10 tell all signs you know nothing about money

DO YOU HAVE THIS ESSENTIAL PIECE IN YOUR FINANCIAL FOUNDATION?

As I write this on 14 November 2022…

the date really landed for me. It’s as though this date has allowed me to enter into a portal of endless possibilities.

3 years ago - 

one of my advisors was sentenced to a 4-year jail term for “white collar crime” (a story for another day). We were personally entering a 3-year period of investing hiatus. 

Those three years gifted me so much. It cemented my love for money, business and building wealth.

It could have had the opposite effect, which it does for most people who enter such a hiatus.

Not for me!

If anything this little holiday from investing (after being an active investor for 15 years) was the break I never knew I needed.

 During this time, I became even more determined to create wealth in a way I hadn’t before, using my:

• intuition

• acquired knowledge

• networks and community

I buckled down and really delved deeper into my own financial literacy and what it means to be financially literate, for me. 

After all, we all know that financial literacy is not something that is openly spoken about or shared.

There seems to be this secret society of people who only share with one another and if you aren’t part of that, then sorry, no bueno. 🙅🏽‍♀️

We know this because as a school-aged kid you are either from the Private School realm or the Public School kiddo. It's either - 

• “Oh you go to a private school so you have access to a large community of rich families.”

• “I have re-mortgaged the house because I want to give my kids a leg up to be around the wealthy. It will give them a great leg up.”

• “I am the Public school kid, who pushes shit up a hill and tries to learn through his / her own inquisitive nature. I will get there no matter what!”

• “You went to a shit public school and that is your lot in life. All the best!”

This is so sad to write and unfortunately true. Even as I write this I feel dejected by our society.

BUT then there are people like me. 

Many of us out there, willing to take the lid off on all the perceived secrets of financial literacy and wealth building. And immediately, I am re-energised.

So what is financial literacy?

What does it entail and what does it represent?

Let’s start with what it is not.

Financial Literacy is not:

• Budgeting

• Saving

• Borrowing

• Paying your bills

(Can you believe that is what we have been taught about financial literacy?! 🤢)

Whilst those 4 things are an integral part of life (and financial well-being), I do not believe that they are everything when it comes to financial literacy.

There is so much more to it than that.

And yet, that is all the education system and Google (let’s be real, we all Google everything!), tell us to be truthful about financial literacy.

It is sad and despicable.

We should be doing better.

I have been researching this topic for a wee while now and I am baffled that the only definitions for Financial Literacy and plain and simple.

To me, financial literacy encompasses so much more than debt, budgeting and savings.

Here are 10 questions to ask yourself about money:

Do you know:

1. How fiscal policy / our governments make and spend money?

2. How money is created?

3. About economic cycles?

4. How debt is created and sustained by big institutions?

5. What happens with your money and savings?

6. How and why you should protect your assets?

7. The difference between building wealth and legacy wealth?

8. How is wealth created and sustained?

9. What an investment is?

10. How do you invest?

This list is just a mere snapshot of what I believe financial literacy ought to be. I have dedicated the last 2 decades of my life to it and I intend on continuing this.

Now, most would argue that this is not financial literacy because it encompasses more than the basic 4 principles that I mentioned above. 

I know many people who are financially literate based on those principles and have not been able to get out of the rat race or create anything beyond basic living needs.

This is because what we are taught is to keep us sustained within the system created for us. 

When you don’t thrive, you are reliant on the very system that you live within. 

And then the choice is stripped away from you.

That is why wealth and financial literacy is so important to me.

Living a life led by choice has always been my driver and motivator - there is no other alternative for me.

What about - for you?

What is your driver and motivator?

I’d love to know.

Coco x