Getting Rich is like Running a Marathon, not a Sprint |
Have you ever wondered why a majority of the most prominent wealthiest individuals in the Philippines and the world are already in their 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s?
Come on, let's take a look at some of the people who regularly figure in the some of the many Richest People Lists around. In our country, we routinely hear of Henry Sy of the SM Group (age 90), John Gokongwei of the Robinsons and Universal Robina Group (age 88), Andrew Tan of the Megaworld Group (age 63), and George Ty (age 83) of the Metrobank Group. From the international scene, we have Warren Buffett (age 84) of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, Carlos Slim (age 75) of Mexico and George Soros (age 84) just to name a few. These people are among the richest because they decided to join the marathon of wealth creation very early on in their lives. Take note, it's a marathon. It's a slow, steady and sure trek to riches. Why is it a marathon?
Because TIME is a very important variable in the game of wealth creation. A sufficient amount of time needs to pass before any money that is saved or invested gets to grow and achieve its full potentials. The variable of time needs to mix well with two other variables which are MONEY and INTEREST for the optimal outcome to be fully realized. In short, you should be ready to count the years and the decades before you see those astronomic figures in your investment portfolios and in your bank accounts. To see the effects of how time works its magic on your wealth, insurance firm Sun Life Financial made projections on how a yearly saving of Php50,000 will have different accumulated values for people who either started saving early or late in their lives. Here is what they found out:
The obvious moral lesson of the story is the need to start saving and investing as early as you can. Start this discipline right after graduating from college, starting with a portion of your very first paycheck. Place some in mutual funds, stocks or bonds. And do it regularly, day in and day out, without fail for the next 40 to 50 years. You will reap the rewards when you are older. True and honest-to-goodness wealth creation is definitely NOT for those with a limited patience. Those who get impatient easily become prone to participating in all those "get rich quick" schemes which are more likely to eventually get them into a very deep hole. Witness all those investment scams that promise people very high earnings at a relatively short period of time. Many typically ended up with a lot less money than when they started. That is because they ran the wealth creation game as a sprint. It should not be run that way. Unless you have extra lucky stars to win the lotto or to inherit from very wealthy parents or to marry into a prominent family, the real tried and tested way to bigger wealth is to run the wealth creation race as a marathon and not a sprint. |
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Edwin T. Bartolome
Financial Advisor and Certified Investment Solicitor For inquiries and assistance on Personal Finance, Investments, Estate Planning and other Money Matters, you can reach him at: Cellphone: 0908-863-4617 and E-Mail: [email protected] Office Address:
Baobab New Business Office Sun Life Financial 6/F BTTC Centre, 288 Ortigas Avenue Greenhills, San Juan City Philippines Tel. No. 719-3958 Fax. No. 719-3894 Edwin Bartolome is authorized by the Insurance Commission to act as an Insurance Agent. Inquire about the
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"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago" |