Follow these four rules to get rich!

Do you want to create wealth? Are you satisfied and happy as you are? 

Most of us would answer the first question as Yes, and the second as No, and if you are one of them then you are at the right place at the right time. My Hearty Congratulations! to you. Wallace D. Wattles said, “Every person who gets rich by creation opens a way for thousands to follow - and inspires them to do so."

Wealth creation is not the privilege of a few, but as Ralph Waldo Emerson pointed, “Man was born to be rich, or inevitably to grow rich, through the use of his faculties."

 Here come the 4 maxims to wealth creation as jacks out of the box:

1.  When young be a youngster, when old be mature.

"Don't let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream and he thinks you're crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you're lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you're greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn't understand." By Robert Allen

Some youngsters are easily influenced by the ideas, advice and experiences of others, like Vijay, 27 years old, believed in safe and secure investments in fixed deposits in banks and companies, just because his father lost heavily in the share market. However Rahul invested in mutual funds and created more wealth. 

Youngsters in their 20’s should invest in stocks and shares as they can afford to wait and benefit with compounding effect and lower taxes. Likewise an old person should play mature and responsible and invest in safe and secure investments like debt instruments and big cap mutual funds.

2) Know the depth of ocean before stepping in, and your investment risk:

Investment risk calculation of each portfolio helps judge risk. Your age, appetite for risk, and length of investment decides your investment portfolio. M.R. Kopmeyer said, The great road to wealth is to learn useful facts", how true it is that many investors had lost heavily in future stock selling in a bull market without much knowledge. A safer investment would have been multi cap mutual funds with wealth creation period of 10-15 years. However senior citizens should invest in big cap mutual funds with much lower allocation.

Wealth creation decisions should be long term, for it is futile to be swayed to sell units/shares in a rising market and miss on opportunities for further wealth creation. Follow the market trend and do as J. Paul Getty quotes, "Buy when everyone else is selling and hold until everyone else is buying"

3) Set an optimum leverage between debt for wealth creation and lifestyle assets.

"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into." By Wayne Dyer

There is an urgent need for quick wealth creation to meet inflation demands, but we need lifestyle assets like car, TV, furniture and a house to live in. Unplanned debt can be a barrier to your wealth accumulation process. It is true with easy debt options available, there is a choice to borrow for lifestyle assets alone or for also for wealth creation investments like real estate. In addition, payment of EMI leaves youngsters with less capital to invest in wealth creation assets.    

In addition, leverage requires not investing in same type of assets like land and house, as price fluctuations could adversely affect all in that type of asset. Also investing on lifestyle comforts pay nothing in the long run.

4) No one created wealth by laying all eggs in one basket.

Variety is the spice of investment decisions too, helping in diversifying risks, and making it possible to offset the fall in value of one asset by profits in another. So having a diversified portfolio of real estate, gold, shares, mutual funds and house, and avoiding investment just in one asset class helps. In addition, portfolio diversification proves effective in tax saving, and better wealth creation.

Now finally you too are on the path to being a high networth person. How do you view yourself?

Do you quote George Claso, "Wealth is power. With wealth many things are possible." and end on a final note, with John Emmerling, "Study well what the billionaire does. It may make you a millionaire."

(The author is Ramalingam K, an MBA (Finance) and Certified Financial Planner. He is the Founder and Director of Holistic Investment Planners (www.holisticinvestment.in) a firm that offers Financial Planning and Wealth Management. He can be reached at ramalingam@holisticinvestment.in.)