Thirty ways we destroy wealth
there’s a plan to build and sell the business in a set timeframe. Don’t bank your retirement on it.
17. Peer-to-peer platforms: Loans to strangers. There’s a reason they got turned down by a bank or didn’t approach one.
18. Crowdfunding: It’s a plaything and a very-long term plaything. Don’t expect to see any action for 10 years.
24. Starting a business when your mortgage isn’t paid off: A fatal error is to have the stress of home loan payments. Assume you won’t make money for several years.
25. Starting a business without a double income: If your partner isn’t in a position to have their own career and fully support a period of zero income, you’re not cut out for it as a couple.
26. Starting a business in a field you didn’t train in: The best businesses are started by people who are already experts.
27. Stuck with a widow: The partner of a dead shareholder-employee isn’t ideal in a business. It’s not gallant to keep them invested and it’s not fair for them to remain. Buy life insurance policies on your key people to assist with a buy-out.
28. Starting a part-time business: You will come up against commercial reality. Any successful business is twice a fulltime commitment.
29. Viewing tax as a burden rather than a reward for investing: It will narrow your scope of opportunity and cause badly timed decisions.
30. Not spending it: Retirees who don’t have a regular monthly capital payment from their savings destroy the whole joy of using their wealth.