Financial Management Top 12 for artists
1 – Do not get in debt
– Pay off our debt
– Collect interest, don’t pay interest
– Not paying interest is the fastest way of saving money
2 – Live below your means
– That’s the only way to get ahead financially
– Otherwise we’re living day to day
3 – Learn to save, not to spend
-Constant growth taught us how to spend
– Continued recession is teaching us how to save
4 – Know the difference between assets and liability
– Assets generate income.
– Liabilities cost us money
5 – Calculate your net worth
– It’s everything your own minus everything your owe
6 – Invest, don’t speculate
– Investing is knowing we will get a return on our money
– Speculating is hoping for the best outcome
7 – Diversify your investments
– Don’t put all your eggs in the same basket. One fall and they’re all gone.
– Instead, diversify so that if something happens you don’t lose everything.
8 – If you run a business, do not reinvest everything in it
– Artist-based businesses have no resale value
– That’s because the value of the business is us. If we are gone, the value is gone.
– We must re-invest outside of the business in things that have resale value.
9 – Do not expect fame, or ‘being discovered’ to bring you wealth
– Instead, take the necessary steps to build up your net worth now
– Wealth is rarely acquired all at once.
– For most of us it is an gradual process, not a jackpot.
10 – Work towards generating residual income
– This means generating income that is not tied to your time
– There is a limit to how many hours a day you can work.
– But there is no limit to how much you can make through residual income
11 – What matters is how much you keep, not how much you make
– Who cares if you make millions if you keep none of it
– Lowering your expenses is the most effective way of increasing what you keep
11 – Plan ahead
– Hard work and long hours are not enough to generate financial wealth
– You have to have an organized plan
12 – Manage your finances yourself
– Don’t take a chance by having others manage your money for you
– It’s ok to have financial advisors
– But its not OK to let them take decisions for you
– We are the one that cares the most about our financial well being.
Alain Briot
http://www.beautiful-landscape.com
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Well thought out, one of my prob. is I tend to think some autos or types of autos and cameras are not depreciating items but have value beyond this concept due to the enjoyment they can bring to the table. This may also be have something to do with level of income or financial stability one has reached.
Very interesting. Some of these points have very interesting ramifications. On point 2, I find it also has to do with how we value things. Living below our means also means, at least to me, living in a more relaxed manner. And it means everything we own, we really own. A lot of people buy stuff (cameras are a good example too), ascribing these goods some supernatural capability in improving one’s life quality automatically, instead of being just tools. Those excesive expectations tempt people to over spend, but then then they end up with goods that are “too big” for them. By too big I mean things that should be mere tools but are irreplaceable or demand a jewelry status kind of use by the owner. Those qualities in my opinion play against the useability of the tool. I don’t mean it’s bad to buy jewelry, just that jewelry should be jewelry, tools should be tools. If your material posessions aren’t entirely yours to use freely, they end up owning you (and even breaking you when they were bought on credit).
Very true. We can’t get rich on the money we make; we get rich on the money we don’t spend!