What’s Your Financial Superpower?
These day it’s impossible to go to the movie theater without encountering a superhero movie…not that I go to the theater. Who pays those prices anyway? Remember, I don’t pay retail!
Anyway, superhero movies are really popular right now. Almost too popular!
Did you ever notice that all these movies have something in common — all the heros have a special power that sets them apart from the common man. That’s it. Other than that one power, they’re just regular people.
This unique superpower dials up the hero-factor to 11, and allows the superhero to vanquish the forces of evil…in every movie! You’d think the bad guys would learn…
Of course, we all know superpowers like we see in the movies don’t really exist. But what if they did?
What if there were other kinds of super-abilities that could help us vanquish financial evils like debt, consumerism, jobs, overpriced delivery pizza, poverty, and financial hubris?
Financial Superpowers
I’m talking (of course) about financial superpowers! The abilities that set you apart economically from ordinary humans, allowing you to push your financial net-worth into the stratosphere!
Don’t think they exist?
Just look at the financial superpowers of other personal finance bloggers: The Bike Rider, The DIY Flipping Master, The Super Option Trader, Super Frugal Homesteader, The Real Estate Master, The Credit Card Reward World Traveler, and the Guy Who Has Three Kids and Hasn’t Lost His Mind. Just to name a select few.
Those personal finance bloggers all have special financial superpowers!
What kind of skills or abilities qualify as financial superpowers? Nearly anything that will allow you to earn more, invest better, or save yourself money.
Here’s some super examples:
- You’re great at creating profitable side-hustles to earn extra income.
- You cook 4-star meals for a one-star price, keeping food costs exceptionally low.
- You are an excellent stock trader, and earn exception returns on your money.
- You ride a bicycle everywhere, and save money by not using the car.
- Your understanding of personal finance is so good, people pay you for financial advice!
- You live and dream in spreadsheets. Budgeting and projections are your thing.
- You create your own clothes from reclaimed fabric.
- You go on multiple international vacations a year (for nearly free), entirely from credit card rewards.
- Your home is heated during the winter with wood entirely chopped by hand.
- Your gardening skills are so good, that not only can you live off what the garden produces, you also sell the excess!
- Your home is furnished with hand-made furniture you built from scraps and pallet wood.
- Your rental real estate properties consistently earn returns that exceed those of the stock market.
- You’re so good at using coupons the supermarket actually pays you to take the food away.
By no means is this a definitive list. The possibilities are nearly endless! Come up with your own financial superpowers and share them in the comments!
Why Financial Superpowers Are Better
But what if you don’t have any financial superpowers right now? What if you’re entirely ordinary and only have ordinary people finances?
Well, you’re in luck. Financial Superpowers are better than movie superpowers. Unlike movie superheroes, none of these super-powers require you to be born with them. You can learn any (or all) of these financial superpowers!
Eventually, with time, practice, and a handful of financial superpowers, you should be able to conquer almost any financial evil that comes your way!
Having good finances isn’t about being lucky and getting a high paying job — It’s about having the financial abilities to give bad finances a beat-down when they need it, and improving your financial position. Day after day, bit by bit.
Over time, as you refine and acquire more of these super-abilities, getting your finances into financial-fighting-shape gets easier. Eventually you’ll be a lean, mean, financial machine. Debt and overpriced-delivery-pizza won’t stand a chance!
My Financial Superpowers
The fun part about writing this post was thinking about my own financial superpowers. What abilities (or behaviors) do I have that set me apart from other humans financially?
While I never earned a really large income, one of my biggest financial superpowers was my ability to be happy with less. You don’t need to earn much, when you need very little to be happy. I ended-up avoiding unnecessary things like high-cost cell phones. In fact, I always manage to find ways to do things for free or very little.
Like cooking! I regularly cook most of our own meals. This has a huge effect on our monthly food bill — which is only about $500 despite eating outrageously good for a family of 4.
While I don’t consider my cooking super-powered yet, I am trying to improve.
When it comes to investing, I’m starting to develop some ability there too.
At the very least, I’ve had loads of practice, made plenty of mistakes, and learned what not to do when investing. I’ve also had a number of really big successes over the years that pushed our net worth over $2m. Will this success continue? Have I developed an investing superpower? Keep following the blog to find out!
For All Those Talentless Hacks
OK so maybe you look at yourself and think “I don’t have any financial superpowers”. That’s OK folks. There is nothing that says you can’t develop one.
A financial superpower isn’t something you just decide to have.
Remember Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers“? It takes around 10,000 hours to really build up a skill to the point of expertise. Having a financial super power means you’re more than just an expert — it means your a super expert. Don’t go expecting to build up these powers in a week, it’s going to take years.
What? You thought this was something you’d finish over the weekend? Honestly?
Don’t feel discouraged though — My advice is to never think you’re ordinary. You’re not doomed to a life of financial mediocrity because you currently lack financial superpowers.
You might be a financial superhero and don’t realize it yet! Your powers could be right on the verge of escaping your mortal shell! You just have to do the work to set them free!
Find your financial superpower. Capitalize on it. Improve it. And be far more than financially ordinary.
My financial superpower is that I’m a very skilled negotiator, and that has helped me boost my earning power in a large way and also has helped me navigate a career well.
It also works well when setting rents and buying large purchases. It doesn’t help me at all though when it comes to buying stocks- I’m not big enough to negotiate block deals directly with sellers of low liquidity companies.
-Mike
I’m just the opposite of Mike! Really poor negotiator and I have a tenant who has paid the same rent for 22 years… BUT I think my superpower was starting early and researching some really great real estate deals! We all have different strengths and it is excellent to read about all of them!
Craigslist. Yes, Craigslist changed my life.
I am absolutely, positively a Superpower at Craigslist, and it has been very good for my family. Vehicles, appliances, furniture, tools – most often I use stuff for free and most often make a small profit when I’m done with things. Across town or across the nation using an aggregator like searchtempest.com I find stuff that people “just want rid of” (the magic words) that I either need or just want to resell. Most of it is high end stuff that I could never (or would never) buy for full price.
It has changed the way I see money too. Most purchases I made 20 years ago were seen as the end of the road for the money spent, and they were the end of that cash. With Craigslist the money is more or less “tied up” in certain items with the full knowledge that it can be reconverted later. The specific skills are: having cash, investing the time in doing deep research, treating people fairly, keeping your word, cleaning and repairing as needed, writing excellent product descriptions and executing perfect photography.
Best buy ever? Might be the Bigfoot camper that was built new in 2008, sold to a dealership that folded, repossessed by their bank, bought by me in 2009 (still new) with cash, used 200 nights over a period of three years and then sold on Craigslist… at a profit. Yeah, somebody paid us to camp 200 nights in a beautiful, new, high end camper and of course, never any sales tax either.
How could you talk about Financial Superheroes without mentioning The Finance Superhero? http://www.financesuperhero/
Mine is the ability to resist spending all but a small fraction of my paycheck. Also the ability to kill a yak from 200 yards away with Mind Bullets! That’s telekinesis, Kyle.
Best,
-PoF
At the moment I am using my gardening and cooking superpowers to roast some chicken and squash. They put up a fight but the squash were no match for a jobless maniac with a chef’s knife.
I also can harness the power of a Google search to repair appliances. Maybe I am Appliance Repair Man!
Boy, why the hate on Iron Man?!? Although, I did not like the side he took in the most recent Captain America movie, much more aligned on the socialism side, he still uses a large part of his vast wealth to protect ungrateful people. Plus, he doesn’t hide who he really is, unlike most other heroes. :O)
At this time, I don’t really have any financial superpowers, but working on paying down debt and being more frugal. Frugality comes with great difficulty. One of my hobbies requires good equipment and although somethings I don’t mind buying used, for this I do.
My superpower is also cooking. We eat very well for about $500/month. Same as you. 🙂
I also love free/cheap fun. I think reading books and going camping are just as great as going to concerts and other expensive events. We can enjoy life without spending a ton of money.
Lastly, I learn to hang tight when the stock market crashed. It seems a lot of people can’t deal with the volatility. 2017 will be the year….
I’ve always had an outsized interest in the stock market and have beaten the market for the past couple of years. Then again in a bull market it’s hard to lose. Hopefully I have diversified myself well enough when my kryptonite (a bear market) comes that I will be adequately prepared to fight and win.
My superpower is the empathy to make my potential clients feel safe and heard. This leads to them hiring me and is getting me closer to leaving my full-time job.