Today, I want to talk about some things that you should never do with your money. Like burn it? Hmm. Okay, so beyond the three things that I’m gonna go over that you should never do with your money, there are some common-sense things that you shouldn’t do, like burn your cash, bury your cash, or eat your cash.
Hopefully those were common sense, because the next three I’m going to tell you aren’t so obvious.
Treat it like gold
The first thing you should never do with your money is treat it like gold. Gold is a tangible asset—it has intrinsic value—you can touch it, see it, and even eat it. You know, with gold flakes. Gold has real intrinsic value while your cash doesn’t. Our cash only has make-believe value. The only reason your green piece of paper with $100 written on it can buy you a pair of shoes, is because the government says that your hundred dollar bill has value. Your cash is not backed by gold, or silver, or oil or anything like that. It’s just monopoly money with a promise by the government saying it has value. If the government says it’s good enough, I’ll take that.
Well, it can become a problem when you understand what your paper money really is. There is a limited supply of gold in the world. Like, if we wanted more gold, we would have to physically go and mine for gold, and that’s why it has intrinsic value, because you can’t just print gold, even if you had a 3d printer. Paper money, on the other hand, is a little bit different. If the government wanted more money, the Federal Reserve would just print a whole lot more money, and the cost to make a one hundred dollar bill is something like twelve cents. That’s why if you hoard your cash as if it was gold, you are becoming poorer.
Since more and more money is printed every single day, the value of your cash that you have saved up is losing two to three percent of its value every single year. If you saved one million dollars in your bank, paying an average interest rate of 0.1%, you would lose around $20,000 worth of buying power in just one year, because you thought you were being smart by saving your money.
What you should be doing is taking your extra cash and using it to buy things with real value, like gold, or even better, you can use your extra cash to invest in companies that you like through the stock market, or you can buy businesses by franchising something, or you can start your own real estate portfolio. These things will pay you with supplemental income, so now you’re using your cash to become wealthier, instead of hoarding it to become poorer.
Finance things that you don’t need
Second, you should never finance things that you don’t need, that you can’t afford, that don’t pay you, with money that’s not yours. Look, here’s the way the world works: Everybody wants to take their hand and put it in your pocket, and take some of your money and then put it in theirs.
There’s nothing wrong with spending money to buy things that you like, or that you want, I mean, that’s the whole point of making money, but the issue is how much money we’re spending. In 2019, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York did a study, and they found that total household consumer debt is one trillion dollars more now than it was during the 2008 peak. Americans are spending like it’s their job, but our real jobs aren’t paying enough to support all the spending.
There are obviously a lot of reasons for this, but I would say that the number one reason why it’s so hard for the majority people to control their spending is because you can’t show off your new Apple stock the way you can your new Apple airpods. Delaying some gratification might make you look like a loser for some time being, but it will keep you out of consumer debt, which will keep more money in your pocket that you can use to invest in your future to build your wealth. This means that you have enough money to afford all the Apple airpods you want in the future, interest free, with cash without any stress.
So the simplest thing you can do is, from now on, don’t finance anything, and only buy what you can afford. And, how do you know what you can afford? Well, you can follow our rule of five, which says: if you can’t buy five of them, you can’t afford one of them.
Trust it with somebody who’s never made any money
Finally, the third thing you should never do with your money, is trust it with somebody who’s never made any money. Let me ask you this: if LeBron James, one of the best basketball players in NBA history came to you with tips on how to improve your shot, would you listen to him, or would you rather listen to your fat uncle who has never stepped on a court before? It might seem obvious, but the majority of people would rather listen to fat uncle’s advice instead of uncle James’s advice, because your fat uncle’s advice is so much easier to accept.
Everyone, your parents, your banker, the pizza delivery guy will have strong opinions on how you should be spending your money. They will sound very confident, and they will make you feel like a fool for not listening to them, but you should listen to the advice of very few people.
Knowing what to do with your money and talking about it is very different from actually doing it, so listen to the people who have actually done it, instead of the people who are just talking about it.