As part of the Rebel Finance School people send us their questions. In week 3 of the course we talk about the beliefs we have around money and how they trap us. 2 people this week shared similar questions:

This got Katie and I thinking, “does more money lead to more problems?” The second question expanded to say “The taxes, the bills, people asking for money, people trying to use you for your money”

We started to wonder if we had more problems because we have more money? What do you believe? Do you believe that as your wealth grows you will have more problems?

If you believe that more money = more problems how excited are you going to be to work towards wealth? Or as you get money are you going to sub-consciously or more overtly self-sabotage to avoid those problems?

We all have beliefs that develop in childhood from parents, society, experiences that we may or may not have ever evaluated consciously.

I recently wrote about “it takes money to make money” and how that belief traps you. The deleted part of the sentence is that if it takes money to make money, if I don’t have any then why bother trying. People just give up.

The deleted part of the sentence “more money more problems” is that it is easier not to have money. If you believed it was easier to be poor what would you do?

Have you ever taken time to truly consider your beliefs and if they serve you or not?

So what problems come with more money? What might go wrong as we increase our wealth?

1. Responsibilities: With more money, you often have to manage larger investments, handle more complex taxes, and make significant financial decisions. This can lead to stress and anxiety.
2. Higher Expectations: Wealth can raise expectations from others, including family, friends, and society. People might expect you to help them financially, which can create pressure and strain relationships.
3. Security Concerns: Having more money can make you a target for theft, fraud, or scams. Ensuring your wealth is protected can be a constant concern.
4. Social Isolation: Studies have shown that wealth can sometimes lead to a decrease in empathy and social connections. Wealthier individuals might find it harder to relate to others, leading to feelings of isolation.
5. Moral and Ethical Dilemmas: More money can sometimes cloud moral judgment. For example, wealthier individuals might feel a sense of entitlement or superiority, which can lead to unethical behaviour.

Well that all sound hideous and something to avoid. If you truly believed that more money led to these problems wouldn’t you avoid it? Would you work to have just enough to live comfortably but no more?

Does more money really lead to more problems?

My experience comes in two main phases. My formative phases when my Dad went bankrupt for millions, tore my family apart over money and caused a huge amount of arguments.

then phase 2 started when I took control of my beliefs and worked towards financial independence. I have reversed or changed nearly all the beliefs that I held during phase 1 and that has had a transformative effect on my life.

We are now worth a little over £2M and this has been my experience:

1. Simpler: Investing and managing our money has never been easier now we understand it. We invest in one simple index fund, tax efficiently and leave it to grow. What is an index fund?
2. Less Stress: since sorting out my finances I have significantly les stress, I don’t have to worry about the car breaking down, emergencies or other things as I have the financial resources to solve them all easily
3. Freedom: since we reach financial independence we have had more freedom than ever. We don’t have to go to work every day, we are free to do anything we want to do and travel the world
4. Generosity: The money has allowed me to be more generous. For Katie’s birthday I organised trips to Disney World, Copper Canyon and Las Vegas. We took our friends away for a holiday where we paid for the accommodation as we knew they couldn’t afford it. We give away Rebel Finance School which costs us money to run and have helped tens of thousands of people to sort out their finances too!

I asked a couple of my friends who are financially independent for their thoughts on this. Brad Barrett from ChooseFI wrote this:

“There are so many negative thoughts concerning money (root of all evil, rich people are bad, stock market is gambling, etc.) in popular culture, but it’s largely coming from a place of scarcity and lack of knowledge.

The simple fact for most people is that the lack of money is the biggest source of stress in their lives. That stress is constant.

If you reach a place of financial abundance, almost by its very nature you’ll see stress reduced drastically.

Abundance doesn’t need to mean “financial independence” either; it can simply be that first time you have $3,000 saved up in an emergency fund and you don’t have to stress about every unexpected expense or whether your pay check was late that month and if you’ll have enough money in checking to pay for the electric bill before your checks shows up.

I orient my financial life around simplicity and stress mitigation.

Everything operates on autopilot so I simply don’t have to think about my financial life: It all just happens automatically.

Credit cards are set to autopay the full balance, automatic transfers to retirement and savings accounts occur without me thinking about it, and I always keep an extra $10,000 in my checking account just in case there’s a large expense I wasn’t expecting.

Is this “optimal” to keep a lot of cash lying around uninvested? No, but I don’t care. It helps me sleep well at night.

Where people often go wrong with finances is overly complicating matters just because they think that’s what wealthy people do (real estate investing!, dividend stocks!, crypto!) or they have some bizarre desire to pay no taxes and do sub-optimal things to not pay the government.

For the rest of us, if you have a multi-decade time horizon, you know that slow and steady wins the race. I invest in low-cost, broad based index funds and ETFs (S&P 500 and Total Stock Market ETFs specifically) and I keep things simple.

My financial life is simple and problem-free.”

Alan back: What I love about what Brad says is that he has figured out how to simplify his financial life so he can enjoy the rest of his life without the stress of money. Money frees you to live your life stress free.

Mo’ Money = Less Stress

Not sure I can hear the rappers rapping this one as it won’t sell records. Here’s the thing: most of the time the truth doesn’t sell. You won’t see it in papers, rap songs, movies. It doesn’t make for good entertainment!

I also asked my fabulous friends Kristy and Bryce from Millennial Revolution if they felt more money had created more problems for them. This is what they said:

“Not enough money causes stress and doesn’t give you options to deal with problems. Enough money gives you time and space and options to deal with problems.

Too much money (£100,000,000 plus) causes you to have to spend money to guard it and you (i.e. bodyguards, private security etc).

So the sweet spot is knowing “how much is enough” and stop trading your health and time to make money so you can enjoy life.”

Alan back: So the question becomes how much money do you think causes these problems? Are you talking Bill Gates level wealth? Most of us never get there. Seems to be none of the side effects people are worried about actually occur between 1-100 million.

If you are scared of all these problems then do they really exist at the level of wealth you are thinking of? They haven’t for Brad, Kristy and Bryce and the Donegans. We have generally had less stress, more freedom and more fun!

So what didn’t happen as Katie and I became wealthy? This is the bit that we look at all the things people are worried about that didn’t happen and we publicly announce our net-worth online! If it didn’t happen to us how is it going to happen to you!???

• We didn’t buy a bunch of fancy shit, yachts, cars and houses and create more problems
• No one has come to us shaming us into giving them money. We didn’t lend anything to unreliable people and expect it back!
• We didn’t buy crypto and daft investments and risk it all to get to the next level
• We didn’t make our live more complex and stress ourselves out
• We didn’t hire someone to come up with a crazy tax evasion plan and create stress and problems
• We didn’t go gambling our money and risking it all in any way

Our lives are still simple and fun. We love going to nice coffee shops, having breakfast out and helping other people.

Now our net-worth has gone up we do spend a bit more on birthday celebrations, theme park trips and experiences which has been amazing.

What could you replace the belief “Mo Money, Mo Problems with?

Here are some ideas from The Donegans for you:

• More money = less stress
• More money = more opportunities
• More money = more fun
• More money = freedom
• More money = more opportunity to do good and help other people

There are so many different beliefs you could hold that would actually help you live an easier life.

I want to be clear and not mince my words so I really get through to you. I would love to be stood there in front of you, smile on my face and say to you “mo’ money, mo’ problems is utter bullshit”

My life has exponentially improved since I figured out investing, money and bought my time back to have more fun

Here are three ways you can change your beliefs if you are so inclined:

• You become who you surround yourself with: look for people that believe the opposite and hang out with them. Whether that is reading their books, buying them coffee, joining the Rebel Finance School or anything. You can find a way to spend more time with people who believe the opposite. PS you have been doing that by reading this article
• Journal about the old belief: sometimes exploring the old belief and where it came from can help you understand it and shift it. Take out some paper and start to write about “where did this belief come from?” “Why do you believe this?” and “Who taught you this belief?” see if you can uncover the belief and learn more about it. Then you can turn your journaling to “How might the opposite indeed be the truth?”
• Repeat the new belief with conviction: Every morning wake up, look in the mirror and with utter conviction say the new belief and then take action that backs it up. You could say “Mo Money = less stress” and then take an action to show you believe it like investing £10 or asking for a raise at work or visualising how amazing life will be when you have sorted out finances.

Don’t let your beliefs control you.

You get to decide what you believe.

Your beliefs control your destiny so why not take control of your beliefs and therefor your destiny?

Since getting to financial independence we have been able to travel the world, meet amazing people, give away a free finance course, Rebel Finance School and so much more.

This year alone we have:

• Spent two months on the beach in Mexico
• Ridden a train through Copper Canyon Mexico
• Helped 5,000 people with their finances
• Been to Disney World and stayed in Animal Kingdom Lodge for 2 weeks
• Run an event in Vegas and stayed there for two weeks
• Spoken at Econome Conference and inspired people
• Gone Snorkelling on the Florida Coastline for our wedding anniversary
• And so much more

I am not telling you this to brag. I am trying to show you that getting your finances in order, sorting out money creates incredible opportunity and freedom.

Stop believing the shit in rap songs, the media and the tales from people without money. Start deciding what you want to believe.

I would love to know your thoughts! Do you believe me? Do you see a new possibility? Do you still believe more money creates more problems? Comment away below!