He put $60000 p.a. in his portfolio. The average person doesn’t even earn that much, never mind have that much left over for investments
Not really a real world example
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It seems the best way to double your income is to invest in a partner. Could Freetrade do a blog on this?
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No luck about it - you choose your partner, it’s up to you what attributes you consider important. Just like those “young people” who’ve saved and bought a house, far less than 99% have significant financial from their parents, mostly the help they’ve been given is an understanding of how to manage ones finances and prioritisation.
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Many would argue that you can’t choose who you fall in love with. The idea of booting a potential partner to the curb because and only because their income doesn’t meet the minimum desired would no doubt be abhorrent to many.
I know anecdote != data, but my own experience is that plenty of young people have an understanding of money - but still the ones who have managed to get on the housing latter have been those who’ve been able to call on the bank of mum and dad. Largely because all the understanding in the world means sweet fuck all when you’ve got no funds to call upon.
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A must read on saving vs investment returns (compounding returns)
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This article brings up a good point. When you first start saving, the actual savings that you make are by far the biggest contributor to your total savings. Then when you have a significant amount of savings, how you manage these savings will have more of an effect than how much money you save.
So really, people who are just starting out saving should focus more of their energy on how to maximise savings and then as you accumulate wealth focus on the management of it.
Obvious Freetrade is good because it has a low barrier to entry and gives people experience of investing. However, if you only have a few thousand pounds in savings, you should really focus on how to improve your saving as opposed to how to get a +10% return on your investments. Improving your ability to save, initially, will be much more valuable than your ability as an investor.
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We are what we do and making own coffee vs buying one from Pret can fund your weekend trip to Brighton or a Friday night with your mates. Tom Corley, who studied and interviewed self-made rich people and poor people for the Rich Habits book, has a nice blog. He is quite brilliant and all his posts can be found here, if you don’t want to subscribe to the newsletters.
“These habits are like snowflakes — they build up, and then you have an avalanche of success.”
Check out this Are You Good Enough to Succeed post:
Questions to ask yourself
- Do you have the skills and knowledge that you need to succeed? If you only have the bare minimum of skills and knowledge, you’ll only achieve the bare minimum of success. Seek out virtuoso skills and virtuoso knowledge.
- Are you persistent? You’ll need to be in order to succeed. Persistence is not an inherent trait. The most persistent people are passionate about what they’re doing.
- Do you have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge? Successful people spend a lot of time learning about the thing that they want to succeed at.
- Are you a risk taker? Some people are too cautious, while others take too many risks. Successful people take risks, but they’re cautious and calculated risks.
- Do you know what you want to achieve? Successful people know how to focus on the thing that they want to succeed at.
- Do you have success habits? Whether or not you’re successful depends on whether you cultivate habits that lead to success.
- Do you have the right team around you? You need experts around you to lead you in the right direction, and you need friends and family to support you. The right people will lift you up and the wrong people will drag you down.
- Do you have a positive mental attitude? Optimism is a common trait among successful people.
Also, from this post:
[Rich people] aren’t hoping to win the jackpot.
“I play the lottery regularly.”
Rich people who agree: 6%
Poor people who agree: 77%That’s not to say that the wealthy are always playing it safe with their money. “Most of these people were business owners who put their own money on the table and took financial risks,” explains Corley. “People like this aren’t afraid to take risks.”
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and weekly bitcoin trading be like:
#yolo
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It’s more income but also more expenses.
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More coverage from The Guardian/Observer
They mention keeping fees down, effects on time it takes by saving a little more, the 25 times your mobile expenses formula to calculate your pot size, the 4% rule amongst other things. A very balanced piece.
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Interesting article and good to see it in the mainstream but as usual, too much focus on FIRE followers living extremely frugally and living miserable lives.
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Have to agree - everyone’s most valuable resource is their lifetime.
Money only has value as an exchange token for experiences and goods to sustain and improve that time. Frugality doesn’t equal misery, but if it does, then you’re not really acting economically rationally.
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This documentary on Netflix called Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things is great. If you like collecting books - collect books, but do you need 20 samples of shirts? etc etc. How much stuff do we really need because, ultimately, that’s what we spend a lot of money on, apart from rent and food.
Who said it first—Gary Vee or someone else—that, basically, your effective wealth = your Income - Expenses = Positive/Negative Number (regardless of how much you’re earning). Also, if you’re happy doing X that is bringing in thousands less to your bank account but you’re happy, then why not do that.
After all, we’re all chasing happiness.
“See the reality of your life for what it really is. If you are reading a CNBC article online while you sit somewhere in America, your life is likely better than 99 percent of everyone who has ever lived."
(Gawdat, ex-Google X, in an interview with CNBC, he is the author is this book on Happiness)
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I highly recommend reading this guy’s articles. They are free. They are split into saving, earning (on the job), investing, and becoming financially independent.
He made his first million before turning 40. It was methodical, involved hard work, investing, studying Buffett etc. I came across him via CNBC’s Make It. He has lost a lot of money on the way but he seems disciplined.
We are biological creatures with a multi-million year-old brain, a computer, which follow habits we have developed mostly subconsciously. Taking control of the brain/the mindset is key. I think top pro athletes really pushed the envelope in that field and business people started following their methods.
“The only reason to save money is to one day invest money.”
In fact, how much you save and invest can be more important than the size of your paycheck. As personal finance expert Ramit Sethi writes in “I Will Teach You to Be Rich ”: “On average, millionaires invest 20 percent of their household income each year. Their wealth isn’t measured by the amount they make each year, but by how they’ve saved and invested over time.”
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Some great articles there, cheers @engineer
Fantastic thread. My suggestion to those aged 20-35 would be to look at ways to raise your income just as much as saving. It may cost you a few thousands to take a particular course or take language classes etc but especially while you are younger it makes more sense to focus on things which can ramp up your earnings rather than saving every penny. This is often very hard to give advice in as it all depends on your interests, skills, expertise and options but I feel this is the downside of FIRE as it can make people think of putting money aside over the things which could accelerate earnings down the line and therefore make FIRE easier - of course there are never guarantees with anything 
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Taking language classes to boost your income? Do you mean as a tutor etc?
Not sure what the original poster meant, but if you can speak multiple languages and still have your core job skills then your job prospects/salary can increase. This is dependent on what your skills are.
Don’t take the language example literally - I am not giving advice for specifics just saying that working on yourself to improve your skills is often a better option when younger rather than just saving every penny (which is what same take away from fire unfortunately)
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Completely agree with that. Investing in and attending courses and learning new up and coming skills with definitely position you in a higher pay along the line. Maybe even there will be a business opportunity. Supply - Demand .
Go make a killing!
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