.

The stuff which I post on my Facebook wall which don't appear in my blog are usually nothing cerebral. They are just stuff for fun and laughter most of the time.

See for yourself:

AK is honest, isn't he? ;p

Oh, a bonus pic, from a few days ago:

In case you didn't get the joke, read this:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/breadtalk-temporarily/2028008.html

BreadTalk on Tuesday (Aug 4) said it has “temporarily stopped selling” bottled soya bean milk touted to be "freshly prepared" after an employee was caught repackaging ready-made soya bean milk into plastic bottles. The move comes after a photograph published by alternative news site Redwire Times sparked a firestorm online. “This ‘freshly prepared’ soya bean milk from BreadTalk always tasted very familiar, but somehow I couldn’t figure out why until now...

Hope you enjoyed this light hearted blog post.

HAPPY SG50. :)

Related posts:
1. Seven money habits of mine. See habit no. 1.
2. How to recession proof your life?
3. Green is not just the colour of money.