>>1.Live below your means.<<
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The best advice ever. That’s exactly what I did the moment I got out of college with an MS in Chem. E. I could afford almost everything I wanted but I realized that I did not need everything I wanted.
Years later, I told this to my financial advisor and his answer was, “If everyone lived like you, the economy would collapse. Our economy is based on the people to spend, spend, spend.”
I never took his advise, I have one credit card and have always paid my debts first before spending any money.
Yup, the “spending rises proportionally with income” and “Gimme dat!” attitudes is what keeps people in poverty, regardless of income. “The borrower is slave to the lender”, and I am thankful to the likes of Dave Ramsey to at least getting some people thinking. I have told my kids (after educating them in this) that there is no “Daddy Bailout” if they ignore these tenants and fail financially...
Your financial adviser must be a liberal