How to Build Wealth in the New Year, and Beyond

End of Year Thoughts: Are You Dreaming Big Enough?

It’s December, can you believe 2019 is already over? As we’re gearing down from the last year – and, decade – we should sit down and ask ourselves the big questions. What do we want our lives to look like in the next 10 years? 20 years? Whether you like it or not, time isn’t slowing down and neither should your life goals.

As you ask yourself the big questions, assess how you did this last year. Be honest with yourself. Did you make any goals at the beginning of the year, and stick to them? Are you spending or saving more than you were last year? If you make the same financial decisions you made in 2019 for the next 5-10 years, can you honestly tell yourself you’ll be more financially independent and comfortable?

Like anyone else, life takes its course and priorities change – it happens, and that’s ok! The good news is there is plenty of time to get on-track and develop a concrete, successful financial strategy. It’s probably time to set personal spending and saving rules for yourself, but, most importantly: It’s time to start dreaming big.

If your dream is financial independence, what’s your strategy to achieve it? There are many, many opportunities which can increase your current income or add additional passive sources of income, and it’s time to come up with a personalized financial plan to strategically work towards achieving your goals.

The most immediate short-term tactics include establishing personal finance boundaries with putting 20% in savings or 10% in retirement accounts; increasing productivity at your current job; picking up a side hustle or a new skill related to your job and mastering it online. Becoming more disciplined with your finances and working hard are essential, but these short-term tactics are limited in their ability to create personal wealth and may not significantly change your financial position in the next 10 years.

Real Estate Creates Multi-Generational Wealth

The most historically proven strategy to significantly change your financial future is investing in real estate. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do for a living, investing in real estate is the safest, most reliable strategy to create multi-generational wealth. Most millionaires become millionaires not because they’re geniuses or are lucky; they’re millionaires because they invested in real estate as early as they could and dreamed big.

If you’re under 30, you’re likely renting an apartment and think owning a home is completely out of reach. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The bottom line: If you’re renting, you’re not investing. The perks of apartments end at benefiting your long-term personal finance, because you’ll never be able to cash in on a lease. Owning your own home allows you to invest in home equity, which will significantly increase the home’s price in the future. In other words, I’m talking about you suddenly earning a large sum of cash that can change your life thanks to your home investment, and it’s best to get started as early as possible.

The large sum of cash you created from your initial home investment and leveraging that cash to build on other properties is how millionaires make their millions. This is a long-term strategy that may take years to realize, but get this: it’s low risk, you often pay less on a mortgage than in rent, and you will always have wealth.

December: Dream to the Extreme

You now have a strategy to build your wealth in real estate. It’s time to set some goals for yourself – and meet them, each and every month. Make this December the month you dream to the extreme, and start thinking about a winning strategy. Commit 2020 to being the year and decade that catapulted you to create your own wealth, and change your circumstances forever.

As one of the top Denver mortgage lenders, our team has the experience to educate and guide you based on your unique financial circumstances. As part of your team, we want to see you succeed for the long-term and help build a personalized financial plan for you to achieve your dreams. See for yourself why we’re considered the #1 mortgage company in Colorado, and what we can do to help you start building wealth in the next year and beyond.