1. Spending money to show people how much money you have is the surest way to have less money.
Singer Rihanna earns tens of millions of dollars, but found herself "effectively bankrupt" in 2009. She sued her financial adviser for not doing his job. He offered a legendary response: "Was it really necessary to tell her that if you spend money on things you will end up with the things and not the money?"The first iron rule of money is that wealth is the stuff you don't see. It's the cars not purchased, the clothes not bought, the jewelry forgone. Money buys things, but wealth -- assets such as cash, stocks, bonds, in the bank, unspent -- buys freedom and security. Pick which one you want wisely.