Money-Magnets.Net

N is for Nonsense

Definition: Nonsense - A message that seems to convey no meaning, an untrue statement, something foolish;

You’re probably wondering what nonsense has got to do with money management. The sort of nonsense I’m referring to is the kind that tries to influence you without any fact behind it. It’s the kind that stops you from attracting wealth and good money management.

Nonsense comes in many forms and you need to be wary of it since it can masquerade as sense and fool you.

Examples of nonsense are:
“You deserve to buy this for yourself because you’re worth it”. This could be an advert campaign, a salesman or even a well meaning family member or friend. It’s easy to give in to emotional buying but it doesn’t help your situation. You want to buying by making intelligent choices, conscious decision and unless you can increase your income or move some money around, buying something emotionally it not a good idea.

“My XYZ invested in ABC and lost all their money” Now that maybe true but what does that have to do with you? If you are practicing good money management you will know what you can afford to invest and if you do happen to lose your investment you won’t lose ALL your money. You only ever invest what you can afford to lose.        
Get rich quick schemes. There are many of them out there that claim to the secret to wealth and if you want to investigate them then do so, but do so from a financial, money management perspective. What is the initial investment? How long will it take to be in profit? How much time does it take? Etc.

Too good to be true schemes. You know the phrase if it’s too good to be true then it probably is.... Well we will usually investigate some of these that come our way to check the financials. We have spreadsheets set up to check most things but a pen and paper will work just fine. Work out initial investments, running costs and fees, when you will be in profit, how much time does it take, what guarantees there are etc. Sometimes we’ll invest a little (never more than we can afford to lose) and see how it goes.  When you are on top of your money management you’ll know how much you can afford to risk – if anything. A few of these have turned into good investments while on others we have lost money for example because a company has gone into liquidation. We will never recommend an investment until we have been in it for while to check its validity and then we only let others know what we are doing so that they can investigate it for themselves. People have different levels of risk and so not all investments are suitable for all people.

Time limited offers. Do not be pressured into buying something now if you cannot afford it. If the timing isn’t right then let it pass. There is an abundance of offers and investments out there and sometimes you’ll pass on one and something better will turn up.

Your own fear. Sometimes fear can be backed up with facts and if that’s the case then don’t do an investment. If you meet someone and don’t feel good about them then trust your intuition since another deal will come along. However if you are simply scared of making a move for fear of losing money then that is nonsense. I know because “I’ve been there and done that”. I have passed on amazing investments because I was too scared of losing money even though the figures made sense. It was one of the reasons that I started doing spreadsheets. I needed some facts, something to reassure myself that the investment would work. Now before doing any investment I calculate the maximum profit and maximum loss and then make a choice. I think about what can go wrong and have a back-up plan, just in case.

Always remember you are now making intelligent choices. Be careful where you get your information from but always know that you are making the best choice that you can at that time and be prepared to live with it no matter what happens.             

Wealth Quote: “Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense”  ~ Robert Frost