The Ten Commandments of Money

Would you like to be able to work less? How about buy a new car? Maybe get a nicer house? We all have things that we'd like to get, but we just don't have the money to do so. Fortunately, everyone can become wealthy if they continually do smart things with money for a long period of time. By following these ten tips, you will be well on your way to becoming financially independent.

1. Make Goals For Your Money - If you make a large amount of money, but don't have direction for it, you won't accomplish much at all. Develop a set of successive goals in which you would like to accomplish. It could be maxing out a retirement account for the year, saving up for a new car, or putting a certain amount of money away for a kid's college or an emergency fund.

2. Develop a Written Game Plan - Yes, it's the "B" word. We have to write a monthly budget, it's not an optional activity. This will make sure that your financial priorities are straight, and will help you identify if you are spending too much money in one area of your life.

3. Push Your Career Forward - If you're 40 years old and are still in an entry level job, there's a problem. Identify the ideal position you want to be in and then develop a plan to get there. Continually developing your career will enable you to make more money over time, ensure that you move up the ladder and that you get to do new and exciting things in your work life.

4. Be Honest and Upright - To do well in the world, you have to be honest in your financial dealings. Don't try to get ahead by taking shortcuts, in the long run, they will come back to haunt you. When you are a person of great integrity, coworkers and business partners will be much more comfortable dealing with you, because they then know that you wouldn't mess around with them.

5. Provide For Yourself - Each and every one of us is going to need money when we retire, and each and every one of us should be saving money for retirement. Put money away slowly and steadily in retirement in investments so that you have plenty of money when you retire.

6. You Can't Take It With You - Our time on this earth is finite. We can have all the money in the world, but we are all still going to die and then that money will be gone. Family, friends, and faith should always come before money.

7. Compound Interest Matters - Compound interest will either work for you through investments or against you through debt. Keep compound interest on your side by minimizing debt and maximizing investments. This will ensure your net-worth continues to increase

8. Be Generous - We have to remember that there's more to the world than just us and our own personal interest. There will always be others in great need, and we can help them with some of our resources. The list of good causes that one can support is ever-growing and we should support them.

9. Debt Is Not Your Friend - No one wakes up in the morning and says, "Thank God that I'm in debt!" Yet, the average American has $3,000 in credit card debt. Debt will make you pay for a purchase several times over with compound interest. As much as possible, live life on a cash basis and avoid ever getting to debt in the first place.

10. Money is not Good or Evil - Having money will not make you a bad or a good person. It will merely make you more of what you already are. If you are generous, you will become more generous. If you are greedy, you will become greedier.