Advice From a Retiree

 At 75 years old, I have been retired since 2015 and while my career has not been glamorous or financially productive, I have always managed to earn a little bit more than what I need to pay my bills, and have managed to save almost $1,000,000 in the bank.

Here is a little advice:

One - understand the Rule of 72 and start saving as quick as you can.  $2.50/day saved for 40 years will give you $500,000.  If you and your wife save this amount, it will be $1,000,000...  If you start at 25, you will have this amount of money by the age of 65.

Two - a carpenter measures twice and cuts once.  What this means is create a plan and review that plan often (like quarterly) and revise that plan as your interests and personality changes.

Three - decide what kind of quality of life that you want and adjust your spending habits accordingly around a budget that reflects how you want to live.  Stick to that budget and revise that budget as the cost of living changes.

Four - become debt free as soon as possible and stay out debt.  Use a credit to build your credit but only with the understanding that you will pay it off completely at the end of the month.

Five - keep yourself healthy with the right kind of diet, daily exercise, and the right amount of sleep.  Part of staying healthy is learning to manage stress.  Managing stress is not easy for everyone as everyone is different, but failure to manage stress could end your life prematurely.

Six - learn to be patient and thorough.  Don't rush through doing anything just so you can do more because that can create costly mistakes.  If you must take risks, do so when you are young and make sure that you have thought through all possible contingencies.  Learning to play chess will help you with this strategy.

Seven - don't trust anyone but yourself.  Don't base your self-esteem on what others think of you.  Realize that the only person you can change is YOURSELF.