Why Having No Money Can Be Your Biggest Advantage

A lot of people aren’t gonna like this one, but making millions doesn’t have to take you decades of hard work.

Sure, being a millionaire in your fifties is all right, but being a millionaire when you’re younger is far better.

Take it from someone who’s experienced both. And no, I wasn’t born into a rich family. Quite the opposite.

The odds were stacked against me. I was a ginger, working-class kid without a penny to his name.

So if I can build wealth in a relatively short amount of time, then you can too.

This isn’t gonna be one of those articles about investing in index funds and getting rich when you’re old and gray.

From the moment you set foot into school, they try to control your ambition, and one memory that stands out to me was sitting in a lecture theater just like this one.

The teacher asked us to write down our dream job, our dream car, and our dream house.

I was really excited. So I wrote down business owner, Ferrari, and mansion.

She then said, “Life is gonna be tough, so I’m gonna break the hard news to you now: You’re probably gonna have none of those things, so be realistic and lower your expectations.”

I thought to myself, “Of course I will. I’ll have all of those things.” And I’ve carried that attitude for the whole of my life.

STEP 1: BE A CONTRARIAN- Someone who rejects mass thinking

If you allow the system to crush your hopes and dreams, you’ll never be able to create wealth from nothing. Look, this isn’t some fluffy mindset BS.

If you can’t even believe something is possible, then how on earth are you gonna do the work required to become wealthy?

Most people give in to the pressure of being realistic and end up joining the crowd, and then they discourage the next generation from following their hopes and dreams.

But you can decide to break the cycle.

1. Be careful about who you listen to.

I’m not just referring to those fake gurus on social media. I’m also talking about the people in your life who give their unsolicited advice.

While your friends and parents may have good intentions, if they haven’t built a large sum of wealth, why would you listen to them when it comes to making money?

2. Think from Multiple Angles.

Most people will come across an obstacle that they’ve been told is impossible for them to conquer, and give up at the first sign of trouble.

The more you let these kinds of challenges beat you, the harder it is to break out of the herd, as you are cemented to yourself that you aren’t good enough.

Whenever I come across a challenge, I think of at least 10 different solutions and then decide on the best way forward.

If one doesn’t work, then I just try the next one and so on until I’m successful.

3. Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone.

Look, if Harry Potter stayed in the cupboard under the stairs, then he would never have defeated Voldemort.

Sorry for the spoilers, but it’s so true.

Putting yourself in challenging situations helps you grow and improve more than anything else I’ve ever experienced.

Same Story of Almost Youth. (If I were there!)

When I first joined the workforce as a carpenter’s apprentice, I was so excited. It was the job I really wanted to do.

But unfortunately, the manager took a bit of a dislike to me, and he bullied me practically every day, giving me all the rubbish jobs. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t take anymore.

I came home that night, sat on my couch, and I looked around the room, and thought to myself, “What have I got to lose?” I’ve got no child or wife to look after. I’m 20 years old. I’ve gotta make this decision.

Sure, I’m scared of quitting a job. Of course, you’re scared, but I knew that was the best thing for me, so I quit the very next day.

STEP 2: TAKE A RISK

If you’re young and have few responsibilities, it’s a clear choice to take more risks to increase your income.

Of course, I’m not suggesting you should go and invest all your money in crypto. The risks should be calculated.

Looking back, I didn’t realize at the time, but the biggest risk in my life would’ve been staying at that dead-end job.

For me, increasing my income meant starting my own business.

However, if this isn’t for you, you could always start a side hustle or upgrade your job every couple of years.

Studies have actually found that you’re more likely to build wealth faster by job hopping rather than staying loyal to one company.

However, if your goal is to build wealth as fast as possible and you decide to pick the employee route, then you need to choose a career that isn’t dependent on how many hours you work, but on the results you achieve.

Entrepreneurial wealth-building personal success story (If I were there!)

After lots of hard work and many sleepless nights, I managed to open my model shop. It was a huge success.

I was reinvesting all of my money in the business to help it grow, so I didn’t have time to think about investing.

One day, I decided to take on a work experience lad for two weeks, and on the first day, all he kept banging on about was stocks and shares.

I thought, “What does a 14-year-old know about stocks and shares?” Anyway, he mentioned this one particular stock that he said was gonna go to the moon.

He said, “I’ve got a thousand pounds, and I’m gonna pile it all in because I’m so confident.” I thought, “Well, if he’s that confident, I think I’d better have a little go myself.”

Two weeks later, I drove into the shop, and I had a chat with that young lad, and I said to him, “Do you know how much money you’ve made today?”

He said, “But Sanjeev, I don’t make any money. I’m on work experience. I don’t get paid.”

I said, “Buddy, you’ve made 10,000 today because that share we’ve bought into has pretty much 10X overnight, and I didn’t do too bad myself either.”

STEP 3: MAKE MONEY WORK FOR YOU

If you want to build your wealth, then you need to start sooner rather than later.

The reality is, the longer you wait to start investing, the more difficult it’s gonna be because the more time you allow for your money to grow, the more money you’ll eventually have.

Check out this study by Fidelity, which shows that if you miss the five best trading days over the past four decades, you’d have reduced your long-term gains by 38%.

Even worse, if you’ve missed the 10 best days, you’d have lost out by 55%.

So I’d strongly suggest getting in the habit of investing your money for the long-term in the stock market.

But don’t be as crazy.

Do your research and invest in the stocks you believe in long-term.

Choosing An Investment Platform (If I were there!)

So what should you look for when deciding where to invest your money?

Firstly, when choosing an investment platform, it’s important to make sure it has smooth and easy-to-use chart features.

You may think this isn’t important, but I can’t stress enough how many times I’ve struggled with clunky apps while trying to track the growth of my investments.

Having a wide range of stocks and ETFs to invest in is also important for diversification and reducing risk.

Another thing I’d suggest looking for is paper trading.

This feature allows you to experience the full investing process using virtual money.

It’s a great way to practice and refine your knowledge, as well as test out new strategies, all without risking any actual money.

But if you do this, it’s important to treat it like your real money.

Otherwise, you’ll start changing your strategies when it comes to the real thing and get completely different results.

Cautionary wealth loss investment story

Just as quickly as I’ve made my fortune, I could have lost it all.

I was friends with one of the richest guys in the UK. He was featured in the Top 50 UK rich list.

We used to go to his parties, firework parties at his mansion.

One night, I sat down and had a coffee with him, and I said, “How do you make this sort of money just from a business?”

He said, “I don’t make that much money for my businesses. I make money from leveraging my investments.”

He also said, “I’m part of an investment group, and that group earns 30 to 40 and sometimes even 50% per year.”

I thought, “This sounds too good to be true.”

So there was no way I was gonna get involved. Two to three months later, that group went under.

It took everyone out. Because they were leveraged, they lost considerably more than they’d actually invested.

This isn’t even his house. He lost it all.

STEP 4: DIVERSIFY YOUR POSITIONS

Never invest in something you don’t understand. And even if you do believe what you’re investing in, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

When you spread your investments out, we call this diversification.

This is something I highly recommend you do because it reduces your risk exposure.

When it comes to my stock market investments, I primarily focus on a strategy called the three-fund portfolio.

This portfolio consists of three main components:

• A total US stock market index fund.
• A total international stock index fund.
• A total bond market fund.

These funds allow for diversification across different markets and asset classes.

In addition to stock market investments, diversification can also be achieved by allocating capital to alternative assets such as real estate, classic cars, and high-end timepieces.

This strategy helps investors spread their exposure across different industries and asset classes rather than relying on a single market.

By diversifying in this way, overall portfolio risk can be reduced while improving the potential for stable and long-term returns.

Different assets often perform differently under various economic conditions, which makes diversification a practical and effective approach to wealth preservation and growth.

It’s key to remember the importance of diversification, not only in investments, but also in making money.

This is otherwise known as having multiple streams of income.

So remember, when you are building your empire, constantly be thinking about how you can build different streams of income so that you can’t be completely wiped out by one wrong decision, like my friend.