7 HABITS THAT MAKE AMERICANS FOREVER POOR
14 minutes of sharing, 13 years of living between two worlds – rich and poor, and it only takes you 7 minutes to read.
Jaspreet Singh – lawyer, entrepreneur and founder of Market Briefs – exposes 7 financial habits keep many Americans stuck in a cycle of poverty.
These are not small mistakes like “drinking Starbucks every day” but belief systems and habits that are deeply ingrained in the subconscious You can’t always have a rich and free life – even if you earn 6 figures in America.
Lesson number 1: No social security system can take care of you better than yourself
“If you work, the government will cut off your benefits. So forget that and don’t think about it anymore, we can still not work.”
This is the mindset of many families living on welfare.
Previously, when there was no One Big Beautiful Bill, many people – not only in the US – grew up with a mindset of dependence on the state, especially those living abroad, where there is a good social security system. But certainly no “state” is good enough to take care of you better than yourself.
There is no system that can provide money so you can eat delicious food at 3-star restaurants, relax on clear beaches at 5- or 6-star resorts, or freely buy the food you like without looking at the price. Will never be forever.
The social security system in countries is in charge of thousands of specialized people, and they will calculate so that the amount of your benefit will be at a certain level to be enough to maintain your daily essential needs. The more you live based on welfare policies, the further away you are from financial freedom.
The state can be a support table in times of difficulty and crisis, but when you have the opportunity, you must be the one to stand up for yourself, make money, accumulate and invest in your own future to achieve financial freedom.
Lesson #2: If something doesn't make money, don't borrow money to buy it – even if the interest rate is 0%.
Many people think that buying with deferred payment or 0% interest installments is “financially wise” because they don’t have to pay in full. But financial companies are not stupid.
They give you a 0% loan because:
- You will buy more than you actually need: Instead of just buying a phone, you buy AirPods, Apple Care…
- You are more likely to get into debt. Not paying in time = interest rate of 25–35%. And remember the case of the man who borrowed 8.5 million after 11 years of debt of 8.8 billion VND because of the same interest rate.
- You find it more “pleasant” to spend money. Instead of spending 30 million all at once to buy an Iphone, every month you only need to pay 3 million. Splitting the amount of money makes you not feel the “pain” of having to pay 35 million in your account and easily forget that you are overspending.
Therefore, except for buying a house to live in, if something doesn’t make money, buy it in cash or don’t buy it.
Lesson #3: Don't spend too much on "healing"
Are you in debt, but “rewarding” yourself with a luxury spa session or a healing trip costing several thousand dollars? It’s not because you’re lazy – it’s because you’re caught up in the idea that “trying” is rewarding. Especially when you are living in a society where people “recover their mistakes”.
Don’t make your financial situation worse. It’s not too late to get out of debt first and then go on vacation. Rest is necessary, but don’t burn money when you haven’t earned it yet.
Work results are what deserve to be rewarded, not effort alone.
Lesson #4: Time is more valuable than money
If you earn over $50,000 a year, maybe you should buy back your time by hiring other people with less income to cook, clean, do laundry, drive, etc. for you.
Jaspreet Singh shares:
“I use Uber to go to work every day to take advantage of working in the car, saving an additional 1-1.5 hours each day. During those 1-1.5 hours, instead of stressing about traffic jams or other vehicles on the road, I can leisurely work in the back seat and go to the company with a relaxed spirit. Thanks to paying $50 per day to Uber, I can You can earn hundreds, thousands of dollars more from that precious time.”
Therefore, if possible, use money to buy time– then use that time to work, learn more skills and invest, to earn more money.
Lesson #5: Netflix is making you poorer than you think
The average American family watches more than 3 hours of TV a day. Meanwhile, they have an average credit card debt of$6,700 with an interest rate of ~25% a year.
Not only does Netflix cost you $15/month, but it also costs you 3 hours a day, 90 hours a month to work and pay off that debt with that huge interest rate.
The time you’re watching TV, Netflix, that debt is constantly multiplying, constantly enriching the big bosses, who are enjoying their lives on super cars, islands, yachts, private planes.
Imagine these people are lending you $6,700 on a credit card with an interest rate of 25%, then by retirement age, the debt will be 50 million dollars! A number that many times you can’t come up with in your lifetime.
So, cut down on “content consumption” time and use that time to work and create value, especially when you have credit card debt, so that one day you can be financially free and do all the things you want.
Lesson number 6: Spend too much on entertainment but be stingy with investing in education
Some people, even though they are in debt, are still willing to pay thousands of dollars to go on vacation just because the trip is on sale, while they are hesitant to spend a few hundred dollars on an investment or finance course or to improve professional skills.
“You are willing to pay for enjoyment but hesitate to invest in personal development. Enjoyment is not. What is wrong, but what if you study more to earn more money, to pay off debt, to have a better life and a PROSPEROUS FUTURE?”
The value you bring = The value you accumulate. The more you learn, the more you do, and the more you earn. Even when he has an 8-figure income in the US, he still keeps reading books, buying courses, going to seminars to improve his expertise and goal of increasing his income to 9 figures, so why don’t people like us?
An extra penny you earn will help you eat better food, study at a better school, work less hard and get closer to the finish line.
Lesson #7: Don't wait for the perfect time to start
You don’t need to wait for anyone to say you’re “ready” to start invest, make money, build a career.
>
Start even if you’re not ready, there’s no perfect time to start investing. Let’s start small. It’s okay to start wrong. But you have to start to gain experience to improve and do better in the future.
>
“ Financial success doesn’t start with making more money, it starts with thinking differently go about money.”
Don’t let bad financial habits ruin your prosperous future.
Please comment “Yes” and share if the article is useful to you!
Dr. Christina Nguyen
Phoenix Medical Academy
