It guarantees you some income when you retire but does it make you rich? If you've saved up a million at retirement, even assuming you've paid off your house and have no debt, you can only reliably bank on roughly $50k in income from that money after invested. Add your social security on top and you're still looking at a $70k a year or so. Are you flying first class to Europe and staying in 4-star hotels on the Seine in Paris? Like Sam said, you're living a comfortable middle class life.
live a healthy life, being fit and keep a warm home..... that's already very very rich... money wise, start a side business, evade the tax. saving, there you go.
If you have one million in the bank, you wealth is much greater than one million typically. When talking about a one million wealth, it is usually savings, home and retirement accounts and what ever else you might have.
I didn't say one million in the bank. When discussing net worth, financial people usually talk about investable money. So yes, your retirement accounts and savings would be counted but not your home. Of course you could sell your house and move into an apartment and then that money would then be counted. But if you're living in it, it's not making you any money even though there is, of course, inherent worth in it.
Dave Ramsey is good for people who don't understand money to get out of debt, but he's not good for building wealth. OP, please read the richest man in Bablyon. It has over 700 positive reviews on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Richest-M...48615&sr=8-1&keywords=richest+man+in+babylon\
+1. That stuff is pretty much worthless. There is no get rich quick scheme, and there really is no such thing as overnight success. There are two main ways to generate wealth: Ownership in a business, and managing investments. If you aren't ready to build a business, then it will become very difficult for you to generate significant wealth. You could try and build a company around the industry you know and skills you have (IT). Another option is franchising, which is a model I very much believe in. If you can find opportunities to franchise with a good and proven concept, you have SO many things figured out for you (which you pay for in royalties) that much of the risk of owning a business gets taken out. I personally know many people who have become extremely wealthy off food franchises. The two things they have to manage the most in those businesses are employees and equipment. Everything else is basically done by the franchisor. As for investments, you need to be saving and investing in the market. Let your money work for you. This is a time thing, so the earlier you get started, the better off you will be.
I'm not being snarky here when I say this but it sounds like you want to make a lot of money but not actually do anything. If it were that easy, everyone would do it. As someone that is a principal in his own IT consulting company for the last several years, I'm going to warn you that being above average at IT and thinking that you can translate that easily into your own gig is not so simple. Additionally, thinking that you can moonlight until you have enough clients to go out on your own is also (most likely) setting yourself up for failure. You will only last as long as the clients that know you last. You have to have someone that really understands business and has the ability get your company in the door at the right level (read C-Suite). These are the people that make decisions. IT managers and directors do not have that ability. You are going up against competitors that do. Do you know how to become a vendor for a company? Do you understand the insurances that you need to hold? Do you know what a Master Services Agreement is? Do you know how to read one? Do you have the legal counsel that can advise you? Do you know how to write a Statement of Work? Do you know how to negotiate the SOW? Do you have the legal counsel that can advise you? Do you have the overhead to cover your expenses when you lose a client? Do you have the overhead to cover your expenses when a client doesn't pay you? Do you have relationships with banks that can collect for you? Do you have legal counsel that can collect for you? Are you willing to eat the 8-10% that collections will demand? Do you know how to pay yourself? Do you understand personal and business taxes? Do you know how to get your own health insurance? Can you afford your own health insurance? Do you understand how being self employed will effect your credit? How do you plan on continuing to earn new business? How do you plan on marketing yourself? How do you plan to continue to stay ahead of the technology curve? Something that most people cannot answer right now, can your family handle what you are about to embark on? This is not the life for everyone. I could probably come up with two or three times more than this. While I'm not trying to dissuade you from doing your own thing, I just know that it isn't as easy as I thought it would be. Luckily, I partnered with people that know how to do this. We say that they are the monkey dance and we are the 1's and 0's. Even then, we have still hit our share of bumps in the road. It has easily been the hardest thing that I have ever done and I wouldn't have it any other way. Just be prepared to work all the time. I'm in Sweden right now, on the computer, working. I literally work every, single day. I bet I work 80 to 100 hours a week easily. There is no get rich quick scheme and it will never come without working harder than you ever thought you would or could. And be prepared to do that for at least 5 years, most likely 10. That's enough from me, I have to go finish 2 apps so that I can go drink at my wife's cousin house in about an hour. Good luck.
i'd get a VUL. Make the money you make work for you while you save. As soon as you have some extra cash each month, get a VUL.
This is all very excellent advice and I thank you for it, and I don't take it as snark. Long-game, I don't want to run a company. If it's what I need to do to get seed money for investing, then I am fine with that. However, I don't think I can 'get rich quick'. I do think that I can take the game and play it to the best of my ability. I tend to exceed when I put my full capacity towards what I'm doing. I look at 'wealthy' people and what I see is that they have dogged determination, motivation, optimism and the ability to take calculated risks. So do I think that I can 'get rich' quicker than other people have by leveraging their knowledge and experience instead of making the same mistakes myself. That whole thing that 'everyone would do it' is hogwash, IMO. Most people are either scared, ignorant or too satisfied to reach up. Again, 10 years is my loose goal. I will adjust accordingly as the picture becomes clearer.
Give a head start to your kids to help them become wealthy. If you aren't born into money or aren't a genius your chances are slim.
Do what I do. Think of an invention, modification or idea everyday. Check for patents. Rinse and repeat. Save money, network.
I'd love to look in to this. I'd appreciate it if you could fill me in on your process. xerobull at gmail
Either you got scammed into one of these or you're a financial adviser for a insurance company that will make crazy commission on it. Expense ratio on these is crazy high.