It's Not About How Much You Make, It's About How Much You Can Keep

It’s not about how much you MAKE, but how much you can KEEP

Everyone always shows you how to make money.

I get it, making money is fun and exhilarating.

But chasing gains comes with risk, and nobody ever explains the risks you expose yourself to when you’re doing it.

I’m going to teach you how to KEEP more of your money, so you can maximize the amount of dollars that are working for you.

Because as we all know, the more you have invested, the more significant an average return becomes.

10% on $1,000 is only $100… Not great.

10% on $100,000 is $10,000…Now we’re getting somewhere.

But 10% on $1,000,000 is $100,000…

That’s when things start getting fun.

So let’s dive into how you can keep more of your money with these 6 simple tricks.

1) Automate your investments

“Pay yourself first”

You’ve probably heard people say this. And the majority of the people who are screaming it from the rooftops never do it themselves.

The best way to ensure you’re paying yourself first is to set up automatic contributions.

Make technology do the heavy lifting for you.

Every time you get paid, make sure to transfer a percentage of your income to your investing account.

Right now I have a $50/week automatic contribution that comes out of my account on Mondays.

It’s not a lot, and it will surely increase over time, but I can be sure that I’m investing AT LEAST $200/month without even thinking of it.

2) Cut out unnecessary expenses

Most people don’t have an income problem, they have a spending problem.

Why? Because technology has made it too easy to spend money with just a few clicks.

• Ordering food

• Monthly subscriptions

• Phone bills

• Transportation

I’m not saying you should cut things out that would impact your lifestyle.

All I’m saying is that if you take a look at your spending at the end of the month, I’m sure you could find a couple of things you didn’t really need.

For me, one of my biggest monthly expenses is Uber’s. Something I know I can reduce.

I’m a very impatient person and I like to get to places quickly. So instead of taking public transportation, walking or riding a bike, I decide to Uber.

Reducing this by just 25% would allow me to keep some extra money in my pocket without any big change in my lifestyle.

In the early stages of investing, doing small things like this adds up because your wealth is dependent on how much you can get invested early on.

3) Avoid high interest debt

Credit made people lose common sense.

Most people carry a balance on their cards 365 days a year.

That’s completely fine, if you can afford to pay it off at the end of the month.

The problem is, credit feels like free money. The “buy now, pay later” structure has lured consumers into buying things they struggle to pay off.

Rule of thumb: if you can’t buy it twice, don’t buy it at all.

4) Tax sheltered accounts

Do you know why tax sheltered accounts have contribution limits?

Because they’re so damn powerful.

The government knows this so they limit how much money you can pour into them.

• 401(k)’s

• Roth IRA’s

• TFSA’s

• FHSA’s

• RRSP’s

These are the accounts you want to prioritize contributing to.

They can give you tax breaks, reduce your taxable income and have benefits traditional accounts can’t provide.

5) Staying informed

There are so many investors who have no idea how much they’re paying in fees every month.

Some good investing advice: reduce your fees to keep more of your wealth.

Simple, right?

I used to pay $9.95 for every buy/sell in my investing account.

Then I did some research and realized there are tons of no commission trading platforms out there, and immediately switched my brokerage.

The same goes for every day banking.

Read the fine print, it’s worth your while.

6) Emergency fund

Investors have a tendency to downplay the importance of an emergency fund.

And one mistake I see all the time is investors keep their emergency funds invested in the stock market.

NEVER EVER do this.

Your emergency fund is there so you don’t have to sell your investments in times of emergency.

Your portfolio may get to a point where you’re making so much in passive income that you can afford to use that income stream to pay for emergencies, but until then, keep a separate account inside a HYSA so at least you’re maintaining your purchasing power while your money sits waiting for an unexpected event.

See you in the next one!

Alex (The Dividend Dominator)
Founder and CEO of Dividend Domination Inc.
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