What do you want to become in life: Rich or Wealthy? Oh wait, you thought they are synonyms and means the same thing? Well, that’s not true. There is a a lot of difference between being rich and being wealthy. In this article, we are going to understand why you should aim to become wealthy and not just rich.
What does it mean to be rich?
That’s a good question. To be rich, you need a lot of money. Rich people spend a lot on gadgets, lifestyle and all their wants, without actually caring about their bank balance. I will go deep into it later, but for now let us understand what does it mean to be wealthy.
What does it mean to be wealthy?
Being wealthy means, you are earning more than your spendings. Wealthy people focus on building more income streams and less on spending the money to show off. Growing their wealth overtime is their ultimate moto.
Rich vs Wealthy: Key Difference with an Example
Say for example, if I give you 10000USD and ask you what do you want to do with this money, what would your answer be?
If you are one of those who would like to take a holiday trip or buy some expensive gadget you fall into the category of the riches.
But if you are among those, who would think of how you can grow this 10000USD, where would you be investing this money that will keep growing over a period of time, then you are wealthy.
Our focus should be to be wealthy, (and not just rich).
Well now that we have understood the key difference between rich and wealthy, let’s understand how can we be wealthy?
By investing. Investing where? Read on.
Remember, there is no shortcut in the path to success; to earn money and get rich and wealthy, one needs to polish the skills they already have, learn some new ones along the way and then invest as well.
What are Assets?
An asset for a person is a resource that has a value which is expected to grow over a period of time. Assets can be sold for cash or cash equivalent. With zero debt, asset is your net worth. You can grow your net-worth by investing in assets that would grow overtime.
Why should you invest in Asset Building?
Inflation in India is above 6 percent. If your money does not grow more than 6 percent every year, you are losing your wealth. Wealthy people understands inflation, and hence, invests in assets that grows faster than inflation.
8 Assets That Can Make you Rich and Wealthy in 2022
Investing is fine, but where do we invest? You invest in assets, and not liabilities. Assets help you grow your money over a period of time, with little or no effort. The best way to grow wealthy is to invest in these commodities and let them take care of growing your money.
Here are 8 assets that can get you rich:
-
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrency is one of the fastest-growing digital currencies, although it is a dicey game where no matter how many steps you take you still might lose, it is however the best way amongst the lot to get rich in a short duration of time.
Do not risk your whole savings or salary on one crypto. Diversifying won’t just help in risk management, but will also help you learn and understand how trading in crypto works.
Also if you are just getting with investing crypto, I would suggest you to stick to Bitcoin.
Did you know? In crypto, there are USD equivalent stablecoins, that pays interest upto 12 percent yearly?
All you have to do is to lend your crypto and watch it grow everyday.
-
Stocks
Stock market is a multi trillion dollar market and is preferred and recommended route to build your wealth over a long period of time. In the simplest terms, a stock is owning a portion of a company that you have invested in. People invest in stocks and get massive returns over the years. To build wealth, you will need to invest in reputed companies and let your money grow even when you sleep. If we see the performance of index funds in the last 3 years, we will see that the stock market has given more than 15 percent returns YOY.
For anyone who is not aggressive and would like to stay away from cryptocurrency because of the volatility, stocks are your go to things.
-
Mutual funds
Mutual funds are a collection of stocks, and sometimes other assets, managed by professionals. Mutual funds makes a collection of stocks and invests accordingly. So if you do not have time to research which stocks you should be investing, you should probably let the professionals do this for you. All you need to do is to buy units of the mutual funds. There are different types of mutual funds, which you can learn by visiting Mutual Funds Sahi hai website.
If you are just getting started, I would advise you to go with index funds to begin with. Even though it is a risky investment, it is the best way for investors to diversify and earn consistently.
Mutual funds can make you more money because of compound interests, which is the interest on your investment, measured based on the initial principal and previously accumulated interest.
However, make sure that you look carefully at the terms and conditions before investing.
-
Commodities – Digital Gold
Investing in commodities is a great way to safe-keep your money and also see it grow. And among all the commodities, Gold is my favorite. Not just mine, Indians love investing money in Gold. We have also seen Gold giving good returns over the last 5 or 10 years. Investing in Gold is a good way to diversify your assets. Compared to stock market’s 15 percent CAGR, Gold has given a CAGR of below 6 percent. However, I would still recommend everyone reading this article to not move away from golds. One of the major reason behind why I invest in Gold is how it is inversely related to stock market. Gold act as a hedge against the stock market. We have seen the price of Gold increasing whenever there is a fall in the stock market.
So when your assets would be depleting if the stock markets fall, Gold would act as a hedge and balance your portfolio.
-
Commercial real estate
Focus on the work – commercial. Real estate could be investing in residential or commercial properties. While residential property may not give you good returns, commercial real estate can help you with cash flow. Investing in commercial real estate would mean having a monthly or yearly income with a one-time investment.
It can be difficult and could lead to loss if done without proper research of the property’s prospects in future years. However, if done correctly it’s one of the fruitful ways of earning and getting income.
In current times, self-storage facilities, RV or mobile home parks and billboards are the highest paying commercial real estate.
-
Professional Expertise
Skills acquired through a lot of studying, practicing, and training in your professional field are called professional expertise. Expertise in your field is always a positive point no matter where you work and what you do.
Yes, having soft skills is important but we cannot mix who we are into what we must do to earn money and professional expertise puts you above people who might even have more experience than you.
Invest in sharpening your professional expertise which would in a way help you grow your income in form of salary. You could also take freelancing jobs and earn extra. With that money, you can put in any of the above asset class.
-
Investing in Start-ups.
Start-ups are the companies that are at an initial stage of working. They require funding in the initial stages, and you get a major portion of their stake at a very less valuation. Well you may be wondering that you need to invest a lot of money to buy stake in startups, but that is not true. There are companies like Letsventure and TykeInvest where you could team up with other individuals and invest in the startups as a pool. You could also join pools created by Venture Capitals and let them decide where to invest your funds into.
Remember, investing in start-ups is advised only when you have already considered the above options, and still have extra funds to invest in. This I would recommend only to those who would not need the money in the near future and can wait fo the company to list in stock market. If you have an asset of more than 1 crore, you should not invest more than 2 lakh into start-up companies.
While most of the companies you invest in would fail to see the last light, the companies that would succeed would give you major returns that would make it up for your losses.
Yes, investing in start-ups is very risky as 90% of the companies do not make it to IPO
However, if done with proper evaluation of business plans and the growth model investment can be very beneficial.
It is rare but if persuaded correctly, start-ups may even offer a dividend to their investors which would mean you getting a share of their profit.
That’s how Venture Capitalists and Angel investors make money.
-
Investing in yourself
Okay, enough of investing into projects that are led by others. Investing in yourself is the biggest investment you can make. No amount of money can make you a better person, invest time in yourself, relax, socialize, learn, expand your knowledge, say no at times etc.
Earning money becomes easier when you know what you are capable of when you learn along the process and when you respect the money you’re earning.
The day we stop learning, the day we stop growing. Learning should be continuous process, and that is why it is important to invest in yourself.
You might be earning lakhs today but if you stop investing in yourself, you will see people come and go whereas you will be stuck in your place forever.
Investing in yourself helps you grow and progress as time goes by.
For example, if you are into IT industry, start learning new languages. Start exploring what is happening in the tech industry. What I see is, there is a major short gap in the blockchain industry. The demand for someone who knows smart contract and blockchain development is unprecedented. Blockchain Companies are offering salary of 40 lakh to someone with 1 year experience in blockchain development industry.
This is why you must always keep exploring and keep learning.
Conclusion
Becoming wealthy is a long and tiring process for sure but it isn’t something impossible unless you keep on waiting for a miracle to happen.
Taking the risk, learning new things, and working hard, is the way to success.
It is not always about having a big house, or an iPhone; having what you need to get rich might not be the same for others so started working today on your path.
Investing in a great source of income, and even if you don’t plan to make it your main profession, it is never bad to have a side income. Most people earn their income for financial stability while it’s the side income that gets people rich.
In the end, remember if you are working hard and sincerely you will get rich just don’t compare yourself with others, there is a lot you don’t know about people you tend to compare yourself with.
Keep investing, keep growing your wealth!
Disclaimer: Investing in stock, crypto, mutual funds and most of what I have mentioned in the article is risky. This and all the articles in this blog is for educational purpose only. Please consult a Financial planner before taking a decision.
Did you like reading our article on 8 assets that could make you wealthy? Share your feedback and questions with us under the comment section.