For the last several posts, I have been expounded on 10 financial principles that are absolute and unchanging and that if applied will dramatically change your financial life. Today’s post will cover Principle 5:
Know the Rules. This principle teaches that you do not need to know everything financial but you do need to know where to go for information that is important for you — that means reading and understanding all contracts you enter into and relying on financial mentors and professionals as needed. In today’s world of easy credit many people feel they are entitled to play very complex financial games, like using a credit card for example, without paying the price to learn the rules of that game. Ask questions! The answers could be worth thousands of dollars to you.
Today everything is fast-paced and technology is changing so fast it is hard to keep up with. But keep up we must. Financially speaking, we must take the initiative to know what is happening while it is happening. If we act like the ostrich and bury our head in the sand, we will get run over by a freight train, flattened more than a pancake! Don’t put your head in the sand. Instead be proactive when it comes to money matters.
What do I mean by “know the rules?” Let’s use dice to illustrate what it means to know the rules of the financial games we play. Do you know what is on the opposite side of the number 2 on a die? And what is opposite of number 3? The rule of dice is that the opposite sides always add up to the number 7. Managing money is just the same. Learn the money rules and know in advance what is on the back side of your decision without having to sweat so much of what you now worry you don’t know.
So often people don’t take the initiative to learn the rules in advance of needing them. Sometimes we trust someone else to help us make our decisions, when we could have taken a little time and read, interviewed or asked for counsel from a professional. Don’t allow laziness to cost you big bucks through inaction. Contact me for more information: peter@moneymastery.com.
