Alex Sanchez is on track to become a millionaire before he turns 30.

The 24-year-old is an overhead lineman in the Chicago area, works two side hustles and saves around $7,000 per month, not to mention the thousands more he invests into his 401(k) and brokerage account.

Growing up in what he describes as a lower-middle class household, Sanchez didn't know much about finances until he was around 20, and discovered personal finance videos and personalities on YouTube. After watching a few of these, he picked up books like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki and "The Millionaire Real Estate Investor" by Jay Papasan. He's implemented the strategies outlined in these books, and others, in his day-to-day to earn and save as much money as he can.

Sanchez is a big fan of the FIRE movement Financial Independence, Retire Early but his goal isn't just to reach financial independence for himself. He also wants to help out his parents with their retirements.

"I have to give back to my parents, because they came here as immigrants to give us, their kids, a better life," Sanchez, a first generation American, tells CNBC Make It. "I know all the sacrifice and pain they went through, and I would stress it's my duty to give back to them."

When CNBC Make It interviewed Sanchez in August, he had a net worth of just over $203,000. Here's how he plans to hit $1 million in the next six years.

Sanchez is an overhead lineman for a utility company in Chicago, where he earns a base salary of $120,656. He didn't go to college his company paid for his job training and he pulls in plenty of overtime and an annual bonus.

Sanchez routinely works 60-hour weeks, sometimes only taking Sunday off to spend with his family and girlfriend. It's not a schedule everyone would want, but Sanchez doesn't mind the work.

"I never thought I would be doing this, but I fell in love with it," he says. This six-figure-salary was a big part of the appeal, but he also enjoys the physicality of the job. "I enjoy working outdoors, and there's no better feeling than turning the lights on when everyone's relying on you."

One of the main components of Sanchez's FIRE plan is building up his real estate side hustle. Sanchez owns three rental properties currently, which nets him around $1,600 per month. By 30, he'd like to own at least 20.

"I don't want to have to put in all the overtime, and I don't have to miss my kids' birthday parties or special events" in the future, he says. "I'm doing it all for the passive income so I can slowly buy my freedom back."

He says that this form of "passive" income will give him freedom should he ever want or need to leave his day job. That said, he wouldn't mind making more money for the time being.

"I don't think I'm comfortable, because I don't want to get complacent," he says. "I'm always trying to grow."

Sanchez still lives in the house he grew up in, with his mother and brother. The house is paid off, and Sanchez pays for utilities and upkeep. Though he has a long-term girlfriend he plans to marry, he says he's fine living at home for now: He's able to help out his mom, while padding his savings and investment accounts.

He brings his lunch to work every day, and tries to keep food expenses low: Chicken and rice is a common meal for him, and he limits the amount he goes out to restaurants and bars. In all, he spends around $400 per month on groceries and eating out, well below the $680 average for the Chicago area.

"I'm not really motivated by the material things," he says. "I'm more motivated [by] having the freedom to be able to do what I want, when I want."

Sanchez doesn't plan to live this way forever. It makes sense now, he says, to keep his expenses as low as possible while he puts his head down and saves as much as he can. But he plans to have a family of his own one day, with his own house and, ideally, family vacations.

"I want to be able to help people, and to be able to give back, especially to my parents," he says.

Don't miss: This 24-year-old first-generation American earns $230,000 per year working three jobs

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This 24-year-old is earning $230,000 a yearhere are the 3 steps he's taking to become a millionaire by 30 - CNBC

Building sufficient financial resources to retire early may sound like a dream, but making that dream come true is not as hard as it may sound. The main thing is simply to save more money each month. No big deal, right? Well...

Typically, advisors peg 15% to 20% of total income saved each month as a goal - but if you want to retire earlier, you probably have to ratchet that number up to 40% or 50% of your income. Not a feat easily accomplished when you review your take into account that a good portion of your paycheck goes to essential, non-negotiable lifestyle items. However, if you are willing to make some serious lifestyle changes and sacrifices, it's possible.

A generally new development called Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) has been created around this "sacrifice and over-save now to retire early" idea. FIRE supporters create exacting savings plans (up to 75% of income) and make related compromises like living in small homes, walking to work every day, prohibitive weight control plans, etc. This way might be unreasonably prohibitive for many, yet the mentality offers a few takeaways that may merit consideration.

To start, stick with the essentials of long-term growth investing: Build a diversified portfolio of stocks with exposure to various styles, sizes, sectors, and regions.

You may be able to accelerate your potential retirement earnings by consciously seeking higher returns (and also accepting more risk) in your investment portfolio. But whatever your risk tolerance, your portfolio must be diversified to protect against extreme market movements that could jeopardize your early retirement objective. You can choose from a number of ways to allocate investments to diversify your portfolio, and these should be informed by your individual goals, growth and income needs, appetite for risk, and age.

After accelerating your savings and setting up an ongoing plan, invest your savings into your portfolio at the earliest opportunity. Try not to attempt to time the market. Stay put, and let the compounding characteristics of the markets do its work to help grow your retirement wealth exponentially over time.

You may want to look at growth stocks with attributes acceptable for retirement investing like low beta, strong earnings estimates, positive sales growth, and expected future growth.

The Zacks Rank routinely recognizes lower risk growth retirement portfolio picks, and here are a few that may be worth considering: Darden Restaurants (DRI), Brinker International (EAT) and EQT Midstream Partners, LP (EQM). These growth stocks have strong Zacks Ranks and a beta of 1 or lower, with earnings and sales growth of at least 5% over the past 5 years.

Do You Know the Top 9 Retirement Investing Mistakes?

Whether you're planning to retire early or not, don't let investing mistakes derail your plans.

If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more, click the link to download our free report, 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement.

EQT Midstream Partners, LP (EQM): Free Stock Analysis Report

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI): Free Stock Analysis Report

Brinker International, Inc. (EAT): Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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Easy Investing Secrets to an Early Retirement - October 16, 2019 - Nasdaq

I hate my job! Have you ever said that? Chances are if youve held any position for any length of time at all, youve uttered the words I hate my job.It seems like a prevailing attitude these days.

Let me contrast hating your job from pursuing early retirement or financial freedom because you want to have more control over your time and your life. Though some have said they hate their jobs, most want to take more control of their lives and put together a plan to get there sooner rather than later.

Im talking about those of us who say I hate my job but feel like they cant do anything about it.

There are a lot of reasons for being unhappy with our jobs. Heres a shortlist too many meetings, bad bosses, not enough vacation time, long hours, not appreciated, too much stress, not fulfilling, or not what matches my education.

Can I be honest with you? As the saying goes, these are first world problems. Sometimes I think we forget how good we have it. Ill spare you the soapbox about how good we have it in this country relative to the rest of the world. And Im certainly not suggesting that anyone should stay in a job thats causing them stress that leads to health problems.

Heres the thing that bothers me. I think we have lost perspective on work. That scares me a bit. If everyone hated their jobs and decided to quit, where would that leave the economy? It would be a mess. Thankfully, not everyone quits their jobs.

But should they? What should we do if we find ourselves in an unbearable job situation? Should we tell our boss to shove it? Stick it out?

Thats what I want to talk about in this post.

Polls and studies tell us that the vast majority of people hate their jobs. A couple of years ago, in 2017, Gallup conducted a survey on workplace happiness. In reality, it was about workplace unhappiness. The title of the study, The Worlds Broken Workplace, says it all. The results show that a staggering 85% of the workers of the world say they hate their jobs. Im not making this up. Its not that they dont like their jobs. They say they hate them.

The reason they cite the most? They hate their boss. Heres a quote from the article:

According to Gallups World Poll, many people in the world hate their job and especially their bossEmployees everywhere dont necessarily hate the company or organization they work for as much as they do their boss. Employees

Wow! And there is more:

Only 15% of the worlds one billion full-time workers are engaged at work. It is significantly better in the U.S., at around 30% engaged, but this still means that roughly 70% of American workers arent engaged. It would change the world if we did better.

The Ladders wrote a review of the study and said the following:

The 2017Mind the Workplace report, released by the nonprofit groupMental Health America(MHA) andThe Faas Foundation,surveyedmore than 17,000 U.S. workers in 19 industries and found that 71% were either actively looking for new job opportunities or had the topic on their minds always, often or sometimes at work.Only 19% said they rarely or never think about getting another job.

Whichever study you choose to use, the evidence is clear. People are unhappy with their jobs!

I hesitate to put this first. But I understand the reality. Many of you cant see your way out of ever being happy with your current job situation. So, lets look at some ways you can find another job.

First, get that killer resume ready. The resume should be your best first impression. Spend time getting that together. Consult an expert if you think that will help. Have others look it over and make suggestions. Dont skimp on this step. Most get passed over. Yours needs to stand out. Make sure it does.

If youre in a job that pays $100k or more, start with The Ladders. Their specialty is finding high paying jobs. You can post your resume there, get into networking groups, and so much more. Even if youre not looking for a $100k plus job, its a great site to get educated on the process.

Indeed.com is another excellent place to look. Their site is much more broad-based. YOu can enter keywords into a search box describing the kinds of jobs you want. Uploading your resume is a simple process. They have profiles of numerous companies you can research. You can search by salary range, income, location, and many more.

LinkedIn is another great job search site. Go to the Jobs tab and search for the jobs you want. Here, you can leverage your connections, get introductions, and much more.

These three would be my top choices to start the job search.

With that out of the way, I would suggest this not be your first step. Ill tell you why when I cover the next few things to do.

Im probably stepping into some dangerous territory here with this one. But if we dont do some self-reflection when things arent going our way, we are more prone to bad decisions.

Have you noticed it? The blame game is alive and well. It seems like most of us dont want to take responsibility for our actions. Thats especially true when it comes to our mistakes. Its much easier to find fault in someone else. In reality, the responsibility may not be with anyones mistake. It may have everything to do with our mindset.

Carol Dweck, who wrote a great book on the topic of mindset,Mindset, The New Psychology of Success, says the following:

In one world, effort is a bad thing.It, like failure, means youre not smart or talented.If you were, you wouldnt need effort.In the other world, effort is what makes you smart or talented.

The latter description is the growth mindset. The former is a fixed mindset. If you have a fixed mindset in life, you will likely be miserable in your job. Heres how I described it in an article on the subject of mindset:

People with a fixed mindset believe their essential qualities,like talents and intelligence, are fixed traits.Rather than spending their time developing them, they spend time documenting their ability or knowledge.They believe their talent and intelligence are the keys to their success.Hard work has no bearing on it.Dr. Dweck says for those with a fixed mindset,its not enough just to succeed.You have to be flawless.Its the belief that says if youve got it, youve got it.If you dont, you dont.

Its a dangerous perfectionist mindset. Do you look at yourself as being flawless? If so, how do you think that impacts those around you at work? Be willing to examine yourself critically to look at your role in your unhappiness at work. People with a growth mindset are always looking for ways to learn and grow.

As yourself some of the following questions.

If youre one who says I hate my job, take a look at what it is you hate about it. Is it the area of the company? Do you hate your boss? Is the work boring? If you could do something else with the company, what would it be?

If, after self-reflection, you feel youve done everything you can, its time to talk to your boss. Before you do, though, get yourself in the right frame of mind. If you go in with an attitude, or with an accusing tone, it wont go well for you. If youre angry and cant get rid of that anger, dont have the conversation until youve settled down. Often, the root of the problems at the workplace comes down to communication.

Im not saying your boss isnt a jerk. He or she very well be a jerk. What I am saying is that it doesnt mean they arent willing to change. Think about what you want to say before setting up the meeting. Write down your thoughts. Talk to your spouse, partner, significant other, or a good friend. Vet it out with someone you trust. Be careful when you do that to look critically at both sides of the issue. There are always two sides to every story. As you contemplate the conversation, try to get a feel for your bosss side of the story. Look at things from their perspective.

Dont turn assumptions based on your feelings into facts. Facts are just that facts. Just because you think you know why someone does something, that doesnt make it a fact. Its an opinion. Look at the other possibilities outside of what you think.

Everyone is fighting a battle. Someone who is a jerk is likely an unhappy person. They have baggage you dont know about. You have baggage they dont know about. Understanding that aspect of the human condition is helpful when preparing to have tough conversations.

Lets say that, after answering the previous questions, you find there may be another place in the company thats a better fit. Do you have the skills or education to move into that position? If not, what would it take to get those skills?

Once you have the answer to that question, put together a plan to get that education. Most companies nowadays offer assistance to advance your knowledge. Most want to help those who wish to further their careers with their company. Pursue that education and make yourself a better employee.If it turns out that the job you want and the skills you need to get it is outside of your current company, put together a plan to get those skills or that education.

According to the Pew Research study referenced earlier, people in management are much more likely to be satisfied with their jobs. They are salaried employees with excellent benefits as part of the job. People in retail, manual operations have fewer benefits and lower job satisfaction. The survey shows that 59% of people earning $75,000 or more in salary say they are very satisfied with their current job.

Get the additional skills, degree, or certification you need to move into the higher-paying jobs. Work on your income by working on your education and skills.

Finding other sources of income may sound far-fetched if youre miserable in your current job and working long, stressful hours. For a refresher, go back to #2 and check on your mindset. Were going to assume you want to get better and improve your position. Finding financial independence brings options to your life. Having multiple sources of income is one of the best paths to get there.

Sides hustles for busy people are possible. There are numerous ways to make money that dont take a lot of time. Not sure where to start? I get it. If youre one of those people, who say I hate my job and you feel stuck, thinking about side hustles can be difficult. If that describes you, please dont give up hope. Whether youre an introvert, extrovert, or a combination of both (yes, thats possible), there are numerous ways to earn side income. Heres an article that offers the 19 best ways to generate passive income in 2019.

The most successful people who retire comfortably have more than one source of income. It may be from investments in real estate, dividend-paying stocks, businesses, or a simple part-time job. You would be surprised how little money and time it takes to get started in some of these side hustles or investments.

Dont think its impossible because you dont have the time or skills. You have plenty of both. Focusing on a plan to create additional income is a marathon, not a spring. It wont get you out of the job you hate tomorrow.

However, it might make it easier to put up with or feel better about it if you know you have a plan to move away.

I am keenly aware that anyone reading this whos in the I hate my job mindset, might find this oversimplified. Id go so far as to say it might even piss you off. I mean, no one wants to hear about the changes and steps they need to take to improve a difficult job situation. Its much easier to put the onus on another person. Perhaps you put it on the company, the culture, or all of these things.

Heres what I know. There is one and only one thing we can control in these kinds of situations. No, it isnt our boss. Nor is it the companys management (though they may be horrible). It isnt the work environment. It isnt any of those things. You know where Im going with this. The one thing we can control is us. We cant control our circumstances, only how we react and respond to them.

Its our choice. We can stay stuck in the mindset of trying to force change on others. Or we can take matters into our own hands and change the one thing we can control.

Make no mistake. Its easier said than done. I realize that. We will have a much better chance for success when the focus of the change and examination is on ourselves, rather than the one we think is the reason for our misery.

There is a lot more that we could say about this kind of situation. I like to keep things simple. The five items listed here are, at the very least, a starting point to help get you unstuck.

This post originally appeared on Money with a Purpose.

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What Can I Do if I Hate My Job? Here are 5 Things - Thrive Global

In times of economic stress, it is good to know the basics of personal finance.

Many people turn to books for help, so we decided to go back and review three of the most popular finance books of the last 15 years: Suze Ormans The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom (Currency, $16.99); Dave Ramseys The Total Money Makeover (Nelson Books, $26.99); and Robert T. Kiyosakis Rich Dad, Poor Dad (Plata Publishing, $8.99).

They all have something worthwhile to offer, but after rereading them, I found that all had a glaring omission: a lack of substantive advice on investing. You will have to go elsewhere for an in-depth discussion of how to set up a portfolio and choose among stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds or mutual funds.

What all three books do emphasize is the need to buttress your finances by doing such things as reducing debt and expenses. And they share a constant refrain: You are ultimately responsible for your own financial success.

The authors have different takes on how to succeed, though. Ms. Orman says trust your instincts. Mr. Ramsey says relentlessly eliminate every last shred of debt. And Mr. Kiyosaki says emulate the rich, who have figured out how to have money work for them.

Oddly, for books centered on bolstering wealth, all three advocate contributing to charity. They say this is the right thing to do in itself, but they also say its worth doing on a spiritual level: The more you share with the universe, they contend, the more the universe will share with you.

Why have the books been so popular? The spiritual content may account for some of it. But the powerful media presence of all three authors has certainly helped.

Ms. Orman had a show on CNBC for more than a decade and now makes corporate speeches on personal finance. Mr. Ramsey has a syndicated radio show, and Mr. Kiyosaki appears frequently on television and conducts seminars.

As for quality, Ms. Ormans book is the best of the three for standard financial issues, though each has an undeniable appeal.

The good things about Ms. Ormans book start with her ability to reduce financial planning to its basics, and with her sensible suggestions on how to reach your personal goals.

Unrealistic budget cuts, like unrealistic diets, never work, she writes. Pare back modestly here and there, she says, rather than try to make big trims. And Ms. Orman emphasizes often-overlooked aspects of adult life like writing a proper will and appointing someone who will be able make health care decisions for you, in case, at some point, you cant.

While she doesnt offer detailed financial advice here, Ms. Orman, a former stockbroker, does recommend that you own index funds and diversify your holdings.

Unfortunately, the book is a bit out of date. It was first published in 1997, hasnt been revised since 2012 and contains references to events like the Dow closing at 11,000. That last happened in 2010.

Her tone is supportive and intimate, and it frequently veers into the ethereal.

Most unconventional idea: Money is a living entity and it responds to energy exactly the same way you do. It is drawn to those who welcome it, those who respect it.

Questionable advice: Even if you own just one mutual fund, your money is still quite diversified, because you own a little of everything theyre invested in.

That depends on the fund you own. If your only holding is an actively managed small-cap mutual fund, all you own are parts of small-cap companies preferred by that fund manager. You are far from diversified.

Representative sentence: When it comes to money, freedom starts to happen when what you do, think and say are one.

Mr. Ramsey has one major theme, which he hammers home until you want to scream. To the exclusion of virtually everything, he says, eliminate debt.

The only possible exception he allows is a small mortgage that you can easily afford (even then he urges that you pay that off quickly).

If you have any debt, even if your employer will match the first 3 percent you put into your 401(k) annually, Mr. Ramsey says, you should not take advantage of the match. He says it is better to put that money toward what you owe.

Financially, that makes no sense, unless you are paying interest charges of greater than 100 percent on what you borrowed. If your employer is matching your retirement contribution, you are getting a 100 percent return on what you put in. Yet Mr. Ramsey says that while he understands the math, being debt-free is more important.

I dont agree. Advising people to forgo their companys retirement match is one of the many things I didnt like about the book, which was originally published in 2003 and has been updated several times since. The last revision was in 2013.

Mr. Ramsey seemed to have trouble finding enough to say. On the bottom of every page you will find this line: If you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.

That epigram would be just fine, if stated once. But the constant repetition seems contrived to fill space, as does the unusually large type. (Yes, it was nice that I did not have to use my reading glasses, but still.) Even with those features, the book is barely over 200 pages, not counting 20 pages of worksheets and an index.

His tone is consistently stern and no-nonsense.

Most unconventional idea: Pay off your smallest debt first, even if the other money you owe has a higher interest rate. The quick wins will help you build momentum.

Questionable advice: You can withdraw 8 percent of your retirement savings annually and not outlive your money.

Most experts say a safe annual withdrawal rate is much lower, no more than about 4 percent or, using careful rules, perhaps 5 percent.

Representative sentence: I was given a calling: to show people the truth about debt and money and to give them the hope and tools necessary to set themselves free financially.

Mr. Kiyosaki reminds me of Ayn Rand. He says you should focus relentlessly on achieving total independence from the crowd financial independence, in Mr. Kiyosakis case.

He presents his financial tenets in a narrative structure that resembles a novel, contrasting what he learned from his biological father (get a secure job, work hard, play it safe) and his other dad, a rich entrepreneur who forged an independent financial path while living below his means.

The book was first published in 1997 and updated, most recently, in 2017. As it unwinds, you see Mr. Kiyosaki, who served in the military, shift from a job as a Xerox salesman to his vocation as an investor, ending up squarely on his rich dads path. He soon buys real estate to minimize his dependence on a paycheck and begins to shelter income and minimize taxes by setting up corporations.

Own things that generate wealth, he says. In addition to income-producing real estate, he says, that includes stocks, bonds and royalty-generating intellectual property (inventions, books and the like).

Despite the brisk narrative, the book has a ponderous tone: It reads like a lecture from an economics professor.

Most unconventional idea: Dont focus on your job or career. Think primarily about building personal wealth.

Questionable advice: With low interest rates, and an uncertain stock market, the old adages of saving and investing for the long term make no sense.

Saving and investing for the long term are exactly what most experts say you should do.

Representative sentence: The main cause of poverty or financial struggle is fear and ignorance, not the economy, the government or the rich.

While the lack of detail on investing is disappointing and the perspective is often quirky and sometimes questionable, all three books offer sprinklings of solid counsel: Eliminate debt. Live below your means. Look for ways to supplement your income.

Thats always good advice.

As is this, which came from my immigrant grandfather: Dig your well before youre thirsty.

What he meant was prepare for the inevitable while you have time.

These books are flawed, but if they teach people that much, they have real value.

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Reconsidering the Advice in 3 Popular Personal Finance Books - The New York Times

Building sufficient financial resources to retire early may sound like a dream, but making that dream come true is not as hard as it may sound. The main thing is simply to save more money each month. No big deal, right? Well ...

Usually, advisors advise 15% to 20% of total income saved every month as an objective - yet in the event that you want to retire earlier, you likely need to tighten that number up to 40% or half of your pay. Not a discipline easily practiced when you review or consider that a substantial segment of your paycheck goes to basic, non- negotiable lifestyle needs. But if you are willing to make some serious lifestyle adjustments and trade-offs, it's achievable.

A relatively new movement called Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) has been developed around this "sacrifice and over-save now to retire early" concept. FIRE followers develop strict savings programs (up to 75% of income) and make associated sacrifices like living in small apartments, walking to work every day, restrictive diets, and so on. This path may be too restrictive for many, but the mindset offers some takeaways that might be worth considering.

To start, stick with the essentials of long-term growth investing: Build a diversified portfolio of stocks with exposure to various styles, sizes, sectors, and regions.

To accelerate the retirement investment cycle, you can construct a portfolio designed with more risk - and the potential for higher returns - but it should still be appropriately diversified to protect against larger than average market drawdowns that can be difficult to recover from and ruin any chance to accomplish your early retirement goal. There are numerous ways to diversify a portfolio, and how you do so should depend on your age, your risk tolerance, your growth and income needs, and your long-term goals.

Once you have accelerated your savings and put an ongoing plan in place, invest your savings into your portfolio as soon as possible. Don't try to time the market. Leave your portfolio alone, and let the compounding nature of the markets do its magic to help grow your retirement nest egg exponentially over time.

You may want to look at growth stocks with attributes acceptable for retirement investing like low beta, strong earnings estimates, positive sales growth, and expected future growth.

Story continues

Zacks offers investors useful rankings for lower risk growth stocks for retirement portfolios. The following are a few selections that merit a closer look: Broadcom Inc. (AVGO), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and Preferred Apartment Communities (APTS). Earnings and revenue has seen growth of at least 5% or higher over the last five years, with a beta of 1 or lower.

Do You Know the Top 9 Retirement Investing Mistakes?

Whether you're planning to retire early or not, don't let investing mistakes derail your plans.

If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more, click the link to download our free report, 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement.

This report will help you steer clear of the most common mistakes, like trying to time the market, lack of diversification in your portfolio, and many more. Get Your FREE Guide NowPreferred Apartment Communities, Inc. (APTS) : Free Stock Analysis ReportBroadcom Inc. (AVGO) : Free Stock Analysis ReportAmerican Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research

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Easy Investing Secrets to an Early Retirement - October 15, 2019 - Yahoo Finance UK

(Image via Getty)

Meet Daniel. Hes a 36-year-old Harvard Law graduate who works in New York as an attorney (but lives in New Jersey to avoid NYC taxes). You wouldnt know it from looking at him because his suits are so threadbare that theyre falling apart, but he makes $270,000 a year. Unlike the rest of his colleagues who work in large law firms, Daniel isnt exactly fast and loose with his six-figure salary. He survives on a diet of rice and beans and beats himself up when he splurges on Chipotle. The most expensive pair of work shoes he owns cost $60, and the rest are from thrift shops. He doesnt turn on the heat in winter; he just puts on additional layers of clothing. He doesnt even own a TV.

Daniels frugal life may sound incredibly boring and, well, awful, but heres a little secret about him: Hes saved 70 percent of his salary over the years, his IRA has been maxed out for almost 20 years, and hes got more than $400,000 ready for the future.

Daniel plans to retire in the next three years.

How did he save so much money? According to a profile piece in the New York Post, Daniel subscribes to the financial independence, retire early movement (FI/RE):

The money philosophy essentially, save fast and early so you can quit working young is gaining traction among millennials who have had a taste of office drudgery and want nothing to do with it. Followers combine investment hacks with old-fashioned penny pinching to build up enough savings to quit their 9-to-5, well before their 60s. Theyre also committed to a monastic existence, even amid NYCs many social temptations drinks with co-workers, workout classes and even the odd fast-casual Friday lunch.

Daniels stingy lifestyle has been quite detrimental to his social life or complete lack thereof). Hes single (My previous ex-girlfriend never really got on board. Her concept of what I was doing was being cheap, and depriving myself and her.) and has trouble relating to his coworkers (They talk all the time about the fancy restaurants, bars and Broadway shows theyre going to.). At least soon hell be able to leave the Biglaw life behind and trade his long working hours for more leisurely pursuits.

But for now, the all-consuming FI/RE life is what what keeps him going: Im trying to get to a point where nothing besides death can stop me. Best of luck, Daniel.

Inside the strange, secretive lives of rich millennial cheapskates [New York Post]

Staci Zaretskyis a senior editor at Above the Law, where shes worked since 2011. Shed love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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Cheap Biglaw Associate Survives On Rice And Beans, Squirrels Away Six Figures To Retire - Above the Law

This October, America ReFramed, the award-winning series from WORLD Channel and American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc), takes viewers into the lives of three young people living with an intellectual disability who challenge perceptions of intelligence as they navigate high school, college and the workforce. Directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Dan Habib and narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Chris Cooper, Intelligent Lives premieres on Tuesday, October 22, at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT/ 9 p.m. PT) on WORLD Channel and WorldChannel.org, in celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

The documentary follows three Americans living with an intellectual disability, each striving to overcome stereotypes and misconceptions as they work to create more independent lives for themselves, with the support of family, friends, educators and colleagues. Viewers see 17-year-old Naieer Shaheeds journey through a Boston public school and his desire for a career in visual arts; 32-year-old Micah Fialka-Feldmans life as a student and assistant teacher at Syracuse University as he enters the dating scene; and 25-year-old Naomie Monplaisirs attempt to secure work at a Providence, Rhode Island beauty school to gain financial independence.

Coopers narration begins with the emotional, personal story of his late son, Jesse, whose talent and intelligence helped him prove naysayers wrong and show that an IQ score should not determine a persons worth or potential. Cooper contextualizes the lives of these central characters as he explains the evolution of intelligence testing and disability rights in the U.S.

As Habibs film demonstrates, while many strides have been made to make American culture more accepting of diversity, people with intellectual disability are perhaps the most marginalized group of Americans. Only 15% of those living with intellectual disability are employed, and a mere 17% are included in regular education classrooms.

This film is a catalyst to transform the label of intellectual disability from a life sentence of isolation into a life of possibility, said Habib.

Intelligent Lives is executive produced by Chris Cooper, actress/author Marianne Leone Cooper and actress Amy Brenneman.

Intelligent Lives offers audiences a window into the lives of incredible people making huge strides to effect change in America, said Chris Hastings, executive producer and editorial manager for WORLD Channel at WGBH Boston. Dan Habibs film is a great encapsulation of how America and its people are continually evolving, which really echoes what we strive to do with each film featured on America ReFramed.

Through the stories of Naieer, Micah, Naomie and Jesse, Intelligent Lives demonstrates the incredible impact every individual can have on society, said Justine Nagan, executive producer and executive director of American Documentary.

Intelligent Lives will stream on worldchannel.org, amdoc.org and all station-branded PBS platforms including PBS.org, and on PBS apps for iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast.

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America ReFramed To Premiere Intelligent Lives On Oct. 22, 8 P.M. E.T. on WORLD Channel - Blackfilm

OpinionIt sounds like a depressing existence to me - wishing your life away, denying yourself even the simplest pleasures

Wednesday, 16th October 2019, 14:25 pm

Do you work to live or live to work? New York lawyer Daniel does neither. Or rather, he works to live, just not yet. The 36-year-old, who earns a salary of $270,000 a year, lives on rice and beans, owns one worn-out suit and refuses to turn the heating on in winter. His plan? To save 70 per cent of his salary so that he can retire before he turns 40.

Daniel told the New York Post that he is one of a number of six-figure earners who ascribe to the FIRE - Financial Independence, Retire Early - philosophy, made popular in the 2008 book Your Money or Your Life. Its almost the opposite of the survivalist movement - while they stockpile kerosene and tinned beans, Daniel has the beans now, and hoards the cash instead.

It sounds like a depressing existence to me - wishing your life away, denying yourself even the simplest pleasures, all to escape the rat race. Dont get me wrong, I dont exactly bounce out of bed every morning, birds trilling and sun beaming, before slinging my laptop bag over my shoulder. Hi ho, hi ho, its off to work I go

No, I fantasise about that huge lottery win or that I might lock eyes with a Monegasque prince in my local Tesco Metro (a girl can dream). I could jack in this journalism lark and spend my days as a lady of leisure, idling over long lunches, drifting around art galleries, pursuing all those hobbies I never had time for and napping whenever I damn well felt like it. But would I be happy?

Work is, for most of us, an inescapable part of life. Its not always fulfilling or rewarding - how many of us could honestly say we would do it for free? For many of us, the motivating factor for getting out of bed in the morning is the fact that the bills wont pay themselves.

But when I was diagnosed with a chronic illness seven years ago, and a friend asked if I planned to quit my job, the thought filled me with horror. Whatever would I do with my time if I wasnt working?

In his book Why We Work, psychology professor Barry Schwartz points out that the majority of us are not engaged or motivated by our work. A 2013 Gallup report, drawing on data on 25 million people in 189 countries, found that only 13 per cent of workers feel engaged by their jobs. We are checked out, sleepwalking through our days, putting little energy into our work, he writes.

So it makes sense that people would want to escape it. But we can also change the way we work, albeit in a small way. A happy worker, Schwartz explains, feels they are given the opportunity to do their best and learn, feels appreciated by colleagues and feels that what they do matters. And as the retirement age inches ever higher, it has never been more important for employers to be aware of these needs.

The working day can be a chance to connect with people, to grow and learn, to overcome a challenge and feel a certain sense of (albeit weary) satisfaction at the end of it. If you hate your job, perhaps you should look at changing your job rather than waiting for the day you can stop working.

Besides, most of us are not going anywhere for a while. Daniel may have the self-control to save his pennies, but I fritter much of my salary away on coffee and cake, clothes and travel. But Im ok with that - my nest egg is far from golden, and I may be working until the day I die, but then again (not to get too Alanis Morissette about the whole thing) so might he. Ill take the simple pleasures now, while I can enjoy them, because you never know whats around the corner.

Ultimately, work is a reason to get out of bed in the morning. An aimless life would suit me just fine, for a while, but without a purpose, something to drive me, I imagine even the long lunches and galleries would become dull.

Still, good luck to Daniel - I hope his magic beans bring him everything he hoped for.

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Living on rice and beans while earning $250,000 just to retire early is the wrong way to live - iNews

The ultimate retirement planning question is not how much have you saved its how much income you can expect every year once youve left the workforce. Of course, you also want to know how long the money will last.

I encourage you to consult a financial planner to test your retirement readiness, but its not easy to find someone who will crunch numbers and offer an opinion without also trying to sell you products and services. Ill have more to say about this in an upcoming column. For now, take a look at a few free online retirement calculators:

1.) The Personal Enhanced Retirement Calculator (PERC): Built by Fred Vettese, a now-retired actuary who has written a book called Retirement Income For Life: Getting More Without Saving More. PERC is meant for people aged 50 and older and designed to work in tandem with the book, but you can easily use it on its own. Answer questions about your financial situation and retirement savings and PERC will show you how much you can spend in retirement, and how you can improve this amount by taking measures like starting your Canada Pension Plan retirement benefits at age 70 instead of the usual 65 or earlier. Another good feature is that you can include your spouse.

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2.) The Retirement Cash Flow Calculator: This one is offered by on GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca, an educational website run by the Ontario Securities Commission. Add personal details about your expenses in retirement and savings and find out the estimated value of your investments at retirement, and how long your money will last.

3.) The Canadian Retirement Income Calculator: The federal government offers this detailed calculator, which does something particularly useful in advising users to gather certain information in advance. Set a goal for your retirement income and then see if youre close. If not, see what changes can be made to get you where you need to be.

4.) MoneyPages SmartPlanner: Offers a detailed look at your retirement finances, and you can add your spouse as well. See how well your retirement plan could withstand a stock market crash.

Subscribe to Carrick on Money

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Robs personal finance reading list

10 things you should know about Air Canada

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The Travel Hacking For Canadians website tells you some insider stuff about Air Canada, some of it potentially useful in saving on travel costs.

She put herself on an adult allowance

Determined to afford travel, this millennial put herself on a daily budget that forced her to evaluate every cent of spending. Her conclusion is that a daily allowance is the way to go if you want to control your finances.

Fix your broken china with milk

Ten weird and wacky non-food uses for household food items. Apparently, a bath of hot milk will repair cracked china. Now for some popular snack foods you no longer need to buy.

Why they ditched the F.I.R.E. movement

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F.I.R.E. stands for financial independence, retire early. It means saving hard so you can pull back from full-time work or retire completely well before age 65. I wrote about my recent visit to a retreat held for F.I.R.E. followers. Here, a blogger writes about why she and her spouse decided F.I.R.E. wasnt for them.

Ask Rob

Q: My father set up joint brokerage accounts for me and one for each of my siblings. I have long since taken over managing my account, but my sister doesnt want anything to do with managing hers. My father isnt getting any younger and he and I have been talking about what to do with the account when he isnt here to manage it for her. She will likely use it for retirement income in about 10 years. Do you have any recommendations for constructing a couch potato-like portfolio for retirement income?

A: Heres a thought help your sister transfer the account to a robo-adviser. Shed get a couch potato portfolio (built with low-cost exchange-traded funds), with a reasonable extra cost for building and managing the portfolio over time.

Do you have a question for me? Send it my way. Sorry I cant answer every one personally. Questions and answers are edited for length and clarity.

Todays financial tool

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A handy rundown on the annual contribution limits for tax-free savings accounts, with details on how to find your own personal contribution details.

Podcast of the week

I talk to Bruce Sellery on his Moolala podcast about why teenagers should have credit cards.

What Ive been writing about

More Carrick and money coverage For more money stories, follow me on Instagram and Twitter, and join the discussion on my Facebook page. Millennial readers, join our Gen Y Money Facebook group. Send us an e-mail to let us know what you think of my newsletter. Want to subscribe? Click here to sign up.

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You really should try these retirement calculators - The Globe and Mail

At the recent launch of the Indigenous Business Month, its co-founder, Michelle Evans, spoke about ingenuity in the Indigenous business sector and the many forms it takes.

For me ingenuity in the Indigenous business space is not an intellectual or abstract concept related to technology and only operating in the sexy start-up space. As Evans noted, Indigenous businesses do this every day. We identify a market need or demand and are original in our solutions.

Over the past few years I have worked with hundreds of Indigenous businesses and in every one I have seen this at play. Ingenuity is a natural part of Indigenous business because often we start from a base of nothing in terms of capital.

The vast majority dont have intergenerational wealth, investment properties or even homes to leverage business loans to enable them to start a business, let alone start a business big and pretty. I have seen the inventive ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country have bootstrapped the ideas they are passionate about to start their businesses.

While some players in the space have been lucky enough to develop relationships and then manage to leverage the buying power of established capacity partners, I am actually more interested in the bootstrappers. There is just something you have to admire about their achievements, even if those achievements are just managing to get something off the ground from the aunty who was happy to sit at the picnic table in the park to test her idea that there was an interest in cultural tourism in her small town, to the brother who created a business to employ family when no one else would.

Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.

This is one of the key messages that gets repeated over and over in my workshops. This message by Arthur Ashe gives you permission to just start. We all have that cousin who has been waiting years to start his business. And every Christmas for the last decade and a half, he has told you about that one great idea that he is waiting to start one day. Waiting. For. The. Perfect. Time.

That time is now.

Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can reminds us that we have tradable skills and knowledge that can form the foundations of a successful business. It means you dont need to start a business in debt. Do what is comfortable and practical for you and your family. Its also a great way to start a business, and you dont have the pressures of huge loan repayments hanging over you.

Our businesses have natural problem-solving skills and ingenuity because this is how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people adapted, sustainably managed and flourished on this continent for over 60,000 years.

Our businesses need the advice and tools to navigate the complex business systems and processes that have been put in place. Many businesses just need to be given a chance and they will flourish.

In 2016 I was given an opportunity to develop and deliver a business accelerator program in the lead-up to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. The program included workshops and one-on-one mentoring. Overwhelmingly respondents reported improved knowledge and skills needed to tender successfully, an increased sense of community and connection to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, and increased achievable opportunities and greater confidence to do business. As a result of the program, those 15 businesses reported over $2m in revenue generated. They continue to be an inspiration to their communities and the communities they operate in.

Our businesses are constantly under-estimated and being told what they want to achieve is just not possible (for a person like you?). So many business leaders I work with didnt take no for an answer, even when they were on the receiving end of significant unconscious bias, policies of low to no expectations or just outright racism.

Theres a saying that Ive heard a lot over the past few years: if you can see it, you can be it. This is especially true for Indigenous business. Where a decade ago there were just a few Indigenous businesses in specific industries leading the charge, there are now an estimated 12,000 to 20,000 of them operating across Australia.

This Indigenous Business Month we celebrate every single one of these businesses. As Evans said: Our ingenuity is seen in the many Indigenous businesses right around the country from urban, regional and remote locations. It is seen in each and every business owner, working hard to build financial independence. We must showcase our talent and our success.

Palawa woman Emma Kerslake is owner of Yolla Consulting. She is a former international lawyer and diplomat, now small business trainer and advisor. She is an active member of the South East Queensland Indigenous Chamber of Commerce, the Gold Coast coordinator for Black Coffee and provides pro-bono support to businesses and organisations across South-East Queensland

Guardian Australia is proud to partner with IndigenousX to showcase the diversity of Indigenous peoples and opinions from around the country

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Dont put off starting a business, waiting for the perfect time. That time is now - The Guardian

Top financial tips for graduates

Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:

1. Build digital or technical skills:After graduation, people canfind it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.

2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, youll always be able to make money.

3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. UseLinkedIntofind people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I securedquite a few clients this way.

4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you wont touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.

It's that time of year when fresh graduates are knuckling down to the job hunt after a summer celebrating the end of university.

But competition for early-career roles is fierce in the UAE, and graduates must work hard to ensure they start their working life on a firm financial footing to avoid falling into debt.

UAE resident Saad Saeed, 21, from Pakistan, recently graduated with a chemical engineering degree and dubs himself a Ninja No Income, No Job, no Assets.

I realised that if I understood how money works and how to manage it properly, Id be set for life.

Araminta Robertson, Financially Mint

The pressure is on for him to find work as although he was born in the UAE and lives with family in Ruwais in Abu Dhabi he only has a year, post-graduation, on his residence visa and must then find a company to sponsor him or leave the UAE. Its a worrisome, ticking deadline, he admits.

Mr Saeed says that, while he has no debt and pays no rent to stay with his parents, he is at a neutral point financially, although he has made some money investing in crypto-currency.

Araminta Robertson, 20, turned her lack of financial knowledge into a career, starting her Financially Mint blog about personal finance for the young when she went to university two years ago.

I realised there was a huge lack of financial education in universities and the education system in general, she says. And I realised that if I understood how money works and how to manage it properly, Id be set for life.

Two years on, the Scot who grew up in Spain has used her newfound knowledge to become a financial copywriter for FinTech start-ups in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, having dropped out of her accounting degree after three months. She also co-hosts a podcast on financial independence.

Interviewing many people in their thirties aiming to reach financial independence and to retire early (a goal known as FIRE), Ms Robertson advises students and new graduates not to focus on making as much money as possible early on but instead on figuring out the right career. I call this career testing, she says. Take a year figuring out what you want to do. A career is something you build.

The real money comes at the peak of your career when youre 40 or 50 and, if youre trying to become financially independent in your thirties, you wont reach that. Rather than hoarding to retire early, it makes more sense to me to find something you enjoy doing, right from the start, and stick with it. Then you dont feel you have to quit.

The most important things to focus on financially in the early career years, Ms Robertson says, are to build your skills, your portfolio and a six-month emergency fund.

As part of his degree Mr Saeed undertook a six-week internship at an oil and gas contractor, earning Dh2,000, but he says he is open to any role related to the engineering field. Competition is cut-throat, he adds, with many older candidates from overseas with four or five years experience competing with fresh, local graduates.

He is considering continuing his studies for now and going abroad to get a masters degree instead. It definitely feels a little discouraging, he says.

While new graduates may not have much money, its worth investing in getting your CV and LinkedIn profile professionally created, says Dubai human resources director Caroline Finch, as you need to stand out from the crowd to get the best-paying jobs.

Employers are looking for behaviours and values aligned to their business as well as experience, she says. Time spent on projects, including voluntary ones, that benefit others or the environment are a must to mention.

She also advises new graduates to ensure their social media accounts are up to scrutiny. This check is common practice and often overlooked, she warns.

Experts also say it is worth looking at internships to enhance your resume, even if they are unpaid. Gareth El Mettouri, associate director at recruiter Robert Half UAE, says students and recent graduates should use their professional network or approach businesses which are connected to their university.

Paul Stock, an education consultant at the Hale Education Group, agrees, saying internships offer invaluable networking and mentorship opportunities" and can be found through university career service offices, which tend to be sorely underutilised by students.

An increasing number of universities like Mr Saeeds offer co-operative education programmes, Mr Stock says, giving their students credits for taking internships, which are correlated with high postgraduate employment rates.

Ambroz Neil, managing principal at London-based career consultancy Alexander Partners, dubs internships the long interview. Students, if sensible, he says, will also use an internship as an extended interview to ensure a good fit with a company. While he believes internships should be paid and last no more than three months, he says many do offer only lunch and travel expenses.

When it comes to salary, he says it is the last thing to talk about in negotiations firstly, decide if you want to work there and if the company wants you. Once an offer is made, its time to play hardball as the employer will already have a range that they can operate within. Benchmarking is best done by talking to people in the industry, asking recruitment companies and attending graduate fairs, he advises.

Robert Half UAE also offers a salary guide and says analyst, developer and finance manager are the most in-demand roles in the country.

For those who have not even started university and are yet to choose a degree course, short-term UK loan provider Satsuma Loans has reviewed UK government data to determine that medicine and dentistry are the careers paying the most in years one to five post-graduation.

Graduates average a starting salary of 36,600 (Dh166,688 per annum or Dh10,790 per month after tax), 47,100 in year five and 53,300, a 45 per cent hike, 10 years after graduation.

Medicine is followed by economics, engineering, mathematical sciences and pharmacology in terms of highest average wages.

At the bottom end of the scale are graduates of creative arts and design (earning 14,900 or Dh67,862 as fresh graduates and rising to 23,300 or Dh106,113 Dh7,355 after tax per month after a decade), then agriculture, humanities and liberal arts, health and social care and sociology.

Updated: October 16, 2019 02:42 PM

Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:

1. Build digital or technical skills:After graduation, people canfind it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.

2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, youll always be able to make money.

3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. UseLinkedIntofind people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I securedquite a few clients this way.

4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you wont touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.

Read more:

How graduates in the UAE can start their careers on the right financial footing - The National

Call it American optimism.

Just over half of Americans (51%) believe they will be wealthy one day, according to a new survey conducted by MagnifyMoney. That's a particularly stunning number when you consider that the average American thinks you need $2.27 million to be considered wealthy.

It's also quite a leap of faith to be confident in your eventual wealth when the median household worth for Americans over the age of 75 (the wealthiest age group) is only $264,800 -- meaning half of those households have less. Even the average net worth of that age group -- a number pulled higher by the extremely wealthy people on the top of the scale -- comes in a $1,067,000, not even half of what is viewed as wealthy.

What this guy considers "wealthy "may not match your definition of financial success. Image source: Getty Images.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, experience does a number on this financial optimism: While 66% of millennials surveyed still see wealth in their futures, only 25% of Baby Boomers do -- likely because they understand that if they are not already well on their way to rich (or there already), they probably won't get there.

There was a lack of clear consensus across the pool of respondents about what the best way to accumulate wealth is. Real estate was the top answer, named by 28%, while the stock market came in second at 19%.

Whatever a person believes about their future prosperity, they're unlikely to wind up wealthy if they don't take some coordinated steps to make it happen.

"Unfortunately, 23% of Americans currently are not doing anything to build wealth," wrote Jacqueline DeMarco for MagnifyMoney. "On the bright side, 36% are saving for retirement and 29% are investing in the stock market."

There is, of course, some wiggle room here: The MagnifyMoney survey didn't define what being wealthy means, so respondents may not have had a specific monetary value in mind.

"About 55% of Americans reported believing that being wealthy ultimately means having the ability to live comfortably without concern for their finances. Meanwhile, 43% defined it as feeling financially secure," wrote DeMarco.

That's a somewhat encouraging set of figures, because a hard worker who plans for their future has a fair shot at achieving financial independence. That may not mean "wealth" in the traditional sense, but for most of us, getting to the point where we can live our lives without having to worry about money would be victory enough on the financial front.

The sooner you start, the easier it will be to make that happen. You don't have to earn a lot of money to eventually achieve financial independence, but you do have to have a plan and the discipline to see it through.

If one of your dreams is to someday stop having to worry about money, start working toward it now. Evaluate your finances, and get trustworthy professional help with crafting your retirement plan. And most important, prioritize long-term security over short-term wants. That's not always easy, but it's a path most people can follow that will eventually pay off.

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About Half of Americans Expect to Be Wealthy Someday - Motley Fool

Today I want to show you how you can retire on $405,000and with just five buys, too! Put together, these five stocks and funds hand you a 7.4%-yielding portfolio that will pay you reliably for decades.

First, though, lets quickly run through how our 5-buy portfolio will workand how it proves the so-called experts, who say you need a million dollars or more to clock outare dead wrong.

A Million-Dollar Retirement for $405K!?

To be smack in the middle of income in America, you need to bring in about $30,000 per year. So, at a 7.4% yield, youd need to invest $405,000. In other words, thats how much it takes for a person to retire and be middle class in America.

I know what youre thinking: That sounds great, but where the heck am I supposed to find a safe dividend that high anywhere in the market?

Fair questionand thats why Ive chosen a special kind of fund called a closed-end fund (CEF) to form the bedrock of our 5-pick portfolio. These fundslike the 21 in the portfolio of my membership-only CEF Insider serviceregularly pay this much and often more, with yields well into the double digits.

And for years, CEFs have been helping retirees quit the rat race earlier than the experts say is possible.

Heres how.

If you want to get $30,000 per year in income from something like the S&P 500 SPDR ETF (SPY), youd need to invest over $1.6 million. Thats because SPY yields a measly 1.8%, a fraction of what CEFs provide.

Plus, many CEFs let you diversify beyond stocks, as these funds go further afield, into areas like bonds and real estate investment trusts (REITs), helping insulate you from a market crash.

Interested? Read on and let me show you the keys to high-yield financial independence.

Pick #1: A Mortgage and Bond Fund From the Biggest Name in CEFs

The PIMCO Dynamic Income Fund (PDI) yields 8.3% and even pays you a dividend every month instead of every quarter. That high payout comes from its combination of corporate and mortgage-backed bonds, which are handpicked by PIMCO, widely seen as one of the best bond-investment companies in the world.

PDI has been growing its dividend since inception, in addition to paying periodic special dividends, which is why its been delivering a total return that crushes the market over the funds lifetime!

Also, since PDI doesnt invest in stocks, itll help you diversify in case of a market correction: note how the orange line above is much smoother than that of SPY. Thats because of the funds lower volatility and bigger income stream, which help you weather short-term downturns. PDI investors have been sleeping well at night for years.

Pick #2: Boring Utilities and Exciting Outperformance

I wouldnt blame you if you said the Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT) sounds boring: a utility fund with a stable portfolio, GUT boasts a no-drama 8.4% dividend thats been a mainstay of high-income investing for years. But no matter how boring its investments sound, GUTs results are anything but dull.

With more than double the total return of the S&P 500 over 20 years, GUT has proven that you can beat the market for a long time, again showing that a long retirement on a reasonable nest egg is possible.

Pick #3: The New Kid on the Block

The 5.8%-yielding Blackrock Science & Technology Trust II (BSTZ) is one of BlackRocks newest funds. Managed by the firms tech and growth-stock team, who have been crushing the market in other funds for years, BSTZ has the promise of long-term outperformance, thanks to BlackRocks unique access to the market.

Simply put, because it has over $6 trillion in assets under management and is a creditor for many companies in tech and beyond, BlackRock knows where to go for big returns.

A nice thing about BSTZ is that it goes far beyond FAANG stocksFacebook (FB), Amazon.com (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Google (known as Alphabet [GOOGL])to find hidden gems that havent already been bid up in the tech world.

In addition to private firms you cant easily buy, like C3 AI, BSTZ also holds names like Twilio (TWLO) and IAC/Interactive Corp. (IAC), which are still up over 25% in 2019, even after recent market volatility.

Think of BSTZ as a way of buying into the best of private and public tech firms before they turn into the next Google, all while benefiting from BlackRocks market access and research capacity. Those were the secret weapons that have made BlackRocks other tech funds outperform, so expect this one to do the same over time.

Pick #4: Profit Like a LandlordWithout the Hassle

The Cohen & Steers Quality Income Realty Fund (RQI) is a way you can get rich off of real estate without dealing with tenants or maintenance. Thats because RQI invests in many different companies that hold thousands of different properties between themand professional managers pick up and distribute the rents to RQI shareholders.

Does this system work? You bet. With a 6.2% yield, RQIs passive income stream is a main part of its success story.

With nearly double the markets returns, RQI is another index-buster thats seen investors happily enjoying massive gains for nearly two decades. And the fact that RQI, as a real-estate fund, survived the subprime-mortgage crisis and still delivered outperformance just proves how powerful this CEF is.

Pick #5: Tap an 8.3% Yield With This Savvy Business Investor

Business-development companies (BDCs) have a unique model: by pooling together investors capital and lending it to mid-sized firms that dont want to deal with banks, BDCs have carved a niche that gives you a large income stream and diversification away from stocks.

Many people dont know about BDCs, but they should; many of these companies yield over 7% and have massive long-term returns.

Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC) is a prime example. One of the largest and most successful BDCs, it has crushed the market and survived recessions while giving investors a growing dividendcurrently at 8.3%.

There are two main reasons for Aress success. First, its size lets it diversify widely, to ensure it isnt too exposed to one market or another. Second, Aress depth of knowledge and experience in private corporate lending help it find the best deals.

The Final Word

As I just showed you, you can create a diversified high-yielding portfolio that crushes the market and makes retirement on a reasonable nest egg possible. Dont believe the fearmongers: financial freedom is closer than you realize.

Michael Foster is the Lead Research Analyst for Contrarian Outlook. For more great income ideas, click here for our latest report Indestructible Income: 5 Bargain Funds with Safe 8.5% Dividends.

Disclosure: none

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Wall Street Is Wrong: You CAN Retire On $405K. Here's How. - Forbes

Women could add 12 trillion dollars to the global GDP by 2025, according to a McKinsey Global Institute study. Investing in female entrepreneurs can help realize this projection and bring us closer to gender parity at the same time.

Mary Kay Inc., a leading advocate of womens empowerment and entrepreneurship, has announced the Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator, a multi-partner initiative designed to inspire, educate, and empower women entrepreneurs around the world.

With no qualifying barriers to participate, the ground-breaking initiative is a strategic collaboration developed in consultation with six United Nations agencies: UN Women, United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP), International Labour Organization (ILO), International Trade Centre (ITC), UN Global Compact (UNGC), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Accelerator will offer a guided digital curriculum supplemented by on-the-ground training and mentorship.

In addition, it will serve as an advocacy platform to eliminate entrepreneurial roadblocks for women, ranging from digital literacy to legal reformenabling women to fully participate in the growth of their local and national economies.

The Accelerator will support global efforts to encourage businesses to establish and expand relationships with women-owned businesses, including corporate procurement. Future expansion of the program will include funding opportunities accessible to women who complete the curriculum.

Mary Kay has empowered women through entrepreneurship and supported their aspirations for financial security and independence for more than 56 years, said Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer of Mary Kay. Private and public-sector organizations must work together to ensure all women entrepreneurs have access to the tools and education they need to make their dreams of financial independence a reality, lifting up their families and communities.

The Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator initially will be available in six languages, with more to come as the program expands to 192 countries. The Accelerator also will convene an advisory committee of entrepreneurs, celebrities, and advocates to oversee the expansion and promotion of the program.

An informed woman with money in her pocket is an empowered woman. With the growing number of female innovators active today, womens entrepreneurship and empowerment are strongly on the rise, said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women. The advocates from across the world who are joining forces to create the Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator will enable more women than ever to become knowledgeable entrepreneurs, cultivate financial independence, and support their local communities.

Arancha Gonzlez, executive director of the International Trade Centre said at ITC they look forwardto joining the Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator through its SheTrades Initiative to achieve real progress on achieving SDG5 to empower all women and girls.

With this partnership, we will empower women and girls to pursue their entrepreneurship dreams, and equip them with the skills needed to turn those dreams into business success, she said.

The Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator is the latest in a series of recent steps taken by Mary Kay to empower women and improve their lives around the world.

Earlier this year, Mary Kay added its name to a growing roster of businesses and corporations committing to the Womens Empowerment Principles, a joint project of the UN Global Compact and UN Women developed to emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality.

Mary Kay is also a signatory of the UN Global Compact, the worlds largest corporate sustainability initiative. During the United Nations General Assembly, Mary Kay will sponsor the WE Empower UN SDG Challenge, the first global business competition for women entrepreneurs convened by renowned fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.

To learn more about the Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator, visitwww.WE-accelerate.com.

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Mary Kay Announces Initiative to Educate Women Around the World - Preston Hollow People

Social Enterprise Greenhouse (SEG) announced today that 12 social ventures from Rhode Island and Massachusetts are participating in its 2019 Health & Wellness Accelerator program. The Health & Wellness Accelerator offers an industry-tailored curriculum and advising, customized face-to-face instruction, peer learning, and access to a network of industry experts in addition to the entire SEG Advisor network to help social entrepreneurs grow their health-related businesses.

The purpose of SEGs Health and Wellness Accelerator program is to stimulate innovation in Rhode Islands health and wellness sector and to help create more successful, sustainable do well, do good businesses, leading to healthier communities for all. The three-month program culminates with a Pitch Night on Thursday, December 5, at SEGs coworking space at 10 Davol Square in Providence.

This years Health & Wellness Accelerator is delivered in partnership with Brown University and is funded by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training Real Jobs RI Initiative, Newmans Own Foundation, and Delta Dental of Rhode Island.

Participants chosen for SEGs 2019 Health & Wellness Accelerator are as follows:

ASTRO Arts, Sports, and Technology Resource Organizationchampions equality by building community around common interests in arts, sports, and technology.

Founder: Justin Pasquazzi of Cranston

Bird & Beehelps Rhode Island women start or grow their families with hormonal health, fertility, and postpartum programs.

Founder: Kate Issa Naranjo of Providence

The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health(The CSPH) is dedicated to providing culturally inclusive, medically accurate, and pleasure guided sexuality therapy, education, and professional training.

Executive Director: Alicia Gauvin of Cranston

Connector LLCprovides a platform to facilitate the process for getting people suffering from addiction into treatment programs as swiftly as possible.

Founder: Timothy Sullivan of Providence

Dementia Training for Lifeimproves the lives of individuals living with dementia, by training the community that cares for them.

Founder: Laurie Gunter Mantz, OTR, CADDCT, CFRDT, of Cranston

Groundations, LLCspecializes in working with the age 60+ market on improving quality of life and functional movements.

Cofounder: Jennifer Brine of Somerville, Mass.

IMMAD Impairment Measurement Marijuana and Drivingis developing a patented, objective test of marijuana impairment in vehicle drivers for use by roadside by law enforcement.

Founder: Denise A Valenti, OD, of Quincy, Mass.

New Beginningsis a community-centered program using occupation-based activities to promote health and well-being for persons with mental illness.

Co-founders: Mary Brinson, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA, of Cranston; Bethany Pratt, OTD, OTR/L, of South Kingstown

The Rose Center for Learningis a wellness community aimed at increasing access, reducing stigma, linking trained professionals, and promoting a culture of hope for mental health.

Founder: Jennifer Berton, Ph.D., LICSW, of Middletown

Taylor Healthcreates a positive environment in which we provide healthcare that fosters autonomous choice and sexual acceptance for the most vulnerable people.

Founder: Temperance Taylor, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, of Providence

The Tipping Pointempowers and teaches single moms to achieve financial independence and wellness.

Founder: Allison Giuliano of Cranston

UpRiseHercreates and holds inspired space and collaborative community through female-centric co-working, education, and advocacy to help women manage their beautiful, multifaceted lives.

Founder: Shannon Sexton Potter of Warwick

About Social Enterprise Greenhouse

Social Enterprise Greenhouse creates positive social and economic impacts across Rhode Island by supporting social entrepreneurs and enterprises with the business tools and networks they need to thrive. We operate statewide out of three programming sites in Providence, Newport, and Pawtucket/Central Falls. Our network of 400+ enterprises and 300+ business and community leaders contributes time, expertise, and funding to grow Rhode Islands social impact ecosystem. We promote a culture of equity and inclusion within our network, across our programs, and throughout our ecosystem. To learn more, visitwww.segreenhouse.org.

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Middletown entrepreneur chosen to participate in SEG's 2019 Health & Wellness Accelerator - What'sUpNewp

Sofi Zeman is a first-year journalism major at MU. She is an opinion columnist who writes about interpersonal growth and interaction.

The second Pomp and Circumstance is blared over the loudspeaker of your small-town high school, and the instant you enrolled in the college of your choice, it happened to all of us. After four long years of high school, were finally here. Weve grown up. At least, thats what everyone continues to say. Weve packed our bags and moved out of the house in pursuit of higher education. So, now is the time. We have officially entered adulthood, right?

Wrong. While this concept may have been widely viewed as the truth in past generations, it is not the case today. Yes, we have all moved on to the next phase in our lives, but many would argue that this does not necessarily define adulthood. So, what does? Does being in college make us adults, or are we something just short of that? In the eyes of the law, every person that is 18 years or older is classified as an adult. We can vote and be tried to the fullest extent of the law in a legal manner, neither of which seem to be a matter that a child would deal with. Yet there is so much that goes into adulthood that has nothing to do with age.

A primary reason that many cannot seem to identify as grown-ups is a lack of financial independence. As college students, some of us are primarily making our way through these next few years with some financial help. Some would argue that having this parental safety net ties 20-somethings down to stay home longer and move out of the house later in life. This state of financial comfort can lead to a young adults regression into the high school living mentality, where this financial cushion is not being used as a tool to make a career and living. Instead, it is being taken advantage of and wasted on counterproductive matters. Rather than choosing to find a stable job or save up for the future, some adults opt to allow their guardians to support them entirely, beyond an appropriate time frame. However, there is a major difference between using the resources you have and wasting them away. Understanding this distinction plays an important role in defining adulthood. Needing help to fund your education does not reduce you to a child. College is expensive. Believe it or not, there are very few who can pay for it all on their own. But, an important part of growing up is finding some sort of financial responsibility along the way.

The concept of being a student forms its own safety nets. Its true, there are things that college students dont have to worry about that people out in the real-world deal with daily. Many of us arent obligated to pay for our own insurance or support anyone. Getting fired from a job means a lot less to many of us than it does to people older than us. Although, we experience major stressors in our own lives. Weve left home and were beginning to establish ourselves in the world. In this next part of life, students will have to begin making serious decisions by themselves, decisions that can have major impacts, which sounds like a real-world dilemma.

Others have argued that college students arent adults because some simply do not know what theyre doing. Its been said before, and sure to be said again, that we are all destined to find our own path in life. Whether you agree with this mantra or not, college is commonly known as the place people go to find out who and what they want to be. Although, in many cases, it takes some time to get there. Not having our futures all figured out can make us view ourselves and our peers through an immature lens. Then again, why has having a path become a necessity in being taken seriously? There are countless people well beyond our years that dont have the slightest clue of what they want to be. Its entirely understandable to not have everything in life perfectly lined up because there are few adults that are allowed this luxury. Finding a purpose isnt a matter of adulthood, its a matter of life.

Its clear that most college students dont have a perfect career lined up for them in the near future, or have exactly what they want to do figured out but this does not mean they arent approaching adulthood. There are countless students still trying to figure out the basic building blocks of growing up. Yet, maturity levels vary. There are people out there that have been forced to grow up a lot faster than others, which can make all the difference.

So, what exactly defines adulthood? Everyone has a different perception of this and how it applies to college students. Well, whatever phase this is, its definitely well past childhood.

Edited by Bryce Kolk | bkolk@themaneater.com

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Column: If you're old enough to be $20000 in debt, you're old enough to be called an adult. - The Maneater

In April of 2009 the American people were in the depths of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. An estimated 10 million Americans had lost or were about to lose their homes, the unemployment rate was nearing 10 percent, and roughly $17 trillion of U.S. household wealth had been lost. People on Main Street were focused on maintaining the ability to feed their families and wondering if Americas best days were behind us. It is also when the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) largely vacated its mark-to-market accounting principle. Outside of a few articles in business journals and financial news outlets the decision went relatively unnoticed.

Despite the lack of attention, FASBs decision was no small event, and it most certainly did not come easily. At the time critics accused FASB of giving in to political pressure accusations to which board members took great exception. In a Wall Street Journal article dated April 3, 2009 then-board member Lawrence Smith reiterated the importance of the Boards independence while going on to say they cannot ignore whats going on around us. I commended FASBs decision to end mark-to-market then and continue to do so today. A month later the S&P 500 bottomed out at 666 and the United States economy slowly started rebuilding.

To say mark-to-market was the only culprit of the recession oversimplifies the crisis. The blame for a downfall that brought the country to its knees and severely crippled the worlds economy cannot be solely blamed on an accounting standard. However, vacating the standard was an honest acknowledgement that it did severely exacerbate the devastation and served as an excellent example of the threat posed by insufficiently studying the economic effects of an accounting standard the entire financial system must follow.

Most of us have heard George Santayanas famous quote: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Apparently, those wise words never made it to Norwalk, Conn., where FASB is only a few months away from implementing its new Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) standard, the largest change in accounting since 2009. While FASB will vigorously argue that CECL has been years in the making, members of the board have also admitted there has not been, nor will there be, an economic impact study performed despite repeated warnings that the procyclical nature of CECL will have similar effects to mark-to-market in a downturn. In a July 23, 2019 op-ed former FDIC Chairman William Isaac and executive director and law professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School, Thomas Vartanian stated, A similar rush by FASB in the face of unanswered concerns resulted in disastrous financial consequences in 2008 when mark-to-market accounting was redefined by FASB. In addition, during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee earlier this year JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stated, CECL will constrain banks at precisely the wrong time.

So why does FASB continually neglect to conduct studies on the economic impacts of its standards? Simply put: they dont have to. Under current law, FASB and its overseer, the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) are independent, private-sector organizations that fall outside the purview of the laws that govern regulatory rulemaking and require adequate assessments before implementing standards. The fact of the matter is, prudence for the sake of the greater good has not yet made its way onto FASBs agenda.

Accounting standards should not be a political issue, and FASBs independence has served as a laudable method of keeping standard setting and the economic implications that come with it out of the political fray. However, when independence leads to complacency and that complacency threatens U.S. consumers, businesses, and the greater American economy, it is time for our citizens representatives to step in.

This week I am introducing a bill that will force FASB to follow the Administrative Procedures Act and abide by the same rulemaking guidelines in place for every federal financial regulator, including the Federal Reserve. The APA requires regulators to make proposed rules available for public comment, use the feedback to form a final rule, and perform a cost benefit analysis if a rule is considered economically significant. In addition, this legislation would require FAF to consider the impact their accounting principles will have on the U.S. economy, market stability, and availability of credit something FASB has admitted to me they did not consider while promulgating CECL. This bill will not take away FASBs independence, but it will force them to perform the due diligence they have proven unwilling to do.

Rules and regulations cannot prevent every economic downturn. However, it is irresponsible for Congress to stand by and allow shortsighted, hastily-implemented standards to add fuel to the fire. Particularly when the process producing that standard is eerily reminiscent of disastrous actions taken only a decade earlier.

Blaine LuetkemeyerWilliam (Blaine) Blaine LuetkemeyerA new standard by Financial Accounting Standards Board should be reconsidered Senate bill seeks to bring freedom back to banking On The Money: Dems inch closer to demanding Trump's tax returns | Consumer chief pressed to undo Mulvaney's work | IRS says average tax refund up MORE represents Missouris 3rd District. He is ranking member of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions.

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A new standard by Financial Accounting Standards Board should be reconsidered | TheHill - The Hill

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Most people believe the key to wealth is a high-paying job. Yes, it's easier to amass assets if you have more money coming in each month, but one key to increasing your net worth is to spend less than you make. Ultimately, spending habits are the reason a professional athlete making $20 million a year can quickly go bankrupt while a bus driver can retire a multi-millionaire. It can be a cliche but it is a fundamental reality of money.

To escape the spending trap, you need to understand that income is not long-term wealth. What is wealth? Income is obviously a component of wealth, but wealth can have varying definitions. Many people see wealth as their total net worth at any given time. This can be paralleled to the assessment of an individuals balance sheet. Wealth can be referred to as the part of your balance sheet that is considered equity. Your assets minusliabilities. The wealth you have after liquidating.

Thinking Long-Term

Thinking long-term is an important characteristic of accumulating wealth and achieving financial independence. There can be several considerations for long-term wealth, and they will differ for everyone.

If you are a doctor or lawyer, you need to put in long hours after years of specialty training and higher education to get a paycheck. However, in any occupation, as discussed, your annual salary does not necessarily translate to wealth. With long-term thinking, helping to ensure your jobs security, taking initiative to achieve a promotion, or taking steps that will result in higher sales commissions can all be factors for wealth and ways to help ease your anxieties over financial independence.

Side gigs, private investments and a host of other variables can also be utilized for long-term thinking, wealth accumulation, and achieving financial independence. A few considerations here may include a portfolio of private businesses, car washes, parking garages, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, patents, trademarks. Some of these cash generators can be relied on for long-term income in addition to your job or just as cash generators that can pull in money while you take long vacations or sit by the pool.

Assessing Your Balance Sheet

When you take a look at your personal balance sheet, you may already have organic investments you can rely on in your quest for financial independence. Oftentimes, this is wealth that generatescapital gains, income, and dividends without labor. The more of these investments you can afford, the sooner you can fully achieve financial independence.

Reaching a Goal

Overall, the real value of your income is partially determined by the amount you can invest to achieve a financial independence goal. Setting this goal can be important for keeping your perspective on income in check. At your goal, you can successfully maintain the lifestyle you want without working.

Thus, your level of wealth can also be measured by your long-term thinking and potential sustainability. Working with a financial adviser can help you to set a goal for wealth accumulation that allows you to maintain your standard of living without an additional paycheck and achieve the financial independence of your dreams. This goal can be lofty,however, as most peoples annual spending includes a long list of budget items, such as mortgage payments, car payments, clothing, college tuitions, music lessons, entertainment expenses, and more.

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How to Become Financially Independent

05 Jul Fast Track Financial Independence (5 steps)Grant SabatierFounder of Millennial Money and Author of Financial Freedom. Dubbed "The Millennial Millionaire" by CNBC, Grant went from $2.26 to over $1 million in 5 years, reaching financial independence at age 30. He's passionate about helping others build wealth and is addicted to Personal Capital.Latest posts by Grant Sabatier (see all)

One of the most common questions I get is How can I reach financial independence or retire early? While its never been easier to get rich slowly (save 10-20% and invest in index funds), its actually a lot harder to fast track your financial independence (when work is optional).

And when I say fast track financial independence, I am talking about retiring in 10 years or less from today, even if you are starting with very little. You need to make a lot of money, cut back on your three biggest expenses, invest as much as you can, and keep track of your net-worth using a free tracker like Personal Capital.

Honestly, trying to make as much money as you can and reach early retirement can be pretty stressful. There were weeks where I hardly slept and I definitely wasnt chilling as hard as I hustled. Im not going to sugar coat it for youit was the hardest and most intense thing Ive ever done in my life. While I always say that saving is an opportunity, not a sacrifice, trying to essentially go from broke to financial independence in 6 years requires a pretty big sacrifice.

But would I do it again? Absolutely. While tired, I was pretty happy most of the time. I enjoyed the challenge, the discipline, the mistakes, and simply doing something different than 99% of people out there. I like being different and a little weird; its just more fun. Chasing early retirement is definitely not the status quo.

Most people just didnt get it. They thought I was crazy. You save 80% of your income? You have a six figure income so shouldnt you have a nice car? Im sorry, Grant, but why do you live in such a crappy apartment when you make so much money? None of it phased me. I had a goal. Its what I thought about when I woke up and what I thought about when I went to sleep. How was I going to escape the rat race? How was I going to make more money?

Whether you are just starting your financial independence journey or you are deep in it,heres how I was able to fast track and go from broke to financial independence in 6 years. This is what I did and what I wished I did (like sleeping more and learning when to treat myself sometimes).

In 2010 when I started my financial independence journey, I didnt set a goal for how long it would take. All I knew was that when I did the math I was never going to be able to retire if I was only able to save 5-10% of a $40,000 $50,000 income.

The math I did was pretty simple. If I was able to save $5,000 per year maximum, even with an expected compounding rate of 6%, I would have about $433,000 in 30 years. While that might seem like a lot of money today,its not going to be that much in 30 years, because of two expected variablestaxes and inflation. You will need to pay tax on that money when you take it out, assuming a 30% tax rate that cuts the after-tax value to $308,000, which when adjusted for 2% annual conservative inflation amount (it could be higher than this even!), then the future value of that money after taxes and inflation is approximately $170,000.

While $170,000 is still a lot of money, its not going to be in 30 years. It definitely wont be enough to live on for 20+ years.

Typical wisdom is that you need 25x your annual expenses to retire early. When I did this calculation, I anticipated my annual expenses would be at least $50,000 in the future (who knows if I will actually be able to live off $50,000 in the futureI sure hope so!). But it was the best starting point I had, so by simply multiplying 25x by $50,000, I determined that I would need to save $1,250,000. Thats a big number, but it was my target.

You can sit down with a piece of paper and see how much money you need to retire early by checking this calculator I built.

Keeping a budget is really hard and its what stops most people from really fast tracking their financial independence. Of course, its important to keep track of your money, but if you really want to save, then you need to look first optimize your three biggest expenseshousing, transportation, and food.

The average American spends 70% of their money on housing, transportation, and food, so if you can spend less on them (say 25% or so, then you can bank the difference). If you move to a smaller apartment, walk to work, and cook at home, you could realistically increase your savings rate to 25%+ or even higher.

By reducing what I spent on my housing, transportation, and food costs, I increased my savings rate to 40% and sometimes as high as 80% while I was fast tracking my financial independence. The only way I was able to fast track was by cutting way back on my living expenses and investing the difference. If you want to save money on housing (typically your biggest expense), check out how to live rent free and the fundamentals of house hacking.

At the end of the day it comes down to a personal choice, but I was happy moving to a smaller apartment, moving closer to my office, and eating out less, to bank the difference. And I definitely was able to bank the differencesaving at least an additional $13,000 per year by cutting back. While I dont have the exact figures, I estimate that cutting back for 2 years, before buying my first home, I was able to save about $25,000 that I invested in 2011 and 2012, and that cutting back is now worth more than $100,000 in my investment accounts. Im going to continue to let it grow and hopefully making that decision 2 years ago will compound in 20 years into a lot more money. It was totally worth cutting back on my three biggest expenses. Try it out.

After doing the simple math that making $50,000 was definitely not going to be enough to fast track my financial independence, I knew I had to make a lot more money to invest. I startedside hustlingintensely in 2010, back when it was just called freelancing or gigging. Ive probably had over 25 different side hustles over the past 7 years, but the smartest thing I did was invest as much money of my side hustle money as possible.

One day in 2011, I sold a $50,000 website project, then that same day, someone who lives in my building posted on the community message board looking for someone to watch his cat for the next few days for $60. I was around for the weekend, so I jumped on it. Two days later, I sold one of my mopeds for a $300 profit. The next week, I resold 4 tickets to a Kanye West show for $550 profit.

A few weeks later, I took the $60 + $300 + $550 = $910 and the $50,000 x .70 = $35,000 after estimated taxes, and put the $35,910 directly into my Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund from my phone. This was all side income, which I was investing 100% of at the time to fast track my financial independence.

Today, as Im writing this in 2017 that $35,910 is now worth about $108,000. The $910 alone that I made on the side increased in value to over $2,700. Not bad for building a website, watching a cat, selling a few tickets, and flipping a model.

At the height of my side hustling, I had seven pretty consistent income streams and was only living off one of them. The rest went right into investments. Every day I look for money making opportunities like this and then I do the most important step of allinvest it, so it can grow.

First, its essential to switch from a saving to an investing mindset. Its not possible to fast track financial independence by keeping your money in a savings accountinvesting is an essential ingredient. I have made more money through investing than anything else and most of it in my sleep! Just recently, I was looking at my investing returns over a 90 day period and realized that I had made over $15,000 in gains from one of my investments, which is more money than I made in 6 months working at my first job after college. If you really want to make money, then you need to be investing as much money as you can.

As Ive written about before, if you increase your savings/investing rate 1% every year, you can retire up to 2 years earlier, or if you save just 5% more then you could retire 10-15 years earlier. The math is pretty simple and the higher your % saving/investing rate, the faster you will able to reach financial independence. During my most intense months, I was saving 60%+ of my income and 100% of my side hustle income. Earlier this year, I tested myself and was able tosave 82% of my total income. While that might be a little extreme, it makes a massive difference for your future net-worth.

Remember what I said about living differently? A 50% saving/investing rate is more common than you would think amongst the FIRE (financial independence early retirement) crowd. I know a lot of people that save this much each month because they get it. Saving 50%+ of your income is definitely going against the status quo, but thats how you fast track wealth. If you want to go deeper, here are two posts onhow much money you should be savingandmy investing strategy.

At 24 years old, with no money, I had no idea how I was going to save my target $1,250,000.Its been shown in a bunch of research studies that our brains cant actually comprehendthat much moneythe numbers are too large and abstract to most people. It was daunting, to say the least.How was I going to make all that money?

This is why a lot of retirement calculators just arent that effective. They tell you that youll need $2,000,000 saved in 30 years, but dont break down the steps to get you there.

Recent psychology research also highlights that our brains work best when we break down large goals into daily goals. I figured out that to reach $1,250,000 in 30 years (expecting a return of 6-7% per year) using my investing strategy, I would need to save $50 per day to retire in 30 years. Every dollar I could save after $50, I would be fast-tracking my financial independence. Its also worth noting that I didnt start at $50 per day, I scaled up to it starting at $5 per day and then pushing it a few dollars more when I could.

Research also highlights that we should accomplish these daily goals through better habits. The key to building wealth is really in our daily habits. The better our money habits, the more money we will make, save invest, and grow. To go deeper, here are mybest money habits.

The five steps I used to fast track financial independence are simple in theory but can be difficult in practice. Like many things in life, its all about the effort and execution. You need to be consistent. Consistency is more important than anything elseyou cant just follow these steps for a few months. If you want it, youll prioritize it. You can also start as slowly or quickly as you want.

In 2010 when I made the decision to chase financial independence, I jumped in 100%, but thats just what I needed to do to get going.The key to building any sustainable results is to start at your own pace, start making more money where you can, and really push your investing percentage higher 1% at a time. It really adds up and every $1 you are investing today will compound as long as you keep it invested. As Ive mentioned before every $1 I invested in 2010 is worth almost $4 today.

It took almost all of my energy for six straight years to go from broke to financially independent. I also got lucky the stock market has grown so much over the past 7 years, but I was ready. Building wealth is about controlling as many of the variables as you can and then letting it grow.

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Fast Track Financial Independence (5 steps) | Millennial Money

If you are pursuing financial independence and early retirement, you should have a financial independence number. If you have been on an FI journey for a while, this is nothing new to you.

The financial independence number is the amount of money you need to be able to live off the returns on your net worth without depleting your net worth. Once you have money in the bank equivalent to your financial independence number, you can call yourself financially independent for life because it does not deplete your net worth.

Before we get to how you calculate your financial independence number, we need to understand a few things first.

Before we dive into the calculations, you need to find out how much money you will spend each month once you reach financial independence.

A good starting point is to find out how much money you spend per month at the moment. If you dont have a budget where this is visible, try to give an estimate of how much money you spend every month everything included (e.g. housing, transport, clothes etc.).

Keep in mind that some costs go uponce you achieve financial independence and perhaps retire early.

Multiply your monthly spending by 12 to find out what your required yearly spending is when you become financially independent.

As an example, I spend roughly $2,500 per month, which makes my yearly spending requirement $30,000.

Next up is your safe withdrawal rate. This is used in combination with your yearly spending to calculate your financial independence number.

Much has been written about the safe withdrawal rate. People usually dont disagree with the concept of safe withdrawal rates, but they like to discuss the value that it should have.

The safe withdrawal rate is the percentage of your net worth that you can withdraw each year without running out of money before you die. It originates from a 1998 study called the Trinity study. This is where the 4%-rule comes from if you have ever heard about that.

The Trinity study argued that you should have a safe withdrawal rate of 4% by looking at returns from 1925 to 1995. In that time period, it would have been highly unlikely that you would have depleted your net worth if you had only withdrawn 4% every year. This is assuming that your net worth would still have been invested in a stock-dominated portfolio.

I personally use a 4% safe withdrawal rate, but others argue that you should be even more conservative such as using a 3% safe withdrawal rate.

Why do I use 4% then? Well, if it turns out that 4% withdrawal depletesmy net worth, I will be fine with spending less or earning some more money for a while. Keep in mind that the safe withdrawal rate assumes that you dont make any additional income apart from investment returns.

Which safe withdrawal rate should you use? I would suggest something between 3-4%, and youll be fine.

Now to the grand finale! Using the two financial ingredients from this post, youll be able to calculate your financial independence number.

You can calculate your FI number using this equation:

Financial independence number = Yearly spending / Safe withdrawal rate

As an example, my financial independence number is:

$750,000 = $30,000 / 4%

My financial independence number is $750,000. Once I have a net worth of that, I am financially independent and I can stop working for the rest of my life. Easy as that!

Having a number makes financial independence much more tangible for most people. For me it is a great motivation to have a clear goal, and I religiously track my progress every month.

If you are curious, you can also use your savings rate to calculate time to retirement using my financial independence calculator.

Your turn: What is your financial independence number?

See the article here:

How To Calculate Your Financial Independence Number