Recently I was watching travel videos on Youtube and a video popped up with a woman describing the “ideal designer handbag collection”. It sounded very glamorous and intriguing, so I watched it. Immediately what struck me is how much our lives have changed in the last 30 years, where everything is now a brand – handbags, cars, golf equipment – I could go on and on, but you know exactly what I mean, I’m sure. Designer handbags that then were so expensive as to only be for the ultra-wealthy, are now expected even by teenage girls, whose age is getting younger and younger to start on the designer treadmill.
If this gets out of control, it’s likely that instead of being able to retire, people will have a closet full of designer handbags and shoes, but can’t afford to go anywhere!
I like luxury brands as much as the next person (in fact I teach that if you have a business, it should be a luxury brand for maximum success), but being a collector of designer handbags is a really bad idea and unfortunately, it’s becoming commonplace (men can be guilty of this too, even if it’s Italian bicycles or golf equipment).
What if I told you every $10,000 spent on designer merchandise, has the potential to grow to $108,000 over 25 years – and each $100,000 spent has the potential to become $1.08 million…and if you were able to re-direct $10,000 PER YEAR and invest it at 10% instead, it would grow to $1,190,164. Would that get your attention and make you think twice before buying things that will mostly see the inside of your closet? I hope so because you and your actions will determine whether or not you have the wealth you want!
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in budgets, (see last week’s blog for an explanation) and I teach that you can have whatever you want as long as you buy it at the right price.
Buy it on sale, closeout, discounted, outlet, vintage, whatever is available, but don’t let your financial freedom go down the drain because of owning too many designer logos. You’re likely not impressing anyone that really matters to you and you can really be shooting yourself in the foot.
Investing over the long-term will allow you returns of 10%, which is all that’s necessary to make or break your financial freedom!
What if next time you were looking at $10,000 of name brand “stuff”, you instead imagined it growing to $100,000 in your retirement account and every $100,000 you have growing to $1 million?
What if you had the mindset that you were already rich and you didn’t need designer labels to look rich?
A woman I once met was worth $100 million dollars and she had on no jewels, no designer handbag, and a simple suit. If I didn’t know she was worth $100 million, I probably wouldn’t have guessed her to be the one who had it. Wealthy people don’t want people to know they have money – and people who don’t have money are constantly trying to appear to have money. In Texas, they call that “big hat, no cattle”. It means if the rancher wears a big hat (to impress people), he likely doesn’t own many cattle. The rich ranchers who own lots of cattle don’t need to wear big hats and try to impress others because their worth came from within, not from a big hat, or in our case, “designer stuff”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for abundance and having what you want, but I’m also for having a practical side. One or two designer handbags can last for years and go a long way – a closet full isn’t going to do anything more for you. Once you’re wealthy, that’s another story, but while you’re building wealth be conscious of what impacts your wealth positively or negatively.
Try this simple experiment: walk into a high-end store (like Neiman Marcus) and pretend in your mind that you are a multi-millionaire. It’s likely that having thoughts of abundance will change your attitude and it’s amazing how “feeling rich” usually kills any desire to buy designer labels!
If you want wealth, first see yourself as already having the money and being grateful for all that you have. Feel that all things are available to you. Raise your thoughts and feelings to the level of someone who is already wealthy and watch how it changes your life for the better.
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