If you are familiar with my teaching then you know that I believe investing is the best way to build lasting wealth. This is because your income won’t be dependent on how much time you put in, or a certain company needing your services. You can control your wealth with investments, and you can earn a return on money that was already yours.

In my books, I refer to this a “money that works without you”. I personally built and sustained my wealth through what I will discuss in this post. Now, some of you may not be in the place to invest your money like crazy, in which case I will refer you to my book, Money Mastery, to get you started on your journey to financial freedom! If you have money to set aside for investments, keep reading!

As a side note, I suggest that you set aside at least 5-10% of your income to invest yourself, and 5-10% of your income to be invested professionally.

4 Keys to Investing for Lasting Wealth

1. Stocks

The first area you should look at investing in is the stock market. Stocks can be really complicated for the average person, and I don’t have enough space in this post to teach you everything you need to know. My biggest tip is to use the Law of Wisdom. It basically states “don’t invest in something you don’t understand!”. I encourage you to do your research before you invest in any area, but here are my quick tips about the stock market.

1. Invest in a Roth IRA. If your employer contributes to a traditional IRA (401k), then I encourage you to keep with that. Roth IRA’s have better tax advantages once you start withdrawing the money, though, so I always advocate for having one.
2. Set up a brokerage account. You can do so with places like Charles Schwab or Fidelity. It is basically a bank account that allows you to buy, sell and trade stocks, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs.
3. Invest in ETFs. My preferred investment is ETFs because they have better financial advantages, lower operating and buy-in costs, and they trade faster than mutual funds.
4. Diversify your investments the closer you get to retirement. This is important because you are minimizing the risk while maximizing the reward. Do some research on normal portfolios, and you can find ones that fit your time frame.

2. Business

I enjoy building and scaling businesses because I am an entrepreneur at heart. There are also many advantages like building an asset, tax benefits, control, and cash flow. I also believe businesses are a way to live out Kingdom Principles through the dreams and gifts God has given us. Businesses are a great way to build lasting wealth because you can choose to sustain it for a long time. If you are considering building a business, here are some of my top steps.

1. Inventory Yourself. Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Some of the top characteristics are dedication, determination, details, dollars, decisiveness, doer, and dream.
2. Build a business model. Look up the Business Model Generation Canvas if you have never heard of it. Basically, it is a chart that outlines details of your business. Those are a value proposition, customer segments, channels, customer relationships, key partners, key resources, key activities, revenue streams and cost structure.
3. Gain capital or investors. In order for most businesses to start up, you need some money. Building a business model is the first step in attracting investors because it shows you have thoroughly thought out your plan. It also lets investors know if they can get behind your vision, which is extremely important. You can get money through family, friends, mentors, or bank loans.

3. Real Estate

Real estate is personally my favorite investment. It is how I have built my lasting wealth for the most part. Similar to building a business, real estate is a way to sustain an asset that will increase in value over time. I have many teachings on getting started, but here are some of my top tips.

1. Research the best markets to invest in. One of the best ways to decipher a good market is when median prices are not more than 2-3 times more than the median income.
2. Define your formula. In order to invest in real estate successfully, you have to have a formula. You need to get 1-1.5% back on your investment in monthly rent. For example, if you buy a $100,000 house, you should be getting $1,000-$1,500 per month in rent.
3. Ensure cash flow. Finally, you need to ensure you are grossing around $300 per property. You may get $1,000 in rent per month, as per the example above, but you will have costs associated with owning the property. This can include your mortgage payment, property management fees etc.

4. Social Impact

Once I reached the 2nd X in Money Mastery, I began to wonder what else was out there. I had achieved lasting wealth, and I didn’t have to keep a job in order to have income. God revealed to me that the purpose of wealth is not to build bigger barns, but to give it all away. This went far past tithing and giving for me. Once I really started to invest in social impact, my life was changed.

1. Give it all away. This may seem radical in our consumer culture, but I believe this is what we are called to do. I give everything away after my 2nd X income. If you don’t understand what that means, read Money Mastery. Basically, once you have enough to live on and enjoy life, you give the rest of your wealth away.
2. Teach a man to fish. I began my non-profit Tricord Global partially because I saw the damage that donations were doing to those in developing nations. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely believe in charity and helping those that need it, but I think it can hinder people from being self-sufficient. I wanted to invest money in teaching men and women to fish, instead of just providing them with it.
3. Bring the Kingdom to Earth. In the book of Matthew, Jesus taught us how to pray. One of the first things he says is “Your will be done, Your Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Tricord doesn’t just give loans to entrepreneurs, we are helping churches gain and keep the land, and we are spreading Gospel principles throughout the nations. Find a way to bring God’s Kingdom down to Earth.

I hope this post has helped you gain insight to the secrets of building lasting wealth. My non-profit that I mentioned, Tricord Global, is currently accepting investments for a few more weeks. If you are interested in bringing the Kingdom to Earth and earning great interest rates, contact my office at (720) 989-0222 or contact@tricordglobal.com. You can also click here for more information!