8 Powerful Financial Wisdom from Li Ka-Shing

Li Ka-Shing’s incredible story is an inspiration. As a person who started life in poverty and eventually becoming one of the wealthiest businessmen in Asia, he is considered an inspirational self-made billionaire.

Li Ka-shing is a businessman and philanthropist from Hong Kong and one of Asia’s most influential entrepreneurs. He was born in 1928 in Chaozhou, China, and came to Hong Kong as a child during the Sino-Japanese War. At 15, he started working in a plastics factory to help support his family and then launched his own company, Cheung Kong Industries, in 1950, making plastic flowers.

In the 1970s, we saw him expand into real estate by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa in 1979. This company grew into a global conglomerate involved in ports, telecommunications, infrastructure, and retail. His business empire now includes CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, reaching over 50 countries. He also invested early in technology, supporting companies like Facebook and Zoom.

Li Ka-shing is known for being frugal and a having sharp business mind. Though he retired in 2018, he continues to be a major philanthropist, donating billions to education and medical research through the Li Ka Shing Foundation. In Hong Kong, many call him “Superman” because of his business success, and he is one of the richest people in the world.

Li Ka-Shing offers some of the best financial advice ever. His advice is so straightforward and practical that everyone can learn from it. Here are eight powerful financial wisdom from Li Ka-Shing.

1. Budget Your Monthly Income Strategically

Li Ka-Shing believes that regardless of our monthly income, we can divide it strategically into five sets of funds to support our personal development. He suggests that we should create the following sets of funds:

• 30% – For Living Expenses.
• 20% – For Making Friends and Expanding Your Interpersonal Circle.
• 15% – For Learning.
• 10% – For Traveling (Especially Overseas).
• 25% – For Investing.

Living Expenses (30%): “Live simply. Eat a basic breakfast, a basic lunch, and a basic dinner. While you are young, you are still strong and adaptable—your body will not suffer too much with a basic diet.”

Making Friends and Expanding Your Interpersonal Circle (20%) – “Budget your phone bill to a minimum. But every month, take two people out to lunch/dinner and pay for them. What kind of people? Those who are wiser than you, richer than you, or have helped you along in your career. Make sure you buy lunches/dinners for people who work harder and have bigger dreams than you. Do this every month, and after a year, your circle of influence will have grown tremendously, and it will pay dividends in the future. Your influence and reputation will spread.”

Learning (15%) – “Every month, spend some money to buy books. Since money is still scarce, you want to learn as much as you can. Whenever you buy a book, completely consume the lessons/strategies that the books offer. After finishing the book, make sure you try to teach someone else the lessons in your own words. Studies have shown that it helps you learn the lessons better. Also, try to save up money to attend a training course- many successful people have attended training courses. For example, Warren Buffet once attended Dale Carnegie’s Public Speaking Course. Not only do you gain knowledge, but you also meet like-minded friends.”

Traveling Especially Overseas (10%) – “Treat yourself to traveling at least once a year. Traveling will expose you to the world and increase your experience of life. After a few years, you would have been to many countries, met many different people, and underwent many different experiences. It will change your perspective on life and help you grow as a person. You have those experiences to continually recharge yourself – sharpening the saw, so to speak.”

Investing (25%) – “Continually try to save money in your bank account. Use this money for initial startup capital- such as a small business. Small businesses are relatively safe since you won’t lose too much money. And even if you lose money, you will not lose too much. However, when you do start earning money, it will boost your confidence/courage. After a few years, you can start saving for long-term security. It will be your war chest for bad times and will ensure stability in your quality of life.”

2. We Should Keep Grinding Even After We Achieve Success.

Li Ka-Shing speaks very clearly about the importance of continuous improvement. He believes we should never sit back and feel satisfied with our achievements. He puts it this way:

“After grinding for a year and if our salary hasn’t improved, then we haven’t grown as people and should feel a bit ashamed. Let’s do ourselves a favor and go to the supermarket, get the hardest tofu, and smash it on our heads because that’s what we deserve.”

Salary increases often show that we are improving. As our skills improve, we usually take on more responsibilities at work, which can lead to raises. But in today’s economy, we can’t depend on our salary alone. It’s wise for us to have side hustles or gigs to help boost our income. Our main goal should be to earn as much as we can so we can allocate our funds wisely.

Li Ka-Shing also emphasizes that:

“Even if our monthly income goes up, we must keep grinding. We should look for part-time jobs, especially in sales. Why? Sales can be tough, but it’s such an important skill for our lives. It gives us the talent to share our dreams, ideas, and visions with others. Plus, we will meet many people who could be very valuable to us. We’ll also learn what sells and what doesn’t, helping us figure out what might be a hit and what might not.”

3. Offer Help to Businesses

What’s the best way for us to make money in this world? It’s simply by offering or creating value for ourselves and others. This idea is what money is really about. Li Ka-Shing gives us some great advice:

“Let’s help out businesses. There are business owners everywhere who need assistance. We should put ourselves out there and take on part-time jobs. This will not only help us develop our skills but also make us more polished.”

We should consistently follow the plan for how we divide our money. Li Ka-Shing also suggests:

“Regardless of how much money we earn, we should always split it into five parts. We need to show our value and be useful. Let’s expand our network and increase our self-worth by investing in ourselves. As we become more valuable, others will start to notice, and our income will increase too. We should always invest in learning, building self-confidence, traveling, gaining experiences, and planning for our future.”

4. Save a Big War Chest

A big “war chest” is what we often refer to as our “F-U Money!” We should all save this money to help guarantee our freedom from any employer. This fund can also support us when we become self-employed or want to enjoy retirement.

I’ve talked about this a lot, but Li Ka-Shing describes it as just having a war chest. After a few years, we should build up a surplus—a bigger war chest. As we focus on better nutrition and care, we will notice our bodies getting stronger. We will also gain more friends and connections, receive better training, and have chances for more significant projects and opportunities. Soon, we will be on our way to achieving our dreams and have enough surplus to buy a house and a car and pay for our children’s education.

This war chest is like our nest egg, continuously growing, which will lead us to financial independence.

5. Where We Spend Our Time Is an Indicator of Our Success

A well-known Harvard study suggests that our success can be reflected in how we spend our free time between 10:00 PM and 12:00 AM. Successful people use this time to learn, think, and have meaningful discussions. For instance, we take this time to self-reflect, plan, strategize our goals, read, and gain new knowledge.

How we spend our time can show us how successful we might become in the future. Li Ka-Shing also emphasizes the following:

“There is nothing wrong with being young. We don’t need to worry about being poor. Instead, we should always invest in ourselves and work on increasing our knowledge and skills. We need to learn to recognize what is important and worth investing in. It’s crucial for us to understand where our money should go. This is the core of discipline. We should try to avoid spending too much on clothes and eat out less.”

6. Spend Money Purposefully

Just like we need to be careful about how we use our time, we also need to be mindful of how we spend our money. That’s why following Li Ka-Shing’s advice on managing our finances can help lead us to success. We should spend our money wisely and purposefully, as this can bring more meaning, abundance, and success.

Li Ka-Shing says:
“We shouldn’t spend too much on clothes, shoes, or other items. We can buy plenty of these things later once we become wealthy. Instead, let’s save our money for gifts for our loved ones. We can explain to them why we are saving and share our goals, dreams, and plans.”

He also advised:
“When we are struggling financially, we should be kind to others and not keep track of favors. While we have limited resources, we might want to display our generosity. But once we become rich, we shouldn’t show off our wealth. At that point in our lives, we should focus on being humble and not wasteful. This perspective helps us find peace, and that’s the ultimate goal.”

It’s essential for us not to focus on vanity but rather on being generous and humble.

7. Don’t Dwell on Mistakes and Smile

Successful people don’t dwell on their mistakes; instead, they use them to motivate themselves to keep moving forward. We can adopt a growth mindset like many successful individuals. As Li Ka-Shing says:

“Whatever happened in the past is in the past. We shouldn’t dwell on past mistakes. There’s no point in crying over spilled milk. Everyone makes mistakes, and what truly matters is what we learn from them. When we miss out on opportunities, we shouldn’t worry— not every opportunity is meant for us.”

And let’s not forget to smile and stay happy.

“The ability to smile when we’re misunderstood is rare—it shows we have good upbringing. When we are wronged and smile calmly, it reflects our generosity. If someone takes advantage of us and our smile, it shows we have an open mind. When we feel helpless but still smile, it exhibits our calmness. And when we are looked down upon yet smile, it reveals our confidence.”

8. Pursue Our Dreams

As we earn more money, we can focus on pursuing our dreams. Li Ka-Shing says:

“Once our livelihood is no longer an issue, we should use the rest of our money to chase our dreams. Let’s spread our wings and dare to dream! It’s important to live an extraordinary life!”

Designing our own lives is the ultimate goal. Being able to visualize our ideas and work toward them is what life is all about. Li Ka-Shing’s advice is truly valuable; he also emphasizes:

“Life can be designed. Careers can be planned. We can prepare for happiness. We should start planning now. When we are struggling, we should spend less time at home and more time out in the world. When we are successful, we should do the opposite. When we are in need, we can spend money on others. When we are doing well, it’s time to invest in ourselves.”