You might agree that being rich with friends, family, and love is very important, but let's just consider monetary riches for now. What does it take to be rich? How much money do you need to have? When can you finally consider yourself a 'rich and wealthy' individual?
Right now $100 probably seems like nothing, but it would have been huge as a kid. Now it takes probably $20,000 or more to impress you and yet that won't last you more than a year if you tried to live on it.
Some people will never be able to retire making retirement at age 65 with comfortable living look like riches. Many look at having $1,000,000 as being rich. You might even just look at someone driving around a Mercedes and think they're rich, even if you don't know how much money they really have.
You can be rich, but the degree to how rich you can be depends on your age, how much money you make, and how much you can save. If you are in your 20s and make enough money to put several thousand dollars a year into a retirement account, there is no doubt you could retire by age 65 if not earlier. Saving more money will get their quickly as will having a high return. Put both together and you're savings will be unstoppable.
You need to look closely at how much money you make and how much you can save. Making 6 digits a year means nothing to building wealth if you are only putting aside a few hundred dollars a year. If you really want to build your wealth, you need to create a budget so that you can put aside as much money as you can.
The sad part is that many people believe they can't save. If you feel like you could never be rich because you can't afford to save, then you won't ever be rich. You need to be proactive if you want to secure your financial future. You need to make a plan.
Another factor is what you do with that money. If you save $5,000 a year for 40 years and keep it in a jar on your dresser, you will have $200,000. That's a lot a lot of money, but it doesn't make you wealthy and it's a nothing compared to $1.3 million.
You have to invest your money. As long as you are 20 or more years away from retirement, you must invest in stocks. Bonds just won't earn you the same kind of return. At best, with bonds you can beat inflation, but you really can't expect much more.
Whether or not you believe it, you can become rich. Set goals and make a plan. It might take you years and years, but if you work hard, you can achieve the riches you may have only dreamed of. Don't give up without even trying.
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