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There’s always tomorrow and it does get better. – Ariana Grande

That statement reminds me of something Scrooge McDuck says, “there’s always another rainbow.”

Nothing is permanent. All is temporary. So, stay calm and keep moving on.

I remember it like it was yesterday. The car payment had to get paid. If I paid late, I had to pay a late fee.

So, it was either be late with the phone bill or the car. I chose the car because my cell phone could wait.

I couldn’t stand making this payment after the first year. It took me 6 years to pay that car off!

My lesson was learned. A car payment isn’t worth it.

I cannot tell you how many times I had to make payment arrangement, pay a late fee, or forgo making a payment to one creditor over the other. It royally sucked!

There had to be a better way. It had to get better. And it did.

Once I got down to the last $1,500, I just paid the car off. I immediately asked for the lien and a copy of my payment history.

The last payment had been made. I no longer owed a penny on my car. I was a free woman!

That was about a decade ago.

I wanted so bad to start shopping, traveling, or just do anything with that money. But then I stopped. I remembered all the sleepless nights and the time I spent worrying over how to make my car payment.

That’s when it hit me.

Why not put that money to work? I could max out a IRA or put the additional funds into my 401(k).

So, I looked into doing just that.

WHERE TO INVEST

“If you’re saving, you’re succeeding.” ― Steve Burkholder

I did some research. The money could go into a Traditional or Roth IRA. In addition, I had the option of my company retirement account.

I chose the latter.

Then, I had to decide what brokerage account. I could go with several including Fidelity and Vanguard.

Vanguard had the lowest fees. So, I went with Vanguard.

Next, I had to decide what fund or stock to actually invest my money.

I though a mutual fund looked pretty good and went with the Vanguard 500 index fund (VFINX).

WHAT’S THE GOAL

Money can’t just sit. There has to be a plan or like idle hands, good things do not happen. Money can’t be idle. It has to be put to work. Save it, spend it, or invest it. Either way, you must choose.

“The habit of saving is itself an education; it fosters every virtue, teaches self-denial,cultivates the sense of order, trains to forethought, and so broadens the mind.” — T.T. Munger

 I had read enough about wealth building to know you need to invest your money.

But, I also needed something to aim for. A target.

That’s when I did some more research.

Then, I saw it. The first $100k is the hardest. I had my goal.

THEY SAY THE FIRST $100K IS THE HARDEST

You will find many stories written about getting to the first $100k. It seems to be this is a very important number.

Many have said once you hit that six-figure mark, you are able to build wealth from compound interest faster.

So, okay.

I just had to find a way to get to five zeroes.

What could I do? How long would it take? How can I get to $100k?!

HOW DO YOU GET TO $100K

Hitting that magic number.

Once I decided $100k was what I wanted, I had to see how I could make it happen and how long it would take.

I used an online calculator to determine my time horizon to hit the six-figure mark by investing my now retired $450 car payment. That just feels so good to say.

Before, we get to the numbers, I just want it to be known that I did think about buying a new car.

However, remembering how painful it was to write that check every month for years sobered me right up!  

“The way to stop financial joyriding is to arrest the chauffeur, not the automobile.” —Woodrow Wilson

Yes, investing was the way to go.

The calculator informed me that if I invested $450 and got a 9% return (wishful thinking as the average is about 7%), then I could hit my target of $100,000!

That money could set me on the path to financial independence.

You start earning way more compound interest at $100k.

Take a look.

Once I hit $100k, without even putting in another penny, at that same interest rate, my money would double in 8 years!

It took 10 years of investing $5,500 a year to get to $100k.

Without investing another dollar, my earlier dollars are doing all the heavy lifting and have gotten to the same $100k it took me 10 years to build in less time than that. It only took 8 years!

All this only involves my car payment.

This does not include any other invested funds.

I excluded my company match and additional funds I am investing.

This was just to show you what could be done with what you’ve already got.

Literally, by just shifting that money to your retirement account has made a huge difference in your 401(k) balance.

From there, if you continue to let it ride, this means no cash outs, you could again amass another $100k in 5 years! You could even double $200,000 to $400,000 in 8 years. That is only three more years!

Are you starting to see a pattern?

For every dollar you let sit and compound, you just grow your money without you having to do any additional work. Your money grows every  year.

Money you earned and invested over a decade is still paying you dividends!

Think about how you can also double your $200k in just another 3 years!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” — Mark Twain

I cannot press upon you any further the importance of investing money and letting it stay invested for the long term. Investing is along game. It can take 10-20 years before you see a significant increase or return on your investment.  

“Try to save something while your salary is small; it’s impossible to save after you begin to earn more.” — Jack Benny

Remember, I was able to do all this by just by investing my old car payment.

I just started small and worked my way up.