Income is Not the Same as Wealth

How much money you make is not important.  

How much money you have is.

Wealth is not the same as income.  If you make a good income each year and spend it all, you are not getting wealthier.  You are just living high. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend. 

How do you get wealthy?   Wealth is more often the result of a lifestyle of hard work, perseverance, planning and most of all, self-discipline. 

From The Millionaire Next Door:ili

If you’re “income rich, savings poor,” you are not going to enjoy the last 20-30 years of your life. 

At some point, the income runs out.  

“Working until the day you die” is not a feasible retirement plan.  Your body (or your mind) isn’t going to let you. 

At that point, you will live off what you saved and Social Security.  If you haven’t saved, then you’ll have Social Security, which for a couple maxes out at $88,752…pre-tax.

So how do you avoid being broke in retirement?

If you’re under 50, save 20% of your income. 

If you’re over 50 and have “lived high” for too long, save 30-35% of your income. 

It won’t feel good at first. 

If you’re not used to saving this much, it’ll be a frustrating journey finding the things in your lifestyle you’re willing to sacrifice. 

But after the first year or two, you’ll see your wealth build, and the progress you’ve made will motivate you to keep going.  You just need to get over that two-year hump.

The best time to start saving and accumulating wealth was yesterday. 

The second best time is today.