Retire a Millionaire
- Thread starter Cigar Cowboy
- Start date
Many years ago someone said pay yourself first, or what they were saying is prepair for old age. I was fortunate that I had job, and years of self employment that allowed me to save. I was able to retire at 50 because I socked away for the future.
I laught at young people who blow money on crazy things that are not nessessary, or because everyone has one, or something.
I ask if they have a saving account,m or money for an emergency? Most lie about the truth, a few are honest and say no savings.
But the have Ipone "X's", the latest and great everything, but nothing for a rainy day, or win their car need a $500.00 repair. Many are one paycheck from living in the street, or their parent basement.
I laught at young people who blow money on crazy things that are not nessessary, or because everyone has one, or something.
I ask if they have a saving account,m or money for an emergency? Most lie about the truth, a few are honest and say no savings.
But the have Ipone "X's", the latest and great everything, but nothing for a rainy day, or win their car need a $500.00 repair. Many are one paycheck from living in the street, or their parent basement.
First of all I believe this works! But there is no guarantee that it works every time! In my experience I discovered this theory when I was 19 and started saving 15% then, It was hard to believe it would work, but I trusted those that explained it. Now here is my experience, about the time i was getting in six figures the first stock market crash occurred and took half of my savings and earnings. When I recovered from that and reached the same level again the second stock market crash occurred with the same results, and this happened a couple more times. I was told that starting at 19 it was estimated I would have 7 million when I retired. Well I retired a few months ago and I don't have anywhere near 7 million. But what I do have is zero debt and a decent SSI check and two pensions and a small nest egg. So having a decent retirement is okay. I don't loose sleep over it, and the wife expects to retire this year, she is a school teacher. We plan to travel after her retirement. My dream is to sail the Great Loop on a 40' trawler, which is a good live aboard, and an economical vessel. When that happens you will hear all about it. I should add that I retired at 52, only to teach maritime science for the last 10 years and have retired again at 62. I have had several job offers in the last few months, but nothing that rocks my world yet.
thats what bitcoin is for
i started working full time (therefore being eligible for a 401k) about 6 months after graduating college. I put what I could in there for the company match for my first 8 years of my career.
2008 came and went (didn't care) but I did end up cashing in my 401k to pay off a pile of debt (not the greatest idea but I was debt free at the time and still young).
Ive since continued to put money into my 401k. It's not at 6 figures yet but every year I up my contribution another 1% where I can. I might even go another 2% this year - my goal is at least 10% of each paycheck (not there yet). Life keeps getting in the way and I again have debt to pay off. I'm nearly there, but this time not sacrificing my 401k for it! I even started a small Roth IRA last year. It only has 1500 bucks in it. But as I have a few dollars I pay some debt and then throw 20 bucks into the Roth. Making progress. I haven't hit 40 yet but I'm close (another 18 months). By the time I'm 40 I hope to be debt free (outside of car / house) and have the ability to really start putting money away (rainy day) and into retirement.
I have a plan finally and I'm sticking to it!
Wha
What cards are you finding provide the best benefits for points? I'm always looking for great benefits from cards, and the hotel/flight points are interesting.Wish I would have been your neighbor to help as I consider guys like you heroes that have done more for humanity than most. You deserve a good retirement for what you have done and it stinks that you weren't given the proper tools from your Employer as to how to do it "right" and while the tools are there I wasn't able to teach my own kids the value of denying themselves for the term of 20-38 years old. They buy the toys....they make 6 figure incomes and are in debt up to their eyeballs with barely a retirement income and think that Social Security is going to still be around. They are incredulous when they know that we barely make half of what they earn in just one of their incomes....they have even asked to borrow money from us and I tell them....you guys make a 1/4 of a million in wages a year while we make 1/4 of that...r u kidding?
You don't live too far from me and maybe we can meet up one day ....share some cigars and I'll even buy lunch and share some easy strategies...never to late to learn. I'm going on 64 and my last 8 years have been the best in income strategy....there are a lot of things out there to earn extra money. For the last 8 years I've been doing Focus Studies on the side that net me $500 a month....just to go in and talk about a variety of things and get paid...I feel like I'm stealing money some times. This month alone I have made $900 just going in and talking about things I did in my last career....$300 for 2 hours...3 were for Taste Studies for $200....another for $250 about Appliances....it's crazy! We travel basically for free because we use 2 credit cards that we have points.....Marriott and Hilton. I pay energy bills like Gas/Electric and groceries where I transfer the points and end up with about $200K points for things I'd already pay for anyway....I just use the card to add up the points and pay off the card at the end of the month. It takes discipline to pay it off but the accumulation of points is amazing....we fly for free, we have an average of 14 days of free Hotels, we cruise for free on points and I've found Car Rental Places that lets me rent MB ,,,,,
Total:Rental Period: 7 daysUS $213.80......we do this about every 4 months and travel around the SE in style....we can also rent this for the same....
Mercedes-Benz GLA or similar
Mercedes-Benz CLA
or Volvo S60, Volvo V60, Chrysler 300 or similarPremium-Sedan | PCAR
We should have a sub forum for things like this where we can live like Millionaires without having to spend like Kings. Last story I promise....3 months ago my wife and get a call like so many of us do from a Major Hotel Chain selling Time Shares that offered us a 3 night stay at Embassy Suites in Myrtle Beach for $199 for the whole stay. We paid and set up the date and we listened to their schpeel for 90 minutes and we received 75,000 points each on our Hilton Accounts....that's 150K points total. That is a week for free on them anywhere in the world for us to go just for listening to their crap and knowing I'd never buy a TimeShare but when you consider what a week of a 5 Star Hotel would cost .....$200 a night average...I can listen to 90 minutes of a chainsaw for that amount of time. Honestly....there are so many things out there that the average person just doesn't think about that is basically free.
My Visa give me $.01/$1.00 spent. When I get 50,000 Reward Points, i get a $500.00 Gift Card, it is mad money. I use it to buy Cigars I normally shy away from, the pricy one. I use my Visa for everything I buy, so the point add up fast.
I use Cupons for groceries, resturants etc. Alway look for Veterans & Senior Discounts. It's all FREE MONEY.
I am frugal I price shop, some places do price matching.
I use Cupons for groceries, resturants etc. Alway look for Veterans & Senior Discounts. It's all FREE MONEY.
I am frugal I price shop, some places do price matching.
StogieFisher
Trolling troll is trolling.
Amex blue - 6% back on groceries, 3% on gas, 1% everything else. They have plenty of add ons where you get $5-$50 back at certain stores when you spend X amount there as well.
If people want to retire period they need to learn to live within their means. Do you really need that big house and fancy car to keep up with the Jones? Might as well buy a shovel and keep digging.
If people want to retire period they need to learn to live within their means. Do you really need that big house and fancy car to keep up with the Jones? Might as well buy a shovel and keep digging.
I sure don't - but I certainly want that box of cigars I've been eyeing
It's all about discipline - I didn't have it when I was younger and life kept me from catching up once I learned it. Now I play catch up - but i'll get there!
I feel the need to point out that not everyone under the age of 30 is a complete peice of garbage with no work ethic and no concept of saving money or planning for retirement (I’m 25). I contribute to a 401k 8% even though my company only matches 4% I contribute to an HSA and have my own brokerage account mainly to throw money at some lower risk mutual funds monthly. In addition to what I would consider some very healthy savings accounts for a newly married 25 year old. Oh yeah and no debt. I work for a larger bank and can honestly say the generation with the least amount of savings and the most debt is not mine or the younger generations but hands down it is the generation that is currently entering retirement age or has in the past 5-10 years.
Cigary43
Just Another Ashhole
Strategy pays....the younger you are the better and even in your later years...and I'm not taking a dig at any age group as you'll get those who fail and succeed at any age. It's about common sense.
As far as what kind of credit card to use....there are specific ones that are there for what one looks for .....travel, points in general, etc. I have a few....one for travel and hotels...Marriott Platinum.... another for grocery and fuel...I get a $1 a gallon discount....another is Southwest card....I get free points every year...5000 added to my account and I buy extra miles @$135 for 10,000 miles which pays for a R/T ticket. I've got well over 75,000 points for free on anniversary dates+buying them for cheap...+ plus just buying anything or services.
If you have the stamina...do a Time Share presentation where they give away points to your Card.
As far as what kind of credit card to use....there are specific ones that are there for what one looks for .....travel, points in general, etc. I have a few....one for travel and hotels...Marriott Platinum.... another for grocery and fuel...I get a $1 a gallon discount....another is Southwest card....I get free points every year...5000 added to my account and I buy extra miles @$135 for 10,000 miles which pays for a R/T ticket. I've got well over 75,000 points for free on anniversary dates+buying them for cheap...+ plus just buying anything or services.
If you have the stamina...do a Time Share presentation where they give away points to your Card.
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American Express's Rebate are good, but many places do not take AMX. Because their rate to merchants are higher then Visa.
The stereotypical Melenials make it bad for the entire group we call Melenials. It is like the point of finger when some one does something bad with a firearm. The firearm gets the blame, the bad person get excused or excuses for bad behavior. JMHO
irratebass
www.blindmanspuff.com
Just a quick update:
I had a financial crisis come up this month, long story, but I had to make two (2) Mortgage payments, before the end of this month. Well I only used my PT job's $, and I'm happy to say as of 10 am this morning our mortgage is current, I even have an extra $40 left over, and the end of the month is next week. I am very proud of myself for stepping up, and handling this shit like a man.
Soooooo, starting next paycheck I will be able to start adding $ back into my 2 new accounts that I opened up in January.
I had a financial crisis come up this month, long story, but I had to make two (2) Mortgage payments, before the end of this month. Well I only used my PT job's $, and I'm happy to say as of 10 am this morning our mortgage is current, I even have an extra $40 left over, and the end of the month is next week. I am very proud of myself for stepping up, and handling this shit like a man.
Soooooo, starting next paycheck I will be able to start adding $ back into my 2 new accounts that I opened up in January.
memphsdad
But I don't live in Memphis
Awesome! Sucks that life came up - but fantastic that you were able to handle it AND you'll be able to get ahead of the game soon again!
irratebass
www.blindmanspuff.com
Thanks man! Yeah, right after I open those 2 accounts, and start making contributions this just sucker punched me, but I rolled with the punches, and completed my goal.
Cigary43
Just Another Ashhole
Another tip... a lot of banks are trying to get more business so they are offering $200 to open a checking account and another $300 if you added direct deposit which becomes a total of $500 over 3 months time. My wife and I do this every year and we make at least $1,000 a year with these different banks and after 3 months she gets 500 and I get 500. And then we do it again but your later with a different bank....Boom... another thousand dollars. You can only do this one time with the bank but there are so many that offer this you could do this for the next 5 years and now you've saved $5,000. It literally took me 15 minutes and 90 days later...we're $1,000 richer. My wife uses her legal maiden name so there isn't any issues. Easiest way to making this kind of money since I was a pimp in the 70s.
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- Feb 19, 2018
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You'll never get rich chasing credit card points. That being said, you'll get lots of free travel and other bonuses that you don't NEED but that are nice. If you travel a decent amount, I'm partial to Chase ultimate reward points. The chase sapphire cards are great. I can send you a referral to a couple cards if you like, but I won't post the referral link here as I consider it poor form. Full disclosure, I'll get some chase points if you sign up using the referral.