If you’re committed to growing your financial wealth in 2014, it’s time to talk about real steps that you can take to transform your financial positioning in the year ahead. Simple advice about skipping a latte and saving that money, or asking your boss for a raise are small changes. They won’t result in the kind of abiding wealth that sends your children to college, pays for your retirement, or allows you to fund the vacation that you’ve always dreamed about. We talked to a number of experts and read online content from creative thinkers such as DelSignore, Aaron. Here are some of their biggest and most audacious suggestions.
1. Define your priorities and ruthlessly edit out distractions. Answer the question, “What’s driving your desire to be rich?” It could be a desire for status, to provide for your family, or to retire and follow your passions. It’s important to know what you value. It’s hard to do a plan to sell everything and travel the world when your priority is a stable family home for your three kids. Understanding where that desire comes from and what a rich life will look like for you personally is the best place to start.
2. Accept the benefits of a high powered job: If you have a terrific job with excellent pay and benefits, now may be the time for a mindset shift that lets you capture that value in a meaningful way. To make the most of a high powered job, maximize the benefits you can take. Save for retirement at the level of a maximum match. Partake in training programs that make you more marketable. Save or invest as much of your salary as possible to really hold on to the wealth that you’re generating.
3. Find ways to break out of the cubicle cycle: If you feel that your job is one of the main reasons that you’re not able to build the wealth you imagine, it’s time to find a new line of work. Should you go back to school for business, medicine, or another lucrative field? Should you parlay your skills into a higher paying positions? Should you consider the possibility of opening your own business?
4. Drastically change your lifestyle: Dramatic downsizing is playing a larger role in the mainstream media’s conversation about wealth. Families are letting go of five figure monthly mortgage payments, expensive cars, and other high-end lifestyle choices in favor of smaller houses, fewer things to clean, more time, and zero debt. If you’re ready for a radical approach, consider exploring whether this might be right for you.
5. Think about hidden assets: Do you have hidden assets that can go to work for you while you do other things? Certain investments, products you create, websites you set up, and more have the potential to work for you and make you money while you focus on other things. As you become skilled at developing these muse businesses, you’re likely to find that it becomes a key part of your strategy for generating wealth.
About the Author: Andreas Jones is a finance writer who covers a wide range of financial news, stock market, and personal finance stories.