Most people in America go through life distracted with sports, work, television and various hobbies. They spend little or no time trying to reach financial independence. And worse yet, they do not care to learn anything.
The NFL is not the big leagues, the NBA isn’t the Big Leagues and neither is any sport — high school, college or pro.
Your economic life for you and your family is the Big Leagues.
Editor's Note: Small-Town Ohio Accountant Uses Simple Forgotten Secret to Help Investors Pocket Millions
A survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that 60 percent of workers born between 1946 and 1964 have less than $100,000 saved for retirement. In fact, 40 percent have saved less than $25,000.
At age 30, I had very little as well, but at age 42, I became financially independent. I did so by reading at least four hours per day and developing my investment income through my own personal Dividend Machine. Many wanted me to follow conventional wisdom.
However, conventional wisdom is often long on convention and short on wisdom
Earlier this week a friend who is brilliant, but is uninterested in finances, told me to watch the 1949 film The Fountainhead, which was based on the Ayn Rand novel that brought her fame and fortune.
The main character, Howard Roark, played by Gary Cooper, is an architect and during his trial he summed up my feelings perfectly.
"Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. But the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. The man who thinks must think and act on his own. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be subordinated to the needs, opinions or wishes of others. It is not an object of sacrifice."
Simply put, the world has changed in the past 4 1/2 years. Millions of Americans who saved for retirement who intended to keep that money safely in a money market at 5 or 6 percent has instead been told these money market rates now pay 0.3 to 1 percent annually.
Your brain is your only weapon. However, in trying to navigate in the world of finance, you find as you were willing to work for your money there are folks willing to work twice as hard to take it from you. Liars, fools and thieves are the rule not the exception.
Another quote from the movie: "Look at history: Everything we have, every great achievement has come from the independent work of some independent mind. Every horror and destruction came from attempts to force men into a herd of brainless, soulless robots — without personal rights, without person ambition, without will, hope or dignity. It is an ancient conflict. It has another name: ‘The individual against the collective.’"
Navigating in the world of financial uncertainty requires someone who has an independent mind. I love investing because it’s all about my "individual style" against the collective.
Each person who thinks must think and act on their own.
Editor's Note: Small-Town Ohio Accountant Uses Simple Forgotten Secret to Help Investors Pocket Millions
My advantage is that unlike those “brainless, soulless robots” all around the world who make up the collective “market," I am that independent mind that can navigate the financial world against the collective.
I just want you to gain some insights into seeing me in a different dimension so you can invest your time and money going forward wisely.
Hopefully each week you will continue to read my weekly articles and share them with everyone who you feel would benefit.
About the Author: Bill Spetrino
Bill Spetrino is a member of the Moneynews Financial Brain Trust. Click Here to read more of his articles. He is also the editor of the Dividend Machine. Discover more by Clicking Here Now.
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