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People will often tell you that knowledge is power. But that’s only part of the story. It also turns out that it’s money too. 

Just look at how people get wealthy. Usually, it’s because they know something that somebody else doesn’t, and they’re willing to take a punt on it. 

Knowledge is a powerful tool you can use to improve your personal finances and get on the road to success. The more you know, the better you will do – in general. 

Just take a look at how the captains of industry spend their time. Bill Gates is famous for spending upwards of six hours every day just educating himself and getting a feel for a subject. Warren Buffett – a kind of mentor to Gates – will spend over eight hours per day reading through company accounts, trying to figure out whether they offer value. 

You don’t have to take things to those extremes – especially if you have a full-time job. But it can pay off to pay close attention to what these guys are doing. The more you can learn from their approach, the better off you’ll be. 

Consult With Experts

Whether it is selecting winning DFS MLB baseball picks or buying stocks, you should always consult with experts – people who really know what they’re talking about in any given field. Doing this provides you with a kind of shortcut to knowledge that would otherwise take you many months or years. You get sensible answers immediately, without having to spend hours consulting the source material. 

Choosing the right people is also much easier than you might imagine. Just look for individuals with a long and consistent track record of success. That’s usually a good indicator of what they’re capable of achieving in the long-term. 

Read The Undergraduate Textbooks

If you really want to get your head around a subject quickly, don’t fire up Google Scholar and start reading scientific papers. Instead, buy the standard undergraduate textbook on the subject and work from there. Authors will usually arrange topics intuitively so that they make sense to the reader. That way, you can accelerate your learning and achieve competence faster. 

When it comes to money, practically any type of knowledge can create it. You can read about anything, from the optimal way to invest your savings to how to build a rocket ship business. Once you understand the basics, you can use that as a springboard to the next stage. 

Network In The Areas That Interest You

Studying quietly in your office is an excellent way to get your head around abstract ideas. But if it is market insight you’re after, there is no better way of gaining this than networking. Colleagues will be able to tell you what’s hot and what’s not, letting you direct your financial resources more sensibly. Get their view on the way things are heading and how they’d invest their money if they had the capital to do so. Ask them to tell you stories about how they see things unfolding.