None of us becomes careless with money intentionally; in fact, it happens gradually—often without us even realising it—until eventually, we begin to neglect the matter entirely. This is not a case of laziness or a lack of discipline; rather, it is simply how our brains are wired. Building wealth is one of the most difficult and complex tasks, because we naturally tend to choose immediate gratification over what is better for the future. Photo by Luke Wass on Unsplash Meet the two investors Imagine two people. Same city, same age, different lives. Marcus is 24. He earns $3,000 a month. He’s not a finance guy. He doesn’t read market reports or track earnings calls. But three years ago, a friend told him to automate $200 into an S&P 500 index fund on payday. He set it up in twenty minutes and hasn’t though...
Photo by Uran Wang on Unsplash After watching people manage their money for years, I have noticed a common pattern. Often, the reason people fall behind is not a lack of income. Many of those who struggle to build wealth do not have an income problem—instead, they have a mindset problem. Their way of thinking about money often harms them without them even realising it. It doesn’t always matter how much you earn; what matters is what you do with that money. You might earn $8,000 a month yet fail to save anything, delaying the start of an SIP while waiting for the “right time.” Alternatively, you might make impulsive investment decisions based on the daily fluctuations of your portfolio. None of these factors is directly linked to your earnings. They all relate to your mindset or perspective. How you build wea...