Let’s talk about money. Someone will probably call me insensitive or naive for posting this, but I don’t care. It’s important. Please keep in mind, I’m talking about people with normal to above average incomes, not senior citizens on SSI or single moms on state assistance. I understand there are hard cases.
I heard a 60+ year old man say this today…
When I was 18 I made a decision. I decided I never wanted to be under financial stress. I have lived that decision my entire adult life and have never experienced financial stress. How did I do it? I saved 50% of my take home income without exception. I’ve had months I’ve made $100, and other months I’ve made $100,000. But regardless, I still saved 50% of my income. My income has fluctuated but my saving percentage hasn’t. This has enabled me to purchase several business and a large ranch without incurring debt. I hear people say ‘I couldn’t possibly live on 50% of my income.’ Oh! baloney, you choose not to. Sure it’s harder once you have a 400K mortgage and kids in private colleges, but you decided to live that way. You don’t need to live that way. And if you had decided when you were younger to live differently, you could have your 400K home and private college today without a dollar of debt.
I’m not trying to preach. I don’t save 50%. But I know everything this man said is true. I could have saved more, and if I had, I’d be much better off today.
I’m aiming the following list at the 18-25 audience. Why? Most older people are already working like slaves to pay off debt and can’t imagine living on 50% of take home. A huge percentage of people are living paycheck to paycheck by 30 with college loans, cars, credit cards, and mortgages. Once you’ve accumulated your debt, living on 50% will become impossible due to the choices you made earlier and your financial stress may never subside. Creating financial freedom starts young, requires disciple, and must become a habit.
Here are some ideas you could use to help you save 50% when you are just starting out in life:
(Keep in mind that these lifestyle sacrifices would be temporary - delayed gratification)
- Live in a small apartment with roommates
- Avoid buying a car. Cars are money pits. If you must purchase one, buy a cheap used car with cash. Never buy a car on credit
- Don’t indulge fashion trends. Instead wear practical durable inexpensive clothing. If your friends say you look like a dork, find new friends
- Avoid high-maintenance boyfriends/girlfriends
- Avoid expensive vacations. Instead make them local and cheap. Maybe go camping or biking.
- Don’t eat out
- Warning - this one is blasphemy - Avoid student loans. Pay cash (Community College) or learn free on the internet
- Don’t upgrade your home, your car, your education, or your clothes until you can pay cash
You may not want to live this way, but you certainly could live this way, if you chose to.
Most people say they can’t live on 50% of their take home. When in reality, they mean they won’t live on 50% of their income because they aren’t willing to make the trade offs. Or maybe they don’t think the trade offs are worth it.
I genuinely want to discuss this with you. Is saving 50% reasonable? I don’t know if it is. That depends on who you are, right? But for many people it is possible. What would happen if your income was cut 50% right now? Would you go bankrupt? Would you die? Would it destroy your marriage? Or could you survive for years?
Today’s post was inspired by Episode 63 of The Focus Society of Overachievers podcast.
译文:
你能否靠你收入的一半过日子？
让我们谈一下钱吧。有些人可能会因为这个而说我迟钝或者幼稚，但我不在乎。这个很重要。请记住，我要谈论的是达到平均收入及以上的人群，而不是领社会福利金的老年人或者靠国家救助的单身妈妈。我了解他们日子过得很艰难。
今天，我听到一个60岁的老人说······
我十八岁的时候做了一个决定。我决定我不要处于财政压力之下。自从我成年到现在，我已经做到我所说的了，没有经历过财政压力。我是怎么做到的呢？我把扣税后的实得工资的50%存起来，从不例外。有些月份，我只有100美元，而有些月份，我可能会有10万美元。但不管怎样，我都会把我收入的一半存起来。 我的收入不是很稳定但我一直没有改变存款的百分比。这让我能够买下几家商店和一个大牧场，但却没有招致负债。我听过有些人说“我不可能只靠我收入的一半过日子”。那是胡扯，是你们自己不想过那样的生活。当然，如果你要还房贷并且要供孩子去私立大学读书，那对你来说，的确是比较难以做到，但那都是你以前的选择的生活方式造成的。你没有必要过那样的生活。如果你年轻的时候决定过一种不一样的生活，你不用负债就可拥有400K的家，你的孩子也可以去私立大学读书。
我并不想在这里说教。我没有把收入的一半存起来。但我知道这位老人所说的一切都是真。我本可以存更多的钱，而且，如果我那样子做了，我现在可能会更加富有。
下面我说列出来的单子主要针对18到25岁的青年朋友。为什么只针对他们呢？那是因为许多年纪大一点的人现在正像奴隶一样努力工作赚钱以清偿债务。他们无法想象只靠收入的一半钱要怎么过日子。很多人到30岁的时候每个月工资支票里的薪水总是花个精光。他们得还大学时代的贷款，购车的分期付款，信用卡欠下的钱以及房贷。一旦你的债务积累起来，只靠收入的50%过日子就变得不大可能了，而你的财政压力也可能永远都不会减小。那都是你早期的选择造成的。要想没有财政压力，你必须年轻的时候就做好选择与准备，遵循你定下的规则并把你的存钱行为当成习惯。
下面是一些可以尝试的建议。它教会你怎样在居家过日子时省下一半的钱
(记住，这些生活方式只是暂时的，过后你会得到满足感的。)
- 与人合租小公寓
- 不要买车。车就像钱坑。如果你必须买，买一辆便宜的二手车并用现金结账。不要以分期付款的形式买车。
- 不用紧跟潮流。穿实在耐穿又便宜的衣服。如果朋友说你看起来像笨蛋，结交新的朋友。（言下之意：说你穿衣像笨蛋的人不适合当你的朋友--译者注）
- 避免交到需要高额消费才能维持关系的男朋友或女朋友。
- 避免昂贵的度假方式，选择当地的景点，花比较少的钱用来旅游，比如露营或者骑自行车。
- 不要下馆子。
- 警告—这有点离经叛道—不要申请助学贷款。花钱去两年制的社区大学或者通过网络免费学习。
- 除非你有足够的现金让你付款，否则不要翻修你的房子，车子，衣服，或者进一步学习。 你也许不想过这样的生活，但如果你选择过这样的生活，你一定能够做到。
许多人说如果只靠薪水的一半过日子，他们肯定活不了。而事实是，他们不愿意做出折中的考虑，所以不会只靠一半的薪水过日子。或许他们认为不值得去考虑过那样的生活。
我是真的想和你们谈谈：留存50%的收入是否恰当？我不知道是不是合适。那得取决于你是什么样的人，对吧？但对很多人来说，这是有可能实现的。如果你现在的收入减少50%，会发生什么事呢？你会破产吗？你会死去吗？你的婚姻会遭到破坏吗？你还能够活下去吗？