This article is about Basics, Odds and Ends

    Earlier today, I wrote about Brett Wilder's The Quiet Millionaire. It's different than most personal finance books I've read. It's targeted at those who are further along their financial journeys rather than at those just starting out. Still, there are bits and pieces in The Quiet Millionaire that are applicable to everyone.

    I particularly liked Wilder's list of the seven enemies to financial success （which is my phrase, not his）. Over the past few weeks, I've found myself thinking of this notion again and again. He writes:

    If you want to become and stay the quiet millionaire, you must plan and manage your financial way of life…You must be proactive in order to obtain the financial life you want. By doing this, you will overcome the seven major obstacles to financial success.

    Wilder is saying that we know there are certain common barriers to wealth. These obstacles arise for everyone. Because of this, it's possible to plan in advance to cope with them. First, however, we have to be able to name these enemies so that we can prepare the proper weapons to fight them.

    According to Wilder, the seven enemies of financial success are:

    · Lack of discipline.Without discipline, it's difficult to build wealth. In fact, it's impossible to get rich - slowly or otherwise - if you spend more than you earn. The math just doesn't work. Wilder also warns against compulsive spending, and he urges readers to track where their money is going.

    · Materialism.Stuff will not enrich your life. It's so very easy to find yourself "keeping up with the Joneses", succumbing to lifestyle inflation. But materialism breeds discontent. Instead, Wilder says, focus on intellectual and spiritual pursuits to obtain fulfillment.

    · Debt.Not all debt is bad, of course. A reasonable mortgage on a sensible home is fine. But consumer debt - or a bad mortgage on a big house - is an enemy to financial success. In fact, bad debt may be thebiggest enemy to financial success.

    · Taxes.It's our responsibility to pay the taxes we owe, but we're under no obligation to pay more than that. "It is not unpatriotic to reduce paying your taxes," Wilder writes. We should instead actively work to keep our tax burden as low as possible.

    · Inflation.Inflation is wealth's silent enemy. It will not destroy you all at once. But it's always there, nibbling at the corners of your life, consuming a little cash every year. It's impossible to keep inflation completely at bay, but you can learn to mitigate its effects.

    · Investment mistakes.As many investors learned last year, poorly structured investment portfolios can be a killer. This enemy is fought through education, through an understanding of diversification and asset allocation, by taking the emotion out of investing.

    · Emergencies.The final enemy to financial success is the unexpected: unemployment, death, illness, and legal complications. Without a plan for emergencies, you leave yourself at the mercy of the fickle fates. Carry adequate insurance and maintain an emergency fund!

    I'd argue that there's at least one additional enemy to financial success: lack of purpose. If you don't know why you're saving and investing, you have no reason to do so. Without a destination in mind, you cannot set a course. The road to wealth is paved with goals.

    Note that some of these financial enemies are external and that some areinternal. Some of these enemies come from inside of us.

    I've fought all of these enemies at one time or another. I seem to have vanquished my internal foes - at least temporarily. But to ward against the external foes requires constant vigilance. And there's always the chance that an internal enemy can rear its ugly head again.

    Which of these foes is your greatest nemesis and why? How do you fight it?

    今天早些時候，我寫了一篇有關布萊特王爾德寫的"沉靜的百萬富翁"的文章。這本書跟我看過的很多個人理財書籍不大相同。書是給那些已經在個人理財的半道上的人寫的，而不是給初學者寫的。不過，這本書里仍然有一些所有人都可以參考的東西。

    我特別喜歡王爾德在書里列舉的"財務成功的七個敵人"（這個是我的說法，不是他的）.過去幾周時間里，我不停地把這些觀念反復想了很多次。他是這樣寫的：

    "如果你想成為沉靜的百萬富翁，你就必須計劃并且管理你的財務生活。你得積極行動，這樣才能得到你想要的財務生活。通過這些行動，你就能克服這七個財務成功路上的攔路虎。"

    王爾德說的是：我們知道通往財富的路上有一些特定的障礙。每個人都會遇到這些障礙。正因為如此，我們就可能提前計劃，讓自己應對自如。不過，首先，我們得要能叫出這些敵人的名字，這樣我們才能準備適當的武器打敗他們。

    對于王爾德來說，財務成功路上的七個敵人就是：

    1.缺乏自律。如果沒有自律，你就很難聚集財富。事實上，如果你花的比掙的多的話，變富是不可能的，無論是很慢地變富還是其他什么方式。這時候算賬不頂用。王爾德還警告了強迫性消費的危害，他敦促各位讀者要時時注意自己的錢花到哪里去了。

    2.物質至上。物質不會豐富你的生活，很快你就發現自己在跟別人攀比，開始屈從于膨脹的生活方式。但物質至上會誘發不安和惶恐。王爾德說，相反，應該注意知識和精神上的追求來達到豐富生活的目的。

    3.債務。當然了，并非所有的債務都是不好的。有一個不錯的小家，供一個合理的按揭貸款，這就很好。但是，消費債務-或者供一個大房子的按揭貸款-就是財務成功路上的敵人了。事實上，不好的債務可能是最大的敵人。

    4.稅務。我們有義務繳納自己的稅務，但是我們沒有義務繳納超出我們繳納范圍的稅務。"減少納稅并不是不愛國，"王爾德寫道。相反我們應該努力讓稅務越少越好。

    5.通貨膨脹。通脹是財富路上的那么安靜的敵人。它不會一下子把你打垮，但它會一直在那兒，在你的生活小角落里一點點啃食你的財富，每年都會消耗一些。要想完全牽制住通脹是不可能的，但你可以減輕它帶來的影響。

    6.投資錯誤。就像許多投資者去年學到的那樣，差強人意的投資組合簡直就能吃人。人們通過理解投資多樣化，資產分配等等技能，還有將感情因素從投資過程中剝離開這一系列的動作，使得克服"投資錯誤"是整個學習投資過程中的一大敵人。

    7.緊急事件。財務成功的最后一個敵人是不可預知的事物：失業、死亡、生病、法律糾紛。如果沒有對這些緊急事件的計劃，你可能會陷入無常之中，而毫無辦法。購買必要的保險，持續對緊急基金的投資！

    我想說的是：至少還有一個財務成功路上的大敵：缺乏目標。假如你不知道自己為什么要存錢、投資的話，那你就沒理由去做了。心中無目的，你就不可能給自己一個計劃。要知道，通往財富的路上鋪滿的是目標。

    記住有些敵人是外在的，而有一些則是內在的。有一些是從我們內心深處產生的。

    我跟所有這些敵人都交鋒過不止一次。我似乎已經打敗了自己內心的敵人-只是短暫的。不過要戰勝外在的敵人得要有持續不斷的警惕。還有，內心的敵人也可能會再次抬頭。

    你最大的敵人是哪些，原因是什么？你是怎么戰勝他們的？