●●●MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Financial struggle is often directly the result of people working all their life for someone else. Many people will have nothing at the end of their working days.

In that instance, they have confused their profession with their business. Their profession may be a banker, but they still need their own business. Ray Kroc was clear on the difference between his profession and his business.

A problem with school is that you often become what you study.
So if you study, say, cooking, you become a chef.
If you study the law, you become an attorney, and a study of auto mechanics makes you a mechanic.

The mistake in becoming what you study is that too many people forget to mind their own business. They spend their lives minding someone else's business and making that person rich.
To become financially secure, a person needs to mind their own business. Your business revolves around your asset column, as opposed to your income column.

That is why we hear so often: "I need a raise."
"If only I had a promotion."
"I am going to go back to school to get more training so I can get a better job."
"I am going to work overtime."
"Maybe I can get a second job."
"I'm quitting in two weeks. I found a job that pays more."

In some circles, these are sensible ideas. Yet, if you listen to Ray Kroc, you are still not minding your own business.
 These ideas all still focus on the income column and will only help a person become more financially secure if the additional money is used to purchase income-generating assets.
The primary reason the majority of the poor and middle class are fiscally conservative-which means. "I can't afford to take risks"-is that they have no financial foundation.
They have to cling to their jobs. They have to play it safe.

So many people have put themselves in deep financial trouble when they run short of income. To raise cash, they sell their assets.
First, their personal assets can generally be sold for only a fraction of the value that is listed in their personal balance sheet.
 Or if there is a gain on the sale of the assets, they are taxed on the gain. So again, the government takes its share of the gain,
thus reducing the amount available to help them out of debt. That is why I say someone's net worth is often "worth less" than they think.

Start minding your own business. Keep your daytime job, but start buying real assets, not liabilities or personal effects that have no real value once you get them home. A new car loses nearly 25 percent of the price you pay for it the moment you drive it off the lot. It is not a true asset even if your banker lets you list it as one.

For adults, keep your expenses low, reduce your liabilities and diligently build a base of solid assets.

For young people who have not yet left home, it is important for parents to teach them the difference between an asset and a liability.

Get them to start building a solid asset column before they leave home, get married, buy a house, have kids and get stuck in a risky financial position, clinging to a job and buying everything on credit.
I see so many young couples who get married and trap themselves into a lifestyle that will not let them get out of debt for most of their working years.

For most people, just as the last child leaves home, the parents realize they have not adequately prepared for retirement and they begin to scramble to put some money away. Then, their own parents become ill and they find themselves with new responsibilities.