7 Obstacles to Financial Success

July 2024 · 3 minute read
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Hundreds (thousands?) of new financial books are published each year. Only a handful become best-sellers. As you might expect, a lot of gems fall through the cracks, destined to soon be forgotten. The Quiet Millionaire by Brett Wilder is one of these gems. Wilder’s book isn’t flashy or gimmicky — it’s just filled with lots of solid, practical advice for those who want to grow their wealth.

I particularly liked Wilder’s list of the seven obstacles to financial success. He writes:

If you want to become and stay the quiet millionaire, you must plan and manage your financial way of life. … You must be proactive in order to obtain the financial life you want. By doing this, you will overcome the seven major obstacles to financial success.

Wilder is saying that we know there are certain common barriers to wealth. These obstacles arise for everyone. Because of this, it’s possible to plan in advance to cope with them. First, however, we have to be able to name these obstacles so that we can prepare to overcome them.

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According to Wilder, the seven obstacles to financial success are:

I’d argue that there’s at least one additional obstacle to financial success: lack of purpose. If you don’t know why you’re saving and investing, you have no motivation to do so. Without a destination in mind, you cannot set a course. The road to wealth is paved with goals.

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Note that some of these financial obstacles are external and that some are internal. Some of these obstacles come from our own minds.

I’ve struggled with all of these obstacles at one time or another. I seem to have at last overcome the internal challenges — at least temporarily. But to ward against the external barriers requires constant vigilance. And there’s always the chance that an internal problem might re-appear.

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