“Wealth can only be accumulated by the earnings of industry and the savings of frugality.” – John Tyler
There is no doubt that the global geopolitical and socio-economic uncertainties are beginning to bite into our monthly salaries. This problem is particularly true of the people living in countries that are not as wealthy as first-world countries such as the United States of America and Great Britain, etc. However, rising costs and stagnating salaries are starting to catch all but the wealthiest people in the aforementioned first-world countries.
Geopolitical events: The threat of War looms closer
Unfortunately, I don’t think that this problem is going to resolve itself shortly. Every morning we wake up to the fact that yet another global event such as the fact that Trump has sent naval ships to North Korea. North Korea retaliated by holding a large-scale military parade on Saturday 15 April 2017, showing off a bevy of new missiles and weaponry. Just a day later, the USA and South Korea have reported that North Korea’s attempted missile launch failed.
Furthermore, we cannot solve these international crises. We can play our part by letting our country’s leaders know that we are not happy about the current global events that are taking place, but that is all we can do. Therefore, the question that begs is how do we survive the current global economic conditions that are brought about by the volatile and unstable geographical regions. Actually, in my opinion, the aim is not only to make ends meet financially, I believe that our aim should be to increase our wealth portfolios.
Growing our wealth portfolios
Before we look at ways to increase our investments and savings, let’s look at what the definition of a wealth is. According to Investopedia.com, “wealth measures the value of all the assets of worth owned by a person, community, company or country… Essentially, wealth is the accumulation of resources. Specific people, organizations and nations are said to be wealthy when they are able to accumulate many valuable resources or goods.”
In other words, our personal wealth is our investments, savings, and assets less our liabilities. Hopefully, over time, our liabilities decrease and our investments, etc. increase. The good news is that there are several ways we can actively pursue our goal of increasing our wealth:
Cut down on monthly expenses
The quickest way to save and invest more money every month is to cut down on you monthly expenses. Ergo, we need to trim all of the fat from our budget to save as much as possible. The practical application of this concept is not as easy as it sounds because it’s easy to get used to a certain standard of living. For example, you might be in the habit of purchasing a new Playstation game every month. Is this purchase necessary? If not, then it’s advisable to cut it out of your monthly budget.
Pay off any outstanding debt as quickly as possible
Apart from cutting down on your monthly savings, it’s advisable to pay more than the minimum amount back on your credit card bills and any other debt that you might have. You can even reduce the number of years that you have to pay for your house by increasing the your monthly mortgage repayments.
Consider investing on the global financial markets
Investing in the global financial markets via one of the conventional trading instruments such as options, CFDs, as well as trading in stocks and bonds are all viable options when considering growing your wealth.
It is, however, vital to note that trading on the world’s financial markets can be a high-risk venture; therefore, it is important to mitigate your risk by educating yourself on the ins and outs of financial market trading as well as researching the price movement trends of the underlying assets that you wish to trade on.
Furthermore, it’s advisable to maintain a cautious outlook especially when the stock markets are volatile and unstable, and it is wise to invest small amounts when you are placing trades. Therefore, should you make the wrong decision, you will not lose your entire investment.
Final words
In conclusion, I believe that it is possible to thrive during tough economic times. It might not be easy; however, if you increase your savings as well as your earning potential, you will not only decrease your debt, but you will grow your wealth portfolio substantially.
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