• “We WANT to save, but once we pay our bills, there’s nothing left!”
• “Gee whiz…with inflation like it is, how are we supposed to find money to put aside?”
• “We’ve slashed our spending, but still can’t sack any money away! What should we do now?”

All of these comments reflect a faulty mindset.

They are looking at the “savings problem” from the wrong end of things. 

You see, it’s all but impossible to cut back when you see everything you buy as “essential.” You can waste a lot of time crunching numbers with one hand and clutching all that stuff “I-can’t-live-without!” in the other.

This explains why, as Forbes recently reported, “personal savings only accounts for 4.1% of disposable personal income as of April 2023.” And how in 2022, “Americans were able to save roughly $2,010 per person.” 

Those meager figures are hardly the path to financial wellness.

So, how can you buck the trend and make saving a priority? What can you do?

Begin at the end. 

You need to save 15% of your gross income. But let’s take baby steps and start with just 10%. Ten percent of your gross income. 

Let’s say you earn $72,000 per year. That means you need to save $7,200 annually, or $600 monthly. 

Before you do anything else, you pay your savings account that amount.

But, instead of figuring out how to FIND $600 monthly AFTER spending $6,000 (that math won’t work!), you set aside that $600 first and figure out how to get by on $5,400. 

(By the way, consider that not long ago you were actually earning 10% less than you are making today…and somehow you survived!)

“But,” I can hear you say, “Groceries! Gas! School supplies! Utility bills! Car payments!…”

I know. I know. But in a sincere effort to help you, I’m going to ignore all of those common economic moans and groans and ask you to look more closely in the mirror.

You cannot keep buying $5 coffee drinks, eating out five (or more) times a week, splurging on the latest technology, and trading in your vehicle every 3-4 years. 

Doing all that and thinking you’ll somehow “find some money to save” by choosing store brand plastic baggies isn’t going to work.

That kind of backwards thinking is what torpedoes most savings plans. It leads to a lack of willpower that results in living beyond your means, buying on impulse, trying to keep up with the neighbors, and not having adequate resources set aside for emergencies.

When people tell me they “can’t find the money” I never think they’re lying. No, indeed! I know they are speaking the truth—they cannot find the money.

That’s because they’re not serious about saving.

When you’re serious about saving, you don’t try to “find” the money. You TAKE that 10%—by force and off the top. You treat savings like a non-negotiable bill. That payment gets priority treatment. You pay your savings account first. 

Look, I know you are going to spend 100% of your income. And I know it is all going to be for good and justifiable things. 

So, what I want you to do is change the way you see that 100%. I want you to save 10% first, and then spend 100% of what is left over on all the other stuff. 

You’ll never know how effective this is until you try it. Let me warn you: You will not be able to make the math work out ahead of time. 

But once you start, you’ll be amazed at how creative you become. And you’ll see how certain “essentials” aren’t so necessary after all.

Get serious about saving.

Down the road you’ll be seriously glad you did.

And know this: If you choose NOT to save, you will one day face serious regret.

One final question around this serious matter of saving more…

As you’re setting aside money for the future, what’s your plan for turning those assets into retirement income?

If you don’t have one—or don’t have one you feel good about—email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com. I’ll send you a link to take the RISA^® Profile for FREE. (RISA® stands for Retirement Income Style Awareness^®.) This quick and ingenious quiz can help you create a retirement income plan that makes fiscal sense and is a good fit emotionally. (You don’t want to spend your retirement fretting 24/7, right?)

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

“I’m constantly stressed about money!”

Maybe you can relate? (Especially in the current economic climate.)

If so, let me give you two reminders and five suggestions.

First, two reminders:

• Money doesn’t “contain stress.” It’s not inherently stressful. The stress comes from how we view and use money.

• Simply getting and having more isn’t the answer. Some of the most stressed individuals on earth are billionaires and Powerball winners.

Next, the five suggestions (see if these don’t reduce your financial stress!):

• Discover where your money is going. 

When money is flowing in and out of your bank account, but you don’t know where it’s all going—that’s stressful! 

Income is fairly easy to determine—we see the figures on our paycheck every week or month. But what about outgo? Do you know how much you’re spending monthly…and on what?

By tracking your spending, you can begin to get a handle on your financial stress.

• Decide where your money will go. 

Once you know where your money is going, you can begin to take control. 

The key is deciding your expenditures in advance—rather than on the fly. 

We’ve all made bad spending decisions—and had regrets later. Imagine how many impulsive and unwise spending decisions you could avoid by being intentional. 

What if you stopped deciding how much to spend on clothes while you’re trying them on in the dressing room? (That’s reactive spending, made in the emotion of the moment.) 

What if you were proactive instead? What if you reviewed your finances first and gave yourself a limit BEFORE you shopped? 

Such an approach means fewer purchases that you’ll later evaluate as “foolish.” And that means less stress.

• Develop a financial gratitude list. 

Hate to break it to you, but even with planning, your wants will still exceed your means. And if you focus on what you don’t have, you’ll always feel stressed. 

Let me suggest a practice that has application far beyond the financial realm (though it certainly applies here):

Each day list ten things for which you are grateful. 

Gratitude reminds you of what you already possess. It’s a great stress-reliever, because of the power it has to alter our perspective.

• Discontinue comparison.

Comparison, as the old saying goes, is the thief of joy. 

It either makes you prideful or pitiful, both of which produce stress. 

When you feel tempted to compare your financial situation to someone else’s, go back to #3.

• Develop connections. 

An old proverb says shared joys are multiplied and shared sorrows are halved. 

That’s one of the main benefits people get from classes, cohorts, and small groups.

Those personal connections can help us stay motivated for the long haul. They provide a sounding board when things get hard. A personal connection for you may be a book club (that discusses financial books), a financial class, a trusted friend who’s good with money, or even a financial professional with whom you have a good relationship. 

These 5 suggestions have proven to reduce the stress that arises around money. 

Now it’s your turn. 

Give them a try, and let me know which ones work best for you.

One last thing…is the question of retirement income one of the things that’s got you stressed? The question: “How do I turn my retirement nest egg into money I can live on for the rest of my life?!”

Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com. I’ll send you a free link to take the RISA^® Profile. This simple, ingenious quiz takes mere minutes, and it can save you a LOT of stress in retirement.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

Compare that to professional baseball. In the big leagues, nobody cares that your dad is one of the coaches, that you skinned-up your knee, or that the kid playing first base called you a name.

It’s perform…or else. Get a hit, or get booed. Help us win, or look for a new job.

On the other hand, excel and you get to remain in an exclusive group: the 780 men who comprise Major League Baseball’s active rosters (30 teams with 26 players each). And you get to earn an average of $4.22 million a year! 

Make no mistake—major leaguers are talented. But they also worked their tails off to make it to the bigs. They were the ultimate “go-getters,” pursuing their dream with relentless passion. They didn’t just “get” opportunities handed to them. They took an active role in creating their own opportunities.

The same principle is at work in the business world.

Want to be an employee at one of Fortune magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For”—e.g., Cisco Systems, Hilton, American Express, etc.? Want to start your own successful $50 million business?

Hey, nobody is ever going to hand that to you. You’ll have to create that opportunity. To do that, you’ll need to remember that the secret to getting the career you love depends on your head, your heart, and your hands.

What do I mean? I mean you’ll find your greatest opportunities when you:

• Learn to think creatively. You don’t necessarily have to create something altogether new. Brainstorm an innovative way to improve an existing product, process, or service. By using your head, you can make a huge difference for your customers and/or bosses. They’ll gladly pay you for ideas that enhance lives—or boost their bottom line. 

• Learn to care deeply. Comedian George Burns quipped, “The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” It’s a funny joke, but it’s not funny when you’re trying to fake sincerity on the job. So, quit trying. If your heart isn’t in what you are selling, promoting, and spending your days doing—do something else! 

Success in business means caring deeply about your clients, obsessing over their success. If you own a company, nobody else has to care like you do—it isn’t their life. But you have to care—from the heart. And you can’t fake that—not to your customers and least of all to yourself.

• Learn to serve enthusiastically. Who are the people you serve? Sometimes they’re easy to spot. If you’re a realtor, it’s the happy home seller or buyer. If you’re a doctor, it’s the relieved patient. If you sell cars, it’s the harried mom who will chauffeur her kids all over creation in that new SUV. 

But sometimes the beneficiaries of your efforts are not so obvious. You’re an engineer at a plant that manufacturers machine screws. You sit in an office by yourself most days writing computer code. Or you’re a consultant for the paper industry. 

Whatever the case, never forget that whatever you do, somewhere out there is a person being helped by what you do. You’re not just helping an impersonal corporation turn a profit. 

When you can make that connection between “what I do” and “how my efforts are making life better for someone else” it gives your work new significance, value, purpose, and even joy.

Is all this rather idealistic? Sure.

But only the idealistic have heads, hearts, and hands capable of creating the opportunity to “play in the big leagues.”

Speaking of opportunities, I’m guessing you have a portfolio that you hope will afford you lots of opportunities to enjoy retirement. What’s your plan for turning those “nest egg” assets into monthly living expenses once you stop drawing a paycheck? Do you have a plan like that?

And, if you do, does that plan align with your “financial personality”? If not, I’ve got a free gift for you. Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com and I’ll send you a link to take the RISA® (Retirement Income Style Awareness®) Profile. There’s no charge. It only takes about 15 minutes, and it can save you years of worry. 

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

I told him, “I understand that feeling. But the truth is you could create a smart financial plan. It really is possible.”

(That’s a book I want to write one day: “How to Do Seemingly Impossible Things.”)

Have you ever listed the interesting things you COULD do, but for whatever reason, you’ve never tried to accomplish? My list looks like this: become fluent in French, skydive, play the piano, cycle coast to coast, travel to Africa, write a book (hmmm…).

I’m guessing your list, like mine, is both inspiring and intimidating. Some of your items might seem impossible. They’re not. You could do them.

Just like the man above could create a wise financial plan.

How? By taking these six steps:

1. Make a choice. The first step is to make a choice that, yes, I want to do this thing. Until you decide to pursue a thing, it’s not a serious goal, only a vague wish. And you need to state your decision in specific terms. “Lose weight” is weak. “Stop eating sweets and lose 10 pounds by June so I can get back into my swim suit for our family vacation” is much better.

2. Engage a coach. Have you ever heard of a great athlete without a coach? Me neither. Coaches keep us focused and supply motivation when ours runs out. One reason we accomplish so few goals—despite all our good intentions—is that we run out run out of motivation. If you really want to do a thing, get some “coaching”—it may be a financial planner for financial fitness, a personal trainer for physical fitness, or a tutor for a foreign language. 

3. Draft a plan. No one ever drifted into greatness. You and your coach must draft an intentional plan of action in order for you to achieve you goal. It’s not enough to simply know your destination. You need the turn-by-turn directions that will get you there.

4. Embrace discipline. If your goal were easy, you would already have accomplished it. It takes discipline—i.e., the practice of saying no to one thing so you can say yes to something else. You need discipline to spend less and save more every month, to attend language classes weekly, or to practice the piano or run or walk two miles daily. That’s why celebrating small victories is important. Little successes keep us going, all the way to the finish line.

5. Accept accountability. Ever failed in pursuit of a goal? I have. When we stumble, we want sympathy, but pats on the back won’t get us to our goal. We need someone on our side—a coach or friend—who will lovingly kick us a little lower in the backside and get us moving again! 

6. Refuse to stop. Your progress won’t be even. You’ll have seasons of spectacular progress. You’ll have other times when you think the goal you set was a foolish mistake. When things get hard (and they will), it’s easy to lose perspective. It’s common to want to give up. 

But if you determined ahead of time this was a thing you can accomplish, here’s what you have to do: Forget your feelings of failure and forge ahead. Your coach is there is to provide perspective. It’s his/her job to know when to throw in the towel, not yours. Refuse to stop.

Accomplishing hard things isn’t easy, but it also isn’t complicated. These six steps are proven. They will work if you stick with them.

So…what do you want to do?

If creating a financial plan (like the man above) is one of those things you want to tackle, you could benefit from my free list of “30-Something Questions for People Who are 60-Something.” Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com and I’ll send it to you right away.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

I’m convinced this disconnect between “knowing what to do” and “doing what you know” is at the root of most financial problems. “Spend less; save more” may have a nice ring to it, but for most folks, it has never become a lifestyle.

I’m also convinced that management consultant Bobb Biehl was right when he said: “Nobody wants to fail. People most often fail because they just don’t know how to succeed.”

Consider these shocking financial facts about 65-year-old Americans:

• Only 2% are financially independent.  
• 23% are still working 
• 75% are dependent on relatives, friends and charity to make ends meet! (You think any of them said when they were 35, “My goal in 30 years is to be in financial trouble”?) 

Here’s the third thing I’m convinced of: Having a financial “coach” can put you in that 2% group. (And if you’re not wild about the term “coach,” substitute the term “personal trainer.”)

Such an individual provides instruction, motivation, and accountability.

Back before the earth’s crust hardened, I played football. I had plenty of coaches. And weren’t they a charming bunch!

First, they instructed me in the fine art of blocking and tackling.  

Next, they motivated me (or tried to): “Moore, if your brains were dynamite, you couldn’t make a hummingbird sneeze!” Not the most positive form of inspiration. But it had a certain effect.

Finally, they kept me accountable.  Rarely did I WANT to show up at practice twice a day in the August heat. But I knew that if I skipped practice, I’d get some “special” one-on-one time with my coaches.

Instruction, motivation and accountability…I’m finding that most people need these three same elements in their financial lives.

Hire a personal trainer, and he or she will instruct you in the proper methods of exercise, diet, and rest.

But instruction is only the beginning. That’s because “knowing” is only about 15% of the journey. It’s the other 85%—“doing”—that gets you to the goal.

In short, we need motivation and accountability. This is why we step on the scales. It’s why we meet regularly with our personal trainers at agreed-upon times…so we can engage in certain actions, with him or her standing by and offering encouragement to keep going.

Who should you choose as a financial “coach” or “personal trainer”? Here are two options:

• A successful friend. Maybe you know someone with a similar income and a track record of fiscal wisdom. They’re debt-free. Generous. They’re regular savers, and their portfolio is growing. Buy them lunch and pick their brains. 

• A trusted professional. This may be your CPA, a financial planner, a banker, someone else involved in the world of finances. Again, take caution. Make sure they are looking after your best interest, not just their own.

Remember, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.  My advice is to consider getting a coach!

What kind of questions should you be discussing with your coach? Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com and I’ll send you my free list of “30-Something Retirement Questions for People Who are 60-Something.”

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

The video featured an attractive young man. He was glib, funny, a bit ironic, and full of confidence. The gist of his message was “Borrow money at 4% and invest it at 8%, and you’ll make a lot of money over your lifetime.”

Oh, yes, and it helps to have $1,000,000 in cash to start with.

Thanks for the tip.

Videos like this are rampant in our hyper-connected age. They tap into that nagging insecurity we feel that somebody somewhere knows a “secret” to success that we don’t. 

As a result, thousands of social media “influencers” are posting more videos like that—as you read this sentence—explaining obvious things in clever ways. 

Watching them talk about their own (supposed) success can spark wishful thinking (or envy). It’s unlikely to bring true success. Enduring success usually only comes when we follow this formula for a long, long time:

Work hard + work smart + keep learning 

“Success” often appears in different forms or stages:

1. Theoretical success. Think of the self-help section in the bookstore. (Remember bookstores?) Or think of all those how-to videos friends keep sending you. “Earn passive income…lose weight…attract others…work just four hours a week…read books without opening the cover.”

Each of these clever pitches has a theory, a plan, a mastermind group, and individual coaching—all available for a monthly charge to your credit card. 

Have you ever seen one of those offers that said, “Don’t pay us until after you’ve earned a bajillion dollars using our plan?”

Me neither.  

2. Impractical success. When the Germans were sinking U.S. ships during World War I, someone asked humorist Will Rogers his advice. He suggested, “If you heated up the Atlantic Ocean, the enemy submarines would rise to the surface and you could capture them.”

When someone asked him how he proposed to “boil the ocean,” he quipped, “I’ve given you the solution. It’s up to you to work out the details!”

A great idea without a practical application isn’t success; it’s merely a daydream. 

3. Problematic success. My family never lets me forget the Christmas I bought a basketball goal for my kids and decided to wait until midnight to “help Santa Claus” put it together. It was bitterly cold and all the pieces didn’t exactly go together like the instructions said they would. Facing all those problems, let’s just say, “the Christmas spirit left me.”

Sometimes the path to success is so fraught with unanticipated problems, it ruins the success part. The cost ends up being greater than the benefit.  

4. Collaborative success. When you have a run-in or two with “problematic success,” you learn the wisdom I heard from Dan Sullivan: If you’ve got to do something you’ve never done before, don’t ask “how?” Ask “who?” 

Find a teacher, coach, advisor, or service provider to help you. With an expert at your side, you’ll gain confidence. You’ll be able to correct things along the way instead of driving your car off into a ditch every time. Having a wise guide invariably leads to a happier ending.

5. Eventual success. This is when true success typically comes—after a long, hard, thoughtful, error-correcting, advice-seeking process. 

It is so tempting to fall for the “just watch this video” shortcut. In fact, I’ve stopped trying to talk people out of it. When asked, I’ll usually say something like, “That’s not what I would do, but if you want to try it, go ahead. All you can lose is everything.” 

That last part is usually a joke. Usually. 

You can watch all the videos you want, looking for easy shortcuts. When you wake up and realize financial success rarely comes quickly or without effort, I’ve got something for you to read.

Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com and ask for my free, simple-to-understand e-book called “How to Put Money Worries in Your Rear View Mirror – the Financial Freedom Roadmap.” I’ll send it to you right away.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

Something about a new year suggests a clean slate – a fresh opportunity to do it again, only this time get it right! 

Well, whether it is the coming of a new year, turning one of those ages with a zero after it (like 50 or 60) or just looking down and realizing you can no longer see the scale beneath you due to your own plump belly, something is telling you it’s time to make some changes.

If you decide you are serious about making long-term and lasting change, I have a suggestion: focus more on habits than goals.

Goals are markers out into the future that will either be reached or not. If you don’t reach your goal, you’ve “failed.” If you do reach your goal, then what? Often, it means you quit doing the things that got you to the goal. Either outcome – failure or success – tends to rob you of motivation to keep going.

The problem with goals is that they may be achieved (or not), then abandoned.

On the other hand, a focus on habits means making daily changes that make a difference over time. 

Think about how we so often approach reaching a goal. Suppose you set a goal of losing 30 pounds by summer. So, you go on the grapefruit diet, or you start counting calories (or macros), or you eat specially prepared diet food on a box sold to you by a weight loss company…there are lots of ways to lose 30 pounds by summer.

But they all involved becoming a different person than you are today, for a temporary period of time, in order to achieve your goal. Then what happens? I don’t ever need to tell you, do I?

Waaaay too often, those 30 pounds find their way home and resume residence around your waistline where they belong. Every one of the diet programs out there offer a “maintenance plan” once you reach your goal. But do you know anyone who’s actually stuck to it?

You may have reached your goal, but you never really changed. Once the “goal achievement period” was over, you rebounded to become that person you really were all the time. 

For a brief season you became an alternate “you” to reach your goal. But once the goal was attained, the stress of being the alternate “you” could be eliminated, and you could resume being the real you.

Habits, on the other hand, are by definition neither short-term nor temporary. They are who you are. Or at least who you want to be.

That’s why the process of habit-forming is slow, deliberate, step-by-step and highly effective at creating long-term change. Habits much be honed, so that they may eventually be hard-wired into who you are. They alter your internal identity.

You can’t fake or shortcut a habit.

That is why I say the most determinative thing that can happen in one’s financial life is instilling the two-sided habit of living within your means and saving money (I suggest 15% of gross income as a starting place).  When you live within your means and save 15% of your income, good things happen. And bad things get prevented or cut off before they cause long-term damage. 

Good habits, financial or otherwise, have no end point, but keep producing fruit far beyond what the practitioner could have imagined when she first began the habit. 

If you just want a little short-term change, go ahead a set a goal.

But if you want true long-term change, beyond what you may now be able to imagine, focus on changing your habits. 

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

Except that I had only one more hill to go. If I could climb it—honestly, it looked like Everest—I’d be close to the final turn where the race had started—and where we were to finish.

I chugged and churned up that hill, rounded the final corner, and nearly stopped in my tracks. Someone had moved the finish line! 

Apparently the race organizers had been “off” in mapping out our original course. To make the course exactly 10 kilometers, they’d added another quarter mile. Somehow, I didn’t get the memo!

Talk about disheartening! 

It wasn’t that I couldn’t run an extra 400 yards. It was the shock of it—the fact that the race had been “lengthened” at the last minute. Suddenly, I was being asked to summon energy I had already expended. 

In a weekend fun run, a moved finish line is no fun. But in life, a shifting finish line can be completely disorienting—even devastating.

So many surprises in life feel like “someone just moved the finish line on me.” Ask anyone who’s lost a job, suffered a major illness or disability, been in an accident, battled addiction, been through a divorce, or buried a loved one. 

Finish lines DO move. Or they get moved. So what can we do about this unpleasant reality?

I counsel my clients to prepare for moving finish lines, to count on them. They’re going to happen.

That isn’t pessimism. It’s realism. So many people are shocked when things go wrong in life. Somehow they’ve bought into the fallacy that life will always go smoothly for them. Then, when they face the jarring reality of a finish line moving, they respond like I did in my 10k race.

They stop in discouraged disbelief. They think, “How dare they move the finish line on me!”

There’s a better way to respond. It’s to prepare for the inevitable moving of finish lines by making sure you have three things:

1. Margin. You need some margin in your life, financially, personally and relationally. 

Financially, margin is known as savings. For the average Joe (or Jo), that means keeping six months of income in a readily available E&O account (emergencies and opportunities). 

Personally, margin is known as rest. You are a physical, emotional, and spiritual being. Caring for each of those aspects of you is important. 

Relationally, margin is known as friendship. When life moves the finish line on you, who can you call on for unconditional support? Those are your true friends.

2. Mobility. Think of an athlete or a dancer. Thanks to physical mobility they can move in a variety of directions easily. 

Financially, mobility is being able to change directions without losing ground. If you lost your job or changed careers, is your financial life configured in such a way that it could survive such a diversion?

3. Mission. This is the finish line you’re trying to get to. Perhaps someone or some situation has moved it. Yes, that’s hard. It’s a challenge to deal with—but it’s still the finish line. If, like most people, you want the option of retiring one day, that remains the finish line…even if events force you to wait and work a bit longer to reach that goal. 

I have many clients tell me they want to leave their children better off than they had been left. That desire is part of their mission. 

What’s your mission? It may be multi-faceted, but it is still your mission. 

Create some margin. Be mobile. Get clear on your mission. 

Then stay focused on reaching your goal—wherever the finish line ends up being.

One great way to make sure you have margin, mobility and mission in your financial life is by reading my free e-book book “How to Put Financial Worries in Your Rear View Mirror.” You can write to me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com and request your free copy. There’s no cost or obligation.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

My simple definition of affluence is “your income relative to everyone else’s.” If you make $36,000, you qualify as an average Joe – you’re right in the middle of the income numbers for the rest of the country. 

However, someone making $36,000 back in 1960 was earning about 7x the average (or median) income! That would be like making $250,000 today. Most would consider that doing pretty well…probably even being affluent. 

Affluence is relative. It asks, “How do you stack up against others?” 

Wealth is different. To be sure, many measure wealth the same way (via comparison). But that’s not a very useful standard. By that measure only the super-rich—e.g., Internet billionaires and crypto-currency pioneers—can be considered truly wealthy. 

A better understanding of wealth is “the amount of assets one has relative to one’s lifestyle.” 

By this measure, a person with assets worth millions might be wealthy, while another (with the same assets) might not be (due to an extravagant lifestyle). 

The difference between the two isn’t the income, but the outgo.

This “assets to lifestyle” ratio is more useful to more people. That’s because many people are limited in their ability to amass assets; however, they have a great deal of control over the size of their lifestyle. By this measure, you can become “wealthier” as you grow your assets and/or moderate your lifestyle. For most, pursuing wealth involves both actions.

Here are six essentials for a life of wealth: 

• Strategy. This one is obvious. You’re going to need a plan that combines saving, protection and growth of your assets. And you’ll eventually need a plan to convert those assets into retirement income.

• Wisdom. Wisdom is the intersection of intelligence, experience, and responsibility. It’s not a virtue acquired quickly but one grown slowly over time. Wisdom perceives the value of balancing risk and certainty. Wisdom combines the power of thrift and the discernment necessary to see good opportunities. 

• Energy. You can’t be passive—the journey to true wealth takes effort. That’s especially true in the early days of a plan. Plans don’t magically happen…you have to make them happen.

• Discipline. You’ve got to spend less than you make so you’ll have something to save. That’s short-term pain for long-term gain. You also have to resist the constant temptation to use debt to “keep up with the Joneses.” That would be short-term gain for long-term pain.

• Resilience. When you begin your journey to wealth, you’ll sail into some serious headwinds. Nearly 100% of the 3,000+ marketing messages you see and hear daily will work against your disciplined strategy. You will have to learn to say “no” a lot.

• Time. This won’t be a fast journey. And despite all the folks that will invite you to their “get rich quick” fairyland, shortcuts are a one-way street to disappointment. Ask yourself, “Do I know one wealthy person who got wealthy this way? Even one?”

Last week I wrote that affluence tends to be temporary and wealth tends to be permanent. 

For most there will be a natural tension between the desire to live affluently (however short term that is) and the will to create long-term wealth. It’s good to understand and anticipate that struggle. It’s real. 

The question each of us must answer is, “Which do I want…the temporary or the permanent?”

Your answer will determine your path.

If you want to take the path to seeking long-term wealth creation, one place to start is by reading my free e-book “How to Put Financial Worries in Your Rear View Mirror.” You can write to me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com and request your free copy. There’s no cost or obligation. 

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

He drove a white Lincoln Continental with burgundy leather interior. It was longer than most living rooms and at that moment was lumbering down I-55 from St. Louis to Jackson, MS. The windows were down and his heart was full. 

Fresh off a highly motivational conference, Don was convinced he’d just learned the secret of spinning straw into gold. A good sales conference will do that for you. 

Fast forward 30 years and by most accounts, Don is indeed rich. Based on what he learned that day, he started a company, built it into a national powerhouse and sold out a few years ago. The white Continental is gone, replaced by a mansion with Greek statues in his back yard, standing watch over his marble pool. 

Don has always been into external displays of his wealth.

It’s been a while since I talked to Don, but unless a lot has changed, he would say those are not the things that make him rich. He’s married to his high school sweetheart. Together they have two children, who now also have spouses and children of their own. The company Don created has helped a lot of people realize their financial dreams.  

The apostle Paul had some incisive words for wealthy people. Those who are “rich in this present age” are to be humble, recognizing the Source of their wealth and “be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share…”

Don is rich in that way, too. 

So are many who don’t have nearly as many financial resources as Don does. 

That begs the question – what does it really mean to be wealthy?

First, we need to understand the difference between affluence and wealth. 

The brain surgeon earning $1,000,000 a year is affluent. The trial lawyer making $100,000 a month is affluent. The pharmaceutical sales rep making $500,000 a year is affluent. The farmer making $750,000 from an outstanding corn crop is affluent. 

All of the above are affluent. They make a lot of money. But how much of it do they keep?

Contrast that with guy who works 40 years in the mill and retires. He’s got Social Security and takes the required minimum from his company 401(k) plan. Most months he doesn’t spend that. He spends his time fishing, hunting whatever is in season and volunteering at church. He lives in the same 2,000 square foot house he raised the kids in and most Friday nights, he takes his wife (“Momma”) to the catfish restaurant for a night out. He loves his life.

No one would call him wealthy. But he may be happier than the brain surgeon, trial lawyer or drug sales rep. And he is at least financially independent. 

Affluence is all about income. Wealth is about the outcome. 

Affluence tends to be temporary. Wealth tends to be permanent.

There isn’t a technical definition of “wealthy,” but like the Supreme Court justice said about another popular topic, “you know it when you see it.”

I might suggest a simple working definition of wealthy as “having enough to be financially self-sufficient, worry free, with enough to share.” 

Using that definition, one person could have $500,000 and be “wealthy,” and another have $10,000,000 and not be wealthy (I was recently in New York City…believe me, such a thing is possible). 

There is a path one can take to move from mere affluence to lasting wealth. But we don’t have room for that this week. Let’s take it up in this space next week.

In the meantime, you can start your own journey to financial independence (and maybe even wealth) write to me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com and request your free copy of my e-book “How to Put Financial Worries in Your Rear View Mirror.” There’s no cost and no obligation. 

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.