“Intelligence solves problems and produces money. Money without financial intelligence is money soon gone.”

– Robert Kiyosaki

 

How to solve financial problems

 

Everyone has financial problems. Literally everyone. From the homeless man, to the richest man in the world. The thing is, their problems are very different. Your responsibility, for the rest of your financial life, is to solve financial problems. Once you solve financial problems, new ones will pop up. Then you’ll need to solve them again. The more problems you solve, the better off you’ll be financially. What is the difference between the homeless people and the richest people in the world? Their ability to solve financial problems.

The good news is that every problem has a solution. It’s literally a law of the universe. The solution may be hidden and difficult to find, but the solution still exists. It is your responsibility to search for the solution and to resolve your financial problem.

At this point 1 of 3 things will happen.

1. You won’t believe me. You’ll continue to believe that there is no solution to your problem. This means that your mentality is the issue and that you now belong to #2.
2. You’ll refuse to take the steps necessary to solve financial issues. This can happen because of fear. It can happen because deep down you’re happy in your current situation. It can happen because of disbelief that it will work OR a belief that you’re cursed in some way. It could happen because the solution is difficult or takes a lot of effort. There are literally endless reasons why someone would refuse to do what’s required to solve their financial problems.
3. You’ll solve the problem you’re currently facing, progress to a new level, and get new problems to solve.

 

The Story of Joe

 

There is a 25 year old man man that lives on his parents couch, we can call him Joe. His parents are poor and his living conditions are not great. The couch he sleeps on is an old and ripped up couch made of fabric. He works for a fast food restaurant within walking distance. He goes to work and is disrespected by customers and by his co-workers. Then he returns home and his parents are disappointed in him for not living on his own yet. He is unhappy with his life. He know’s there is more to life than what he is currently struggling with.

 

Joe Reads This Article (The One You’re Reading Now.)

 

Joe has lived this way for years. He read this article (The one you’re reading now) and did not believe anything that it said. He continued to live with his current problem until he reached 24 years of age. Joe finally read this article again, and he finally realized that there is a solution and it is completely up to him to solve it. He came to the conclusion that his problem was a lack of income. If he could only make more money, he would have solved his current financial problem.

Joe walked into his job and demanded a raise from his boss. After the meeting, his boss decided to give him a raise of 1%. This was the biggest raise that his boss could give. His income increased from $9 an hour to $9.09 an hour. Joe went another year and his problem was not solved. He re-read this article at the age of 25 when he finally realized that the solution was not going to be found from his current job. Joe must completely change his life to drastically raise his income if he ever wanted to solve his current financial problem.

 

Joe is Ready For a Change

 

After this realization, Joe put together a resume and started applying to jobs. He finally found a job that would pay him $17 an hour. This was enough for him to buy an old car to drive to work and he was finally able to afford a small 1 bed-room apartment in a not so nice neighborhood. Joe finally did it. He solved it. He now lives on his own, has a car, and he has a higher paying job. It wasn’t easy for him. Joe was comfortable at his current job and was fearful of changing jobs. However, he finally took the steps needed to become a victor over those issues.

Joe solved all of those previous issues he had. Now he is struggling to keep up with rent, his car is old and needs a lot of repairs, and to keep up with his bills, he is going into debt. Joe remembers reading this article and he understands that when one financial problem is solved, new ones arise. So he begins his journey to try to solve the next set of financial problems.

 

Joe Still Has Financial Problems

 

It’s been a long journey for Joe. He is now 45 years old. Joe has been able to solve many problems over the years. Joe has moved up into a high ranking job that pays him around 10x what he made when he was 25 years old. He drives a nice car, lives in a nice house, and he loves his life. He has been blessed with a beautiful family. His daughter just turned 16 and is getting a driver’s license and she is demanding her own car. His Son is about to start college and wants help paying for tuition. Joe recently had his indentity stolen and it’s a mess trying to resolve all of the debt that was stolen with his name.

Joe was able to solve financial problems and escalate his financial life. He never stopped having financial problems, but they changed. As he learned to solve one problem, he became better and his finances became better. Everyone is able to live a life like Joe. It doesn’t matter where you start. What matters is that you decide to start solving your financial problems.

 

The Two Main Problems

 

Most financial problems can be broken down into 2 subcategories.

1. Income
2. Loss

Of course, there are many different variations of these 2 categories. And this may be an oversimplification, but overall, this is fairly consistent with the financial issues that most people deal with. This is a lens that you can look through to help you analyze your current financial problems and this lens can also give you insight into how to solve these problems long term.

 

Income

 

For the majority of people, income is their biggest issue. If you’re struggling with fighting debt, unable to keep up with rent or car repairs, maybe your quality of life isn’t great because you can’t afford to do the things you want to do, these types of problems come down to a lack of income. By increasing your income, you’ll be able to overcome your current income related problems.

Remember the story of Joe? He went and asked his boss for a raise. If you need a small bump in your income, this may work. However, most people will not be able to fix their current life problems doing the same work that they are currently doing. The tough part is that it may not even be your employer, the problem might be your current industry, or career.

I am about to give you an example, but I want you to know that I am not picking on any person or industry, but I want to pick a very generic career as an example. First, let me say that I believe most people can make a livable wage by working up in their industry. However, most people don’t want to make a livable wage. Most people want a better life. Enough “politically correct” talk, let’s dig in.

 

Example:

 

Construction jobs are jobs that pay decent. A good livable wage. There are quite a few people that work in construction and they make a decent amount of money. However, they will struggle to double, triple, or 10X their income staying in construction. Someone staying in construction could definitely get a raise at their current job, or they could move to another job that requires more work and maybe more risk or more hours. However, they will eventually hit a ceiling. They will eventually max out the pay potential of that industry and career. If you want to grow beyond this, change is required. This is why change is so difficult. Some people love their career, job, or industry and don’t want to change.

Now to be clear, I am not saying that you must change. I am not saying that you should quit your job. What I am saying is that, each industry will have it’s limits. This is excluding the people in the outliers category. Outliers usually have something in addition that the average person in the industry does not have. For example, a famous YouTuber that makes vlogs about construction may make way more money than the average construction worker. Another thing that should be excluded from this idea are business owners. Yes, the business owner is working in the construction industry, but his job is in business. He is not a construction worker, rather a business man, leader, and many other things. I am specifically talking about the run-of-the-mill laborer.

 

Loss

 

As you become wealthier, you increase your risk of loss. If you have zero in the bank, there’s nothing to take. However, if you have $1,000 in the bank, everyone wants to take it from you. As you increase your income, the loss of wealth become a major problem. If you struggle with over-spending, fees from companies, lawsuits, theft, or anything else that causes you to lose money, you are struggling with loss.

It’s important to understand that income and loss are both important at all levels of wealth. However, they are weighted and the weight of each changes as you grow in wealth. So, do not ignore either one of these because they are both extremely important.

Some people will struggle to understand how the richest man in the world could possibly have financial problems. Let’s look at some of the wealthiest people in the world. They live each day with multiple lawsuits. People criticize them by calling them greedy and selfish. Other people demand that they give up their wealth to the government or elsewhere. Everyone wants to be friends with them to take their money. They have people in their companies trying to steal millions from them. I would say that these all classify as financial problems. Notice, almost all of these are problems of loss.

 

Solving the Loss Problem

 

How do you fix the loss problem? Learn how to protect your money. At lower levels of wealth, every company will try to take your money away with advertising. Budgeting, self-control, and limited access to money can help with this issue. It’s almost like the universe knows you have money, because fees will start popping up. You’ll start to have people trying to steal your debit card. People will start begging you for money while you walk around. You’ll need to put systems in place to limit your losses. You’ll need to develop new skills to help you protect yourself from loss.

 

Conclusion

 

I am incapable of teaching you in a single article how to increase your income and how to prevent loss. The point is that you need to constantly analyze financial problems so that you can begin to solve financial problems. As you solve more problems and get better at it, you’ll begin to build more wealth. You can analyze your financial problems through the lenses of income and loss to help you understand and develop a strategy for fixing your current problems. You’ll be able to overcome these problems with intelligence, understanding, and dedication to making the changes necessary. Yes, change can be hard. Always remember that you do not need to change. No one is forcing you. However, if you decide you want to improve, you now have the knowledge to do so.

 

Supporting Video Lesson

 

 

Resources

 

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