Breaking the Cycle of Insanity

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I talk a lot about saving and investing your money, and the importance of it. But there's another aspect of it that I don't always express as much, although I have mentioned it more than once, and that's about the power of money. As I always like to say, work is noble and necessary. At the same time, it should also not be forever. The power is in what you ultimately have control over once you have amassed your fortune through a frugal lifestyle and a wise savings and investment strategy. It's about the freedom you have to choose your own path and destiny rather than to have it chosen for you based on obligations and the need to always generate more new money. Keeping money is as important as earning money, of course, and in many ways, is more important than simply earning it. What do they say about insanity? It's doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Can't one who doesn't save or invest say that about their jobs? You go to work day in and day out, month after month, year after year—to do what? Earn more money, of course. But to what end? To spend it all and have to go back over and over and over again to keep earning more to spend. That's the core definition of that phrase about insanity. If all you were to do was to make a few minor adjustments, and start setting aside say, 15% of every dollar you take home, over time, especially wisely invested, it alone could potentially provide for most or all of your income needs. If you could save, for example, $1 million, it alone would provide you with $60,000 a year in income—and that's on the conservative side—that you don't have to punch a time clock for. Granted, how much you'd need would depend on you. But the principle remains the same. Money makes money, and ultimately, the idea is to spend the money your money makes, not the money that makes your money. The more you keep, the more you have, and the more you have, the more you make, and when you make enough, eventually the decision whether or not to work becomes yours.