Templar - The Rules of Wealth

Theres an old saying Money, money, money its all they can think about. Unlikely to be true of course, given that hardly anybody thinks about money itself (unless they happen to be a coin collector). The reason we all pursue and desire and fiercely protect money is because of what we can do with it.

And no, of course money cant buy you love or happiness. Although it can buy a good deal of pleasure and remove a lot of unhappiness. But it can buy you plenty of other things. Over the years Ive identified the ten things which people most seem to want to spend their money on:

1. Security . A home of your own and enough money in the bank to support you in the way you want, plus a bit in hand for emergencies, and a big enough pension to ensure a comfortable retirement.
2. Comfort . A warm and spacious house, a big car, someone to clean or mow the lawns or do the laundry or mind the kids, and good quality medical care whenever you want it.
3. Luxuries . Exotic holidays, fine wines, meals in top-class restaurants, expensive clothes, the best seats at sports events or opera or whatever you enjoy.
4. Mobility . First-class train seats and plane tickets, trips on cruise ships, and chauffeur-driven cars wherever you are in the world.
5. Status . Prestigious invitations, access to important people and exclusive clubs, and perhaps even gratifying deference from others.
6. Influence . As a generous donor of substantial sums, being able to make sure that your views and wishes are listened to and taken seriously.
7. Freedom . Not being dependent on employers, bosses, creditors, clients, customers. Not being a slave to the calendar, diary or clock. Knowing you wont have to be a burden on your children.
8. Leisure . Time to do the things you want, go where you want, meet who you want, when you want.
9. Popularity . Being able to entertain friends, acquaintances and contacts frequently and generously, which does wonders for your social life.
10. Philanthropy . Being able to make regular and substantial donations, which gives you the satisfaction of helping people, supporting organizations and furthering causes you believe in.

Seems a reasonable enough list to me. And whether its some or all of those things that youd like more of, youll need to know how to go about generating greater wealth which means you need to know what it is that separates the wealthy from the not-so-wealthy. So, what you need to know is what principles, and what behaviours the rich have, that you dont (yet). Some of them you will realize that you know, but dont do. None of this is actually rocket science, its about understanding and then doing. Ive studied a lot of wealthy people and its clear to me that there are some fundamental common principles followed by almost all. The bulk of the Rules in this book fall into that category. Then there are also some principles which some rich people swear by, but not all. Ive included some of those too for good measure, just in case you too are one of the people they do the trick for.

Security, comfort, luxuries, mobility, status, influence, freedom, leisure, popularity, philanthropy thats all some people think about. They may not be everything, they may not even guarantee a happy life, but theyre a pretty good basis to build happiness on.

Ive tried to set out in this book the most important Rules that will help you achieve these ten things. All of them purport to be about accumulating money, and of course in a sense they are, but at heart theyre about money only as a means to an end. A means to achieve those ten ends.

Of course I dont claim that these hundred or so Rules are the only means to these particular ends. You may encounter others along the way that you find helpful. If so, please do feel free to share them. You can post your very own Rules on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/richardtemplar

Richard Templar

I would like to thank Dan Clayden, director of Clayden Associates Independent Financial Advisers (www.claydenassociates.co.uk) who was so kind as to go through a draft of this book in the early stages and put me right on a few things and is one of the best financial advisers I have ever met professionally.

I would also like to dedicate this book to my delightful father-in-law who manages his money in a kind, generous, honest and moral way and still manages to make it work for him efficiently and expertly. He is an example to all of us. He is a Rules Player par excellence.

Money is a concept. You cant really see or touch it (unless you are holding a gold bar in your hand). You can only do that with some physical symbol of it like bank notes or a cheque. Bits of paper, yes, but bits of paper with enormous power.

The concept of money comes with a lot of baggage to most of us. We have an inherent belief that it is good or bad and that wanting it is good or bad. That loving it is good or bad. That spending it is good or bad.

What I am going to suggest in the first few Rules is that maybe, just maybe, how we think about wealth might be holding us back from having wealth. If, in our heart, we believe (even subconsciously) that money is a bad thing and having lots and lots of it is a really bad thing, then chances are we might be undermining our own efforts, unwittingly, to get lots of it.

I am also going to get you to look at how much effort you are prepared to put into making money. Its a bit like a sport the more you practise the better you become. Likewise you cant make money while being lazy. Youve got to put in some work here, you know.

Youve also got to know pretty intimately what you want, why you want it, how you think you are going to get it, what you are going to do with it after youve got it stuff like that. No one said this was going to be easy...