Maintain and Increase Options

What i am about to write are thoughts from my own and from others that i've learned about wealth, focusing on the mechanics and general principles of its nature.

What is the general characteristic of a rich man vs. a poor man other than the rich man having more money? My conversation with an elderly man (for many men are wiser than I) told me that in general, the rich have more options available to them than the poor. So by having more options, the rich can afford to reject more options than the poor can. By being unable to reject options, the poor have to swallow up whatever's offered to them including oppressive offers. "Necessity never made a good bargain" as Benjamin Franklin would say. Perhaps we can also say that it is difficult to bargain against someone with many alternatives. It is clear that the more options one has, the more choices he can make. The more choices he can make, the more FREEDOM he has.

So how does one who is in his 20s and starting out his career create more options and opportunities for himself so that he may one day be free from money troubles? To begin with, most people rely on one source of income. It could be from one's employment, business or family (spouse or daddy and mommy or even grandpapa). Given that we live in a dynamic world where things go up and down continuously, odds are that your current source (or sources) of income have a limited life span and it is out of your control. Like people, what was once there will turn into air, and it is also out of your control. If you don't believe this, you should study business history. So while your current source of income is pumping out cash for you, save and preserve that cash and look for ways for it to generate more cash for you. I guess it's called investing. This takes some work and effort but it could save your financial life when your only source of income goes down or when you're unable to maintain it (because you get physically injured and unable to work). However, becareful not to spread yourself too thin when diversifying. Maintain a balance. Neither under diversify nor over diversify. Should you be successful in generating sufficient income from other sources, you'll be more ready to lose your original source of income, which in time becomes more possible whether you're ready or not. When you already have multiple sources of income, don't get too complacent. Continue to look for other sources. Your multiple sources of income still have a good chance of going down if you give it enough time (again, it is out of your control). The dow, since 1928 have continuously been going up and along the way, it dropped 26 out of 30 of the 1928 components and continuously replaced it with others. Maintain and increase your options. Maintain and increase your sources of cash flow and perhaps you shall be set free.