A Lazy Person’s Guide to Getting Rich

Wealth and idleness seem incompatible concepts. Yet, in a protein-rich world, few things are sweeter than leisure. My ultimate dream is one of endless long weekends in a row without weekdays in between with enough money to pay for everything and then some. If, like me, you are lazy, there are tested (and adequately lazy) ways to get rich. If you are rich, you already know that the consequences of laziness are easier to handle than if you are not. Having your cake and eating it too. Interested?

I am not talking about those born to immense wealth or who have just won a lottery. I am talking about the average you-and-me, doing okay but would like to do better. Without having to work too hard please. There IS a lazy way to get wealthy, and I don’t mind sharing it with you. Still interested?

Just three steps to it.

1. Build a differential:

The first step to getting rich is to spend less than you earn. If you have a budget, good. Or else, get one going right away. If you are spending more than you earn, figure out every way to bring your expenses down. Be ruthless if you must. You can also work on your earnings by moving to better paying jobs or creating additional streams of income. Once you have built a differential between your earnings and expenditure, work towards increasing the gap. This is the money you have available for savings and investment.

2. Invest Prudently:

In a studied manner, invest this differential into stocks, realty and businesses. Do this only after you have taken care of the three essentials of personal finance planning – getting reasonably debt free, having an emergency fund, and being adequately insured. The goal is to create a stream of income from your investments that will perpetuate itself. This way you are no longer working to make money, but making your money work for you. Capital as against labour.

You really cannot get rich overnight no matter how industrious you are. It will take time before your return on investments starts matching or exceeding your present earnings. Start now, see how this month goes. Rinse and repeat. Doing these two things systematically month after month will create long-term assets that will generate ongoing income for you, so that you can enjoy being lazy and gradually get to where you need to do only those things that bring joy and benefit to your world.

But didn’t I say three steps?

Like all things sentient and nonsentient, wealth and industry (or rejection of it) are also subject to the law of cause and effect. If the outcomes of the above two steps is not directed correctly, the little empire you are thinking of will remain a house of cards, a pipe dream with just 57 channels (And Nothin’ On). If you continually keep investing and generating wealth and do nothing with it, you will experience stagnation that can manifest in different forms. For true satisfaction from your laziness, you must use your wealth wisely. What that means will differ from person to person, but it will surely be something very important for each one of us.

3. Go Priceless:

Don’t stress out, but you can use your wealth to buy yourself and your loved ones time together, experiences and learning together, moments of joy together. Use your wealth to bring richness and a better quality of life to the people around you. Spending money can be tiresome beyond a point, so remember to take adequate rest.