I am a millionaire. Something I never thought I would say and I can now say it.

I am under 50 years old and I am a millionaire and now that it has happened I have to say, it wasn’t really even that hard. And the funny part is in fact, I wasn’t even really trying.

So how did I become a millionaire before the age of 50 by accident? A little bit of luck, 20 plus years of quietly saving and investing, and a whole lot of help from our best friend Mr. compound interest.

Allow me to explain

Savings plus interest over time equals wealth

When I was just a wee little Earl in my early 20’s, an older friend of mine tried to teach me all about compound interest. I even opened an ETrade account with a small amount of money which I doubled in a few months.

Like any good early 20s punk I took that money and bought myself a motorcycle which was stolen within a year. I got the bike back and sold it for half the cost. Yup I was an idiot.

Now I am writing articles on compound interest so i would say I learned my lesson. Better late than never.

Lucky for me, my employer was looking out for me even though I was being irresponsible. You see I was enrolled in a 401k plan where I would save a percantage of my pre-tax income and my employer would contribute 50 cents on the dollar up to $1000.

I wasn’t making much money at the time I enrolled in my 401k plan but as they years would pass and I would continue to receive raises, that percentage would equate to more and more dollars.

I also set it up so every year that percent would increase 1% and before I knew it I was 20 years in and had a huge chunk of change in my 401k.

My 401k was quietly earning me, on average 9% a year. After 20 years I found myself with just over half a million dollars.

So you can say I was lucky and accidently accumulated nice nest egg without even paying attention.

A penny saved

I have always been a frugal spender when it comes to living expenses. Problem is, I liked to spend money on recreation. So what I saved in car payments and insurance typically got spent on expensive dinners or nights out drinking.

So when it came time to get serious about saving, it was easy.

About 4 years ago I decided that I didn’t want to retire early, I NEEDED to retire early. Work was killing me slowly and the pace had picked up greatly to the point where going to work every day became a serious chore.

So I decided I was no longer going to fall victim to lifestyle creep. The first thing I did was get myself out of debt fast.

I paid off my car and instead of spending the $400 a month, I saved it.

I began saving that $400 a month from every paycheck directly into my newly opened ETrade account. Then every time I received any sort of raise or bonus, instead of spending it, inot the ETrade account it went. The transaction is automated to the money is deposited directly into the account from my employer every payday.

I picked up the phone and called my various creditors and service providers and lowered my monthly bills.

I found any way possible to lower my spending and instead saved the money. And I can tell you, I did not miss any of the wasteful spending habits and I am a happier person for it.

Before long I was saving $1200 a month plus my annual bonus into this account on top of the money I was contributing to my 401k plus the employer contribution.

After 3 years of aggressive saving and investing in the stock market. I learned alot and actually wrote 2 articles about this. Pros and Cons of stock market investing and managing the risk involved in stock market investing. I found myself with an account worth just about $300,000.

In this time my 401k had grown to just about $700,000 and bam Im a millionaire. Just like that

And that does not even include my home equity or my wife’s retirement accounts.

Why you should not be impressed by my millionaire status

I wrote this article not to impress you but to impress upon you just how simple it is to become a millionaire. I admit, I got lucky along the way but imagine where I would be had I been focused the whole time

The secret is simple…

  • Stop blowing your money on stupid shit.
  • Start saving and investing immediately
  • Be consistent and be patient
  • Become a millionaire

If you want some more detailed directions, I wrote an e-book titled The 8 Day Financial Freedom Boot Camp which you can pick up for free.

Final Word

If there is one thing I learned, one piece of advice I think everyone should hear and follow it is that the time to begin getting serious about your finances is NOW.

Time really is money. The longer you wait, the more you will regret it in the future.

Thanks for reading

Earl

The post How I made my first million dollars! It was much easier than you think. appeared first on Early Retirement Earl.

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