Wealth acts as a way to measure the values of the various assets owned by one single person, a community, country, or company. Wealth can be determined by subtracting all debts from the market value of both physical and intangible assets. When someone/something is wealthy, many valuable resources or goods have been collected. Wealth is considered a stock that can be seen in absolute or relative terms. 

The definition of wealth can vary, depending on different parts of the world and particular time periods. There’s also a stark difference between being wealthy, and another common associated term which is rich. When someone becomes rich, they may receive a lot of money all at once. This could be from an inheritance, IPO, etc. On the other hand, wealth is what’s built over time. The path to becoming wealthy requires lots of work and commitment, and you need to have some sense in what you’re doing!

Net Worth + Wealth

Your net worth can be used to determine your wealth. Net worth is defined as the value of your assets minus your liabilities, or everything you own minus everything you owe. Take everything you have that’s worth money. This can include cash in savings, checking, the equity in your home, 401(k)s and IRAs. Once you have that number, subtract the amount of debt you still have.

Ways to Attain More Wealth

Feeling like you want to grow your money in hopes of becoming wealthy one day and perhaps passing on that wealth to your children? Check out some of these tips to help you get to where you want to be. 

Determine Your Goals

If you’re serious about taking on the journey to wealth, you need to come up with a plan and goals that you would like to reach. You might want to think of a particular net worth to hit, monthly budget goal (Including money set aside for savings/investment). You will also want to start thinking of retirement plans, no matter what age you are! It’s never too early to start preparing for retirement when the day comes, so you can continue to live as comfortably as possible (hopefully while being wealthy of course).

Invest

Investing your money can lead to compound growth, where over time you will get back more money than you have been investing. Check out some options for where you can invest your money!

Stock Market

When you buy a stock, you actually own a small portion of the company you bought into. When the company profits you may get a portion of those profits based on how many shares of stock you own. The price of the shares you own will grow over time when the value of the company grows as well.

Index Investing

You can purchase stock in a stock market index instead of buying in an individual company. This tracks some of the largest companies in the stock market.

‍401K

 A 401K plan is a way  to invest in the stock market provided by your employer for retirement. You get the most value of a 401k when your employer is willing to match a portion of your contributions. A “match” is basically free money that will actually double the money you put into your 401(k) account. Your investment is basically doubled, so take this opportunity if it becomes available to you. 

Investment Bonds

When you purchase an investment bond, you are basically loaning money to a company or the government. The government or company that sells you the bond will pay you interest on the “loan” over the bond’s life cycle. Bonds are considered ‘less risky’ than stocks, but their potential for returns is much lower.

Avoid Debts as Best as Possible

Be careful with frequent credit card purchases, so you can avoid a situation where you’re not able to afford the monthly payment. While most people struggle with some debt at one point or another in life, those among the wealthiest are the ones who work to avoid debt as much as possible. Interest rates that you have to pay on debts is a bad thing, but the interest you earn through investments is a good thing!

Budgeting and saving money will help you pay off some of those nagging debts. A good budgeting plan should include:

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• Identify necessary costs: Keep track of your monthly income and other expenses. Calculate how much you make or spend on average for each item on your list.
• Keep track of the areas where you spend the most money: Take a look at how much you spend each month on common things like rent, utilities, and groceries. You should also take into account your other spending costs that aren’t necessary. 
• Look for ways to improve: Once you do the work to determine how much money you’re spending on expenses each month, you can find areas where you might need to cut back and spend less. 

Find Ways to Increase your Income

There’s only so much room to work with if your income isn’t sufficient enough. If you want to attain wealth, pay off debt, and build your investment contributions, you should consider finding ways to increase your income. If you’re happy at your current job, consider speaking to your employer about a raise. You could also look into trying out some potential side hustles, which might include driving for Uber, freelancing online, babysitting, etc. 

Begin your Path to Greatness

With patience, hard work, and time commitment, you’ll also need to work strategically if you wish to someday achieve wealth. Follow some of these tips that have been mentioned, and you might be happily surprised to find out where you’ll end up one day.