What are the top 5 things people do to stay wealthy?

Ralph
00:00:01

Are you tired of watching your hard-earned money slip right through your fingers? Do you ever wonder how some people seem to effortlessly maintain their financial success while so many others struggle? Well today, we're exploring the top 5 things people do to stay wealthy, and I'm going to be sharing some inspiring stories from some of my very own clients who've mastered these techniques.

But here's the kicker. We're not just talking about money. We're going to explore how true wealth encompasses not only your money, but your physical, your mental, your relational, and your spiritual wellbeing too. So what are the top 5 things people do to stay wealthy? That's the answer that I'm going to give you on today's show.

Narrator
00:00:44

Welcome to the Ask Ralph podcast where listening to an experienced financial professional with over 30 years of experience can help you make sense of confusing questions, current headlines and industry trends about taxes, small business, financial decision making, investment strategies, and even the art of proper budgeting. Ask Ralph makes the complex simple by sharing his real world knowledge from a Christian perspective with all things financial.

Now here's your host, Ralph Estep Junior.

Ralph
00:01:12

Well, thank you for joining me today on the show. I want to thank you for taking your precious time. There are so many things competing for your time, but you come here and it's an honor. Well, let's take a quick look back at yesterday's show on our spiritual Sunday show, I talked all about developing spiritual grits. So if you missed it, I'm going to encourage you to go back and check it out because I laid out some powerful strategies I've used to strengthen my faith and also build that resilience in the face of life's challenges. And boy, we are living in challenging times.

Well today's question, as we always start the show comes from Hillary. And this is what Hillary said. She said, "Ralph, I've worked hard to build my wealth, but lately, I feel like I'm constantly worried about losing it all. It's affecting my sleep, my relationships, and even my faith. How do truly wealthy people maintain their success without letting fear consume them? I need guidance on not just preserving my financial wealth, but also nurturing my overall wellbeing. Please help!"

Well, let me just say this Hillary, I feel your worry. And I too felt this. You're not alone in this. Many people face this. So today, we're going to face this head on.

We're going to go right at it and I'm going to share what I found for how to get through that. Before we jump into that, I want to talk about the show. This is all about your questions. This show thrives on your questions. So if you've got that burning financial question or that life question, go to justaskralph.com and you'll be able to get your question answered right here on the show and don't forget. Every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM Eastern time, we go live. Yes, you can join me at askralphpodcast.com/live for my real time interaction and deep discussion show. It's live every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM and I hope you'll join us.

Well Hillary, I was thinking about the struggle that you're going through, and it reminded me of a verse from the book of Matthew, which it gets to the heart of maintaining true wealth and it comes to us from Matthew 6:19-21 and it says this. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Wow. That's a powerful verse because think about that last bit of that. For where your treasure is, what you treasure, what you make important, that's where your heart will be also. And that verse perfectly sets the stage for today. It's all about keeping things aligned and that's exactly what we're going to talk about on today's show.

So you might be getting ready to say Ralph, let it out for us. Tell us what's going on. What are your 5 tips that people do to stay wealthy and what are some stories from my clients might jump right into. And the first one, number one tip. They maintain a comprehensive budget and stick to it. Yes. Ralph's talking about budgets again. But it is the truth. Let me tell you about my client, Tom.

Now, Tom is a successful entrepreneur. But he came to me. He said, Ralph, I feel overwhelmed. He said, Ralph, my business is growing. My wealth is growing. I look great on paper and he did looked great on paper. His numbers are fantastic. His business was growing year after year. His savings were growing.

His retirement was growing. But he just said, Ralph, I feel overwhelmed. And I said, well, let's do this, Tom. Let's create a comprehensive budget, a detailed budget. And we looked at all of his income strings. We look at all of his expenses. And guess what? It was, it was really a game changer for Tom cause you know what it give? It gave him the opportunity to do what he called a weekly budget review. And every week, Tom, like clockwork, he would check his income. He would check his expenses. And like I said, Tom was doing well, but what Tom discovered is he discovered what he did with what's called emotional spending. Tom was able to look at his moods or see what was going on during the day and he found where he was making these impulsive purchases. And it wasn't just that he was making the impulsive purchases. What Tom said to me is Ralph, I want to understand the why. Because for him, it wasn't just a budget restriction.

He wanted to understand what was triggering these things, what was causing these things because he wanted to preserve his wealth. And in the end by doing this weekly budget review, by looking at a detailed income and expense report every week, Tom builds up great peace of mind. So that's the first of my 5 tips. If you want to stay wealthy, maintain a comprehensive budget and stick to it because it doesn't matter how much income you have. Your issues will just multiply as your income gets larger. So you got to pay attention to what's going on. Well, let's look at number two. And number two is they diversify their investments and regularly assess their portfolio. That is critical. Let me tell you about my client, Lisa.

Now Lisa was a schoolteacher. And somebody was in her class. The father of one of the students say, you know, Lisa, you really ought to think about getting involved in real estate. And Lisa became a real estate investor. She poured all of her savings into this beautiful rental property. But here's the problem. She put all of her money into a single property, and she was enticed by the market. They looked at, hey, this is in a great neighborhood.

You'll be able to really make a great killing on this as a rental property. You'll always have tenants and all that sort of thing. Well then came 2008. And if you weren't around there, let me just tell you that was a fun time. And I think we're fixing to get into the same sort of time you're coming up. But that rental property dropped, that market dropped in the value that rental property went way down. And I can still remember Lisa.

She came in for a consultation. And she said, Ralph, I'm scared to death. I've got everything I have invested in this rental property. And she was right. She had put all her eggs in one basket. She hadn't diversified her investments. So we sat down, I started to work with her and my goal was to build her a safety net. Because the way I saw it, she needed something to weather the storms of life. Not just that one rental property.

So we work with her broker, and we added stocks. We added bonds and we even added some conservative cryptocurrency not too long ago. And what we effectively did was we spread that risk across investments. It wasn't all in that one basket. And in the end, what that really does is it builds resilience. She wasn't chasing after the highest returns or trying to hit home runs on every one of them.

She could hit singles on each of her different areas, you know, in the stocks, in the bonds and the crypto. And then she kept the rental property as well. But in the end, you know what she said to me, she said, Ralph, she said, I sleep better at night knowing that all my investments aren't in that one thing because the truth is, anything could happen to that rental property. Well, let's look at number three. If you want to stay wealthy, the number three thing I recommend is they prioritize continuous learning and personal development. It's sad how many people get that college degree or that master's degree and they just stop learning. Learning is a lifelong process. Well, let me tell you about my client, John. Now, John was a small business owner, and he was laser-focused on his company. I mean, that's all he did. He eats. He slept. He did everything in, everything was involved in his company.

I mean, every single day, if you met with John, he talked to you about his business, which was fantastic. He was doing a great job building his business. But the problem was John was neglecting his personal health. He also neglected his own growth. He wasn't reinvesting anything. He was sprinting in a marathon. With the marathon be in that destination for just his business. But what we found is he needed to be more rounded.

He needed to be adaptable. So he came down and we sat together. We discussed investing in himself because that was the key. John was great at investing in his business, but he wasn't investing in himself. And I talked to him about building his talents, building his skills. And the thing that impressed me the most about John is he said, you know what, Ralph, you're right.

I put so much time into building this business. It's time for me to dedicate some time to something else. And what John did is he dedicated time to new business strategies. He look at different ways, what they, the proverbial build a better mouse trap. John enrolled in classes. He did what I called continuous learning. Because the truth is you will come to a point where you realize the only constant is change. There is no other constant. It's always change.

We have to learn how to adapt. Now for John that meant attending personal development seminars. And he even found new ideas for wealth creation. So like I said, number three, you got to prioritize continuous learning and personal development. If you stop doing that, you're going to fall, you find yourself falling way behind. Well, let's look at number four. A lot of people will argue with me on this one, but I truly believe this was, as a Christian person that they practice intentional generosity.

I think that's the key to this whole thing. Each of these is important, but I think this intentional generosity is huge. Let me tell you about this lawyer I know. Her name is Maria. Now Maria was doing great with her law practice. She was knocking it out of the park, as they say. But she felt guilty about her wealth. She felt guilty about her success. And listen, the truth is a lot of us feel that. I felt that before. It's very common. And Maria had reached a level of success. She said, Ralph, I've got more clients than I can handle. I've added associates. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. But what she said to me, and it was striking. She said, but Ralph I have no joy.

And I thought about it, I said, you know what? I've heard this said time and time again. Money can't buy happiness. So we're talking about wealth here today but think about what Maria is saying. She goes, I have no joy. I've reached the pinnacle of my law career. And I've realized that I've got all this wealth and all these things, but I'm just not happy. So what did Maria do?

Well, Maria decided to shift her perspective. She did what I call a paradigm shift. And her and I talked about stewardship, and she never really understood the concept of that. And I made a bold statement to her. I said, you know, Maria, all we have is a gift from God. And she looked at me like I was crazy.

She said, Ralph, I work hard for everything I have. And I said, yes, I get what you're saying and that's good. God wants you to be successful. He wants you to be diligent. He wants you to work hard. But you've got to get to a point where you realize that all we have is a gift from God, and that's a stumbling block for many people. It's been a stumbling block in my life. I know many times I've looked and said, God, look what I've done.

But when you come to that point of realization, that it's only by the grace of God that you've gotten where you are, then maybe you can change that perspective. And for Maria, I mentioned to her about tithing. She was a church goer.

So she started supporting her church. She started supporting other charities. She found things that aligned with her faith. And guess what? Maria found a sense of purpose. It was a personal fulfillment that nothing in her law practice could give her. And here was the coolest part of it. She said to me one day, she said, Ralph, you would never believe the ripple effect of this. She said, “I didn’t realize all these things are interconnected.” She said “I started being more generous and I felt better about myself.”

I felt better about myself, and I took it into my law practice and my law practice has grown even more. I'm connecting with people. I'm building relationships. She said, Ralph, this is something that no amount of money can provide. And see that is true wealth. Well, let's look at number five. The last thing I have on my list here. And this is one that's been a struggle for me. And that is they nurture their physical, mental, and spiritual health. This is another key component to this. Let me tell you about David. Now David was this high-power executive guy.

I mean, this dude was wealthy beyond measure. If you look at his finances, man he was like I said a couple of times, knocking it out of the park. He was class A straight on getting it done. He had huge savings. He had huge investments. But David confided in me one day, he said, Ralph, I feel empty inside. And I've been there. I remember saying to him, David, I got you.

Dude, I feel you. I'm right there with you. He said, Ralph, I've got all this wealth. He said, I'm not worried about next time I go to the grocery store, how I'm going to pay for my groceries. He said my wife and I, we travel when we want, we go on vacations when we want. Yeah, I work hard Ralph, he said, but I don't worry about where my next dollar is coming from. And truth is I feel that way too.

I don't mean to be arrogant about it, but God has blessed me like that as well. And I looked at David and I said, well, maybe the issue is we haven't been looking at the whole deal here. Now David's like me, he's a little bit overweight. Don't really take care of his physical health too much. So him and I sat down and we created what I call a holistic wealth plan. And in that wealth plan, we did a few things.

We built time for physical exercise. It's one of the things that I've learned to do every morning, like clockwork, I exercise for at least 30 minutes. It helps me start the day on the right foot. Actually I use both feet. That's kind of a dumb joke, but anyway. You've also got to build in time for meditation and prayer.

You can't skip that part. If you listen to my show, you know, I talked about this. Start the day with prayer. Start the day with being thankful for some things. Write that gratitude journal. You've also got to take time for spiritual reflection. Sometimes you just got to shut up and listen and take a look at what God is showing you all around you.

And last but not least, you got to take time for service to others. And like I said, for me, that meant starting the day with a prayer. It means a daily workout. And I met with David a few weeks later and he said to me, Ralph, he said, something amazing has happened. He said, Ralph, all of a sudden, I feel sharper at work. He said the best part is I've grown my relationship with my family. And for him, I was like, dude, that is fantastic because we took that holistic wealth plan.

And here's the critical point. If you're listening, you'd know what we're getting to here. And we're, I'm going to make a bold statement. And that is true wealth goes far beyond your bank account. It just does. Like when you get to a point of self-actualization, you'll realize that true wealth is not measured by how much money is in the bank, how many cars you got sitting in the driveway, how many houses you got, how many vacations you take, those things are great. I'm a capitalist. Fantastic. I applaud you. But true wealth goes far beyond your bank account. It includes your physical health. Listen, if you don't have physical health, I don't care how successful you are financially.

You're never going to be able to enjoy it. It brings you mental clarity. If you don't have these other parts of wealth, again, you're going to be so fogged in this mental fog. It builds strong relationships. Think about this. How many people do you know that is successful, that are all alone?

Yeah, they got big bank accounts. They got all this stuff, but they don't have anybody to share it with. And the biggest thing, it builds this deeper spiritual life. Look, I'm not saying that financial wealth isn't important. It is. It provides security. It provides opportunities. It provides a means to support causes.

But here's the big IF and this is a big one. If you neglect your physical health, you'll have no energy to enjoy the fruits of your work. I've been there. I remember being over 400 pounds. And I was doing well financially, but man, I couldn't walk across the room without getting gassed out. Doctor said to me, Ralph, your blood pressure is 200 over a hundred. You're going to pop dude.

And I had to recognize that I needed to work on my physical health. What goes along with that, if you neglect your mental wellbeing. You're going to be filled with anxiety and stress and just like Maria. It's going to rob your joy. I promise you it will rob your joy. If you neglect relationships, you're going to find yourselves rich in money, but poor in love and connection.

I've been there too. Trust me. I'm almost thrown away a marriage over it. Imagine being that rich and wealthy, but you've got no single person to share it with. And think about this. If you neglect your spiritual life, you've heard this said before you can gain the whole world but lose your soul.

I know, I don't want to be the one that loses my soul. So truly, I'm going to encourage this holistic approach to wealth, and this is what it means. I'm going to lay out some things for you here. Number one, it means prioritizing your physical health regular exercise and proper nutrition. Listen, the Bible says the body is a temple. If your body is a temple, you better doggone eat right, and honor your body.

And now trust me. After I get done recording this today, I'm going to put this into practice as well. Number two. Nurturing mental wellbeing through continuous learning. You've got to continue to learn. You've got to look for ways to reduce stress. Do some stress management work. And if you need to do counseling or therapy, I'm going to tell you do it.

Look, I'm not ashamed to say it. I've been in counseling. I was in counseling for many years. And the beautiful part of counseling is if you own it, it will work. Find the right counselor, find someone that's a Christian counselor in my view. You don't want some secular dude that's taking off on some tangent. But if that's what works for you, then do it.

Don't be ashamed of it. The third thing. Investing time and energy in key relationships. You can't just spend all your day working and are chasing after that all mighty dollar. You got to invest in those key relationship with your family, your friends and your community. Listen. If you don't invest, you will not grow your relationships.

In fact, you're probably going to lose them. I don't know how many times I've seen marriages end in divorce because the couple just was working in different directions. The husband or the wife, all they were focusing on was that build net material wealth. And number four. Last but not least, deepening your spiritual life through prayer.

I can't stress this enough. Find times for meditation, study the scripture, and be actively involved in a faith community. Listen, we all need to embrace this. The book of Matthew reminds us where your treasure is. We said this at the beginning. There your heart will be also. So my challenge for you today is learn to balance wealth with a balance in all areas of your life. Because here's the result.

You got to work towards storing up treasures that moth and rust cannot destroy. So I'm going to give you some homework right now. Ask yourself this very simple question. What are your treasures? I mean, seriously, take time today and write down, what do you treasure? And then think about what we talked about.

Reflect on this. Well, let's recap because I know I've covered a lot. I went a bit long today. But we talked about those 5 things to do to stay wealthy. I share with you some real-life stories of success and how my clients have worked on it to make a positive change. We talked about maintaining a comprehensive budget.

Yes. Ralph talked about budgets. We talked about diversifying investments. We talked about making personal development a priority. We talked about investing in yourself. I talked about practicing generosity. And last but not least, we talked about nurturing your overall wellbeing. And here's the deal. Everybody's different. Everybody's going to be in a different way with this, but you got to figure out what works for you.

So here's some actionable steps that you can take right now. If you say Ralph, that's great. What can I do? Number one thing I'm going to tell you. Start tracking all your expenses for the next week. This will give you a clear picture of where your money is going, and maybe it's not a financial issue, but this is something you can do that's tangible. The second thing I'm going to tell you to do. Set aside 15 minutes each day for prayer or meditation. Focus on your relationship with money and how that impacts or affects your overall life goals. That question I asked a few minutes ago about what are you treasuring? Is what you're treasuring valuable?

Is it helping you get to where you want to be? And then third thing, identify one area of personal development you'd like to improve and find a book or online course on that topic and do something about it. Don't just have the intention of doing. Intentions are great and they're useless unless you put them into action.

Now, maybe you're sitting there and you're going Ralph, do you have completely overwhelmed me today? 'Because Ralph I feel stuck. I feel like I'm living paycheck to paycheck. I am frustrated with my current finances. It feels like every step I take forward, I get slammed three or four steps back. Maybe you're a business owner. You're trying to struggle this, this life in balance. Thinking, Ralph, that all sounds crazy, but I've got so many fires to put out in my office. I can't even think about taking personal development or being charitable or spending time with family. We don't have to deal with this alone.

This is where I come in. I can walk alongside you. I can coach you. I can show you how to break free from this. I've been there and I've broken free. If you're struggling financially, I can show you how to break that financial bondage. I can show you how to achieve long term success, whether it's in your personal finances, your business finances, maybe need help with strategies to grow your business. We can work together to achieve your financial goals.

I'll create a personalized plan for you. So don't let another day go by trapped. Take action today. The best place to start is go to askralph.com. You'll see a banner ad click on that button that says Book a call with Ralph. And we'll sit down. We'll talk about where you are. We'll talk about your dreams, what I call your big hairy audacious goals.

And I will help you build a personalized plan that's not just that financial plan, but it's that life plan that's aligned with your faith. I'm going to help you find accountability, whether that's with some mentors or with some groups at church, or, you know, somebody else that can help you. And then we'll talk again, we'll measure and tweak how your plan is working for your success and let's work together. Let's transform your financial life and align it with your faith and values.

Now tomorrow, I'm going to be talking about how to use your retirement funds as an ATM. Yes. You heard me right, an ATM when you have one of those emergencies. The car broke down or something like that. I'm going to break it down tomorrow with some practical advice that will keep you at a hot water with the IRS. So as I close today remember this, my passion is to help you achieve financial success. I want to see you live out your dreams.

I want to see you grow in your faith because I know working together, we can master your finances from a Christian perspective. So as I always end the show, stay financially savvy out there, and God bless you. And put some of the things I said to work today and watch how it impacts your life.

Narrator
00:24:51

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