What is the best way to become wealthy? No it is not winning The Mega Millions Lottery or being lefty and being able to throw a 90 mph fastball. One of the best and most proven ways to achieving wealth is through Saving more and more money every Month. I’m not suggesting that everyone go back to their college days of eating Ramen noodles and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but if you go through your monthly expenditures, you are bound to find areas where you can cut back your spending.
In the late 90’s a book was written by Thomas Stanley and William Danko titled “The Millionaire Next Door”. The two authors studied the lives of millionaires to determine what steps they took to achieve their wealth. They came up with a list of 7 necessary rules to follow to become wealthy. The first rule they state is To Live Beneath your Means. Unfortunately most Americans have been moving in the opposite direction and are accumulating more and more debt.
It is important to constantly take your financial pulse. The following are five signs that you are heading in the wrong direction and it is time to get things back on track.
Sign No. 1 – Your Credit Score is Below 600
Credit bureaus keep track of your payment history, outstanding loan balances and legal judgments against you. They then use this information to compile a credit score that reflects your credit worthiness. The numerical rankings go from a low of 300 to high of 850. The higher the better. It’s this score that lenders use to determine whether they’ll grant a loan. In general, any credit score below 600 means that you are probably in over your head.
If you aren’t sure what your credit score is, contact any of the major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian) and have them send you a copy of your credit report. This document will tell you what the bureaus – and ultimately lenders and financial institutions – think of your finances.
Sign No. 2 – You are Saving Less Than 5%
In 2005, the average rate of personal savings was an astonishing -0.5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That means that not only were we spending all of our income, but also that a good number of us were also dipping into personal savings. This was the worst savings rate that Americans have recorded since 1933 when it was -0.7% during the Great Depression. The rate has bounced back into positive territory, but in 2008, it still hadn’t cracked 1%
A savings rate below 5% means you could be in real danger of financial ruin if someone in your family were to have a medical emergency, or your family home were to burn to the ground. With savings this low, it likely means you wouldn’t even have the money to pay the necessary insurance deductibles.
Ideally, everyone should try to save as much as they can, but in terms of targets, the rule most financial advisors suggest is 10% of your gross income. Beginning at age 30, if you were to save 10% of your $100,000 annual income in your 401(k), or $10,000 every year, and earn a rate of return of 5%, that money would grow to more than $900,000 by age 65.
Sign No. 3 – Your Credit Card Balances are Rising
If you are one of those people who pays only the minimum due on their credit card balance each month, or if you send in only a small contribution toward the principal balance, then you are most likely in over your head.
Ideally, you should only charge what you can pay off at the end of each month. When you can’t afford to pay off the balance in its entirety, you should try to make at least some contribution toward the outstanding principal.
The importance of paying down credit card balances as soon as possible cannot be understated. A person with $5,000 in credit card debt that makes the minimum payment of just $200 per month will end up spending more than $8,000 and take almost 13 years to pay off that debt.
Sign No. 4 – More Than 28% of Income Goes To Your House
Calculate what percentage of your monthly income goes toward your mortgage, property taxes and insurance. If it’s more than 28% of your gross income, then you are likely in over your head.
Why is 28% the magic number? Historically, conservative lenders have used the 28% threshold because their experience has told them that this is the rate at which the average person can get by, make their mortgage payments and still enjoy a reasonable standard of living. Certainly, some homeowners can get by spending a higher percentage on their homes, particularly if they cut back elsewhere, but it’s a dangerous line to walk.
Sign No. 5 – Your Bills are Spiraling Out of Control
Buying on credit and paying by installment has become a national pastime. It’s much easier to buy a new flatscreeen TV when the salesman breaks down the price in monthly installments. What’s an extra $50 per month, right? The problem is that all of these bills start to add up, and you end up nickel and diming yourself into bankruptcy. If your monthly income is being sliced and diced to pay for dozens of unnecessary installment purchases and services, you are likely in over your head.
Lay out all of your monthly bills on your kitchen table, and go through them one by one. Do you have a cell phone bill, a PDA bill, an internet bill, a premium cable TV package, a satellite radio bill, and all of those other gadgets that generate countless monthly bills? Ask yourself whether each product or service is really necessary. For example, do you really need a 500-channel premium cable TV package, or would you really notice the difference if you had fewer channels (and paid less)?
Some of the best places to find savings include your telephone bills (cell and land line), your utility bills (turn off the lights, and don’t run the air conditioning if nobody is home) and your entertainment expenses (you could stand to dine out less and to pack a lunch for work).
Cutting back on your spending and reducing your debt is a great way to get started on the right path financially. All it takes is some time analyzing your current situation monitoring it frequently to ensure things are not getting off track again.
