Reading Books - Financial Growth

One of the most significant parameters that will help you as an immigrant in Germany to establish yourself and achieve stability in the immigration process is the focus on your financial situation. The better your financial situation will be, the less you will have to worry about providing for yourself and your family members. Beyond that, for the immigration office in Germany, your financial situation is critical to your stay on German soil.

?

The Immigration office wants to make sure that you are able to support yourself whether you have chosen the path of an employee, a freelancer or an entrepreneur setting up a company. The German Immigration office even grants residence permits in Germany according to your financial situation and according to your ability to prove that you can support yourself.

?

The main problem for most people is that they do not have knowledge about managing their financial budget correctly and in many cases their expenses far exceed their income. Therefore, in this article I will focus on the financial topic because this topic is not studied in depth in schools and universities and even if it is, it is studied in a superficial, elementary and theoretical way that does not reflect reality as it is.

?

I'm sure most of you were exposed in your youth to books such as Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki), Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill), The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari (Robin Sharma) and more. Since then, many other books have been written with the same and even more elaborate concept.

?

In this article I would like to share those books I read on the topic of financial growth that contributed a lot to my perspective and assisted me to manage my budget in a smarter and efficient way. Why did I choose these specific books? Because they are not really old books on this topic (except for one) and they are aimed at the time we live in nowadays.

?

In case you are interested in conducting yourself in a wiser way financially and reaching financial stability, I recommend that you read the following five books:

• Der Weg zur finanziellen Freiheit (written by Bodo Sch?fer) - This book describes how you can improve your financial situation even in times of crisis. Beyond the encouragement of entrepreneurship and creativity, the book focuses on the importance of efficient savings and investments of fixed amounts on a regular basis. Conducting yourself in an economical and efficient manner will improve your financial situation immediately and will also allow you to get rid of your debts (if you have debts). The book also describes the correct thinking in solving problems, setting financial goals and objectives, optimistic thinking and correct distribution of your investments so that you can reach financial well-being?(I read this book in German).

?

• Reicher als die Geissens (written by Alex Düsseldorf Fischer) - The book is an in-depth book that explains the whole subject of real estate in Germany and answers questions such as how can one start in the world of real estate even without initial capital? What is the importance of investing in real estate? Focusing on thinking positively in regards to money. What is the importance of money and how it is perceived by others? The importance of leaving your comfort zone in order to be able to achieve your financial goals. In addition, Alex Düsseldorf Fischer incorporates in the book cases from his personal life and other analogies to better illustrate for the reader his worldview?(I read this book in German).

?

The importance of investing in real estate is especially great in light of the inflation we are currently experiencing. You can read more in my next article - Inflation .

In addition, if you are interested in investing in real estate in Germany, you can read more about this topic in my article - Buying investment property in Germany .

?

• The Millionaire Fastlane (written by MJ DeMarco) -?This book is a must read for anyone who has ever been interested in financial education and the business?world. The author MJ DeMarco, describes in the book that there are three main lanes in life and we need to choose which lane we wish to be on (because each lane will lead us to a completely different path). The first lane, called a "sidewalk lane", actually describes the lifestyle of many people who live from one paycheck to the next and have no insight into the importance of financial savings. They have a narrow mind when it comes to financial management and a basic understanding of the business world (they usually spend more than they earn).

The second lane is called crawl lane/slow lane. This lane represents the majority of people in the middle class and in which there is actually the belief of studying at university, getting good grades and then working as a salaried employee in the company. In this route, people invest in various investments such as shares, capital funds, real estate, etc, in the hope that one day they will gain financial well-being.?In this lane there is actually no leverage that will increase your income exponentially and therefore it is called the slow lane (also known as the safe lane for many).

The third lane is the fast lane (actually it is an entrepreneurial track) that emphasizes the importance of the procedure of correctly building a system that will work for you in the long term. In fact, it is about planting "money trees"(these trees are systems) and nurturing them for the long term while creating automation so that they work for you, so this will create?exponentially economic profit for you with fewer working hours. Of course, in order to succeed in this lane, it is important to understand the prospects' need for a certain solution, and it is also important in most cases to be creative and think outside the box?(I read this book in German).

?

• The Millionaire Next Door (written by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko) -?This fascinating book will challenge everything you have thought until now about getting rich and financial education. This is an in-depth study that was spread for many years in the United States and in which many topics were reviewed such as what is the life expectancy of those affluent in the United States? What do they work on? What is their annual income? What neighborhoods do they live in? What is their main focus? Their distribution by ethnic groups and even the connection between immigration and wealth in the United States.

?

The book roughly divides two types of groups of people. Those who know how to deal with money and build their network- Prodigious Accumulator of Wealth (PAW) category, and those who do not know how to deal with money and build a network and therefore no matter how much they earn they will be - Under Accumulator of Wealth (UAW) category, which means those individuals who have a low net wealth compared to their income. In any case the main message of the book is that you must live below your means, regardless of your monthly income because that is the only way you can build a foundation for financial stability.

?

Frugality, frugality and frugality are the basic key elements for building good financial status and of course do it with the right combination of building a proper financial budget without spending on luxuries and other unnecessary stuff (I read this book in English).?

• The Psychology of Money (in German: über die Psychologie des Geldes) (written by Morgan Housel) - This book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the implications of their own financial decisions along with understanding how our financial world works.?

The author Morgan Housel, emphasizes in his book the fact that economics is not an exact science and therefore there is no mathematical formula that will lead to an unequivocally increasing capital (investing is not the study of finance but the study of how individuals deal with their money) and therefore you should not stick with ideas that you wish would last forever. The economy is constantly changing and cannot be predicted, so the expected thing is that nothing is predictable (therefore you should express more general expectations and make fewer predictions).

At the same time, we must adopt certain patterns of behavior that will help us properly deal with money, especially in times of financial crises. First and foremost frugality. Frugality serves as a safety net for us especially due to the fact that future economic crises cannot be predicted with certainty.?

Furthermore, Housel describes in this book that there are many cases of individuals who lost all their wealth due to incorrect financial conduct that included arrogance and greed and in contrast also individuals who accumulated wealth due to the fact that they knew how to save money even though they did not earn a high salary every month. The key to success according to this book is persistence over time and knowing that there is no such thing as easy money. Capital is accumulated over the years while persevering and investing for the long term (I read this book in German).

?

In conclusion, as someone who does not have a television, I consume important information mainly through YouTube channels and reading books. We currently live in an era with a lot of information that is more accessible to us than any other generation. Take advantage of the information around you and you will be able to develop in any field you choose.