Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It isn't too late.

I read books to learn what to do. Basically, I invested into Vanguard's S&P fund. If my company at the time had a 401K with a match, I put money into that and had it taken directly from my paycheck.

We also controlled spending. Bought a house in a neighborhood many would be too snobby to live in but the house is paid off now. We drove old cars and never had a car loan. My cars never impressed anyone and neither did my house.

The Millionaire Next Door is a good book to read.

I also recommend Mr. Money Mustache: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/tag/investing/

Also, read about Wade Pfau's 4% rule. This rule states you can live forever off of 4% of your investments. If you have one million saved, according to his theory, you could live off of $40K without touching the principal. This rule may not be quite right if you are in your thirties (for any younger people reading this).

Hope it all goes well!

I will add that we made it a priority to save. At one point, we saved around 48% of our income. You can imagine...we did not have a fancy life at all. I remember the HR guy at work asking if I had made an error with how much I was saving into my 401K. That was funny. Meanwhile, he was probably paying $13 for one martini at office happy hours.

When you save more, you are proving to yourself you can live on less. When you can live on less, you don't as much later.

Also, exercise and do strength training because assisted living is extremely expensive. You want to put that off as long as possible.

You can get very far in just ten years.

Anonymous wrote:Stop thinking about it. You don't need to "create wealth" to be a productive and happy person. Just so you have enough to support yourself without being a burden on others -- that's enough. And please, please, do NOT go into any debt to send your kids to college. State schools all the way. The best way to "create wealth" is to avoid debt.

Anonymous wrote:I can tell you year by year how much I made, how much I spent, why I wasn't able to build wealth at that time, and what some of the opportunities were that passed me by.
For example, condos were $70k in Adams Morgan in 1998. In 2001 we moved to Rosslyn. Imagine being able to buy a condo there instead of rent. My sister and I would have paid it off in 7 years.
I was an international student from 1996-2007 without a permit to buy a home in US or invest. Bank of America even took my credit card back because of my visa.
I made minimum wage, which is not good for wealth building (total of $350k in 28 years according to my SS)and paid for international rates for my school. It took me 17 years to finish. I have BA in finance after changing major many times. What a waste of time and money.
2003-2006 I bought a condo in the old country for ca $50k (mortgaged at 16%). The same money in QQQ or other funds, would be a million $ today.
In 2007 I bought a land abroad for $100k and got a mortgage. Sold it in 2023 for $150k.The down-payment and mortgage/insurance payments put into an ETF at the time I sent my mortgage payments, would be over a million today.
I was already using Amazon to shop in 2007. The same payments into amazon stock and maybe MSFT/apple, would be way more than a million.
In 2008 I bought a condo in DC. Paid it for 11 years. The same mortgage/HOA payments in qqq/later voo would be about a million today. 15 year mortgage made the place very expensive. All the extra payments were where I lost money the most.
2014 my partner bought a condo. Same thing. We could have rented and anything extra we paid, would have been a lot more than it was when they sold it.
$20 a day into market since I moved here in 1996, would be over a million now. I had the money. I wasn't a spender and worked 10-12 hour shifts. I just didn't know anything about stock market, nor was there a free app like we have now. We didn't even have banks back at home when I left.
In 2020 I invested the equity of the condo I sold in 2019 into markets. The stocks I bought did 10X.
I went on to sell the land in early 2023 and put that money into markets also.
Five years in the markets, I learned to make much higher return that the 10%.
Years and years in real estate, taught me nothing, but to stay away.
My last two years return in two accounts (can't touch the taxed ones too much) was 100% year over year. I did the second 100% in 6 months. All this includes many mistakes.
As for my kids, one is starting their Roth at 18 this year. I will try to get him the same higher return as for myself since contributions to Roth are limited. The younger kid got inheritance coming and is set at 18 when we can start to invest that money. It sits at 4% now for years to come. Sad to say. My time is more valuable than going to court and paying the bond, the lawyers, and still having to keep the money safe in 4-10%.
I'm not a spender. My money is growing faster than I can use it. Once I got enough money that banks/landlords noticed, there was this upward spiral that happened.
My car loan is 0%. Seems hard to many people. I drive only 3k miles a year, because I don't really work for money anymore. I make enough to max the Roth.
Most people will buy 1-2 more cars while I'm fine with this one. Those next 2 cars they buy is the million they won't have.
My credit card cash back is 4%. I took $50k out and doubled it.
My landlord wanted to raise my rent. I moved to another condo and got to keep the same rent. Current landlord dumped the real estate company they hired to deal with tenants as I'm capable of taking care of the place myself.
I will save them money and hopefully myself rent increase. I used to own in the building. I know the maintenance men and the problems that may arise.
My older kid got 30 credits transferred for college from DCPS. I did nothing for that, but I do appreciate it. Now he can work more and we can really start the Roth for him.
I will get rid of my health insurance, because I can insure myself and go to EU is I must. I'm never sick and without much work, I can take even better care of myself and the kids.
I also don't have tax expense as I really don't work for living anymore. I get back more than I pay as HH.
When I tell friends about getting in the markets because they would learn a lot, or that I think I know how doubling is done, they have no idea what I'm talking about. They have zero interest in it. One friend even said that she goes blank when she hears numbers.
When I tell them about upward spiral, they look at me like I'm crazy.
I'm sure there were even better opportunities I missed, but after years of messing with real estate, I got into markets and it wasn't too late.
Doubling my money is way better than getting into market early. Early is for learning, while doubling is to catch up.
We did waste lots of money over the years on buying crap just like many people. Being more mindful of that, would have also given us a good start. I'm not even old enough to be able to make the catch up contribution to Roth.
My latest books are about saving on taxes. I already get more back than I pay. Should still be a good read though.
My kids will not sign up for 401k. The match is useless to us. That's lost money right there going into year two.
One other thing happened. I can command much higher pay at work now. More like $50 an hour plus all the food and drinks I can consume. Used to be no food, no drinks, long walk to work (18 blocks), not even paid the $2.77 an hour required by law as wage theft was normal. I can absolutely see and appreciate the difference. I'm just sad I was ever made to work without breaks and for below minimum at times. This was also a big reason why I wanted to be free of work. I just didn't know how I was going to achieve it. I didn't know money and personal finance can do it without a high salary. I counted my money several times day as a kid.
Perhaps if paid off finally.

Anonymous wrote:It isn't too late.

I read books to learn what to do. Basically, I invested into Vanguard's S&P fund. If my company at the time had a 401K with a match, I put money into that and had it taken directly from my paycheck.

We also controlled spending. Bought a house in a neighborhood many would be too snobby to live in but the house is paid off now. We drove old cars and never had a car loan. My cars never impressed anyone and neither did my house.

The Millionaire Next Door is a good book to read.

I also recommend Mr. Money Mustache: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/tag/investing/

Also, read about Wade Pfau's 4% rule. This rule states you can live forever off of 4% of your investments. If you have one million saved, according to his theory, you could live off of $40K without touching the principal. This rule may not be quite right if you are in your thirties (for any younger people reading this).

Hope it all goes well!