3 Rules That Guide My Financial Success

The path to financial success is different for everyone. Your goals, values, lifestyle, and economic circumstances are unique to you and play a central role in determining the road you travel to financial independence.

Still, certain ideas, concepts, and philosophies can be applied within your financial ecosystem to guide you to financial success—call them the rules of the road. It’s hard to argue with what Mahatma Gandhi once famously posited: Your present actions determine your future.

While I would never be mistaken for Gandhi, I have three financial rules of the road you can act on now to improve your prospects for future financial success:

1. Pay yourself first.
2. Avoid buying into the latest trends.
3. Make use of tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

This trio of principles has guided my financial decisions for years and allowed me to help others who turn to Infiniti Wealth Management to grow and preserve their wealth. I’m sharing them with you here to give you the same opportunity.

1. Pay Yourself First

Rule number one should be subtitled “Spend Less, Save More.” Some people don’t want to hear that, so another way to think about it is to automatically route money from your monthly income toward your financial goals. The basic idea is that if you never see the money, you won’t spend it. Meanwhile, you’ll be building toward a brighter financial future.

Like everything these days, the concept has a technical name: reverse budgeting. With traditional budgeting, you track your income and expenses and then put money toward your financial goals. Reverse budgeting goes the other way—you put money toward your financial goals first (and automate the process), then spend whatever you have left over.

2. Avoid Buying Into the Latest Trends

If you’re like many people, you might have a tendency to follow family and friends in jumping on the latest trend. When it comes to investing, you might find it hard to go against the grain or, as I like to say, decline to buy into the “new sure thing.”

Going against the grain means thinking and acting differently—questioning assumptions, standards, and rules rather than blindly accepting them. When you do so, you can find yourself acting more creatively, innovating, and seeking new paths to financial success.

Doing and being different can be intimidating. However, you can’t let fear keep you from meeting your financial goals.

3. Make Use of Tax-Advantaged Retirement Accounts

Taxes might not be the first thing you consider as part of your investment strategy during retirement planning, nor should they necessarily be. That said, taxes can have an outsized influence on how fast you’re able to build wealth.

Generally, there are two types of tax-advantaged retirement accounts:

• Tax-deferred: You make tax-deductible contributions and pay taxes on withdrawals.
• Tax-free: You pay taxes up front, and earnings and withdrawals aren’t taxed.

A traditional individual retirement account (IRA) and a 401(k) are tax-deferred retirement accounts. Contributions ($7,000 for an IRA and $23,000 for a 401(k) as of 2024) go into your account before taxes; you’ll pay taxes when you begin withdrawing your money in retirement.

A Roth IRA is a tax-free retirement account that takes contributions ($7,000 for 2024) after you pay taxes. Once the money is in your account, you don’t have to pay taxes on earnings and withdrawals in retirement.

Find an Advisor to Discuss Your Financial Success

I’m confident that the three rules that helped me find financial success can be applied to anyone’s financial goals and circumstances.

At Infiniti Wealth Management, we help pre-retirees, retirees, and people going through major life transitions with investment management and retirement planning. If you’re ready to discuss how these principles can help you chart a path forward, get in touch with us today.

Call our office at 845-278-8638 or send us a message to set up a complimentary consultation.