LiveFreeX said:
Its not so much what you do or what you earn but what you save at the end of the month that matters. I know people making well over my salary that are broke at the end of each month and borrowing. They are all freaking out if they lose their jobs cause they have no investments and no money in the bank. They blow loads of cash on alcohol, drugs, women, fast food... you name it but its ALL gone by the end of the month.
You can be a security guard making $2000/month... as long as you can manage to save 1/3 of it, at the end of the year, you can go back to school for something that is in demand and climb your way out after a year in school. Don't borrow money or go into debt, too many people do that and come out losers at the end. I'm not a business genius nor am I a great salesman, I prefer working for others and spending my earnings on things that make small stable returns (like housing). Let some other ALPHA take all the risks and navigate the pitfalls. I'm not looking to be number one or stress out to make six figures. I prefer working as few hours as possible per week and offering my services to the highest bidder.
As long as you can leverage your income to work for you then you don't need to be making much money per month or have investments that return much. For instance, if you've bought a couple of income properties and they only return $250/month profit... well 3 of those nets you nearly 5000/RMB in China. That's a bank managers salary here, and affords a decent 2 bedroom (60 square meter apartment), food, and any other things small luxuries you might want. I live in a tier 1 city to boot.
Working for others sucks when you are in the hole, its great though when you know you don't really need the job to survive.
SPOT ON bro.
Most people burn through a boatload of money on unnecessary bullsh!t. Some of it is on big ticket items like cars and boats and houses. They can use up hundreds of thousands of dollars of their earnings and often return little, other than a toy to play with and a place to sleep.
But what really eats up most of their earnings is
paying money for little things that seemed small at the time. After all, 100 bucks for cable isn't much, right? And I get to watch all those great shows that tell me to buy a big SUV and get a smart phone and a rewards credit card :yes:. It is a propaganda machine that
sells you the idea that you NEED to consume.
And after a while, if you follow the idiot media, you'll convinced yourself that various little sins that are squandering away your long-term wealth are really
"OK", because
everyone does them and they don't cost that much (The TV said so!).
But in the end, it costs you everything. Just to have a modest retirement, you'll likely need to have around a million bucks in your 401(k) plan. This is just to have $40,000 a year in income. Forty grand isn't a lot TODAY so imagine 10, 20, 30 years. Its already below the median income for the USA. You want to live a larger lifestyle than that? Better save up
two million.
And some question this. After all, they have $200,000 in their 401(k) and that's a
"lot of money" right? But they FAIL to realize that at their current income level of $100,000 a year, that represents two year's salary. Pretty short retirement! :crackup: :crackup:
