The Four Barriers to Financial Success

Whether it's a lack of knowledge, resources or motivation, finding out what's holding you back from financial security is the first step towards change.

Is your Visa or MasterCard always right on its credit limit and just about ready to implode? Are you still renting your home, while all your friends are buying theirs? Are you too scared to work out the amount of superannuation you will actually need to live on after you retire - because you know your compulsory super will never get anywhere near there? Is buying the odd lottery ticket the extent of your planning for the future?

Believe it or not, the four most common reasons you are in financial strife may be found right inside your own mind.

Research shows that there are four common blocks that hold people back. These are paradigms that prevent people from achieving financial security. If you know what they are and can do something to change them, you could change your whole life.

1. We don't know what to do or where to start

A lot of people simply have no idea what wealth creation is all about it.

After all, they don't have a subject called ?Personal Wealth Creation? at school (maybe they should).

And while our parents do many wonderful things for us, like loving and encouraging us and teaching us right from wrong, they can't teach us how to create wealth unless they understand this process themselves.

Of course there are a lot of articles on investment in the newspapers, and even books on the subject, but they usually assume you know something about it already.

And all that investment buzz talk simply hides the fact that the starting point of every wealth creation plan is quite simple. All you need to begin with is a vision. An idea of where you want to end up. Because you can't actually get anywhere unless you have a vision of where you are trying to get to.

That applies to everything in life - even something as basic as baking an apple pie. Unless you have a clear vision of how an apple pie should look, smell and taste, you'll never want to make one.

2. We don't know how to do it

Some people grow up with an understanding of money they absorb from their parents or a family member. Some people are born entrepreneurs - think of the kids at primary school who made money trading marbles. But for those of us who are not born entrepreneurs, or were not raised in an investment-conscious household, it is not easy to know where to start.

Having the vision is the all important first step. But many people who have a dream of financial security, or wish they could change the direction of their lives, just don't know how to make that vision a reality.

To do that two things are necessary. The first is a plan. A detailed map of how to get from where you are now to where you want to be. Without a plan, you're driving blind.

The second essential is time, which means patience and commitment to the plan to make it work. Why is time so important? Simply because if you choose your investment wisely, time will almost always do the rest.

3. We don't have the resources

Wealth creation demands discipline. We have to understand that there is a price to pay for every dream, and it we want that dream enough, there may have to be sacrifices.

Every wealth creation plan has to start from where you are now. Your income and your assets. Most of us have a fixed amount coming in each month, and if we want to accumulate enough money to invest, we have to save some of it, or find ways of bringing in new income.

Sacrifices are hardly ever fun and never easy, and we may have to redefine the terms ?essential? and ?non-essential?, but if we have a vision and we have a plan to achieve that vision, doing without the non-essentials is a lot easier.

Of course, sacrificing non-essentials is not the only way to get the seed money for your financial plan. For example, if you are buying your own home, the difference between what you paid for it and what it is worth now is an asset that can be invested.

Many people think they simply cannot afford to save and invest - even those on above average salaries. But if you sincerely want to create personal wealth, and if you really care about achieving your dream, you will make the lifestyle changes required to get you there.

4. We don't want to do it

Some people say that they are 'simply not interested in money?, as though this were an achievement. But most people who say they are not interested in creating wealth must either have very wealthy parents, or live an ostrich-like existence with their heads in the sand.

They have obviously never asked the really tough question: how long am I going to live for? (It could easily be 90 years or more in Australia right now). And this leads to even more questions. When will I have to stop working? And how many years will I have to support myself out of my savings before I die?

The fact is, if you want to live like an ostrich, that's your choice and we can't help you.

On the other hand, if you would really like to achieve some financial security, but don't know how to start or what to do, there is a simple solution.

Find a financial adviser you can trust. A professional who will take the time to understand your hopes, needs and finances, and help you define an achievable goal. Someone who will help you draw a map to take you from where you are now to where you want to be, and help you find the self discipline to achieve it.

Moneytree Partners would like to be that financial adviser. To help you to understand how investment works and what you need to do to plan and achieve your own financial freedom. Let us change your mind about investment - while there's still time.

(comments need to be approved before they will be displayed)