Moorman and Company

xactly why should you want to acquire a lot of money? Or, if not a lot of money, why should you want to acquire as much as you can, no matter how much or how little that might be? Throughout history, there have been a variety of answers to that very basic question.

Some philosophers have equated having a great deal of money with morality — the "Protestant Ethic." Others cared not so much for the result, but rather the means by which it was earned. Still others have said that wealth allows one to possess many things — great homes, fine works of art and, most of all, great power. And certain economists once argued that the acquisition of wealth gave power to those who, by their dedicated lives, had proven their worthiness to rule society.

I believe in the acquisition of as much wealth as possible, but not for any of the aforementioned reasons. I think that one should strive, to the best of one's ability, to acquire as much wealth as is compatible with possessing the means to be free and independent. With wealth there is freedom; with no wealth at all there is total economic dependence on others. It need hardly be added that with economic dependence there exists social, political and psychological dependence. The converse is more to the point: with economic freedom there is social, political and psychological freedom.

It follows then that the purpose of wealth acquisition is not a lovely pile of thousand dollar bills or a fat bank account. That would be like owning a marvelous recipe book, having a larder crammed with every conceivable foodstuff, and then starving to death. Money is not an end. Money is a means to a variety of ends. Money is a bridge that transports us from dependence to independence. Wealth can take us where we want to go — provided that we have thought about our destination — or wealth can leave us floundering — provided that we have not thought about what to do once we obtain it.

There is an old Chinese saying that every journey begins with the first step. The first step in your journey to financial freedom is to ask yourself two questions. Do I want maximum freedom in my life? Do I want that freedom enough to do something about it? If the answers are yes, you are ready to begin the Investment Way of Life.

The investment way of life begins now, the moment you set out to become an investor. "But Jerry," you may say, "I understand that there are no real investment opportunities left. Furthermore, making money is just a matter of breaks." My answer is very simple: opportunity knocks on your door every payday and you make your own breaks.

Every payday you are presented money. You can take that money and spend it all, or you can take part of it and put it to work. You do not have to start out with a lot of money; what you want to do is end up with a lot of money. That can be accomplished by answering the knock of opportunity every payday.

As for the breaks — they come by virtue of recognizing opportunities when they present themselves. That recognition is not a matter of luck, it is a matter of knowledge. And that knowledge can be obtained from a variety of sources in a variety of ways.

If you want to seek advice, seek it from a professional. A CPA or Personal Financial Planner has received the necessary training to provide such advice. But the best approach of all is this: begin with yourself — know yourself, know your strengths and weaknesses, know your likes and dislikes. Then, as you begin your own personal investment way of life, when you do invest, you will do so on the basis of your knowledge of how to make money.