The silent millionaire. The millionaire next door. The deceptive millionaire. The millionaire in disguise.
The term above is used to describe a financially savvy millionaire who not easily recognizable just by looking at the car he drives or the home he stays.
Although having a million of net worth in Malaysian Ringgit isn’t as impressive as it used to be, it is still by no means a simple feat – when you see the Malaysian household debt gets higher every year.
Millionaire goes much deeper than just the ringgits and cents. He is a man of virtue. He knows them well, forms his life principles around them when it comes to money management. And I realized, these are the virtues he kept close at heart.
Humility
He doesn’t feel it is sensible to show off his material possessions just to impress people he probably doesn’t care about. Just because he can afford it doesn’t mean he should buy it. And just for the record, he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself and his family – lest he becomes a “target” for unscrupulous parties.
Patience
He is aware time is his ultimate ally. Rome is not built in a day. For him, compounding interest is more reliable than buying lottery.
Diligence
He knows no wealth comes before real effort and real work of adding value to people’s lives.
Over time, he found out that hard work can often help make up for a lot of financial mistakes – and you will make financial mistakes.
Discipline
He knows that you can’t spend what you don’t have yet. He’s smart enough to understand that if he can’t afford to pay cash for non-income generating assets, then he can’t afford it. And that goes without saying that he pays off his credit cards in full every month.
Respect
He understands that if you don’t care about money, money will not care about you – literally translated from a Mandarin saying. It is like a toddler – incapable of managing itself.
Rationality
He believes one is better off if you strive to be anonymously rich rather than deceptively poor
While he realizes investment grows his wealth, he also acknowledges that shit happens – big and small. That’s why you’re a fool if you don’t insure yourself against risk, which most people overlooked. Risk comes before return. You rather have reduced return to keep risks at a reasonable level. Remember that the potential for financial disaster is always just around the corner and can be triggered from multiple sources: the death of the family’s key bread winner, divorce, or disability that leads to a loss of work.
Gratefulness
He realized early on that money does not buy happiness. There’s only so much material possessions you can have. Contentment is the key. The financial nirvana to focus on is attaining financial freedom – a state of mind that comes from being cash-flow-worry free.
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Chances are you already have the virtues above. And that is all good if you do. Like they say, money doesn’t change you fundamentally, it only amplifies who you already are deep inside.