Category Archives: Self-Made Millionaires

Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Retirement, Self-Made Millionaires, Wealth

Coasting to FI: Compounding my way to Coast FIRE and $1 Million

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“One minute of patience, ten years of peace.”  – Greek Proverb

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” —John Quincy

It was a hot summer day. Same as any other. I was busy working as usual.

I have been working so hard since I was like 5 years old. That was the age that I decided I was going to be rich.

I used to go outside and play on the playground every day. Those were some of the most important days of my life. I learned so much on the playground. The virtue in helping others, sharing, caring, making friends, solving conflicts and exercise.

Nothing came easy. You had to earn every inch when playing sports with other kids whether it was jumping rope or running. You played to win.

I was always pretty good at academics so I put a lot of my energy into that. I figured that could be my path to riches. It turns out I was right.

I was working 8-hour days and studying up to 8 hours a day in college. At one point, just a couple years ago I was reading 25-50 books a year.

I had a hunger for knowledge; especially, personal finance.

Once I learned what compound interest was, I knew I found my road to wealth. I would save and invest money consistently until interest would do the rest for me on my journey to $1 million dollars.

I had been grinding it out so long that sometimes the days blurred and I feel asleep at night from pure exhaustion. Then one day I looked up and realized I had made it to Coast FIRE.

Coast FI refers to saving enough to “coast” to financial independence. This allows participants in this version of FIRE (financial independence, retire early) to take jobs with less stress or pay due to reaching a certain amount of money needed to retire earlier than age 65.

Coast FIRE is a sub-genre of this early retirement movement. This version calls for having enough invested or saved so that without adding another penny of contributions to your retirement portfolio it will still grow to fully support retiring at a traditional retirement age. Your nest egg, simply put, has reached a tipping point so that it will “coast” to the target amount needed for retirement.

People who have successfully achieved their Coast FIRE (like me) still need to work, but they only work to cover current living expenses – not to build up their savings or investments for a future retirement.

The thing about Coasting to FI is that you must first do this before you can get to any of the other versions of complete financial independence; never having to work again – such as Fat FIRE, Lean FIRE, or Barista FIRE. Where compounding does the heavy lifting for you.

FIRE requires you to save up at least 25 times your anticipated annual spending and you have got a 97% or better chance of that money lasting at least thirty years. 

Fat FIRE typically means a budget of $100,000 a year, which requires a retirement savings of $2.5 million.

Lean FIRE typically involves being frugal and living in a lower-cost area, or even other countries with a lower cost of living with a budget of $30,000-$50,000 a year, which can require a retirement savings of a minimum $500,000 to $750,000.  

Barista FIRE is a hybrid between Fat FIRE And Lean FIRE. Barista FIRE is being able to retire before the conventional age of 60+, but taking on a part-time job for supplemental income and potentially health insurance. You will need to have at least $1 million in retirement accounts.

Coast FIRE requires you to save a certain dollar amount that will allow you to coast to FI such as saving $200,00, which will allow you to coast to $1 million in 15 years with a 10% rate of return.

 Coast FIRE formula for determining how large the participant’s nest egg must grow would begin with a regular FIRE number (estimated in the example below at 25 times annual spending of $50,000). In the formula below, note that “Years to grow” is an exponent.

25 x $50,000 / (1 + annual growth rate)Years to grow = Coast FIRE number

Suppose someone estimates they need 30 years to reach their Coast FIRE number and an average annual growth rate over those 30 years of 7%. The calculation would then be:

$1,250,000 / (1 + 0.07)30 years = $164,209

In this example, the Coast FIRE number would be $164,209, which would grow over 30 years (given the above-stated estimates) to the target figure (or regular FIRE number) of $1,250,000.

I like to use the $1,000,000 target for my estimate. The calculation would then be:

$1,000,000 / (1 + 0.07)30 years = $131,367

If you want to retire sooner, then just see what a different target number will do or by shortening the number of years.

For example, $1,000,000 / (1 + 0.07)20 years = $258,419. That means your Coast FIRE number would be $258,419.

Once you reach this dollar amount, you could stop investing in your retirement accounts and reach $1 million in 20 years. The higher the compound interest rate, the quicker you are able to get out of the rat race.

Once I hit $300,000 in cash and investments, I knew that with a 10% rate of return that it could turn into $1 million in 12.5 years.

$1,000,000 / (1 + 0.10)12.5 years = $303,802.

Paying off debt faster and more aggressively plus investing those funds and more could allow folks like me to get to $1 million in less than a decade.

I can now put on my eye mask, kick back and coast to $1 million. If I can do it, then anyone can.

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I started with $0 in retirement savings. I started stashing money into my 401(k) and then opened a Roth IRA to start saving even more.

If you want to coast to FI, then let compound interest do the heavy lifting for you, save $100k because the first $100k is the hardest, and allow it to coast you to $1M in 30 years.

Happy wealth coasting!

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Celebrities and Money, Credit Cards, Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Investing, Retirement, Saving, Self-Made Millionaires, Wealth

Suze Orman’s FIRE Protection Plan During The COVID-19 Crisis: $5 Million And A 3-Year Emergency Fund

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Here is Suze Orman’s FIRE protection gear: $5 million dollars to retire early. Really? Do tell. Care to elaborate. Absolutely.

It was around late 2018 that I heard talk of Suze Orman’s thoughts on the FIRE movement.

The rumblings in the financial blogsphere was that when Suze was asked her opinion about the FIRE movement on the Paula Pant podcast Afford Anything and she says, “I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.”

Suze told Paula Pant that $2 million isn’t enough for early retirement. At a 4 percent withdrawal rate, that’s $80,000 per year, which she says isn’t enough to protect you “when the floods come.”

“If you only have a few hundred thousand, or a million, or two million dollars, I’m here to tell you … if a catastrophe happens, if something happens, what are you going to do? You are going to burn up alive.”

The “Suze Slapdown” of ’18 was coined. And I thought watching WWE Smackdown was tough. Whew! They ain’t got nothing on Suze when it comes to laying the smackdown on finances.

She made headlines for saying that people who buy a daily latte are “peeing $1 million down the drain as you are drinking that coffee.” On Suze’s watch, spending at Starbucks SBUX is a no-no.

Let’s not drop out of corporate America on a whim and stop working. Get back to work.

Check out the tweet below that 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tweeted out last year to see what I mean.

Suze Orman’s the sky is falling attitude about retiring early is not so far-fetched now during the coronavirus.

For anyone who isn’t up to speed on the FIRE acronym, it stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. I am all for Financial Independence (FI).

This is me. Financial Independence: count me in!

Retire Early: slow down tito!

The focus of FIRE is to retire early by stopping the corporate grind and ending the rat race in your 30s or 40s, and not 55 or 65.

However, I am not yet ready to be put out to pasture. Luckily, other leaders in the FIRE movement gave some clarification and said that FIRE is not about stopping work, but finding your passion and earning passive income streams that keeps the money flowing.

The goal is to live life On. Your. Terms. So, I thought to myself okay. I can live with that.

Saving 25 times your current income and then retiring before age 40 without continuing to make money is risky.

The notion is that you can then afford to live off of your savings by limiting your withdrawals to just 4% of your assets each year.

Meaning if you earn $75,000 a year, then you need to save about $1.9 million before walking away from work. Money that was supposed to last starting from age 65, now has to starting from age 35.

I think what got Suze in an uproar was when an audience member asked her about her plans on FIRE that was posted on MarketWatch.

The millennial had caught the FIRE bug and she was looking to hang it up within two years.

“Well, how much money do you have?” Orman asked. “Two or three million?”

No.

“A million?”

No.

“$250,000?”

Yes, but with some debt.

“Really?” Orman could only shake her head. 

“Don’t talk to me about it. If that’s what you want to do, go ahead. But 40 years from now, I hope you remember everything I’ve said.”— Suze Orman, on retiring in your 20s

According to Suze, “time is the most important ingredient in your financial recipe.”

As financial blogger Mr. Money Mustache put it bluntly: “In the interview, Suze Orman goes on and on about what might go wrong, and how you need an incredible amount of money saved to protect you, just in case. But this thinking is completely backwards – money will not cure your fear, as megamillionaire Suze proves so clearly. Most high-income people are still within just a few paychecks of insolvency, because it is possible to blow almost any paycheck, simply by adding or upgrading more cars, houses, and vacations. Physical health FIRST: Salads and barbells every day, no goddamned excuses.”

Real estate financial expert and FIRE member Coach Carson posted some great advice on Suze’s opinion: “As Paula said after the interview, we should all make a practice of listening deeply to others (especially if you disagree). If you can reserve judgment temporarily, you can always learn something.”

Coach Carson says time not money is the most precious thing we have. The biggest regret is time wasted when people are on their deathbed. People do not wish they worked more or spent more time in that cubicle or corner office.

Very true. Washington Post financial columnist, Michelle Singletary, also weighed in on the interview. She says “let’s also put this debate in perspective. Many people aren’t saving enough to retire at all – early or late.”

I remember when my portfolio hit $100,000. It took half the time to get the next $100,000 and zoom to $200,000. Next stop, $250,000. That’s right a quarter of a million.

Then I was looking to moving on up like The Jeffersons to the tune of $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 and beyond. I only move forwards. I never look backwards. I could still work for another 30 years if I want to. Without putting in another penny, if I let this money ride I could have between $1 million and $2.6 million dollars. And that is if I stop investing. There is no way I am doing that.

I live for today. I live in the moment. I stop and smell the roses. I enjoy the present, but save like I am going to live forever.

Stop worrying about the world ending today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia. – Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts

I like to plan in advance. I have a plan to create a plan.

“If plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters – 204 if you’re in Japan.”― Claire Cook, Seven Year Switch

If I want something, then I go get if. I get off my duff and go make it happen. Don’t complain. Go do something about it. To quote Mindy Kaling, “We are all just a treadmill and six laser hair removal treatments from being Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.”

Ask for credit when you don’t need it. Credit dries up like tears in a recession. That’s just my two cents. Back in the 2008-09 recession, they cut my credit lines in half. Overnight *poof* half my credit limits were gone. Like a puff of smoke.

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The thing is that work gives us something to do. It lets humans be productive.

If you have $1.5 million at age 65, you have a much shorter retirement to spend on versus at 37.

What really makes the difference is that by age 55-60 many people are empty nesters, own a home, and already own most of their possessions.

You have a lot less things to buy because you have what you need already.

When you are 35, you may still have no kids, are just starting, or have a young family. You have costs that are still rising like inflation.

Empty nesters are not worried about paying for college. Its paid for. That’s in their rear-view. Juniors 529 is spent.

If you are still raising kids, it is likely you will need a decent income and a job. Kids cost…a lot. Most people are still buying homes, cars and having kids well into their 40s these days.

One of the biggest expenses that a job helps subsidize is healthcare.

Financial blogger Financial Samurai puts this into perspective: “Just know that once you get to your target number, you might find that your needs have changed. Life is unpredictable. A job helps you subsidize health care costs that are increasingly becoming a racket IMO, but it would help reduce our $2,380/month health care bill. However, I am grateful for every day.”

You want to retire early. Here is what Suze has to say.

Orman: “It would have to be in the millions . . . You need at least $5 million, $6 million.” (She later says $10 million to account for taxes.)

FIRE proponents fired back at Orman that she has it all wrong.

Really? When a government shutdown causes people to be in soup kitchen lines, then I beg to differ. Here were some of the things I read online during the 35-day government shutdown last year:

  • “I only have $1.06 in my bank account. I don’t know what I am going to do.”
  • “I can’t pay my bills.”
  • “I can’t afford groceries.”
  • “I’m scared I won’t be able to pay my rent or mortgage.”
  • “I can’t miss one paycheck.”

Not even one check? Even I try to keep a minimum of $10,000 in the bank at all times in savings. Just in case sh*t happens. I need that rainy day fund because when it rains it pours. Keeping a 3-6 month rainy day fund is what helps me sleep at night.

Now to be fair, the FIRE movement is about saving and investing your money. The more, the better. If you are practicing FIRE, then, in theory, you should be able to weather any storm.

Meanwhile, Orman isn’t sweating her emergence as somewhat of a villain in the FIRE community.

Now that COVID-19 has swept across the globe, it looks as if Suze may have been on to something when she always says, “hope for the best, but always plan for the worst.”

On one of her most recent podcasts she stated that a lot of her advice on saving that eight-month emergency fund has come to roost. She now thinks you need a 3-year emergency fund.

I have always been more about FI than RE because no matter what happens in this world, I know one thing to be sure; you will always need money in the bank.

Now I’m going to sign off on this post the same way Suze Orman ended her show on CNBC every night, “now you stay safe.”

So until next time…please be safe.

Financial Independence, Investing, Saving, Self-Made Millionaires, Wealth

Beware Of Financial Vampires

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Well hello there boys and ghouls.

Happy Greenbacksween.

Hey if Geoico can have Geicoween, then surely so can we.

On today’s spooktacular blog post, we are talking about why you should avoid the black cat of investing: fees.

They come in all shapes and sizes. From front-load, back-load and even fees you pay to trade stocks.

However, one of the most overlooked of all fees come from commission based salesmen disguised as your friendly neighborhood financial advisors.

They wear the greatest costumes 365/24/7: a suit.

And we are not just talking any suits my friends, but the kind you drop a month’s wages on; think more John Wick and less death of a salesman, as to portray a sense of wealth that make you feel like you be anyone or can do anything and believing you want to run up and kick that football that Lucy is holding.

You are unstoppable.

Then it happens.

You get that investor statement in the mail. You are so excited that you rip the envelope open to see how well you are doing. The market is firing off dividends and capital gains the likes of which you have never seen before. You just know you are making a killing in Mr. Market, right?

Then you see that 2% of your portfolio goes to the fund managers and realize that you just got punked!

You look to your left, you look to your right, but Ashton is nowhere to be found.

Why you must be your own financial advisor

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I must confess that being a DYI investor is best.

While reading a plethora of books on the subject of personal finance, I have learned the following:

  • Don’t invest in anything you don’t understand. It is not enough to buy the product. You must research the company behind the brand.
  • Know if a company has a competitive edge. For example, once digital cameras came on the market Kodak fell off the face of the earth. The last time I had a Kodak moment was right before Apple unveiled the iphone.
  • Don’t time the market. If you have money to invest, then do it!
  • Don’t invest in anything you can’t draw with a crayon.
  • Invest in index funds instead of individual stocks.
  • Only invest in funds with an expense ratio of less than 1%.
  • You can do exchanges between index funds you already own without paying any fees. This is pretty sweet!
  • Most millionaires are worth between $1 million and $5 million dollars.
  • 90% of millionaires over the last 200 years achieved wealth by investing in real estate.
  • Forget buying the product and own the stock. Millionaires collect assets – stocks, bonds, real estate, and intellectual property – like monopoly pieces. The poor collect consumer liabilities like big houses, boats, and cars. An asset pays you. Collect assets.

No one cares about your money more than you do

Although self-explanatory let us dig deeper children.

Would you hand over all the passwords to your bank, credit card, and investment accounts over to strangers?

Of course not.

However, in an essence that is what we do when people hand over the financial reins to business partners, financial advisors, and handlers.

Instead of working through the struggles of figuring out how money works, many just give up the responsibility to someone else. Nothing screams “just take some” more than giving people free range access to your money. Nothing attracts grifters more.

Just pick up a few free library books on investing and get started right there.

Heck you can even search online for podcasts or website that talk about money! That is how I got started.

Why you want to have $100,000 in investments

It is simple. If Mr. Market does what he has over the last 90 years, then you can turn $100k into $1M in 30 years. Not bad for a kid that gets picked last to play dodge ball.

Once you hit this number, then the money starts finding you.

Depending on your rate of return you could double your money to $200k in less than 8 years. It took me about 2 to 3 additional years to get that next $50k after the first $100k.

Do you want chocolate Halloween candy or a rock?

If any of you out there have seen The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, then you know what I’m taking about.

The reason many of us invest is the same reason kids trick-or-treat because we want the treat, that is something that gives us great pleasure.

You go from house to house looking for a reward for putting together that perfect costume.

Investors buy investment after investment looking for the same thing.

Nobody wants a rock!

I remember a time in school that I sold so much for a fundraiser that I got a chance to go in the money machine (where you stuff money into your pockets for like 60 seconds). I wanted that reward!

But guess what? The night before the big event I stayed up late and overslept the next morning! I missed the whole thing. That could have been my seed money to start this blog! That could have helped me start a Roth IRA at 17! The funny thing about rewards is that you may earn them, but you still have to go and pick them up.

Now I write down everything in a journal so that I do not miss a thing!

I wanted to one day be able to have ‘F everyone’ money like Mark Cuban said: “‘F everyone’ money means you can have your favorite band in your backyard, not care how much it costs, and lend them your jet to get there.” You should invest for your future self to have that option.

If you take nothing else from this post, at least remember this: we like the kind of money that jingles, but we invest so that we can have the kind that folds.

Coins are wonderful but paper folds so nicely.

Banking, Financial Independence, Investing, Philanthropy, Retirement, Saving, Self-Made Millionaires, Television Shows and Money, Wealth

Don’t Trust The Commission-Based Advisor In Wall St Cubicle 23

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If you remember this fun, quirky, and often brutally honest show on ABC called Don’t Trust The B- in Apt 23, then you know exactly where this post gets its title.

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The show aired from April 11, 2012 to May 11, 2013. It only lasted for a short two seasons, but it packed a lot into that one year.

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For those unfamiliar with the show let me bring you up to speed.

June’s (Dreama Walker) plans of moving to Manhattan for her dream job and perfect apartment are ruined when the company that hired her goes bust. Broke and homeless, her luck turns around when she finds a job at a coffee shop and a roommate, Chloe (Krysten Ritter).  The show also starred James Van Der Beek (from Dawson’s Creek fame) as himself.

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In one of the funniest pilot episodes I have ever seen of a television show, it really gives you a sense of how quickly one life can change within less than 24 hours.

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June loses her job and apartment within a few hours once the company she was hired to work for goes down in an FBI raid due to the head of the company embezzling billions from clients in an Enron type take down, which reminds you of the glory days of yesteryear of Wall Street darlings such as the likes of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers; the latter of which was in business for 150 years having started operations in 1850.

Some media outlets such as CNBC did an article on what happened to former Lehman Brothers employees after the collapse and some still had not recovered from the company shutting down in 2008 some 10 years later including those not being able to find full-time employment.

This show and the acquisitions or closures of places like Merrill Lynch, Bearn Stearns, which opened in 1923, and Lehman Brothers are reasons why you should be your own financial advisor.

Unlike how JP Morgan bailed out Bear Stearns in March 2008 or Bank of America did Merrill Lynch, you are on your own like Lehman’s when they filed for bankruptcy as no one came to save them because if you fail to manage your money, then no one is coming to bail you out.

Let’s go back to 2008. Banks were failing. Many were found to be a part of the subprime mortgage crisis, but like the scandal at Wells Fargo nobody went to jail. You think your money is locked up tight like Fort Knox until you realize it isn’t. That is why Roosevelt created the FDIC insurance for banks as without the $250,000 deposit insurance after the 1929 crash many no longer believed in the banking institution.

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Just because someone is wearing a suit does not mean they know what they are doing. Many of the analysts and associates that start work for their prestigious firms such as Goldman Sachs are straight out of college and still wet behind the ears. Even though I once read that the average salary of a Goldman employee was around $622,000, that does not equate to financial smarts or riches. Many of these employees still blow money like you wouldn’t believe. Instead of saving stacks they are blowing them.

Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway. – Warren Buffett

I have read enough accounts of high paying professionals and tons of the employees would blow off steam in a place called Scores in New York or buying million dollar homes, private school educations for the kiddies and exotic vacations costing $5,000 a pop.

Look, to each their own. Just understand that you are your best line of defense when it comes to your money. Read every book you can on the subject. Save as much as you can.

I even overheard a 2nd year law associate say that you can make a lot of money in New York, but it costs too much for too little. You have to be a millionaire to afford an apartment or buy a home.

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Part of the reason so many people are bad with money is because they do not learn about how money works. Please do not be one of those people. You must learn how money works. Learn the rules of the money game. Here are a few things you can do to save yourself the commission fee and invest those dollars instead.

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Use a three-part investing strategy.

Part I. Automate your savings and investments. Decide on a number you can live with, set it, and forget it.

Part II. Determine where to invest. Go with anyplace that offer fees that are less than one percent such as Trowe Price, Vanguard, Schwab or Fidelity.

Part III. Invest your money. I prefer to go with several index funds so I can be diversified in case one sector goes crashing down then others are usually going up. You could do a mix of 20 percent real estate or REIT’s, 15 percent in International Funds, 10 percent cash liquid savings in a high yield savings account, 10 percent in a bond fund and the remaining 45 percent in a stock equity fund like the VTSAX at Vanguard. This is similar to the Yale’s investment manager David Swensen’s model. He has been able to get a return on investment of billions into Yale’s coffers making them one of the larhgest college endowments on earth with $29.4 billion USD. Only Harvard has a bigger endowment war chest with $38 billion USD.

Who is David Swensen?

According to the Yale Daily News, “David Swensen of the Yale University endowment is the doyen of endowment investing. Imitation, of course, is the sincerest form of flattery. Today, the Stanford, MIT and the Princeton endowments all boast former Swensen deputies at their helm. Each also has adopted the “Yale model” of investing pioneered by Swensen in the 1980s.”

So what is Yale’s “secret sauce”?

“Until 1985, Yale had invested in mainstream U.S. stocks and bonds with a smidgen of foreign stocks and real estate.”

“Swensen was the first to apply modern portfolio theory to sizeable multi-billion-dollar endowments. He understood that “asset allocation” explains over 90% of a portfolio’s investment returns.”

“The decision whether to invest in specific asset classes matters much more than picking the right stocks. Over the past 30 years, Yale has shifted the bulk of its investments into “alternative assets” like natural resources, venture capital, real estate and foreign stocks.”

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When the market goes down, buy more. That is where the bargains are. That is how Sir Templeton made his millions. Sir John Marks Templeton was an American-born British investor, banker, fund manager, and philanthropist. In 1954, he entered the mutual fund market and created the Templeton Growth Fund. In 1999, Money magazine named him “arguably the greatest global stock picker of the century.” He purchased tons of stocks during the stock market crash when everyone else was getting out.

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So do not let fear take over how you manage and invest your money.

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Fortunes are made in recessions.

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Celebrities and Money, Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Retirement, Saving, Self-Made Millionaires, Wealth

Fiscal Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number

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I want people to remember me as a full on entertainer and a good person. – Aaliyah

In case you have not already heard the news, the late superstar Aaliyah has her very own Madame Tussauds Wax Figure in her likeness from the Try Again Era.

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Although, Aaliyah is gone she is not forgotten.

Therefore, this next post is titled in her honor. This post is named after her first ever record, Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number which is the debut studio album by American singer Aaliyah. It was released under Jive and Blackground Records on May 24, 1994, in the United States.

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I learned a lot from watching Aaliyah work so hard in her youth.

Like her, I want to be remembered as well, although as a full on financial blogger and a good person.

So let’s get right to it and start talking money.

When in doubt: save.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you cannot do or accomplish.

People have said to me the following:

You’ve been in school forever. Are you ever going to graduate?

Are you in school finishing your associate degree, because I know the bachelor’s takes a long time so you are probably only halfway done right?

You should write a book or something? Are you ever going to do that?

It is impossible to save any money. Is it possible to save thousands?

Winning the lottery is a great way to get rich. Do you play?

You should go for the Master’s degree. Why a second bachelor’s?

Why get a 2nd Master’s degree? Why not go for the doctorate?

You really have no car payment?

You’ve gained a little weight.

You’ve lost weight.

You have been saving forever, you are not ever going to buy a home.

I laughed at all these questions and comments.

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This is my life. I set the pace. No one else. I control my destiny and the outcome of my life. I control the narrative.

And just to set the record straight, I did finish my bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. So take that haters. In addition, I also bought a home, started a daily exercise routine, a health and wellness regimen, started a blog in 2016, wrote an eBook in 2019, paid off my car in 2009, don’t play the lottery, and learned to save thousands by not shopping or taking fancy vacations.

And after I paid off my car, this is how I felt. Just like Katelyn Ohashi at the ESPYs. And like in her acceptance speech that night, I too had made a reference about Cardi B.

Paying off debt and saving. This all took many years. Like over a decade to accomplish. I know folks are out there retiring at like 27. But guess what? Life is full of ups and downs, but I never let my goals be far from my mind and kept them in sight because whether you retire at 22 or 62, fiscal age ain’t nothing but a number.

Safe to say, I set out to conquer every mountain or hill that was put in front of me. Yea baby!! I feel like dancing!!!

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Life is complex. No one has all the answers. No one has a crystal ball to see the future. But reading up on the past has let me make some great predictions on what I think will happen.

For instance, after reading books on history, finance and biographies such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Daymond John, Bruce Lee, Dale Carnegie, Pat Benatar, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Warren Buffet, Ben Stein, Tony Robbins, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Dave Grohl, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and countless others, it is safe to assume the following:

  • Financial markets are cyclical. About every 10-20- years the market corrects itself and there is a recession. Plan accordingly.
  • When stocks go down, buy more.
  • Save until it hurts. Something like 50% or more of your income.
  • Things will get more expensive in the future.
  • You can expect inflation to average at least 2-3% a year.
  • Investing in real estate tends to yield good results over many years.
  • If you do nothing else in real estate, at least purchase your primary residence.
  • Buying franchises is expensive.
  • Find your talent and exploit it for profit. If you are a good mechanic, then charge a good and fair price for your work.
  • Never undervalue yourself.

I truly believe optimism is the key to happiness. I am always in a good mood. Laughter is always a part of my day and life.

My mind is always full of ideas, my eyes are clear and my heart is full.

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I can’t hear you!!! Say it with me now!! Louder!!! Say it like you are in a stadium full of screaming football fans and Antonio Brown is out there running drills and scoring like he did on an episode of HardKnocks! So say it loud for me! One more time for the cheap seats in the back!!!

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When people start complaining, I always feel that they should also provide solutions to their problems. I believe in being solution-based.

One of the greatest joys of my life is speaking my mind. I have done this since I was a little girl. I hold nothing in or back. I am always respectful, but I set clear boundaries on how I let people treat me. I respect others so I expect the same treatment in return. Instead of holding back, I dive in. Speaking your heart is a great way to free yourself from the constraints of life. You have to tell people what you want if you ever expect to get anything. SO SPEAK UP!!

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In this life, you have to keep going. There is no time to rest on your laurels. No pity parties here. If you want financial independence, then you must fight for it. You have to work your butt off for it. Even if it takes, 10, 20, 30, or 40 years. My goal is to have at least $2 million in assets before I retire. Over 10 years later, I am still working on that goal. NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS AND YOUR GOALS!!! If you fall down, get up! You get up, dust yourself off and like Aaliyah said, “try again.”

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Best of luck to you all in your fiscal adventures.

Celebrities and Money, Entrepreneurship, Film Reviews, Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Saving, Self-Made Millionaires

Fiscal Gentleman Are Tailor Made: Money Lessons From Keanu Reeves John Wick

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Fashion is the vocabulary of the wealthy. – Evan R. Lawson, Royal Pains

Keanu Reeves is arguably one of the most stylish and successful actors of a generation. His latest film John Wick 3: Parabellum earned over $300 million dollars at the box office spawning another sequel from Lionsgate for a John Wick 4 coming on May 21, 2021. So if you haven’t heard the news already then you’re hearing it here first! BREAKING NEWS: John Wick 4 is coming!

His hugely successful career has made him a bankable action star with an estimated net worth of over $350 million.

Let’s find out out millionaires are minted and tailor made.

There are three John Wick movies, so I will give you three money lessons.

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The Continental in New York
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Lesson One: If you’re going to do something, then you may as well look good while doing it I love this Buzzfeed interview with Keanu Reeves or KR as they refer to him. It is a film about suits. A ballet of bullets. Those suits are pristine mortuary chic.

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Custom made finely tuned works of art in clothe. It adds to the prestige and dark mystic of the film.

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The costuming and fashion is top notch. Definitely reminds me of suits I have seen on other men that come straight from suit designer to the stars Savile Row in London England.

Savile Row, founded by Henry Poole in 1846, bespoke suits are so popular that shops in that district have received the Royal Warrant (seal of approval from HRH the Queen of England or Prince Charles) to outfit the royals and all those who wear a crown. Getting a thumbs up from The Crown of England is no small feat as you have to be the top 0.01 percent of your craft.

Savile Row is the world’s most famous suiting street as reported by Maxim where suits on Savile Row can start at $5,000.

And speaking of Maxim, the magazines late founder Felix Dennis had some great advice on money. Considering he was worth an estimated $400 million, I would say listen to what he has to say.

The top financial advice he offers is to always pay your taxes. In addition, he states the following:

“To become rich you must be an owner. And you must try to own it all. You must strive with every fibre of your being, while recognising the idiocy of your behaviour, to own and retain control of as near to 100 per cent of any company as you can. – Felix Dennis, How to get rich “

If it flies, floats or fornicates, always rent it. It’s cheaper in the long run.” ― Felix Dennis

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Now back to the suits.

The suits designed for this movie are no exception. They almost take on a life of their own. This movie would make Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris or NPH for short) of How I Met Your Mother proud. He was known on HIMYM for constantly wearing suits and saying suit up.

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John Wick #1 or JW1
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JW2

One of my favorite things in this film are the manners. Everyone is respectful and well-mannered even when fighting or speaking with enemies. Parlay? haha This reminds me of that scene in the 1979 film The Warriors.

Anyway, I love a man in a suit. Any suit really. Or uniform. Uniforms means a man is employed. And a retired man means he has income. Wink, wink.

A man that can balance a check book, hang a suit (look good in it that is), and has great manners is my kind of guy! I’m just saying. Like any good host, in the film you regularly see people treat each other with human decency, courtesy, and respect.

Lesson Two: Save money and build up your savings muscle There’s my girl Halle Berry. You know in my previous post I wrote about why she and I continue to save so much.

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If you want to be a fiscal gentleman or lady, you must learn to invest your money.

You have to learn to move the needle on your savings and investment accounts the same way you do when you fill up on a tank of gas.

For more info on your girl Greenbacks Magnet money tips and tricks check out my interviews on the websites Financially Alert and Think Save Retire.

That is why I started with saving $1 a day and slowly went upwards to $13,333 a year. Now that is what I call upward savings mobility. It took years to do this. You think Keanu can do all those stunts without proper training?

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I once read in a magazine interview that he said to pull off The Matrix stunts he had to do two hours of stretching. It took months of work and preparation including weapons and martial arts training.

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A retrospective look back at Keanu.

1999: I need guns. Lots of guns.
2017: I need something Robust… Precise.
2019: I need guns. Lots of guns.

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Man has he evolved. haha

Therefore, you need to understand that it could take years to build your fortune. You must have patience or it will eat you up inside to try to get rich quick.

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Lesson Three: Make sure you have a safety cushion and that people owe you a favor because time is always of the essence

One the most intense parts of JW3 is his constant looking at his watch in the beginning of the film. As time is ticking by and he is in short supply of it.

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The intensity and emotions you feel in those scenes are the same way I want you to feel when it comes to paying off debt. It must go.

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Another part of this film I like was when you saw he had a stash of things he needed hidden in a book at the library. This is classic if you don’t want people to find something, then hide it in the books rhetoric.

It is always good to have a hidden nugget or money stash just in case. I explore that topic further in my post on Disney’s film National Treasure and Money Lessons I Learned From Scrooge McDuck.

And last but certainly not least, always make sure someone owes you a favor. I am known to help people out and at times ask for a favor in return.

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Life is about building relationships, or so Ryan Reynold’s character Van Wilder says; therefore, it is in your best interest to help your fellow man. There may come a time when you need to ask for help.

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People are 90 percent more likely to help those that have previously helped them in the past. So if you get a chance help others because remember that time in finite and you must show people today how you feel as tomorrow may be too late.

Good luck on all your money endeavors!

I’ll be seeing you.

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