Success Is the Sum of Small Efforts: 9 Wealth-Growing Methods That Will Pave the Way for a Comfortable Retirement

Even the world’s most successful investors had to start somewhere. However, it’s just not possible to invest anything unless you have some disposable income to put to work. In this article, we show small ways you can make changes to your mindset and the way you go about spending money so that you have more left over to invest in your future.

  1. Save on Vehicles

Making a saving on the car we drive is a good place to start when trying to make some extra investment cash. Cars are possessions that people tend to get a little emotional over in the purchasing process. It’s not uncommon for them to not have done their research on the model of car they’re interested in terms of mechanical reliability and economy. It is also unusual for people to really read the small print on auto finance deals and so there are several ways you can be throwing your money away without realizing.

  1. Save on Housing Costs

There are lots of advantages to renting a home rather than buying. For a start, people tend to get lost in the fact that they “own their own home”, when in fact they have a mortgage which means they have an expensive liability. Many families need flexibility when deciding on a new home and more often they are opting to rent, even if they pay more than they would for a mortgage. Some may say that it’s the same as throwing money away although the same can be said for properties bought with a mortgage if the right deal wasn’t negotiated in the first place.

When you buy a home with a mortgage, you are essentially committing yourself to a 30-year deal. The majority of people don’t stay in the same home for that amount of time, particularly with the changing needs of growing families or retirement.  When it comes time to move, it is always much harder to leave a home you have bought than the one you have rented. Although it’s everyone’s dream to own their own home, you have to be at the right stage of life to make what is possibly the biggest purchase you’ll ever make.

  1. Buyer Beware

Most of us are guilty of seeing something advertised and falling for the pressure to buy. Oftentimes, our impulsive purchases are for items that we don’t really have a need for. The money wasted on exercise gadgets, for example, could be better spent investing in retirement. Take stock of everything you buy and ensure it’s actually worth paying for before doing so. Don’t be tempted by products on TV which are “once in a lifetime” opportunities as there’s every chance they don’t represent value at all. It’s quite frightening how much money we waste buying things we have absolutely no need for.

  1. Save a Percentage of Your Income

Many people live from paycheck to paycheck although it is often due to a lack of budgeting. A good way of saving up investment capital is to set aside a percentage of your income every time you get paid. Ideally, something like 30% would be ideal although this may not be affordable. Be realistic and see what you can afford to put to one side to assist in your pursuit of building wealth and if you need help, that’s when to hire a financial advisor.

  1. Work Hard Now

It’s never too soon to start planning for your retirement. As soon as you start out working, even if the job is as a poorly- paid intern, put all your efforts into doing a great job. Working hard on your career from the off is probably the best investment you can make in your future.

Let’s face it, we have more energy when we’re younger and so it’s never too early to pour all your energy into your career.

Even if you don’t particularly like your job, it’s important to give it everything you have. Even the most boring jobs teach you skills that ultimately you can take elsewhere when you have built some experience. No matter how negatively you feel about your role, look for the positives and see what other skills you can develop to make it more challenging.

  1. Invest in Your Education

Another sound investment for the future is your education. Whether it’s getting a degree or MBA or a vocational qualification, you increase your earnings potential the more qualified you are. Although it’s sometimes tempting to think you might be getting too old to learn new skills, it is NEVER too late. Ultimately, acquiring the skills you need to have the job you’ve always dreamed of is the best way of investing in your education. As the saying goes, “if you do what you love, you never work a day in your life”.

  1. Invest in Yourself and Your Marketing

Taking care with your appearance and promoting your skills and talents is a great way of working towards a top job with an attractive salary. Networking is so much easier in this day and age of social media. It’s also worth going to expos and conferences relating to your career where you can meet with others face-to-face. Some people invest considerable sums in creating brochures and other marketing materials to sell themselves to prospective employers.

  1. Venture into Entrepreneurship

One of the best ways of building wealth is by being your own boss. For those people in boring jobs, even they can be made much better when you put your energies into building your own business in the same sector. According to the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, as people proceed through the following four stages, their wealth accumulation increases rapidly: employee, self-employed, business owner and investor.

You can use these stages as a roadmap for your career if you’re starting out or even if you’ve been an employee for a while. Initially look for gaps in the market you’re interested in and see if there are any areas you can plug the gap with. Just making the shift from employee to self-employed can help boost your income significantly. For this reason, more people are asking their employers if they can continue in the same job but on a self-employed basis.

Once you have graduated all the way to investor status, then you have much more flexibility to do what you want with your time and money. Getting there is no walk in the park but well worth working through the challenges on your road to becoming wealthy. It doesn’t require any special training or experience to become an entrepreneur either. You think of some of the world’s most successful business people and they come from all walks of life. The thing that is common to them all is that they are motivated by passion. Develop that drive and passion towards creating retirement wealth as soon as you can and you’ll reach your goals in good time.

  1. Try Real Estate

More and more people are making money from property markets than ever before. Buying homes to rent out to others is a particularly popular way of accumulating wealth for your retirement fund. The only thing to bear in mind is that real estate investment won’t make you wealthy overnight. The buying and selling process takes time and the longer you hold a property, the more it generally increases in price.

The main thing to remember is to buy low and sell high, which is true of any investments you make. Making the right buying and selling choices with property can literally add several zeros to your net worth. House flipping is probably the best-known way of making big gains in real estate. Finding a suitable distressed property in an up-and-coming area is your best bet for ensuring a rapid accumulation of wealth.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

No matter what age you are, you should always work towards ensuring a happy and financially comfortable retirement. There is little doubt that all of us will get older so imagine the bonus of reaching retirement age and having everything covered. Consider how much money you would need to have an enjoyable retirement in terms of what your outgoings and income are likely to be when you reach the golden age. Make sure you have a retirement plan or strategy so that you keep building towards covering all those costs when the time is right.

Taking small steps to make savings in the right places and gains from others will ensure you have the best chances of building enough capital to reinvest into your retirement. As we grow older, it’s tempting to get stuck in the “now”, just taking care of the needs we have at any given time. However, as we all know, time passes very quickly and before long, you’re ready to reap the rewards of your hard work throughout the years.