Jaspreet Singh, known as “Minority Mindset” on YouTube, is a lawyer and entrepreneur whose goal is to spread financial education. The Minority Mindset brand has grown into a number of companies, including Market Briefs, a free financial newsletter, and Market Insiders, an investment education app. His brand has helped countless people get out of debt and start investing.
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As one of GOBankingRates top money experts, Singh talks here about creating a plan to build wealth.
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What is the one piece of money advice you wish everyone would follow and why?
The one piece of advice I would like everyone to follow is this: make yourself rich before you make everyone around you rich. When you go out and wear Lululemon pants with your Gucci belt and Apple AirPods, you look rich, but the people who are actually getting richer are Lululemon, Gucci and Apple (not to mention their shareholders, too). The person who doesn’t get rich is you. I want you to return it. Get rich first by using your money to buy investments. Then go out and buy all the Lululemon, Gucci and Apple you want when you can afford it.
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What is the most important thing to do to create wealth?
Getting rich is surprisingly simple. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, it’s actually very hard, but there are only three steps. First, you must spend less than you earn. Second, you have to work to earn more money. And third, you have to invest the money that you don’t spend. From the first step, if you spend all your money, you will never have the chance to get rich. This is where most Americans fail. Most Americans work to buy nice things like fast cars, nice vacations, and fancy clothes. But if you spend all your money, you will never get rich. Then you have to work to earn more money. No matter how cheap you are, there will always be a limit to how many expenses you can cut. But there is no limit to the amount of money you can win. This means that you have more advantages by learning how to earn more money. YouTube has made this financial education much more accessible, and it’s free! Finally, you need to invest the money. Just like how you can’t get rich by spending all your money. You also won’t get rich by saving all your money. You have to invest your money if you want to get rich. Where do you invest? Stocks, rental properties, businesses and your own education. Although it may seem very daunting, the good news is that you can start investing with less than $100. All you have to do is get started!
What is your best advice for combating the impacts of inflation?
High inflation disproportionately benefits asset holders and hurts consumers. In other words, inflation makes investors richer and it makes ordinary people poorer. So what can you do? Own investments. Diversification doesn’t hurt either. For example, 2% of my investment portfolio is physical gold. When inflation is high, the value of the dollar falls, which drives up the price of gold. But, of course, always do your own due diligence before making an investment and consult a licensed financial adviser.
What’s the biggest mistake people make when it comes to money, and what should they do instead?
The biggest financial mistake people make is doing nothing. Time is our most valuable asset (and) wealth takes time to build. If you don’t start, you will never see success – while your time will be sucked away. Begin. Experience is the best teacher and you can’t gain experience until you start.
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Jaime Catmull contributed reporting for this article.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Money Expert Jaspreet Singh Says “Getting Rich Is Surprisingly Simple” – Here’s Why