Various Hucksters, Charlatans, Confidence Men, and some Financial Analysts have commandeered this valid expression for use in their nefarious fast money-making schemes. However, the question Does Your Money Work For you, or do you work for it? This is an excellent question to consider regarding your financial position. As a quick note, remember anybody who says they are not a huckster or charlatan, you should be skeptical of their comments (as you should with anything in a Blog as well).
If your money is working for you, it is helping you reach your life goals and is helpful. If you are working for your money, you are feeding the money monster that seems insatiable. This is my simplistic interpretation of this phrase (others may disagree and if so, please feel free to comment on my opinion).
How do you get your money to work for you? That is an excellent question, or possibly another more obtuse question: How do I stop having to feed the money monster? Either one of these questions asks how I get control of money in my life. This blog and many other excellent sites are dedicated to this exact topic, and the easiest way to get back control of your financial world is by information and education.
Information
What information do you need to get your money working for you?
- How much money do you make in a year?
- How much do you spend in a year? This is a very hard question to answer honestly.
- How much do you save? Why do you want to save is the other question attached to this one (House, Retirement, vacations, etc.,).
Information about your monetary situation needs to be collected, not just this small subset. However, if you start here, that would be a very good thing.
Education
That one is simple, read valuable books, sites and such to collect as much information as possible about how money can work in your life. Understand the various savings vehicles available to you, and understand what debt is and how you want to treat debt. Make a plan based on what you have learned, and execute it (and then fix it when you have made mistakes).
I have made Debt my arch nemesis. There is no Good Debt anywhere, anyhow. Many folks disagree with me, but this is part of my Finance concept.
The Twist
Will this mean your money will be working for you? No, the actual expression is a Binary query about whether you are Rich or not. If your money works for you (i.e. it grows and builds faster than you need it), you are rich; if not, you are a working stiff and working for your money. I am in the latter category and can’t see where I’d ever end up having my money work for me. Still, maybe one day, if I am lucky, I can break even (maybe when I am much older and have fewer financial liabilities, my pension will be sufficient).
Free Banking
Of course, there are plenty of folks that offer free banking
Well, I think our money can work for us in smaller ways too, even if it’s not the full deal (ie. we no longer need to work). Any time we save or (ideally) invest even $100, that money is working for us. Having said that, I too, am a working stiff. Thankfully, I enjoy working …
One day I hope to have enough so that my money is “working for me” (generates more than I need)…
But every time i check my portfolio…it seems I am a LONG way away from that.