Reasonable, Feasible Ways to Get (or Retire) Rich
What comes to mind when you think of wealthy people (and women in particular)? When I muse on the topic, I’m not thinking about the Bravo Real Housewives (many of whom go bankrupt anyhow!) or living it up traveling the world, staying in exotic hotels, like Angelina, Brad and their thirteen kids.
I’m talking about being that real life millionaire-ess next door, exhibiting a cool, collected air of reassurance, knowing you are ready for whatever life throws at you. In fact, according to a study conducted by the American College of Financial Services, 45% of the millionaires out there are women – and by no means are they all residing in Park Avenue penthouses or Beverly Hills mansions.
By reviewing the personal money habits of many of these millionaire-esses in my job as a financial advisor, and working with my grandfather — also a financial advisor – to observe how they started out in their early careers, I’ve been able to watch how these women achieved their success.
Here are a few moves I’ve appropriated from their playbooks on financial success that you can easily copy and paste into your own life:
- Burberry is for the Birds: A millionaire-ess-in-the-making does not try to prove her worth with designer names and expensive price tags — to anyone. What does she care to impress others with status symbols, when she’s the one with the money? Value is placed on intangibles, like being a good parent, and having financial independence. We all know it’s easier to fake it, than make it — so forget the labels!
- Being Used is Never a Good Look: Millionaire-esses use credit card companies, instead of being used by credit card companies. They’ll take the free 30-day loan and pay bills off in full at the end of each month. Millionaires don’t pay interest, they collect it! Recognize that paying high interest rates is a fool’s game.
- Keep Two (Sharp) Heels on the Ground: They never lost track of living below their means and not having an extravagant lifestyle. One of my favorite clients is a school teacher in her sixties, who never earned over $65,000 in her life, yet she is a millionaire-ess! Regardless of how much or little you earn, live off of whatever is left after taking care of business to keep debt down, paying off bills, and most importantly, paying yourself to save for retirement.
- Get the Deal of the Century: They realized early on that giving themselves a check was the best purchase. From a numbers’ standpoint, if you start contributing to your 401(k) or savings at a 9% return when you are 25, you only need to put away $250/month (for a total contribution of $120,000) to accrue a million dollars by age 65. The alternative is to make the mistake of waiting until age fifty-five, and pay $5,500/month (virtually impossible) to accrue a million dollars by age sixty-five, for a total contribution of $660,000. The better choice couldn’t be clearer!
- Be Your Own Sugar Mama: In addition to investing in themselves, millionaire-esses spend on tax, legal, medical, and financial advice/education. These are places that will reward you personally and financially in the long run.
Implement these tips, as all millionaire-esses do. Before you know it, you may be amongst them, enjoying the freedom of being financially bulletproof for life. Don’t be surprised if you catch yourself humming David Guetta and Sia’s song, “…take your aim, I am Titanium!”
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