Wealth in Words

If you want to succeed in business, you should study this man’s work. It was no accident that he amassed a personal fortune  of $100 billion dollars. Walmart has become a worldwide business thanks to his drive and entrepreneurial tactics  employed during his tenure. Sam Walton is considered the greatest entrepreneur  of the 20 th century. In his autobiography, “Made in America,” he shares insight and experiences that allowed for him to build his iconic brand . Learn to Value a Dollar Walton learned how to organize Walton Enterprises into a partnership from his wife Helen’s family farm business. Each of the family members had a partnership status with regular payouts and voting rights as well as a vested interest in the family business. Over the years the Waltons accumulated wealth through this partnership by starting humbly with anything they could save to where they eventually compounded a fortune  in Walmart stock in the partnership. Mr. Sam, as h...

Knowing whether or not you are saving enough is a constant concern. The uncertainties of life consisting of its twists and turns can create even more room for question. Financially speaking, the best way to protect yourself from these unforeseen events and to minimize your worry is to have adequate savings. However, before answering how much you should save, we need to look at how much you can possibly save. In other words, you need to begin documenting your monthly income and expenses. Start by using a simple budgeting worksheet . Fill in your income and subtract expenses to get a quick estimate on whether or not you have any money left over each month based on your current spending habits. If there is no money left, you need to find ways to immediately cut extra expenses, find discounts, and minimize costs  to create money that can be used for savings. Once you do have some positive net income there are several options. First, a portion of it should be put into c...

There are certain activities that all successful entrepreneurs do very well. While writing The Creator’s Code , Susan Wilkinson uncovered six commonalities shared by founders of some of the most recognizable brands. Though interesting in this context, these traits are not limited to building a profitable business. Parallels can be drawn into your personal finances as well. Find the Gap – See opportunities that others don’t see. Finding the best investment opportunities often requires doing things a little bit differently. For example, Warren Buffett has advised that we “be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.” Markets move in cycles . Learn the basics for why prices go up and down. Then you will be able to find investment opportunities that others are missing .  Drive for Daylight – Top-level entrepreneurs focus on the future. Wilkinson notes that “researchers at the University of Chicago found that people who ar...

Each of us has a unique drive to create something of our own. This craving is so deeply innate to our human existence we cannot ignore it. For many this desire is satisfied through entrepreneurship. In The Creator’s Code, Susan Wilkinson shares her experiences with some of the most notable entrepreneurs in modern history. Having interviewed the likes of Elon Musk, Chipotle founder Steve Ells, Under Armour founder Kevin Plank, Reid Hoffman of Paypal, and countless other high-performing entrepreneurs she created three categories that can be used to broadly classify the entrepreneurial-type. Wilkinson refers to the first type of entrepreneur a “Sunbird.” She says that they “transport solutions that work in one area and apply them to another, often with a twist.” In other words Sunbirds use an existing product to create something new, usually in an unrelated field. For example, Howard Schultz of Starbucks took the idea of expresso bars from Italy and started building coffee...

In The Last Safe Investment, authors Bryan Franklin and Michael Ellsberg describe a different path we can take toward acquiring true wealth . Ultimately they argue that we should double-down on investing and spending on ourselves  to develop our unique abilities. Not only will this pay future dividends  but it will also allow for you to live a more fulfilling present life, immersed in your passions. In order to achieve our best lives, the authors suggest that we develop two skill sets. First, we need to build our market skills. Market skills allow us to offer something to the workforce. For example, you go to college and study finance with a specialty in accounting and then earn your CPA designation. You have acquired the market skill of accounting and can use that to earn a living. While this path is reliable and traditional, there are inherent limitations noted by the authors. For instance, a market skill is not terribly unique and will not allow for you to differen...