Complete financial independence is an ambition that many of us, at any given age, chase after. If we’re focused on serving God, reaching financial freedom is not for the purpose of rolling around in wealth, but rather for providing financial security to our families and participating in the process of bringing God’s kingdom to earth. What I’ve learned in my time being a pastor and a businessman is that the minute you fall in love with money, you begin to keep it from God. I have had to continuously work to resubmit to God’s will in my life because I knew that the minute I forgot that it is God who gave me the power to get wealth, I fell off track.
It is God who gives us the ability to build and master our wealth so that we can establish the covenant here as it in heaven. You cannot serve both God and money, Jesus said it himself! I wholeheartedly believe that each one of us has money with our name already on it. Let Him be the one to empower you towards building lasting wealth, that way, you can begin mastering your money for the purpose of the kingdom. In today’s blog, I’m going to dive into how to create long-lasting wealth through multiple income streams.
1. Save, Save, Save
The first hard rule in any “how to build long-term wealth” book is to start by eliminating debt and saving money. To do this, you need to first have a steady stream of income, then once you have that accomplished, you need to learn to live on 80 percent of your income. This is the part many people get stuck on because it’s difficult to differentiate between what you want and what you need. Finding simple ways to cut costs and spending habits will help you to have some extra money to set aside each month.
The purpose of living on 80 percent of your income is so that you can set aside at least 5 to ten percent of your income to invest yourself, and 5 to ten percent of your income to be invested professionally. I’ll get to this step a little further down, but for now, focus on developing a proactive savings account. Think of your savings as a simple equation of your income minus your expenses and spending. Consider building an emergency fund to serve as a financial buffer in case you encounter a small, or rather large, bump in the road. This way, you don’t have to rely on credit cards or loans to mitigate the situation.
2. Listen and Learn
You should look at every day as an opportunity to meet someone new and learn something new. Continual self-improvement and learning from others is essential to building wealth. I always say to my students at business school, you don’t know what you don’t know! In other words, you have to chase after knowledge because there is always the potential to learn more and be better than you were yesterday. There are enlightening experiences and heaps of information out there that have yet to be discovered. As a matter of fact, your knowledge will increase your ability to earn. Repeat that a few times out loud so that your mind really latches onto it. When you invest in yourself and your education, you grow your potential to succeed with wealth.
I always hear stories about lottery winners being presented with large amounts of wealth, only to then lose it all in a short period of time. More often than not, it’s due to a lack of knowledge and the ineptitude to handle an overabundance of wealth. You may be thinking, but Billy, how do you prepare for something that you don’t know is coming? To give a short answer, you must live in a constant state of preparation. If you want to be great, you have to prepare yourself for greatness. If you don’t know where to start, I always recommend that a poor person take a rich person out to dinner, buy him or her a seven-course meal, and pay for the dinner. The goal is to pick the rich person’s brain to extract all the knowledge you can in the time it takes to finish the meal. The phrase, “time is of the essence” takes on a whole new meaning here!
If you want to create lasting wealth, be proactive and develop a money mindset . Learn all you can from the people around you. If you don’t know who to turn to, start searching online for conferences you can attend, podcasts you can listen to, or YouTube videos you can watch. Challenge yourself to step outside of the box and ask more questions. Find your courage to get started, and once you do, never stop welcoming wisdom into your life!
3. Invest For Passive Income
Being caught in the continuous cycle of earning money and then spending it can be exhausting. Nonetheless, it prevents us from building wealth. What if there was a way for your money to work without you? This is where investing comes in. You can build and control your wealth with investments, and you can earn a return on money that was already yours to begin with. I consider the three giants of passive income to be business, real estate, and stocks/bonds. Businesses are a great way to build lasting wealth because you can choose to sustain them for a long time, real estate is a great way to sustain an asset that will increase in value over time, and stocks/bonds can provide long-term returns.
I have personally built and sustained my wealth through these three methods of passive income, and so can you! I recommend that you diversify your investment portfolio as a way to mitigate risk. You don’t want to jeopardize your money by having only one type of asset in your portfolio. When you spread your investments out, you won’t lose all your money if one investment goes south. Investing can be risky and intimidating and that’s why many times, it is the fear that stops most people.
However, there are ways to lessen the risk of losing money, and diversifying your portfolio is one of them. This is where the idea of investing five to 10 percent of your income yourself and letting a professional invest another five to 10 percent works well. You will likely invest in different things, and naturally, your investments will be diversified. As someone who has been doing this for many years, I cover many of these tips and tools in my money mastery book. If you’re a first-time investor who’s looking to build passive income, I highly recommend you read money mastery to learn how to use these assets to reach financial freedom. Remember, all is possible for those who are willing to learn!
This Valentine’s Day Weekend Invest in Your Future!
Are you ready to get in the game and start building wealth for the kingdom? If so, there are two days left to buy tickets to the annual WealthBuilders Conference taking place this Valentine’s Day weekend! We have a lineup of powerhouse speakers including Lance Wallnau, Karen Conrad, and William Bronchick who will teach you how to master your money and invest in your future. If you can’t attend in person, we are offering a LiveStream of the speaking sessions that will be available to watch seven days after the conference. Join us this weekend, February 14-16th, for speaker sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities in Denver, Colorado! To purchase WealthBuilders tickets, click here. To purchase WealthBuilder LiveStream tickets, click here.
