A million dollar once upon a time seemed like so much money. If you look at it today, some people argue that a million dollars isn’t even enough to retire with and that you need more. Regardless of what your perspective on it is, a million is a million.
Too many people don’t understand what it takes to save enough for retirement and end up working well past the ages of 60-65. If you’re young right now and thinking you have a long time until that age, do NOT ignore this post.
If anything, you are in the drivers seat to have the retirement of your life if you make the right decisions. In this post, I share 5 choices you must make now if you want to retire a millionaire.
1. Set The Goal
Studies have shown that people who write down their goals actually achieve it compare to others who just think or talk about it. Get a piece of paper out or post it up on your bulletin board so that you have a constant reminder of what you plan on doing.
Planning is the only way you can execute on a goal so immense as this. Set some goals on how much income you want to be earning a year, how much you want to save towards your retirement and how much money you want to have for your retirement every 5-10 years.
2. Live Frugally
Athletes are a prime example of individuals that don’t live frugally. When they make $5 million a year, they tend to spend 95% of that every year. When they get an extension and make $10 million a year, they’re still spending 95% of that every year. How is that possible you ask?
Well, it’s simple. The more money you make, the more material items you become infatuated with. While I’m not going to stop you from treating yourself to nice rewards, it doesn’t mean you need to spend like a maniac. Live frugally so that you’re enjoying, saving & investing.
3. Invest Frequently
The best decision I made ever since the age of 18 was investing my money at chance I got. I made some really foolish investments that lost me a lot of money, but I’ve also made some great ones. The beauty of investing is that you can make returns passively.
There are safe investments and risky ones, but it’s just a matter of how you want to play with your money. I recommend doing a mix of both. If you’re investing more money, go safe. If you’re investing less money, take a risk. If you invest your money for the next 40-50 years, you bet you’re going to get some nice returns every now and then.
4. Don’t Buy Into Credit
The reason why so many people are working late past their retirement age is all because they made horrible financial decisions when they were younger. People accrue debt by using credit instead of debit. Until this day, I’ve never had a credit card of my own.
My thought process is really simple. If I can’t afford it, I don’t need it. Be very careful before you buy into credit and be even more careful about how high of a limit you use. If you give into temptation easily, don’t get a credit card. It’s as simple as that.
5. Work Your Ass Off
The only real recipe for success is working hard. If you work your ass off, you’re going to eventually get the results you want. If you want to retire a millionaire, it’s not going to happen overnight. It requires a lot of persistence and patience.
The harder you work, the quicker you will get the amount of money you want for retirement. So pull up your sleeves and get to work!
Conclusion
In this post, I shared 5 choices you must make now if you want to retire a millionaire. What are some things that have worked for you?
photo credit: Tax Credits via photopin cc
