Podcast Episode - Making Peace With The Enemies of Wealth

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In this podcast, Suze outlines the three enemies of wealth: fear, desire, and greed. She then goes on to explain how we can defeat each of them so we can live a life of true wealth.

June 14, 2020, and welcome to the Women and Money podcast as well as the men smart enough to listen. What a week this was. Now, do you remember on Thursday, if you listened to the Ask Suze Anything Thursday podcast that drops, on Thursday, I started that podcast with the question of, how do you feel? Do you feel great? I feel great. And the reason that I started it with that one line about how do you feel, are you feeling great, is because prior to that point, the market had been going up and up and up and up. And as I recorded that podcast, I had already seen that the Dow Jones Futures, which is an indicator that predicts what the market is going to open at, was already down 600 points. So, I had a feeling that that day was going to be a tremendous sell-off, and in fact, it was. The market went down 1861 points, or almost 7%, which is huge everybody. That is a huge down day. And then the question was going to be, well how are you feeling now? When the market went down that day, how were you feeling? Were you not feeling so great? Were you feeling like, oh my God, I have to get out again? Because a lot of people got out of the market that day, they had to, or the market would not have gone down 7%. And then came Friday. And then Friday, at one point, the market was up almost 900 points, and then it went down again and then it went up. But in the end, it finished up 477 points. But still, for the week the market went down 5%, which means most likely your money went down 5% as well. So the question is, how do the ups and downs of the market, how do they make you feel? Now are you feeling more insecure? Now, does it bother you? What is going on, emotionally speaking, because again, what happens in the stock market on a daily level should not be affecting your emotions? Because you are not investing just for a day or two days, or five months or a year. You are investing, hopefully, for the rest of your life, or at least 10, 20, or 30 years. So, stop watching these daily fluctuations because when that affects your emotional state, then everything starts to go haywire. I want to talk today about that. I want to talk today about making peace with the three enemies of wealth because what's important for all of you to understand isn't what do you do on a day to day basis when it comes to the stock market? Although, I'm sure there are many of you out there that have become day traders and they're coming in and out of the market and doing all kinds of things that will never, in most cases, make you wealthy. But the goal, the goal of this podcast, is to create a wealthy life for every one of you, and the definition of true wealth is that which can never diminish. You have got to understand that money will come and money will go. You have got to understand that in the end, you cannot take a penny with you. You know, in India, there are traditions in certain parts of India that when somebody dies, they carry the person who has died through the streets with his or her arms spread out straight from their side. And that's a signal or indication that says you cannot take anything with you. And you can't take anything with you, you can't take your house, you can't take your fancy car, your fancy clothes, your iPhones, any of that. You all go out empty-handed. And so true wealth, however, true wealth is that which can never diminish. True wealth is that which you will take with you throughout eternity. And it's that which you will also leave to others. And true wealth is a spirit, it is a state of being, it is how you feel inside, no matter what happens outside. And we are definitely approaching times and are in times with what is going on in this world is absolutely crazy. And I am telling you, it is going to get a lot worse. And you should listen to me, you know, and why should you listen to me? I don't know, I think I called it pretty right for all of you as to what was going to happen in February, and pretty right with you about what was going to happen with oil and other things. Those things were like, easy to predict. But it's really easy to predict as well, what's going on in the world, especially the United States right now is not going to be pretty. And I'm not talking about the virus. I'm personally not worried about the virus anymore, to tell you the truth. I have total faith when that by the end of this year, all these companies are going to find something and it's going to be tackled and we'll be OK. I'm more worried about the anger and the anger that's going on out there, and I'm not even talking about just the anger with black lives matter, because they should be angry. They should absolutely be angry. It is disgusting what all of us have done over these years, in my opinion, but that makes sense to me. I'm more afraid about the political wars, the political wars that are going to emerge, and that the battles that people are going to be fighting on the street because of how angry everybody is and the belief that they feel that their side is right, the other side is wrong. No, I'm right, the other side is wrong. So, true wealth is that which can never diminish. So we have all got to be able to be grounded in the attributes, the true attributes, of what will keep us in a positive state of mind. However, a positive state of mind is not going to pay your bills. A positive state of mind is not going to just simply be something that allows you to save money for retirement. There are still other emotions that are playing, and I am calling those emotions today the enemies of wealth. So I want to talk about those and how we make peace with those so that you really can go on and build a life of wealth, which doesn't diminish. So, an internal wealth as well as external wealth that will allow you to live a true life of peace. The very first enemy of wealth is fear. I've talked forever now about fear on this podcast and actually throughout my entire professional life. But fear is the one thing, honestly, fear, that keeps you from living a life of wealth. It is a major, major enemy, and there are many kinds of fears. The fear that you're never going to have enough, the fear that you can't do something, and the fear of failure. So many of you are so afraid to even try, to even try investing. Even try opening up your bills, even try telling everybody that you don't have any money and all you have is debt so you can't go with them on vacation or out to eat. The really pervasive fear that is in your life that keeps you from being more and having more is really astronomical when I think about it. Because so many of you are so capable of doing anything and everything in your life. Professionally, you are doctors, you're lawyers, you're you know, you're whatever, you're computer programmers, you're teachers, you're nurses, you're waiters and waitresses, and all kinds of things. You're mothers and you're fathers, you're parents of children, and no matter what you do, that's a big deal, everybody. But yet when it comes to money, you are so afraid. You are so afraid to take one step towards your money that you are just paralyzed. You don't open your statements, you don't want to think about it. All you want to do is spend what you make, be able to go out and do what you want to do. And you're so afraid to even think about what your future may look like, you don't think about your future, all you think about is today. And that fear renders you so powerless that you take absolutely no actions whatsoever. And every day that you dwell in fear, the knowing fear that you have and the unknowing fear. What is the unknowing fear? All the fear that you don't even know about that's going on inside of you that prevents you from being more and having more because you just don't want to deal. You don't want to deal, so you don't want to know, so you go through day by, day by day, just getting by. But when you do that, what's really happening is that your dwelling in your today's and getting by in your today's, but you are literally producing a future of one that you should be afraid of. You really should be. So fear is so, so important, and especially when it comes to investing because again, remember, it was fear that caused you to come out of the market when the markets were tumbling back in March. It might have been fear that caused you to come out of the market on Thursday of this week when the market tumbled by almost 7%. So fear, fear is your main enemy of wealth everybody, your main enemy of wealth. So we have to get over that one. The next one is desires, desires. You know, when you look at credit card debt. Credit card debt is paying for your present-day desires, but your costs are going to be your future day needs. It drives me absolutely bats when some of the people that I talk to, not all but some, who are living so below the poverty level, it's not even funny. One of the women who has survived domestic abuse, and we keep very close contact with one another, I talk about her all the time on this podcast. And the other day she sends me a picture of herself. Now, this woman finally has a job, she's making $19k a year and is supporting herself and her two children, 15 and eight years of age. And that is all she has. And that is nothing, especially if you live in New York. So here we are, and she sends me a picture of herself, and I'm noticing in this picture that she has all these tattoos. And last time I saw her with a picture, she didn't have tattoos, and now she has tattoos. And I write to her and I say to her, how much did you spend on these tattoos? And she says $386. And I said, what are you talking about? You just wrote to me the other day and you said that you're always going to be poor, why can't you have more money? How do you build a credit rating? You want to own a home, you want all these things and yet, all right, you go out and spend $386 that you do not have on a tattoo? And her response was, yeah, I've wanted one, I want it, I've desired one for so long. And I was just speechless. I have to tell you, I was speechless, I was just speechless. But it's not just her, it's these desires that all of us have. The desire to live like our neighbors are living, the desire to have fancy cars, the desire to have the latest electronic gadget, the desire to have all these things that we think we deserve. You don't deserve things. You deserve security, you deserve happiness, you deserve freedom, you deserve respect, you deserve those kinds of things. But these other things, these things are never going to define you. You define the things around you, but your continuous desire to have these things versus money is going to be a major enemy in your life to wealth. That's why when I talk about people first, then money, then things which is the correct order of life. People, you need to think about, and feel about, and take care of yourself first, not others, but yourself first. Then you need money. And then once you have money, you can buy things. But most of you have more things in your households than you have money in your bank account. I mean, think about it, 60% of the people in the United States of America, and this was before COVID, have what? Have $400 to their name, but walk through their homes, walk through their homes, their apartments, look at their cars, and they have far more than $400 in items that they don't even use anymore. So your desires… Why is it that you desire to have all these things like you think those things are going to make you happy? Have you not just learned while going through COVID that lack of money to feed yourself, to pay bills, is so much worse than not having those things that you desire. So desire is an incredible enemy of wealth. And last but not least, believe it or not, is greed. Greed. So many times we're just not happy with what we have. We want more, we want more, we want more, but we want more for the wrong reasons. Now, there's nothing wrong with you making a lot of money and working and creating wealth and getting more money. But you do get to a point where you don't want more, it just continues to come. You're not being greedy, you're just doing that which you love. And I always use this example: Do you really think that Oprah, and Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett, and all those people are doing what they're doing because they want more money? No, they want more of an outlet for the passion of what they love to do, and it's really just that simple. It's just that simple. But that's not true with many of you. You want more, you're greedy, and you can see that happening in the stock market right now. So many people, especially many of the millennials, not all again, but who just really want money now. They want it right now and they see the market was going up and up and up. So what did they do? They started to invest and they would buy stocks like Hertz, and stocks that were going belly up, that all of a sudden went up a few hundred percent. And they're thinking, oh, that's how you make money. Or, you're making money, and you're making money, and then you decide you're going to invest it and you hit it big. Maybe on one investment and everything's going great. And then you take all of your money because you want to make more and you put it all on that one investment. You don't diversify and something happens to that investment and there goes all your money. So, you can't be greedy. Don't want more and more and more money. Don't be greedy. Simply, why? So you can show other people how much money you have by doing what? By purchasing all of those things that you desire. You know, recently, I met somebody who is a very, very wealthy gentleman. He has about $9 billion, and he has boats, and he has planes, and he has everything around him that you could imagine. And now he's older, and I was just looking at all of these things wondering, I wonder if he's happy. I wonder if he's really, really happy? Because it just seems that when you have that many things around you, regardless of how wealthy you are, you're trying to fill something up. I don't care what anybody says. You just, I don't know, I mean how many boats, how many homes, how many things do you really, really need, really? But desires, greed, and fear, honestly, those are the three enemies of wealth. I'm sure there are plenty more, but it's these three that most of you dwell in, whether you know it or not. The desire to be like your neighbor, the desire to be able to go on vacations as others do, the desire to own fancy clothes and jewelry, and all these other things that other people have. The greed of I want more, more, more, and you get hooked on it. You know, greed is like an addiction. I need more, I want more every time you set a goal, all I want in my life is $5 million and then I would be fine. And then all of sudden you need $10 million and then you need $50 million. I don't know, is that greed, is that desire, is that fear that you don't have enough? All those three things I'm sure are ticking at once. So, how do you make peace with those enemies of wealth? Well, if you have fear, you need to turn fear into faith; faith that you have what it takes to do anything, and everything that you need to do to create the life that you want. You have to have faith in yourself. You have to have faith that you are capable, more than capable of creating a life that you love. When it comes to who you are and what you have, you have to have faith that leads to your own self-worth, that you deserve things, you deserve to have money, you deserve to have inner peace, you deserve to have inner wealth, you deserve to have outer wealth. You have to have faith that you're deserving of everything that you need in your life. Next, is desires. Let's turn desires, those things that you want, into a life of devotion, where you are devoted to creating a life of things that you need, that you get jealousy out of your life. You get what other people have and the desire to have that out of your life. But, you become very devoted to yourself, to your being, to those that you love, to not wanting to impress others, to just wanting to live a life of true wealth. And last but not least, let's change greed into being grateful. Don't be greedy about wanting more, more, more. Be grateful for what you already have. Be grateful for every moment in your life that you're lucky enough to take a breath. Be grateful for everything and everybody that is around you, because I promise you when you turn fear, desire, and greed into faith, devotion, and gratefulness, now you have made peace with the three enemies of wealth, and you now are living a life of true wealth. That is my wish for all of you. In providing answers neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman is acting as a Certified Financial Planner, advisor, a Certified Financial Analyst, an economist, CPA, accountant, or lawyer. Neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman makes any recommendations as to any specific securities or investments. All content is for informational and general purposes only and does not constitute financial, accounting or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and financial advisors regarding your particular situation. Neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman accepts any responsibility for any loss, which may arise from accessing or reliance on the information in this podcast and to the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability for loss or damages, direct or indirect, arising from use of the information.