Finances and Money:
Are You More of a Serf or Freeman?

Controlling your finances and money is the difference between serfdom and freedom or being a serf and a freeman.

Personal or business finances and money is an enormous topic. You can study it for years and get a PhD in the field. Ultimately, what the overwhelming majority of you want is to remove the stress that so many feel when dealing with money. Many people dream of financial independence but don’t really believe they can or will ever attain it. They struggle to save for retirement while also providing for their family and using their hard earned dollars to enjoy life and even be generous with what they have.

On other pages I will talk more about the mindset that goes with accumulating wealth, as well as topics such as the employee vs entrepreneur mindset, entrepreneurship the practice and the mindset among other topics. Here I want to simply give a basic overview of what the goals are for most people and exactly what finances and money really encompasses.

To acquire money you must exchange something of value. The greater the value and or greater the number of people who value it, the more wealth you receive.

Finances and Money, The Managing of Money and Earning Money

The ultimate ideal for most people would be to have control over their finances and money so they feel more secure in their living situation. A the website Cision reported on a research report published by the LendingClub Corporation whose headline reads, “Nearly 40 Percent of Americans Earning Over $100,000 Live Pay-Check-to-Pay-Check.” Think about that for a moment.[1]

 It probably doesn’t seem surprising as you stop to think about your own situation and what would happen if you suddenly lost your income. How many of your bills could you cover and for how long if you were suddenly without a paycheck?

 According to the census bureau the median household income in 2020 was $67,521 which was actually a decrease from 2019, which considering the lockdowns and all that happened because of the pandemic that probably doesn’t surprise people. The number of households earning more than $100,000 in 2020 was approximately 43 million. That means about 17 million were living pay check to paycheck. Why could the top 33% of income earners have so many people living pay check to pay check?

 The answer to that question is all about finances or the managing of large amounts of money. It comes down to spending habits and discipline. Yes, mindset absolutely plays an important role, but so does understanding basic principles.


[1] "Nearly 40 Percent of Americans with Annual Incomes over $100,000 Live Paycheck-to-Paycheck." Cision, 15 June 2021, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nearly-40-percent-of-americans-with-annual-incomes-over-100-000-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-301312281.html. Accessed 1 Dec. 2021.

Finances and Money, The Basic Economic Principles

Finances and money are ruled by the law of supply and demand. The services you provide are compensated based on supply and demand. The more people you serve directly or indirectly the more value you will receive for those services. The formula though is obviously influenced by whether you are an entrepreneur or business owner or employee and how many people does that business serve. Let’s look at a basic example of a widget manufacturer.

John came up with an idea for a new widget and was able to find the capital and started manufacturing and distributing widgets. These widgets soon caught on and John’s business was doing well. He paid his employees a fair competitive wage and people wanted to work for John. Occasionally, an assembly line worker would complain about his work or pay and felt like he should be making more money. John would simply send that person on their way and quickly hire and train another person.

One of John’s chief engineers though thought he should be earning more money and some other perks so he went to John and voiced his complaints. John agreed and gave that person what he asked. Why? John realized that getting a new employee who not only had the engineering skills but also new the business as this person did would prove more difficult and costly than what the employee was asking. 

Because of the success of World Wide Widgets, other companies get into the market. For several years there is no problems for John and WWW but eventually these other companies are doing better and WWW is losing market share. Profits decrease. Employees are laid off. If you are one of those employees your ability to replace your income is dependent on how easily your skills can be transferred to a different business and how many people does that business serve. The more they serve the more you end up serving. 

The bottom line is your ability to earn is based entirely on how many people you serve and the value placed on that service (demand) compared to the number of people who can provide that same level of service (supply). You may think your skills, your service, should be valued more than it is but if you can't convince enough people that it is worth what you think it is then you will be stuck earning what others are willing to pay for it.

We Americans place an enormously high value on being entertained. We work hard and want to enjoy music, movies, sports, and shows among lots of other things. Top entertainers make lots and lots of money. They are in the top 1% of income earners. 

We also value efficiency and time saving devices. We value being able find what we want and get it easily at a fair price. Jeff Bezos is one of the wealthiest men in the world because people value being able to find a product they want quickly and easily and have it delivered to them quickly at a fair price. Amazon does that better than anyone. Not only that but Amazon provides entertainment. It isn’t just Americans who have made Amazon what it is and Jeff Bezos one of the richest men in the world.

Okay, what does all this have to do with finances and money? If you want to earn more you need to serve more people and or show how you are currently serving people is worth more money. Wealth accumulation is about both money and managing that money.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans earn less than $100,000. We as a society have more available to us in terms of food, entertainment, technology, educational opportunities, and general luxuries than any generation in human history, yet, according to the annual survey on stress in America done by the American Psychological Association financial stress is always one of the top producers of stress for the average American. I don’t think there is any doubt that this is true for most of the westernized world if not most of the industrialized world. If finances and money or economic stress is high for citizens of wealthy nations what do you think it would be like for those in the third world?

The bottom line is people every where spend resources (money) to purchase things they need and value. They need to spend less than they earn (finances) if they want to accumulate wealth. Your mindset will absolutely contribute to both sides of that equation. Your mindset in a significant factor in your ability create value and earn money and it is also a significant factor in your ability to manage your finances and accumulate wealth.

As alluded to earlier, wealth does not alleviate financial stress in and of itself. Your ability to control your finances and money is one factor that allows you to manage financial stress. Your ability to control your finances and money is a function of knowledge, skills, and mindset. Your mindset will be the other significant factor that allows you to deal with financial stress.

Managing Your Finances and Money

Where most people struggle is the battle between living within their means and the desire for all the luxuries that are being regularly paraded out on the open market. We want to have for ourselves and loved ones comfort and we all that technology can do for us, which can be a wonderful thing until it isn’t. In other words, when we begin to accumulate too much debt or our desires lead to envy and other dangerous emotions our finances and money begin to control us and we become more like a serf than a freeman. 

You can probably see how mindset contributes to our ability to properly manage finances and money. With the proper beliefs, values, and understanding of our true economic value we can learn to both maximize our income and control our financial desires so we can live within our means, enjoy life, and accumulate long-term wealth.

A challenge for families who accumulate wealth is to teach their children not only how to manage their finances and money, but the necessity of finding meaning through work. That involves teaching a millionaire’s mindset because that mindset goes far beyond just how to earn and keep money. If done well each generation should be better off than the previous and society also should be better off. Better off does not mean all poverty will be eliminated because poverty can be and sometimes is defined relatively, though I think that is a mistake.

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Training Mindsets, Training Champions...
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Finances and money is just the "roadway" that is built on top of the Mindset of a Champion Arch. They are what provides the desired financial freedom so many seek. The secret though is to build it on top of the arch, which means the arch must first be built. 

Our entire curriculum represents essentially a degree in mindset if there were such a thing. We train each of those areas and all the pieces work together. We offer dramatic savings when you take a leap of faith and commit to the entire curriculum. However, to get that dramatic savings you must first agree to a free phone consultation and application process so we can be sure this is a mutual fit. It is not for everyone. You need to be committed and we truly would love to see families work with their teenagers to go through the curriculum. Finish it is life altering.

To schedule a consultation simply fill out the form below and myself or a colleague will call you and talk for about 45 minutes. Please, if there is another decision maker who should be part of this have that person there too. It will be the love you have for yourself and your children that will help you cast out any fear and schedule that call!

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