If you’ve reached 55 and you’re not rich yet then you will have to develop some new good money habits in order to become wealthy (if you already had them you’d be wealthy now). Ideally these are habits that will help you earn more, spend less, and invest more.

In the process of establishing the new, wealth building habits you will also have to remove some well established, bad money habits. You may feel some resistance from these habits initially but if you want to live well in your retirement years then you have to get your priorities in order, put your ego to one side, and do what is required for financial success.

Place More Value on Money and Wealth

People who don’t have enough money, either have the habit of placing too little value on money or they place the wrong value on money. Listen to the things you say about money, both to yourself and to others, and ask what value you are placing on achieving wealth.

Everything you say and everything you think has some influence on your subconscious mind and as a result has some influence on the habits you form, the things you attempt in life, and the type of results that you produce.

If you are saying or thinking things that place little value on acquiring wealth then the message to your subconscious is that you do not want to be wealthy. The more often you say or thing these ideas the stronger you reinforce that subconscious programming.

If you have this bad habit then start catching yourself whenever you do it and develop the habit of thinking and saying things that place a high value on acquiring personal wealth.

Allocate Your Investing Money First

One habit that wealthy people have is that they allocate money to investing before they allocate their living budget. In other words they make investing a priority.

People who don’t become wealthy often have the intention to invest but they allocate money to their living expenses first and invest what is left. However there is a major problem with this way of thinking; there is never any money left to invest.

If you make your lifestyle the number one priority then it will always expand enough to consume all of your money. If you make investing your priority then you will always find a way to live on the rest. If you doubt this then image what would happen if you go a 25% pay cut. You wouldn’t die. You would find a way to live on your new salary.

Remove Money Wasting

One way to free up money for investing is to remove all waste spending. Statistics show that most people spend 20% to 25% of their income on unnecessary expenditure that doesn’t really enhance their life. If you identify and remove such spending then you will be able to invest 25% of your income and still live well.

Know Where Your Money Is Going

One good habit that almost all self made rich have is that they record where every cent of their money goes. Most of them actually write it down as they spend it. By knowing where their money is going they can see whether they are getting value or not. In other words they can see if their spending is enhancing the quality of their life in the long term as well as the short term.

Leverage Your Earning Potential

Most people who are not wealthy have the habit of accepting their income. People who become wealthy have the habit of regularly looking for ways to increase their income.

Why does on person earn $30,000 a year and another earn $300,000 dollars per year? It all comes down to the habits they have developed around working. If you are not as wealthy as you want to be then put some time aside every day to brainstorm ways to increase your income.

Formal education trains you to be a worker; a cog in the wheel. Part of that conditioning is that you do a certain job and you get paid a certain salary. The reality is very different. You can take your skill set and find ways to leverage it into 5 times or 10 times the income that you earn now. Spend some time every day asking yourself how to do this and you might be surprised at what you come up with.

If you are serious about becoming wealthy then make a serious promise to yourself to develop the five good habits outlined above.