If you’re reading this, I’m sure you want to grow richer than you are today…
We all do, right?
Some of us want to get filthy rich…
Others just want to stack enough cash and other resources to ensure a life of comfort and security…
My guess is that if you’re an active reader of this and other publications on direct response marketing… You’d be happy if you ended up among the “rich” — whatever the details are of that, for you.
Today’s advice should help.
It comes from a self-made multi-millionaire from New York. Someone I’ve been fortunate enough to learn directly from in bits and pieces. And from afar through his books and other writings.
And someone who went from being my mentor, to an occasional reader of Breakthrough Marketing Secrets.
Mark Ford (pen name Michael Masterson).
Singing a familiar tune, he went from rags to riches. He didn’t grow up broke. But he was raised in a middle class family in New York City. The way I remember his story, they never really wanted for their basic needs, but they were anything but rich. They were a family of teachers, which is not a path to riches in America.
He came up as a copywriter and marketer, managed to negotiate some partnership deals, launched a few businesses of his own, became an investor (in businesses, real estate, and the markets), and partnered and helped build the world’s most successful direct-to-consumer publishing empire.
I don’t know Mark’s net worth and it would be out of place for me to tell it if I did. But I can confidently say that calling him a “self-made multi-millionaire” is plenty conservative enough that I won’t be accused of over-stating.
I have a wild amount of respect for Mark, and that includes his advice on wealth-building.
In the middle of the world’s best financial and investing experts, Mark admits that he’s never mastered investing (at least not speculating on stocks) and so he does NOT trade or invest to try to beat the markets.
Rather, he has a simple principle: get richer every day. Build your business and financial situation so you’re adding even a dollar a day (which means not drawing down more than you earn) and every year you’ll get further ahead. Then work to grow and grow how much you add on a daily basis.
This means no massive speculating on stocks that whipsaw down. No risky bets to try to hit the jackpot. Just focus on how you can consistently, incrementally increase your net worth.
It’s not sexy. At least not in the short run. And not compared to over-hyped promises of massive 10X gains.
But it does work.
But the question is… How do you do it? How do you get richer every day?
For that, Mark teaches three different approaches. And by the end, I’m sure you’ll see which is preferred…
Your first way to get rich: save more…
Let’s imagine you’re in a pretty steady government job. Your pay is living wage. Not great. And it never will be great. It’s rewarding in other ways — yes. But even if you’re a superstar at what you do, it will never lead to big paychecks.
It’s the kind of job that most would think will never make you rich.
You manage to save 10% of your pay every month. Which is pretty good, considering others you work with are living pretty much hand-to-mouth.
And you’re slowly building your savings.
How can you get richer from this?
Simple: save more.
If you target saving 20% of your income, you could double the amount you put toward savings every year.
You could do this by choosing a cheaper place to live. Going out less, and staying in more. Eating at home, rather than at restaurants. Forgoing luxuries. Driving a plain-but-reliable used car. And so on.
Human beings have been happy living with plenty less. I know it’s hard to believe in our massively-consumerist culture, but you don’t need much to be happy. Because deep inner happiness doesn’t come from stuff.
So you double your savings by figuring out how to live on less, and you save as much as you can.
The good news is the amount you need to feel rich probably won’t be too big either. Because you’ll be so used to living on less, that it’ll take less to sustain you in the future, too.
This IS an effective path to get relatively rich. Not filthy rich. But the kind of rich where you can eventually stop working, and not worry about the resources you need to be secure and comfortable.
Your second way to get rich: earn more…
Another way to get richer is to save the same percentage of your income (let’s go with that 10%) and simply save more.
Let’s say you develop a skill that’s more financially valuable. Or you seek out an opportunity where your current skill set is worth more.
Let’s say you double your income, without changing that 10% savings percentage.
This might involve moving to another city. Or changing your environment in a way where you are spending more. But suddenly you’ll have twice as much spending cash, as well as double the savings.
You’ll save twice as much as before, so you’ll see your savings growing quicker.
But there’s actually a downside to this approach. Because if you get used to spending more, you actually become more dependent on having more. So you may double your savings, but simply earning more without learning to save more could put you on a worse financial path than simply being more thrifty and saving more.
Which suggests the third way.
Your third way to get rich: earn and save more…
This was Mark’s recommendation. It’s my path, too.
YES, absolutely develop financially valuable skills, such as marketing, copywriting, and business-building.
YES, learn to apply those skills toward leveraged income opportunities, where your earning potential is not limited by the number of hours you put in.
YES, seek out the best opportunities, where your skills can be applied to create the most value.
YES, earn more, earn more, earn more.
The more, the better!
BUT — and this is the important part — DO NOT increase your spending commensurate with your income.
As you earn more, try to keep your expenses as low as possible.
Don’t get a bigger mortgage just because your monthly income went up.
Don’t buy a fancy car just because you had a good year.
Don’t use earning more as an excuse to be stupid.
This doesn’t mean you can’t spend more.
Rather, consider this: if your income was $5,000 per month and you were spending $1,000 on a mortgage, you don’t need to get a new house that costs $2,000 per month if you start making $10,000 per year. And you definitely don’t need a house that will cost you $10,000 per month if you start making $50,000 monthly.
Let’s say your income jumps from $5,000 to $50,000 per month.
You could move into a house that costs 3X as much to live in — from $1,000 per month to $3,000 — and enjoy a major upgrade in living conditions. Your cost as a percentage of your income would actually DROP from 20% down to 6%.
Your goal with all your expenses as you continue to earn more should be to shrink the percentage of the income they take up… Even if the dollar amount you spend on them increases.
Let’s wrap this up with some simple math to mirror the two examples above.
We talked about doubling your savings percentage in one example. And doubling your income in another. But what if you did both?
If you go from saving 10% of your income to 20%, and you double your income, you’re actually saving 4X as much.
You’ve still got plenty more cash to spend on whatever you want. Plus you’re saving much more.
And you might even find yourself choosing some months to saving 30% or 40% or more of your income, if you’re not obsessed with spending every dollar that comes in on more or nicer stuff.
When that happens, look out! Your net worth can increase rather quickly.
I know this is basic, but it’s also powerful…
You want to get richer.
You can save more. You can earn more. Or you can do both. It’s most powerful if you do both — save more and earn more. And as you do, try to focus on growing your net worth just a little bit every single day, week, or month (thinking on any longer term basis encourages more risky bets and should be the exception).
This won’t make you rich tomorrow.
But it will make you richer tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.
And the long-term impact of a lifetime of applying this principle is pretty much unstoppable wealth-building.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
