"Make no little plans," Daniel Burnham, the 19th century Chicago architect said. "They have no magic to stir men's blood, and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans, aim high, and hope, and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with growing intensity." All great religions have their Ten Commandments, their Five Pillars. In both my books, I preached that capitalism, if not necessarily the hope of the world, is surely a moral imperative, as it promotes individual freedom of choice and the greater good better than any existing ideology. In recent years, off shoring and white-color unemployment has challenged my faith in capitalism. However, I still think this Eightfold Path that I first defined in my real estate book will work for most people as it did for me:
1. Take stock of yourself.
2. Plan.
3. Nurture your career.
4. Eliminate personal debt.
5. Determine your annual net-worth.
6. Save.
7. Diversify your investments.
8. Buy income property.
Many have walked this path. Some, like me, started out with nothing materially. Your pilgrimage may end in a Manhattan penthouse or a North Shore mansion. But, in the scheme of things, the trappings of wealth are peripheral. What counts is the joy you'll see in those close to you. By providing for them, you can shield them from some of the problems of life. If you buy income property, you'll also get satisfaction from knowing that your efforts bring shelter and employment to people with families and
goals, that without your spirit of enterprise, their housing would be less adequate, their prospects less certain. In all the work I’ve done in my life, there was no work that brought me more personal satisfaction than my land lording activities.
“Whatever your financial goals,
you'll need the support of your spouse and children,” I write in my book How to Buy and Manage Income Property. “If you're getting a negative or lukewarm
response from them, perhaps you should reconsider your intentions. You must
decide that your success must nurture your family. To succeed at anything, you must support
your family and have the support of your family. Any view that neglects the family is a jaded
view. You cannot succeed-- no matter
what you accomplish-- if you lose your family.
"For what shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?" The greatest
success is the success that nourishes your family.
“These rules aren't meant to handcuff
you into patterns of behavior that go against your interests. Rather, they're
meant to provide a framework within which you can make sound decisions. All
things being equal, these rules have proved their values. Not just in my experience, but in the
experiences of others from around the world and in the past. As you get more experience as an investor,
you'll know when its right to break these rules to your advantage. Rules are
just guideposts, showing you that well-trod path to financial security. But you must walk that path. "Knowing is not enough," said
Goethe. "We must apply. Willing is not enough. We must do." And the choices and actions you'll make on
life's journey will require flexibility, common sense, and courage. Keep
learning, keep striving, keep trading, keep buying and, in the words of the
Psalmist, "the earth shall be yours and its fullness thereof."
Nancy, with her savvy consumer skills and strong common
sense, has saved the family many thousands of dollars over the years. We’re very much a team when it comes to
managing the home’s financial affairs, with Nancy doing most of the shopping and negotiating and me
doing most of the accounting and investing. With a small allowance, we’re
starting to teach our boys some of these life skills as well. Both Nancy and I were earning money while we
were barely teenagers. (“Philip would
pull his hand out of his pocket and a wad of bills would fall on the ground,” Maybeth wrote of me when I was twelve.) The most fundamental lesson we would like to
pass on to our boys is that money provides choices, it doesn’t cure
unhappiness. It’s a means, not the goal,
a net, not the fish, a canvas, not the painting. “Hard work may yield riches as
well as broken marriages, loneliness, and physical collapse, as the lives of
Howard Hughes and John Paul Getty would attest,” I write in my real estate
book. “Money won’t solve your problems.
It will only pay the bills.”
