Luck of the Irish
Some that just made it on list would be cut off after tax hit from mandatory IRA withdrawal.
I just remember when it used to be that the advice was study hard, become a doctor or lawyer, etc. and you too one day might become a millionaire. Now it seems like they’re growing on trees.
That’s very true. Still, it’s a good problem to have.
It’s amazing how capitalism, saving and investment works – even for the working man.
Given the current returns on the stock market, becoming a millionaire is a simple matter of putting aside 20% of your salary from every paycheck into the stock market and waiting it out. People who aren’t millionaires by the time they retire either didn’t put their money in the stock market (not individual stocks!!) or happened to retire at a really rough in financial history (something many suspect will never happen again, as the asset class won’t let their precious assets depreciate under any circumstance). For us normal folks, it literally is simply “set it and forget it” and our finances will be pretty nice in old age (if corporate greed inflation doesn’t lead to a million USD being pretty much worthless, that is)
Or they started late, or don’t make much. Putting $5k/yr at 10% interest for 30 yrs gets you $822k, 40 years gets you $2.2M
And that’s why my high school teachers constantly told us to put 50 bucks into an IRA every week from the moment we got our first jobs.
You’re fortunate you had great teachers.
If only my teachers taught me this, it would’ve been the best thing I’ve ever learned in school.
What a difference 10 years make. From years 30 to 40 more than doubles your balance. For those that are able to, helping your kids by giving them an early start could make a world of difference.