Personal Finance
When I read this article, how I wish I could reach out to the anonymous person. Coming from this industry, I've met clients like that and I've met clients on the opposite spectrum. Clients who scrimp and save every penny to grow their savings nest egg. However, it is also great to know that this person has decided to take a step out of this life-impacting habit to benefit him or herself. It is always better late than never.
In this article, the writer shared that he is 38 with barely $3000 in his savings account. Perhaps he or she never met a financial advisor in his earlier years to share with him how to save. Given he or she is 38 years old and earning $8000 a month, if he or she learns to save aggressively, I'm pretty sure $4000 of savings a month is attainable. Give most people $4000 a month to spend, it is not too difficult if they planned their finances right.
If the writer of the article starts saving today. $4000 a month, and putting his or her portfolio to work at a 5% annual return, he could achieve $1.035 million by the time he is 53 years old. That, my friend, could generate enough passive income for him or her to retire if he or she chooses to. If he chooses not to, then hey, great! He could continue working at his pleasure and always have the option to say no to obligations he or she dislikes.
Let's say $4000 a month is too tough a target to save. Then let's try $3000 a month. Earning a million by 56 years old is still possible at 5%. In the worst-case scenario, trying to save a million for a comfortable nest egg at 63 will take $2000 a month to save.
I'm not saying that it is easy. In my line of work, I've met clients who struggle to even save $500. Most people having no idea where all their monthly income went to. Hence it is important to track your finances to see where all the money went to. There could be some luxurious items worth giving up to start saving. Do you take Starbucks or bubble tea once a day? Try cutting that to once a week. You save money and drinking your favourite drink becomes more enjoyable due to the scarcity you limited yourself to. Do you buy a fancy watch worth 3k to 5k every time you save up? Or upgrade your new car every time you save up? Perhaps you could delay this gratification and grow your savings more.
Here at FIRE Finance, some of us have achieved FIRE. Some are still working on it. We work on finding and sharing ways to save money and growing our retirement nest egg and achieving our financial independence goals. Please stay tuned for more articles and videos for our team and feel free to reach out to us for any sort of financial advice. Thanks for reading!