Editor's Note: This article is an excerpt from the book "Take the Helm: Why Do the Rich Get Richer and You Still Don't Make Your Fortnight?" by Francisco García Pimentel and Salvador Manzano.
The previous two weeks we met Gerardo el Gerente and María la Lotería , two common (and worrying) cases in our modern world. Gerardo lives his life chasing a raise… and Maria realizes that having money is not the same as being rich.
But there is a story as common as the previous ones. A financial horror story that I see every day in the hallways of schools and universities. The story of:
Mauro, the Millennial
Mauro is 23 years old and has just finished his Human Resources degree at a private university. As a girlfriend, nothing. You have to apply!
Mauro is looking for work everywhere. Surely there is a super job waiting for a guy like him, who was always applied and is also great for public relations. He has thousands of friends, he goes to all the clubs and he loves to travel. He is a great guy, the truth, in whom you can always trust.
Have you ever heard that you have to dress for the job you want, not the one you have, so you go to court restaurants on Sundays and don't take off your Ferragamo loafers or sleep, or your Ray-Ban glasses even when it's cloudy. Dress for success, without a doubt, while looking for work. He hands out a couple of resumes here and there and talks to his uncles to see if they have any positions in his company.
Meanwhile, why be bored? Although his parents no longer give him so much money because "he is an adult", it is not like they are going to abandon him. Everyone knows that the most important thing is to "appear" everywhere, so you don't get out of the picture. If you have to be in Tapalpa for the wedding, in Valle for the party or in Cancun for the christening, then so be it. Life is one and you have to enjoy it, thinks Mauro. This is not just an idea, but a philosophy of life. In fact, Mauro changes his Facebook and Instagram profiles. Now he says: Mauro: RRHH, CEO of Life, Traveler. In search of the great plan.
While he finds work, he meets with his friends every week to think of a business (and a beer). He has some Steve Jobs books that he hasn't read, and his spirit animal is Mark Zuckerberg. “This guy did. The important thing is not to study, but to be smart ”. Every week great business ideas are discussed, one beer after another. There is no doubt that they will eventually hit the fat man. Mauro's plan is to achieve a super original and successful business and retire young to travel the world. He's going to be a millionaire at 30. After all, Mauro is a traveler at heart.
Meanwhile, you have to find a job, to be able to have money. If not, how?
Finally something appears. Let's see ... "Project Manager wanted for a growing international company". It sounds promising. The work consists of coordinating various incubation and export projects to clients around the world.
Salary: $ 7000.00 (gross).
<< Seven thousand pesos? They don't even love her anymore. My degree cost…. Well, I don't know how much it cost because I didn't pay for it; but surely very expensive. At least 30 or 40 thousand pesos I need per month. So I hope >>.
"Independent Distributor", "Investment Advisor", "Entrepreneurship Coach", "Regional Manager ..."
They all sound elegant, but none have a salary that is worth it, or flat or salary. "I can win all I want", so they are sales. And I am not a salesperson: I have a degree in Administration and Human Resources with a specialty in Continuous Improvement Processes. Please respect my title.
Every week the "business meeting" or "networking" does not fail, but for some reason the great idea that will make us millionaires has not appeared. So we keep looking ...
Finally, something that promises
<< Now yes! Hiring Manager at World Computers Co. It is a cubicle job with a mediocre salary, but it is a large company, so it can be grown. There are also several friends there, and they have many bonuses and so on. It's a good place to start and the title and logo look fancy on my card. Also, at the age of three I can do a summer of coaching in Silicon Valley. Gentlemen of Google, hold on here I go >>.
<< The best time of life is this. I'm single, I don't pay rent, I don't have children… but I do have money. It's like being a millionaire. I have absolute freedom. If I want, for example, I can go to the beach for the weekend without asking anyone for permission - or money. And I can give myself my little luxuries; go to dinner, to concerts. I can finally buy the clothes I want. This is life >>.
So one, two years go by. Mauro is the ace of parties and meetings; you already know half the planet. He continues in his same job, which allows him to indulge in his “little luxuries”. Silver and gold and platinum credit cards are coming to you, saving you miles and points. That is being smart .
Mauro is twenty-five now. Twenty-six and twenty-seven. All of his friends are starting to have "serious" girlfriends and some are even married. Others have businesses, offices, investments. Mauro is still stuck in enjoying life, but apparently he is trapped in his position ...
So step up business meetings. Now yes: you have to work. The business of the century is just around the corner. Home massages? An App to sell ice cream? A VIP driver service? All of that is fine… maybe? But it takes money and the reality is clear:
Mauro does not have a weight.
He's approaching 30, he has a job that doesn't excite him or pay him well, he doesn't have any real business or prospects, and he doesn't have a peso.
He is broke and with the cards full, while his acquaintances are married, with children, houses, cars and businesses. What the hell happened?
<< Well, at 30 I won't be a millionaire - Mauro thinks - Maybe at 40. I'm going to hit the business one of these days. There's no doubt.
Meanwhile, I stay at the same job. I've been four years now, it would be crazy to leave now. But it is better that the world does not know my reality. My friends already have businesses, houses and cars. It would be better if I also have even an Audi… don't think I'm a “Godínez”…
Yes. Any one of these days I find the business of the century. And retired at 40! >>
Always waiting for the "big idea"
Mauro is the great winner of our era. It is an IMMENSELY common case among young people in their 20s to 40s.
It does not matter if you studied in a private or public university, or if you have a job with a high or low salary. The problem for the vast majority of millennials is that they have a poor mentality, similar to that of María la Lotería: they believe that “something” is going to happen that will make them poor. For María it is the “little piece”, for Mauro it is “the business”. But both are imaginary.
Mauro suffers from "the Zuckerberg Illusion" and his 30 years, has signed his sentence. Unless you wake up right now and start building your financial freedom, you will be stuck in the same place and job forever. When he decides to marry, he will only have become Gerardo the Manager and will be mired in the rat race until his death.
Some suicidal characteristics of Mauro are:
- Earn money, but never save a peso. If your standard of living is exactly equal to (or higher than) your salary income.
- If they fire him tomorrow, he stays on the street.
- Talk about doing business, but never start one. Keep waiting for the "cool business" that will solve your problems.
- You raise your standard of living artificially when your friends and acquaintances do.
- He is sure that sooner or later he will have his "super business idea that will get him out of poverty."
- He does not know about finances, or investments, or business. His only real hope is that he won't get fired… or win the lottery.
I've said it before and I say it again: it doesn't matter if you make a little money or a lot. The quantity does not matter, but the habits. If you are Gerardo, Mauro or María, wake up! You are on a path that leads nowhere . It is more important to manage what you have today than to wait for what will come tomorrow. In fact, if you manage what you have today… much more will come tomorrow.
Related:
Are you Mauro, the millennial? 3 common financial horror stories
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