How do wealthy people avoid potentially career-ending decisions?

Wealthy people do not have to worry so much about career-ending decisions.

What they have to worry about, is wealth-ending decisions.

Wealth can be lost by slow leaks.

Wealth can also be lost in the blink of an eye.

Those who put their trust in Bernie Madoff, learned the hard way, that wealth can be lost in the blink of an eye.

Wealth can be lost, in so many different ways.

• Poor investment choices.
• Taking unnecessary risks.
• Making risky investment gambles.
• Lack of diversification.
•  Not saving enough.
•  Not letting compounding work.

• Saving only to spend on immediate pleasures and gratifications.
• Spending too much when buying a house, a car.
• Spending to keep up with the Joneses.
• Having expensive tastes early in your career trajectory.
• Getting involved in sketchy deals.
• Letting addictions, whether to substances, or to gambling, or to sex, get the better of one.
• Taking on unnecessary debt.
• Not paying things on time.
• Causing oneself unnecessary payments, through fines, parking tickets, tows etc.
• Making accidental or deliberate errors on one’s W4.
• Not paying one's taxes, or doing sketchy things, to avoid paying taxes.
• Using one’s home equity as a bank to draw money from.
• Saving in tax-deferred vehicles such as 401Ks, and Traditional IRAs - only to take out money, before turning 59 and a half, and and paying a hefty penalty plus tax.
• Being ignorant (or irresponsible) about taxes, insurance, and other information required to protect wealth.

On the other hand, here are the things wealthy people do:

• Wealthy people put their wealth in different buckets.
• They make sure they have enough money in the cash bucket - Cash is not just for emergencies. It is also for opportunities. It doesn't matter that the cash is not earning much, or growing much, such as at times when interest rates on cash are low. The principal purpose of the cash bucket is to be available for opportunities and emergencies. It is not to earn money. Wealthy people have money in other buckets, which are growing and earning money.
• Wealthy people let compounding work for them - This means they resist taking out money from their 401Ks and their IRAs, before turning 59 and a half.
• They also don't get impatient and chase "fast buck" opportunities.
• Compounding is boring, but wealthy people know that boring is good, and boring will get the job done.
• Wealthy people insure all their assets appropriately - with the right insurance companies, and the right coverage.
• Wealthy people never get themselves into an unmanageable debt hole, by letting interest build up upon interest upon interest.

• Wealthy people know what to expect at tax time. They use calculators such as the Dinkytown.net 1040 calculator to model their taxes ahead of time, so there are no unnecessary surprises. They know all the tax brackets, and in fact, many are able to do their taxes manually, because they have familiarized themselves with the ins and outs of the tax code, keeping up with yearly changes. J K Lasser is a familiar name to them.

• Wealthy people let compounding work for them. They let their money grow.
• Wealthy people never scramble to pay their credit card off every month, never scramble to pay their bills, never scramble to pay their taxes.
• Wealthy use their money and assets to make money. In solid ways, not hustling high-risk schemes, which can go sideways fast, or turn out to be empty shells. Wealthy people aim to reach a stage, where they don’t have to work for money - they can work, purely because they enjoy working, or enjoy the work they do.

A simple wow to make today, in order to get to the same place, without the missteps...

Become less of a hustler, scrambler, and gambler.

Every time you hustle or scramble, make a note of it.

Make a note of the reasons why you are hustling, scrambling, or gambling.

Is it because you are short of money?

Is it because you made a wrong decision, and now you are trying to correct for it?

Is it because it is thrilling to make a fast buck?

Make a wow to yourself, to break free of hustling, scrambling, and gambling.

Make a vow to get on the boring "gets you there" path, and to follow a sane philosophy of investing.

Do this….and you will be on the path to "comfortable security", which is a luxury for most people.

Which path do you want to be on?

Path 1 - the path to comfortable security, which is a luxury for most people.

Path 2 - the path most people find themselves on - the path of hustling, scrambling, gambling, and grinding on.

The choice is yours.