Stingy, The New Cool As FIRE Movement Spreads

Stingy, The New Cool As FIRE Movement Spreads

When I was growing up, my mother was stingy by necessity and
bought the cheapest food and clothes she could find. I was embarrassed by this,
as in those days it was not cool to be frugal.

Fast forward to the present and it has become fashionable
and even cool to be stingy, frugal and penny pinching.

Even the middle classes shops at discount stores like Aldi
and Lidl, even if they do make the excuse that they are trying to find a cheeky
little Bordeaux for £10 a bottle!

Shops like Primark, money saving comparison sites and online
stores like Amazon have all boomed in the last few years.

In my book, Yes, money
can buy happiness, and my Money Tips podcasts, I obviously promote saving
and investment and earning more than you spend. However, a movement in America called
F.I.R.E. takes stinginess to a whole new level.

The seeds of the FIRE movement can be traced back to the
1992 best-selling book Your Money or Your Life written
by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, and the 2010 book Early
Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker.

Followers of the F.I.R.E. or “financial independence” and
“retire early”, movement, originating in the US, practice extreme forms of
money saving to achieve their goal of early retirement and financial independence.

Devotees target savings of up to 70% of their annual income,
which they invest for the long term. Their aim is to build a savings pot of 30
years’ worth of living expenses which they typically keep invested in low-cost
tracker funds, withdrawing a maximum 4% every year in the hope they will never spend
their capital.

After years subsisting on next to nothing, their thrifty
habits become second nature by retirement that cheap lifestyle is easy to
maintain. Some extreme F.I.R.E. disciples aspire to quit their jobs in their
30s or 40s, or at least attain the freedom of a greater work/life balance.

Whilst young people all over the internet rave about Fire,
it is glorified and extreme retirement saving cleverly wrapped up as some sort
of lifestyle movement.

Whilst I agree that young, and older, people need to start
saving instead of spending on consumer goods, I feel that the flames of their fire
may need a little more fuel to keep them warm for 30 or 40 years in retirement.

There are a number of obvious flaws in the F.I.R.E. plan.

To begin with, like me in my early working life, young
people find it hard to save for retirement when they have to save to buy a
property. This is made even harder when more than 50% of their disposable
income goes towards rent. Those who do save, probably still live with their
parents, who would naturally encourage them to put all their savings towards a deposit
on a property, which they need now, rather than for a pension which they will
need much later.

Secondly, when I got married and started a family life got
tougher on one income with a mortgage and children, which is part of life for
most people.

Finally, I think the “4 per cent rule” based on tracker fund
returns is optimistic and outdated, not least because global growth is slowing
and bond yields going south. Low-cost trackers are find when the market is
rising and being tracked upwards, but the same tracking principle applies when
the market is on one of its periodic downturns, which could come soon.

Having a goal to stash away 70% of your income to retire in
your 40s, after 20 years of productive work, is not easy, but retiring in your
60s after 40 years of saving and investing is achievable.

Not everyone finds the lifelong frugal lifestyle attractive
or practical. Some of the recommended money saving tactics they employ are impractical
and time-consuming. Can you really walk everywhere, only shop for “yellow
sticker” items on a limited range of foods just before closing time? Can you
make your own clothes, which you would find hard to do at a cheaper price than
the likes of Primark anyway, or live low-cost pulses for the rest of your life?

Retiring young and financially free is a great idea if you
can live the life of your dreams, or at least a decent lifestyle with money to
travel and enjoy. Without sufficient money, what sort of life will you have to
look forward to for the next 40 years?

The financial services industry (where I once worked) and governments
must make saving more attractive, less complicated and expensive if they are
going to get millions of people over the retirement winning line by age 65, let
along earlier, since the majority are not even saving 10% of income.

In reality, scrimping and saving alone will not make you
rich, and will probably leave you feeling stressed and miserable. Think of
yourself as a business, a money-making machine. Like any business, you need to
generate income, capital and investment returns, as well as keeping an eye on
the purse strings.

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and
being happy in my book,
Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover
the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more.
Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.

End of a Turbulent Week

End of a Turbulent Week

It’s
Friday and it has been a tumultuous week.

Shares
recovered from last week’s fall on hopes that the Trump-China trade dispute
will be settled soon.

Economies
of China and India are slowing and property sectors look to be over geared.
Could this cause another banking crisis?

Boris
Johnson prorogued Parliament causing a storm of protests with people taking to
the streets and court cases started to block him.

Two
surveys come out this week which show that consumer confidence and business
confidence are both falling.

Consumer
spending and borrowing are also down.

The
nationwide building society reports that property is barely growing at the
moment.

Economic
signs are not looking good so it’s not the time to be taken on a huge risky
commitment went in the shop in the High Street.

On
the other hand, office property in the city has been snapped up despite the
doom and gloom around Brexit.

If
markets fall and we going to recession it will be a buyers market for
businesses, property and shares.

Word
of the day

PE
Ratio

The price-earnings ratio, also known as P/E ratio, P/E, or PER,
is the ratio of a company's share (stock) price to the company's earnings per
share. The ratio is used for valuing companies and to find out whether they are
overvalued or undervalued.

For example, if share in xyz PLC is trading at £24 and the
earnings per share for the last 12-month period is £3, then share xyz PLC has a
P/E ratio of 24/3 or 8.

In other words, the buyer of the share is investing £8 for
every one pound of earnings.

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and
being happy in my book,
Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover
the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more.
Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.

Alibaba Jack Ma says a 12 hour working day

Billionaire Jack Ma says 12-hour working day is a “blessing”

How many hours a week do you work?

The outspoken Chinese billionaire, co-founder of the online giant
Alibaba supports a 9am to 9pm working day, six days a week.

While European countries moves towards shorter working hours
– I’m not sure they can get much shorter in France - and more time off, Jack Ma
calls for a "996 system", which he describes as an opportunity and a “blessing”.

Mr Ma recently wrote that without this formula, China's
economy was "very likely to lose vitality and impetus".

Fellow superrich tech entrepreneur Richard Liu, the boss of
ecommerce giant JD.com, supports Ma’s 12-hour-a-day system.

Mr Liu said decades of unprecedented economic growth in
China had created more "slackers".

The two entrepreneurs do not appear to care much about their
employees having a life outside of work, especially when you add up to two
hours uncomfortable commuting time to his “996” formula, which probably ends up
closer to 7-11-6.

The communist state has seen economic growth averaging 10%
for more than 25 years, from the 1970s into the mid-2000s, which has since
levelled out at around 6%, a rate that the U.S. and Europe would die for.

In 1998, Liu founded his company that became JD.com. His
work ethic is well documented, saying he would set his alarm to wake him up
every two hours to offer his customers a 24-hour, service.

He wrote: "JD in the last four, five years has not made
any eliminations, so the number of staff has expanded rapidly, the number of
people giving orders has grown and grown, while the those who are working have
fallen.

"Instead, the number of slackers has rapidly grown! If
this carries on, JD will have no hope! And the company will only be heartlessly
kicked out of the market! Slackers are not my brothers!"

Following earlier business successes, including a website
building company, Ma co-founded Alibaba, often referred to as “China's eBay”,
in 1999 and has developed it into one of the world's biggest internet
companies.

In my new book, I write about Jack Ma’s story of how he went
from teacher to billionaire using other people’s money (OPM) and investment to
grow his business.

Alibaba's market value is now approximately $490bn (£374bn),
and Mr Ma's personal wealth is estimated at around $40bn.

Last year, Ma said he will step down as executive chairman
in the near future.

Most driven business owners do not just work a 9 to 5 day,
unlike their employees who do not have the same skin in the game.

However, there is an argument that working long hours can be
counter-productive beyond a certain point. An U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services study, Overtime and Extended Work Shifts: Recent Findings on
Illnesses, Injuries, and Health Behaviors, found that working beyond eight
hours a day posed health risks and offered little productivity.

When I was running a company with staff, the owners worked
long hours, but we found that working into the night was unproductive, caused fatigue
which led to more errors. Our best employees arrived on time, worked
efficiently throughout the day getting their work done and left on time leaving
a clear desk.

Some corporations may regard employees as expendable pawns
in the game of business, or dismiss burnout as an occupational hazard. The most
profitable companies invariably look after their staff with good pay and
conditions which bring out the best in people.

Who says 8 hours is the standard working day anyway? Some
people can comfortably put in a 10 or 12 hour day, especially when they are
doing something they love. Many professionals, such as doctors and lawyers
regularly pull 50 to 60 hour weeks. Not everyone has the same desire or
stamina. Do whatever is right for you and look after your health and body, as
without this you cannot work or enjoy life to the full.

British Pound Slides Boris Suspends Parliament

Pound Slides as Boris Johnson Announces that he will suspend
Parliament

Pound down to $1.22 to the dollar and E1.10

Shares up and down

Reminder about PPI deadline – 2 days to go!

Hong Kong crisis – Golden Visas

What is a Golden Visa?

In simple terms, it is a visa in return for money or
investment into the host country.

Applicants can secure permanent residency in Europe or Cyprus,
a member of the European Union, through investment in real estate. The
programme is one of the fastest and simplest investor visa programmes in
Europe. It requires investment of just €300,000 into property to gain the
Cyprus residency permit. The residency visa is granted within two months
and covers the whole family. It includes parents of both the main applicant and
spouse plus dependent children up to the age of 25. It is valid for life and
can be passed down to dependents and spouse.

The permanent residency programme offers ease of travel
throughout the European Union and requires just one visit to Cyprus by all
family members once every two years. The investment may be made by a company
for which the main applicant and spouse are beneficial owners. The investment
can be in to a maximum of two properties provided they reach the €300,000
permanent residency limit. The properties purchased must be brand new.

If you would like further information, drop me a line.

Word of the Day

Index

What Is an Index?

An index is an indicator or measure of something, and in
finance, it typically refers to a statistical measure of change in a securities
market. In the case of financial markets, stock, and bond market indices
consist of a hypothetical portfolio of securities representing a particular
market or a segment of it. (You cannot invest directly in an index.) The
S&P 500 and the US Aggregate Bond Index are common benchmarks for the
American stock and bond markets, respectively.

DOW Jones Index

FTSE100 or FTSE250 Index

You can invest in an Index Tracking Fund or ETF.

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich
and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of
Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on
Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook

What does leaving the EU on WTO terms actually mean

BREXIT - what does leaving the EU on WTO terms actually
mean?

Listen to this jargon-busting episode.

Word of the Day

WTO

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global
international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At
its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the
world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to
ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.

The WTO has over 160 members representing 98 per cent of
world trade. Over 20 countries are seeking to join the WTO.

Despite MPs voting against a no deal in March 2019, it still
remains the legal default for Brexit until some kind of withdrawal
agreement is passed by Parliament. A no deal Brexit would mean we
leave the EU, as well as the single market and customs union, and
begin trading with the EU on WTO terms.

Under WTO rules, countries set their own import rules,
so a no deal Brexit means that the government could, in theory, allow goods and
services from all countries across the world to be imported into the UK without
tariffs or quotas.

But it doesn’t mean other countries would have to do the
same, meaning that UK exports to those countries would, in many cases, face
tariffs and restrictions.

In any case, the government have said that under a no deal
Brexit scenario, tariffs would still apply to 13% of goods (by value)
imported into the UK for up to 12 months. During that time it will undertake a
review on a long-term approach to tariffs. 

Another way of thinking about free trade is that the UK
would be able to decide for itself how trade with other countries would
operate. In the longer-term a no deal Brexit would give the UK the greatest
agency over its future trade deals, although the exact terms would have to be
agreed in negotiation with each individual country. These deals would likely
take years to negotiate. Source: https://fullfact.org.

Formation	1 January 1995; 24 years ago
Type	International trade organization
Purpose	Reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade
Headquarters	Centre William Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland
Membership	164 member states
Official language	English, French, Spanish
Director-General	Roberto Azevêdo
Budget	197.2 million Swiss Francs (approx. 209 million US$) in 2018.
Staff	640

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich
and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of
Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on
Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook

�� Steve Bannon's Warning On China Trade War (w/ Kyle Bass) | Real Vision...

The Power of Compound Interest

The Power of Compound Interest

Albert Einstein once said that compound interest was the
most powerful force on earth.

What is compound interest?

In simple terms, compound interest is the effect of interest
being earned, paid or on interest.

If you had £100 in the bank earning 7% interest per annum at
the end of the year you would have £107. In year two, you are earning 7% on
£105, not £100.

The Rule of 72

If you did not touch the interest or savings and the
interest continued at 7% per annum how long would it be before your money
doubled?

The answer is just over 10 years.

Look at it from another point of you, if you have a credit
card debts rolling up at 20% per annum, how long would it be before your debt
doubled in size? The answer is just over three years. However, let’s assume you
are paying the minimum 2% off of your debt balance, and for the sake of this
exercise we assume that effect is that you will be paying 18% on the debt. It
would still only take four years before your debt has doubled in size.
Furthermore, just paying the minimum payment on your balance would probably
take decades before you could clear it.

I’ll give you a quick way to work out how long are some
doubles based on an interest rate. It’s called the rule of 72.

If you divide the interest-rate that you are earning into 72
or take 72 and divide it by the interest-rate this will give you the
approximate number of years will take to double.

In the above example, if you’re earning 7% per annum, seven
into 72 is just over 10, therefore it will take just over 10 years before your
money will double.

If I offered you the choice of either £1 million for one
penny doubled every day for 28 days, which would you accept? The obvious answer
is to take the £1 million, but you’d be wrong to take it, as one penny doubled
and compounded over 28 days comes to £1,340,000. Amazing isn’t it. Day one, one
penny, day two, two pennies and so on until day 27 it is £650000.

Word of the day

Compound interest and the Rule of 72.

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich
and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of
Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on
Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook

Money News Round Up 25 August

Weekly News Roundup 260819

Word of the Day

ETF

What Is an ETF?

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a fund of securities—such
as stocks—that tracks an underlying index, for instance, the SPDR S&P 500
ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 Index. ETFs can also contain many types
of investments, including stocks, commodities - such as Gold and Silver -
bonds, or a mixture of investment types. An exchange-traded fund is a
marketable security meaning it has an associated price that allows it to be traded
or bought and sold.

6 Trump Tweets Wipes $500 Billion of US Stgocks in One Day

6 Trump Tweets Wipe $500 billion off U.S. Stocks in one
day

The stock market lost over $300 billion in value in 15
minutes due to six tweets from President Trump. He even joked about the Dow
being down later in the day as investors lost over $500 billion on Friday.

The Dow Jones closed 623 points down on Friday following the
Trump tweets calling Fed the “enemy” and imposing new tariffs on Chinese
imports from September.

Forbes reported that in the course of 2 minutes on Friday
President Trump unleashed 6 tweets about Fed Chairman Powell’s speech at the
central bank’s Jackson Hole annual economic policy symposium and China
announcing that it would impose 5% to 10% tariffs on $75 billion of U.S.
exports to China. The stock market reacted immediately and intensely negatively
to Trump’s first set of tweets sending the Dow Jones 30 Industrials down about
400 points in 15 minutes and 500 points within an hour.

While the Dow and other indexes were essentially flat to up
a bit during and after the Fed Chairman’s speech, the 120 seconds of tweets
erased over $300 billion in value in those 15 minutes and the markets fell
further during the day. Trump followed up with 4 more tweets later in the day,
one of which was joking about the Dow dropping 573 points as investors had lost
almost half a trillion dollars. For the day over $500 billion in equity was
erased.

That’s $83 billion per tweet!

As the trade war escalates like a high-stakes poker game,
shares started to tumble around the world and could be the trigger for another
black Monday when markets open in Asia and then Wall Street. London will be
closed for a public holiday on Monday 26 August.

Although markets had settled after earlier steep falls,
Money Tips predicted that this would not be the end of market turbulence.

Word of the Day

Correction

What Is a Correction?

According to Investopedia, ai the world of investments, a correction
is generally defined as a decline of 10% or greater in the price of a security
from its most recent peak. Corrections can happen anywhere including individual
stocks, the indexes that follow stocks or sectors, the commodities and currency
markets, or any asset that trades on an exchange. 

·       
A correction is a decline of 10% or greater in
the price of a security, asset, or a financial market.

·       
Corrections can last anywhere from days to months,
or even longer.

·       
While damaging in the short term, a correction
can be healthy, adjusting overvalued asset prices and providing buying
opportunities.

A Stock market crash is a sudden dramatic
decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock
market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are triggered
by panic or an event, as much as by underlying economic factors. They often
follow speculative stock market bubbles or long bull runs.

Significant crashes occurred in 1929, 1987 and 2008, but
smaller crashes have happened in between those dates.

If you would like to learn how to invest in the stock market
and make money whether the market is going up or down, drop me a line on FB or
at charles@charleskelly.net.

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and
being happy in my book,
Yes,
money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the
Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.

Landlords Refuse Tenants on Benefits

Landlords Refuse Benefit Tenants

Universal credit is responsible for tenants on benefits falling
behind with rent, according to the Residential Landlords Association (RLA).

The RLA said 54% of landlords had reported tenants on the
benefits go into arrears in the last year.

The BBC reports that Debt charity Turn2Us warned universal
credit will lead to "more rent arrears, more evictions and more
homelessness".

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said landlords
had reported seeing fewer claimants in arrears in the last year.

David Smith, policy director for the Residential Landlords
Association (RLA), said it was taking too long for people struggling on
universal credit to get the help they needed.

"The system only provides extra support once tenants are
in rent arrears. Instead, more should be done to prevent tenants falling behind
with their rent in the first place.

"Only then will landlords have the confidence they need
that tenants being on universal credit does not pose a financial risk they are
unable to shoulder."

Tenants have also experienced difficulty if finding
landlords who will accept benefits claimants.

David Samson, welfare benefit specialist at Turn2Us, said
the large number of people on universal credit in rent arrears was "a
devastating example of the crippling issues with the benefit".

"The five week wait for universal credit married with
the reality that it is just less generous than previous benefits will only
conclude with more rent arrears, more evictions and more homelessness unless
the government takes immediate action to fix some of the glaring
problems."

Chris Town, a landlord in Yorkshire for 31 years, told the
BBC that his tenants are "all worried about universal credit; they're
terrified they're going to lose the benefit".

The experienced landlord said the introduction of the
benefit since 2018 had caused many problems.

"You give people time to sort things out, but I'm
waiting three months for arrears in some cases."

He added that there are problems getting access to
information. "Up to now with housing benefit we've dealt with the local
authority directly which means information was easy to access.

"Under universal credit it's not as accessible and
you're not really sure what's going on."

Universal credit has replaced six benefits, including
housing benefit, and merges them into one payment. It's gradually being rolled
out around the country, but there are concerns that some claimants have seen
their overall support cut.

RLA research revealed that 68% of landlords said there was a
shortfall between the cost of rent and the amount paid in universal credit.

Are you a landlord with tenants on benefits or a tenant
claiming Universal Credit? Money Tips would like to hear your views.

Word of the Day

Fiscal

A term used in public or government financial matters.
Fiscal year, fiscal report.

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and
being happy in my book,
Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover
the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more.
Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.

Dont Let Grass Grow Under Your Feet

Don’t Let The Grass Grow Under Your Feet

You must keep on top of your finances and life in general
otherwise the weeds will take the garden, as Jim Rohn used to say.

When does it end? When can you relax? Never.

Word of the Day

Tenure

In property terms, it’s the conditions under which land or
buildings are held or occupied. Examples of tenure in the UK include, Freehold
or Leasehold.

There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich,
staying rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I
cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much
more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.

Chancellor will not change Stamp Duty

Chancellor will not change Stamp Duty



Sajid Javid ends speculation that he will make sellers pay Stamp Duty. Thank goodness for common sense.

Stock Markets settle.

Invest in yourself and your education.



Word of the Day



Dividend or Divi.



When you own a share in a business, the board of directors of the company can declare a dividend, or share of the profits, to the shareholders who are the owners of the company.



If you are interested in the stock market, you can learn how to invest. Always take independent financial advice.



Used in another context, you could say that education will pay “dividends” in your life.



There are more examples and practical steps to getting rich and being happy in my book, Yes, money can buy happiness, I cover the 3 R’s of Money Management, the Money B.E.L.I.E.F System and much more. Check it out on Amazon http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook.

Interview with Rob Moore of Progressive Property

Nile Rodgers Shows That Not All Rich People Are Motivated By Money

The fascinating Nile Rodgers story shows that not all wealthy and successful people are solely motivated by making and holding onto money.

It’s a common misconception that all rich people are greedy, money grabbing, only motivated by making money and hoard and keep all their cash to themselves. 

I’ve studied the lives thousands of wealthy and successful men and women, and personally know many very rich people. 

In 95% of the cases I’ve studied and witnessed, the above assumptions are just not true. 

Of course, most self-made people look after and manage their money, and want to ensure that they can leave something for their family when they die. Beyond that, they are usually generous and give fortunes away to charity and worthy causes. 

In my personal experience in working with charities like Rotary International, the busiest and most successful people give up their money (The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $100 dollars to help Rotary end polio) as well as their valuable time in order to help others. They volunteer and show up when asked to lend a helping hand, as well as putting their hands deep into their pockets to support projects financially. Unsuccessful people usually say, “I haven’t got time”. 

The common belief that the rich and successful are solely motivated by money is rarely the case. 

Successful people have usually found something they love doing, which is why they are successful. To be successful in any endeavour, you have to enjoy and love what you do, otherwise you could not take all of the knocks and setbacks. 

Unsuccessful people are invariably doing jobs they hate, which is one of the reasons they are unsuccessful.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates loved building computers from a young age. Warren Buffett and Charlie Monger love investing and spend hours and hours reading company reports.

The rich also want to make money, but that is not the sole reason for their endeavours. That’s why they go on working long after they’ve made enough money to live on for the rest of their lives.

You may have heard the expression, “he’s made more comebacks than Frank Sinatra”? That’s because the great, and very rich, singer (who’s private was cleaned by a 14-year-old Nile Rodgers) retired several times but got so bored that he kept coming out of retirement to do more concerts well into his seventies.  

In an interview for the Sunday Times Fame and Fortune feature, multi award-winning musician, writer and producer Nile Rogers said he had no idea how much he earned last year. He said that his accountants organise enough for his needs and the rest is put into trust or goes to charity.

His financial priorities now are making sure that there is enough money to keep We Are Family Foundation going long after he is gone.  

Every year, his foundation takes 35 kids from all over the world to New York to mentor them.  They are kids that he believes will have an effect on or can change the world in a positive way, like Jack Andraka, who as a teenager come up with a $15 screening device for early-stage pancreatic cancer. 

The 66-year-old cancer survivor describes himself as a “worker bee” who has been credited on over 1500 albums, which have gone on to sell 500 million copies. He has worked with a wide variety of artists from David Bowie to Madonna and Daft Punk, with whom he enjoyed a renaissance as a performing artist winning 3 Grammys in 2014. 

In his younger days, Rodgers was a big spender. He received a $4 million royalty cheque for the 7 million-selling single Le Freak when he was just 27 years old. He went on a big spending spree buying a Porsche and a fast boat like the one he saw on the 80’s TV show Miami Vice, even though he lived in New York at the time. Unlike many of the "stars who lost it all" I feature in my book, Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness, Rodgers successfully maintained his earnings throughout his career while his spending habits gradually mellowed.

He was adaptable and, like the Gibb brothers, went into writing and producing for other artists when he saw that the 70's disco era was over. 

There's a saying that the poor work hard for their money but the rich make the money work hard for them. However, after losing money on Wall Street in the junk bonds scam, Rodgers said he now allows his money to "rest" while he does the work. He “invests” in technical schools in Africa teaching underprivileged young kids to code.

There are of course entrepreneurs who just wanted to be rich, like the Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary who said he set out in his business career to make a lot of money.

Are all rich people nice, generous or mean and nasty? Of course not.

Money is like alcohol; it just amplifies more of who you are. If you’re broke, mean and miserable, money will probably just make you rich and even more mean and miserable!

For Nile Rodgers, money buys him the freedom to do the things he wants to do, to keep on rocking and make a difference in the world. Long may you continue!

Key Takeaways

·      Not all rich and successful people are solely motivated by making money.
 
Not all rich people are greedy, money grabbing and only motivated by making money.
 
The rich and successful, like Nile Rodgers, give an enormous amount of time and money to help others.
 
Money amplifies more of who you really are.

You can order my book Yes, Money Can Buy You Happiness, on Amazon: http://bit.ly/2MoneyBook