IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is the measure of your intelligence, obtained through a series of aptitude tests concentrating on the different aspects of intellectual functioning, but how do you measure your Financial IQ? Do you measure it by how big your pay check is, or by your net worth or the kind of car you drive, or the size of your house?

Financial Intelligence is not about how much money you make; it’s about how much money you keep and how hard your money works for you.

You know your Financial IQ is increasing if as you get older your money is buying you freedom, happiness and choices in life. Many people make money as they get older, but their money only bought them less freedom in the form of having bigger bills to pay. This in turn means that you have to work harder to offset those bills and this is not certainly Financial IQ or Freedom. You make a lot of money but it doesn’t make you any happier. Why work for money and be unhappy when you can make money work for you and you stay happy. That’s what I call Financial IQ.

When it comes to health, too many people work too hard for money and slowly kill themselves in the process. Why work so hard sacrificing the mental and physical wellbeing of your family as well as yourself? There’s no such thing as a sudden heart attack. Heart attacks and other related ailments take time to develop. It’s caused basically by lack of exercise, poor diet, and stress. Of the three, I think lack of joy is the chief cause of cardiac related deaths. Too many people worry about working harder rather than having fun and enjoying the great gift of life.

When it comes to choice (making joyful choices), we all know that the first-class section of an airplane arrives at the same time as the economy section. This is not the issue, the issue is, do you have the choice of flying the first-class or the economy? Most people in the economy class have no choice.

Money is power; we’ve always heard and know because it gives you more choices. Money doesn’t make you happy, so better get rid of that thought that when you get money, you’ll have happiness. If you’re not happy while getting rich, there is a good chance that you won’t still be happy when you finally become rich.