Wealth Magnetism Basics: Overtime is Overrated
by Michael A. Thomas

In my younger days, I could remember my dad having to go to work early in the morning, and not returning home until late at night. When I was in middle school, I sometimes wouldn’t see him for days at a time because of his schedule.

On some holidays, he would sometimes pick up an extra shift, so after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, my brother and I would be watching sports, and my dad would be headed to work.

It was no secret that my dad worked hard for his money. He put in a lot of overtime hours to make sure the bills were paid, and that his family resided in the suburbs. He wanted to provide a better life for his family. And I wholeheartedly appreciate that.

He always taught me the importance of doing well in school, so that I was able to get opportunities he never had. But there was one thing, try as he might, he could not teach me.

You cannot become wealthy trading hours for dollars.

The concept is simple: You can only work so many hours in a day. At some point, you have to eat, sleep, and handle other personal business. In those situations, when you don’t work, you don’t get paid!

And let’s not even talk about people on salary, where you work some hours, and you’re NOT getting paid. But let’s not open up Pandora’s Box…

In any event, trading time for money usually is a losing formula, because someone else is determining your worth. You get paid according to the average pay grade for the position, in that the industry, in that part of the country (or world in some cases).

You want to be able to afford more of the finer things, get a little more vacation, or just keeping the creditors off you, so you decide to put in a few more hours at work. But what you may not realize, is that overtime is actually making you more broke in the long run.

Overtime is overrated for a few reasons:

1.The overtime money tax. You get a little more money, but Uncle Sam takes a much bigger cut than usual.

2. Your social life dwindles. I have done the overtime thing before, and trust me, it is not fun. You can’t hang out with friends and family if you are always working.

3. Rich people don’t trade time for money. Watch Vh1 when they run shows about the ridiculously rich. They always seem to have a lot of free time on their hands

If you need to pick up a couple extra shifts to pay the bills, do it. But if you are working overtime to get some extra money, come up with a new plan. There are more than enough opportunities make money.