We are all young. We all make questionable choices when we’re young. But if you piss away your money every week living paycheck to paycheck as a young adult, I can guarantee that you will end up broke and living paycheck to paycheck the rest of your life. Lucky for you I learned from my mistake and don’t want to see any young man make the same ones. So allow me to map out the next 15 years of your financial life. If you start when your 18, you’ll be way ahead of the game.

 

20-25: Start Saving Now and Stop Drinking So Much!

 

Step 1: At least Open a savings account or a retirement account.

 

Preferably a Roth IRA account. A Roth IRA account is a special retirement account where you pay taxes on money going into your account, but all future withdrawals are tax free. So if you put in at least $100 from ages 25-65 with an average rate of return, you will have about a million dollars by the time you retire. Don’t wait until you’re older to start making those $100 payments. Years of procrastinating can cost you hundreds of thousands.

Step 2. Eliminate your debt.

 

It would be better if you never got into debt at all. I always say if I can’t pay cash for it, I can’t afford it. Of course I didn’t know that at 18. So don’t go into debt. Of course if you are already in debt, eliminate if as fast as possible. Debt can cripple you for years.

Step 3. Buy a house.

 

For your starter home, don’t try to look for the perfect place. Buy something ugly. As long as your new home has a decent layout and good structure, you can build up its value. That way, you control the market, not the other way around. And stay away from interest only loans.

 

25-30: Start Making Money

 

Step 4: Raise You’re Money!

 

If you work for the man, you need to be getting progressive raises every year. Most companies will raise you about 4%. When you factor in inflation, that just means you’re staying even. Shoot for at least 20%. That way you will more than double your income every 5 years. If you want to take it a step further, start your own business. Begin working for yourself now and you control how much you make.

Step 5. New home every 2 years.

 

Most homes get you on a 30 year term. Which means that if you buy a home for $700k, and you have a $600k mortgage, by the end of the term, you have paid almost 1.2 million. Take advantage of the home sale tax exclusion. It allows you to get up to 250,000 in profits on the sale of your home as long as you have lived in it for at least 2 years. Just use the profits for your next home.

Step 6. Stop paying for women.

 

When it comes to women, one of the worst things a man can do is always pay for everything. Today is not like it was 60 years ago when only men worked. Don’t think you have to impress women with gifts. Real women don’t care. If she does, find a new one. A real women will care if you’re only making minimum payments on your credit card, or barely getting by without saving any real money for the future. Men care about how a woman kisses. Women care about what men do with their money. Don’t get stuck with a girl. Find a woman.

 

30+ Don’t Lose It!

 

Step 7. Protect your biggest risky bet.

 

If you’re rich or wealth; or you just make a lot more then the woman you are dating, DO NOT get married. Without a prenup. Divorce is the single biggest thing that hurts wealthy guys as they get older. And don’t get tricked into signing a prenup that expires in 5-10 years. And don’t marry a girl. Marry a woman.

Step 8. Follow starbucks.

 

Want to start a business or looking for an area to expand? Well first I would recommend not starting a brick and mortar business. The way to go these days is online. Everything and everyone is online now. It’s not like 10 years ago. But if you are going the old school route, I would suggest looking into areas where new starbucks are popping up. Believe me they did their research. If they are opening a starbucks in an areas that you think might not have potential, you are wrong. They know they can sell $5 coffee there. You know that neighborhood is on its way up.

Step 9. Stay away from bad business.

 

Like I said, want to start a business? Start online. Going offline? Look for business opportunities on sites like inc.com or startupjournal.com to see what’s working today. Two things that I advise you to stay away from are restaurants and bars. 60% of restaurants fail within the first year. 80% don’t make it past 5 years. Bars have a 70% failure rate. So stop watching all those movies about restaurant and bar owners making it big. Chances are slim to none. Instead, focus on smaller to medium sized businesses. Or just look to start something online. You can make a lot more money that way.

 

Well there’s your basic outline to retire rich. It will be better if this is all done before 35 so the sooner you get started, the more time you will have to travel and enjoy life.

 

 

See you guys next time:

Geo Out!