For more than two decades, I have had countless money conversations with thousands of people from all walks of life. I have heard their mistakes and stories of regret. No doubt you have some yourself.
Everyone I meet is desperate to get their financial lives in order. The good news is, you can transform your finances with the Money Intelligence Academy.
Money Intelligence Academy is where I share with you everything I have learned and applied – for myself and my clients – when it comes to financial management, investment and long-term financial planning
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Over the years, I have realised that mindset/attitude/frame of mind is at the heart of financial management/mismanagement. I have also discovered the three major myths people have about money. These myths stop people taking control of their money and living a balanced life with peace of mind:
People think the finance “experts” know best. They trust them without question. This means they borrow too much, invest in the wrong places, trust self-proclaimed “advisers” and don’t understand where and how their money gets invested.
People believe the government will take care of them. They don’t bother planning for the long term because they think the pension will be enough for their retirement.
People are obsessed with “keeping up with the Joneses”. They live pay cheque to pay cheque, spending money they don’t have on stuff they don’t need. They end up owing far too much money on high-interest credit cards, and live with financial anxiety every day.
Become financially free with Money Intelligence
Trusting the “experts” is a function of not being financially educated. You should know how finance works. Just as reading and writing are skills essential to our modern life, so is Money Intelligence.
Financial literacy is as necessary as English and maths, and should be taught at schools and universities. The fact is, students graduate from university without being skilled in financial and business management. The education system is not set up to teach you to how to become financially free. You need to learn how to manage your money and deal with bankers, financial planners, mortgage brokers and stock brokers. The good news is that money management and investment strategies are learnable. No one is born with a Money Intelligence gene: it’s a skill you can learn.
Self-determination and personal responsibility matter most
The reality is that your government might not be able to honour its social contract. A hundred years ago, the contract was simple: “you pay us tax during your working life, and we pay you the pension when you retire”. The problem is, this contract was based on life expectancy not exceeding 70 years. We now average a life expectancy of 82 years. The government is not coping with the increasing number of retirees who are living for longer – they’re putting extreme pressure on the fiscal budget, not to mention aged-care facilities and the health system. How do you think the government will cope in 20 years when it’s your turn to get the pension? Will the pension exist in its current form – or at all? You can’t sit back and expect a pension of $3,000/month. It’s critical you act now and fund your own retirement.
Financial wellbeing is in your hands – an attitude of gratitude is the antidote to “keeping up with the Joneses”.
Do you truly see the reality of what you have created in your life? Have exchanged “stuff” for your freedom? So many people are shackled to debt as they try to keep up. You need to ask yourself: how much do I need? Is my life’s purpose to keep doing the same job, to spend my money on more/new stuff?
The key to financial wellbeing is living a purposeful and meaningful life doing work you love with people you like. It is not about making as much money as possible to finance a meaningless existence.
Two centuries ago, we started to move towards measuring individual and social wellbeing in dollar terms, based on people’s capacity to generate income. In the 21st century, society’s financial and material well-being has improved astronomically. Yet we are suffering the side effects of a system solely focused on measuring wellbeing and wealth in terms of money. The result is a system that doesn’t take into account the holistic wellbeing of the individual and community. We want to help people understand the conditioning and social pressures they face, and help them choose the path that’s aligned to their values.
“Money Intelligence® aims to change the current thinking that measures human wellbeing only in economic terms as if money is the measure of everything”