What is your definition of wealthy?

My frivolous definition is to be able to watch the Monte Carlo Grand Prix from the balcony of my hotel room. That is my personal definition of wealthy. Do you have one?

Anyway, I like novels as much as anybody else but its a well written book on trading or 'growing' my money that really excites me. When I quit my job in 2004, I started my new job as an amateur home trader. I LOVED IT. I definitely looked forward to waking up each morning and 'getting to work'.Thats when I started all the reading on money. It used to be mainly books on technical analysis of stocks but it was inevitable that I also read all the books on how to make your money grow, how to make
your money work for you etc etc etc....

After 10 months of not reading and doing little trading, I've started up again. Trading AND reading. Its exciting. And the book I'm currently reading has really kicked me into action again by forcing me to re-write my financial goals. The book is 'Money Secrets of the Rich' by JohnBurley. While the title comes across like those in celebrity gossip magazines the contents of the book are much more useful.

I'm not here to give a summary of the book but I would like to share the single point that I truly believe gets each of us started on the journey to meeting our financial goals. This is to write down what your goals are. Answer the question of what it means for you to be wealthy and what steps you will take to do this. The answers should be on paper (the physical white stuff or in a Word document) and not just in your head.

My husband and I did this exercise a few years ago when we were newlyweds. While I am the main finance controller *chuckle* the fact that we sat down to determine what we wanted to achieve and how we would do it has allowed us to avoid a lot of arguments. Before we married, we did have quarrels around this topic but after the exercise, I can honestly say that we probably only have a minor tiff regarding money once a YEAR!

OK. Thanks for reading this post. My gift to you is the advice to allocate some time now to write out your financial goals. Its a nobrainer, LOTS of books advocate the exercise. Thousands read but don't act so do it TODAY!