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You’ve worked so hard to get to where you are at. You have finally gotten to the point where your bills, expenses, and budgets are all nicely covered by your income. Hell, you can even save $1,000 a month easily. This must be what the middle class is right? You can afford to have a nice home and a nice car. To save and invest for the future is every person’s dream. Wow, life is good, time to put coasters on. Now, you can spend your free time watching TV and shopping over the internet. You have definitely earned this break from the stressors of the real world. From time to time, you hear that people are starting businesses in their off time, creating side hustles, and investing in the stock market. But why would you do those things? They take time and energy. Plus, your couch is so warm and cozy after a long day of work. You come to the realization that you love being middle class. Those people that are working in their spare time are greedy fat cats. They lack balance. And with that, it’s time for you to get back your Netflix series.
Does this sound like you? It sure as heck sounded like me less than two years ago. Don’t worry, most Americans have fallen into this trap. I call it the Middle-Class Trap. In reality, most of us are just in the Upper-Poor Class. That is where I am currently sitting as well. As you can see from the picture above, the Marine Corps is paying me roughly $133,000 annually in pay and benefits. I would consider that a hefty amount of money. With that amount of money, why would I still consider myself in the Upper-Poor Class? First, this is another person’s value assessment of my work position. Basically, someone else is telling me how much they think my time is worth. Second, I am exchanging time for money. I wake up on a set schedule, work a set amount of hours, and go home at a set time. I may as well be a worker-ant being tasked out by the queen-ant. Lastly, I have no control. I do not control my wages and I do not control my time. Without control of these two components, you will always be in the Upper-Poor Class. An important rule to remember is “The rich do not work for money”.
Grandkids: The Reason I Will Never Work For Anyone Again, Ever
I can hear you screaming already, “But everyone works for money. If I do not work for money what will I do?”. A tough question that has a very easy answer, educate yourself. No, I am not talking about paying your way through Havard in your free time. I am talking about self-education. Reading books, taking courses, and watching YouTube videos. I also know that almost everyone (97%) will not do this step. It is easier to watch football, drink beer, and take the kids to their basketball practice. Self-education and financial education are the two most important divisions between the Upper-Poor and the Middle-Class. Before I go further, let me define what my version of Middle-Class is.
The Middle Class is a subset of people who can live completely from their investments. These investments include stocks, bonds, real estate, royalties, notes, and more. The true Middle-Class does not have to go to work. This allows them to make WAY more money than someone who has a job. The Middle Class will have control of their earning and time. With control of those aspects of income, they can create any amount of income that they choose to make. If I am an Upper-Poor person making $133,000 working in the workforce, there is a limit to how much money I can make from my job. However, a Middle-Class person, generating $50,000 from investments has all the time to seek out investments.
Most people cannot envision a life where they do not work. To this, I will say, “READ MORE”. Reading opens a vision of a life without working. Reading gives you knowledge directly from those that have lived this life of freedom and prosperity. With the path and the knowledge laid out for you, all you have to do is tailor it to fit your lifestyle. You do not have to follow any one person’s life directly. For the sake of this article, I will help you envision a life without work.
From $0 to $60,000
Let’s say that Kris and I retire from the Marine Corps and bring in $8,000 a month. Our monthly expenses are $3,000 a month. Now we are officially financially independent and also Middle Class. Most people will stop there. But that is just the beginning when you have the self-education to generate income from any source. Let’s also say that we have $100,000 saved for making investments. We would spend our days doing whatever we felt like. However, a little portion of our time would be spent looking at our next investments. We could set a goal that each your we want to add $1,000 a month to our passive income portfolio. For example, there is a car rental app called Turo. We could buy a used car for $10,000 and put it on the app. If we get $800 a month from renting it out, that is now $8,800 a month of income. Rental income from our houses goes up by $200 and our dividend investments go up by $200 as well. So by year-end, we would be at $9,200 a month in passive income. That was probably 10 hours of work, for the ENTIRE year. Now back to being in the Upper-Poor Class. How long would it take to get a $1,000 a month increase? I know for me, the pay bump from E8-E9 was $1,000. I reached the rank of E9 after 20 years in the Marine Corps. Which way would you prefer?
The Fast Track to Wealth
I know that I make it sound easy to create sources of income. That is because it is easy. The hard part is getting the self-education to know where to start. Money is in abundance, you just have to know where to look for it. And once you have it, you have to put it into assets that give you a return on your investments. Your money needs to work for you, not the other way around (where you work for money). Where would you start if you do not have any idea of where to start? Luckily I have been reading religiously for the last few months. I have read over 20 books and written a short book report for each. Read over my 5 Takeaways until you find a book that sounds interesting. Then start with that book (please buy from my affiliate link so that I get a kickback, passive income right?). All books lead to the same place, which is, how to transport yourself from the Upper-Poor class and into the Middle Class (Financially Independent). How will you spend your free time?
Wealth and Mindset Book Review Series
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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