RESPONSE

Oh dear, you are perfect spruiker bait.

I cannot begin to tell you how many messages I receive that are similar to yours. I am only thankful, in your case, that you have not given your money to a spruiker in the hope of discovering some "secret". But, gee, you are close to being stitched into some scam.

Do you not think that if there were some magic way to rapidly increase your financial position, that I would tell you? Of course, I would.

If I discovered the elixir of eternal wealth, I'd post it on our site tomorrow (maybe, in a subscribers' only section). But there is no such elixir.

The trouble, today, is that so many people really believe there must be some hidden way to rapid wealth. We are surrounded by people who appear more [financially] successful than us and so we think they know something we don't know.

Ah, yes, knowledge, the spruikers' word that ropes you in.

"Knowledge plus action equals financial success," they say. "Give me the last few thousand you have in the world and I will give you the knowledge to get rich. I am not giving you financial advice, of course, I am just giving you education," goes their pitch.

They get your money because they tell you what you desperately want to believe. And, for a while they give you hope – and you love them for it. If I tell you they are crooks, you get angry with me.

People who appear to be financially successful fall into one of two categories: First, those who have learned how to fake success by propping themselves up on a balloon of debt and second, those who have worked hard (often in their own business or at something they love) and have saved hard and invested wisely over a long period of time.

So, where does this leave you, at 52 years-of-age?

First, your number one aim is to protect what you do have, no matter how small it is. Second, you should decide what you want – not just in money, but in all aspects of your life. Some (perhaps most) of the happiest people are not the wealthiest people. Without wanting to go too deep into a philosophical lecture, I do feel that your focus is a little out of whack. You are not alone.

The British philosopher Herbert Spencer once wrote that "mankind cannot stand very much reality" and this is why many of us live in a world of delusion. It's not until we are in our fifties and we look at that clock that the reality hits us – and then we get scared and then we get stung. It just gets worse.

Have you ever seen those ads for 12-week philosophy courses? A friend of mine (a widower in his mid-50s) paid his couple of hundred dollars and went along. He says it was the best thing he has done for years (and this is from a real bloke type of bloke).

The other thing he did was go and see a good financial adviser.

He made the best of what he had and, I must say, he is very happy and looking forward to the future.

Now, if I were you (and I don't know you, so this may not apply to you), and if I were 52 and in the same position as you, I'd do what I did in my twenties. I'd get into real estate, work really hard, learn my craft, become a great asset to my clients, manage my business well, save lots of money, invest it wisely and, I know, in ten years (or less), I'd have financial security. And then I could do what I have always wanted to do. Help stop people like you from being stitched by property spruikers.

So, perhaps, that brings us full circle. Find something likable and lucrative, give it all you've got for a few years and then do something loveable.

If this doesn't give you some hope, then go to a bookstore and get a copy of Noel Whittaker's book, The Golden Rules of Wealth. Or, if you prefer a more youthful writer, buy Scott Pape's great book, The Barefoot Investor.

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