Talk Money Café

This entry goes hand in hand with two previous posts:  (1) Distant dream or determined reality? and (2) Wealth is a mindset.

It is estimated that roughly 95 to 98 percent of society’s wealth is controlled by only two (2) to five (5) percent of the world’s population.  If you’re not part of that small percentage of individuals who are controlling things, then you are getting controlled by them.

If you can’t purchase a house, car, or other big ticket items without special financing, leasing, credit cards, etc., then you are being controlled by that two to five percent mentioned above.

Think about it:  When you need a loan, the bank/creditor is setting all of the terms regarding minimum monthly payments, due dates, interest, and so on.  They ultimately set the terms as to whether or not they’ll even loan you money to begin with; as you know, they check your credit report, sources of income, and other useful data to determine whether or not you can be trusted to pay back the loaned amount.

The point is that the bank or creditor is in control.  They have the money and you don’t.  You need the bank more than the bank needs you.  They’re in control, and they set the terms because they have the upper hand.

When you’re working countless jobs just to try to make ends meet, you’re not really in control.  You’re at the mercy of your boss or employer.  Even if you have a slightly more lucrative position in a company, you still have to answer to the people at the top.  At times, you may even become a corporate puppet … more on this later.

You’re currently in a particular financial situation because of the decisions you make with the money you have.

What do you need to do in order to be in control instead of being controlled?  In other words, how can you make sure that your money is working for you instead of the other way around?  As implied above, it really boils down to the decisions that you make with money.  Can you take a little bit of money, maintain it, and make it grow larger?  Can you manage things so that you have a large surplus of funds after paying the bills?

If you’re constantly chasing money and trying to scrape up funds to pay the bills each month, then that’s all you’re focusing on.  You should focus on having more instead of not having enough.  Focus on excess and prosperity.

The small percentage of individuals mentioned at the outset are, for the most part, trusted with money.  They have proven time and again that they can build and grow their fortunes.  There’s a very good chance that these people aren’t scrambling every month and trying to scrape up funds to pay the electric bill on time.  These individuals have a large surplus of funds … more than they need.

What’s so important about having more than enough?  You might even be thinking:  “I have plenty stashed away in my savings account, 401(k), IRA, … That should be enough.”

The truth is that you can never have too much money.  Think about all of the people whose life savings, 401(k), stock portfolios, pension/retirement, etc. have been wiped out with all of these companies going under, the economic upheaval, and the turmoil in the stock market.

Even when you budget properly, you cannot predict the future with 100% accuracy – there is always uncertainty and, as a result, unexpected expenses or losses.  Having a large buffer zone, as it were, allows you to make up for these unexpected “dents” to your accounts.

If you’re not constantly preoccupied with paying bills and expenses, then this frees your mind to focus on more constructive things.  You can focus on helping others, whether it’s for a charity, within the family, volunteer work, educating others on how to achieve financial freedom, or some other means.  If you’re not spending every waking moment of your day trying to chase money to pay the bills, then it definitely affords you more time freedom in this regard.

Having a surplus of funds also allows you to set up trust funds for your children or others.  Of course, it doesn’t stop here.  The possibilites are endless when you focus on having more instead of not having enough.

Do you have a large surplus, or are you being controlled by those who do?  Think about it.

=============

Earlier in this entry, I mentioned something about a corporate puppet.  Here is a video clip from the movie Fun With Dick and Jane.  Jim Carrey pretends he is a corporate puppet in this scene.

This movie makes fun of what happened with Enron.  A lot of what is portrayed in this film ties in with what was mentioned in today’s entry.

Enjoy the clip (shown below).