My paycheck barely makes it to the next one, why invest?

As we quote Jim Rohn in the Wealth Course, we say that the bigger the why, the easier the how. This idea holds true for investing. It is essential to know the reason why we want to invest. Our reason will determine what we will prioritize, the actions that we will take and ultimately the resulting benefits of these actions. Growing up, I was told that I can get rich if I save a part of my savings. My pops’ famous line was “It’s not how much you earn, it’s how much you keep.” True enough, this was validated when I started to work and have salary increases and promotions. My salary just can’t “keep up” with my spending! In rare occasions when I actually have savings in my bank account, I start to contemplate on how I would want to “invest” my savings. My question to myself was, “Where will this go?” Is it really for a house or a car (right. as if my savings alone can buy me a house), for the education of my future children (and deprive myself of what I can do in the present?), for my world tour (after the trip, how much money will I have left?), for emergency (I can't just go through the motions of working just because I'm expecting an emergency right?)

In his book, Guide to Investing, Robert Kiyosaki shared that when it comes to money and investing, there are three fundamental reasons or choices and these are:

1. To be secure
2. To be comfortable, or
3. To be rich.

With my exposure to financial, business and motivational books, passionate people who want to make a difference through their “give” account and even to luxurious trips, I decided that I wanted to invest to be truly rich. That's it. I wanted a life where my problem would be too much money and where to invest the excess cash (this would be discussed in another post.) I wanted something for the long-term while reaping some of the benefits of my "small deals" in the present. I am not telling you to choose to be wealthy because your values and priorities may just not be aligned with that in the moment. As Kiyosaki asserted, all three choices are important. The difference in one’s life occurs when the choices are prioritized. To be rich, comfortable or secure are really personal core values. One is not better than the other. Making the choice of which core values are most important to you often has a significant long-term impact upon the kind of life you choose. That is why it is important to know which core values are most important to you, especially when it comes to the subject of money and financial planning.

Allow me to close this post with these questions:
1. Is your reason for earning money to be secure, comfortable or rich?
2. Which emotions or feelings do you associate with the reason that you chose? (eg. Security = FEAR of the UNKNOWN)
3. Picture your life 5 – 10 years from now if your reason for investing or for playing the money game is to be secure. How about the scenario of wanting to be comfortable? Or rich? What does each scenario look like?