Most of us are halfway (or more) through our financial journeys, but it’s never too late to change course. The plan the experts sold us was never going to set us free.
To become financially independent, especially before 50, we must travel a different path. To obtain assets, we must learn to leverage capital markets (real estate, stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies) and creativity (writing, videos, art, music).
Today, I want to explore the 40-40-40 plan they sold us and how we can pivot into a new direction no matter our age. Ultimately, it may be too late for us, but we can pass this new information on to our kids and grandkids. Let’s begin.
Welcome to the Housing Wars
What is the 40-40-40 Plan? I thought I had it all figured out when I was 27 years old. My wife and I had just bought a home and were early in our careers.
My plan in 2008 was to retire from the Marine Corps after completing 30 years and then work another 20 years for the government. My wife was a civilian enrolled in their 30-year pension plan.
Little did I know that plan would never pan out in our favor. Yes, I would have accumulated a hefty pension and social security, but it would have never been enough.
My lifestyle expenses would have continued to increase along with my income—lifestyle inflation. After 20 years in the Marine Corps (in 2019), I had an epiphany that the 40-40-40 plan wasn’t working.
My wife and I were in debt up to our eyeballs. We were waiting for the Marine Corps to increase our wages every year. We were sitting ducks. I couldn’t afford to take my family to a semi-nice restaurant (like Ruby Tuesday or Applebee’s) without using a credit card.
The Road to Homeownership #3
After maxing out my $25,000 credit card, I said enough was enough. I had to find a different way to live my life. I studied the internet until I found the words “passive income.”
But, before I get ahead of myself, let’s explore the three parts of the 40-40-40 plan and why they will not work in your favor.
40 Hours Per Week. You need more than 40 hours per week to set yourself free. However, working 40 hours per week for your employer is plenty. What do I mean?
Since we were in school, the experts convinced us that doing the mandated time in school or the office was all we needed to get ahead. They lied to us.
In reality, we should put at least 10-20 hours per week into ourselves outside of work hours. It may seem like a lot, but what better investment than our minds?
The Benefits of Starting an Online Business
What do you do with your 10-20 hours? The first step is to read tons of books. You must convert your mind from an employee to an entrepreneur. It will take a few years to grasp this new perspective.
Over the last five years, I have read over 150 books to help me forge a new path. I reject the 8-hour-per-day, 40-hour-per-week lifestyle.
In your off time, you should read the news, start a business, create content, and enjoy time with your family. Eventually, you will reduce your time in the workforce and increase your time doing your own “thing.”
40 years of working. I started working at age 15; I retired at age 42. I was lucky enough to change course when I turned 38.
Life Begins at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone
The news media wants you to work for 40+ years. They want to push the social security age past 70. That means you could potentially work from age 15 to 70; that’s a whopping 55 years of grinding. I say, “No Freaking Way!”
Working for 40 years doesn’t work because your work performance will begin to decrease at a certain point. Your employer will see this and begin to reduce your hours and pay.
However, if you own assets over those 40 years, they will grow exponentially in what we call the power of compounding.
Therefore, owning a home for 40 years is better than working for 40 years. Assets get better with time, while you don’t. However, your business could excel over those 40 years.
CDs vs. Bonds
We cannot rely on the government or a corporation to tell us our value to society. We must create our own value. As our kids enter the workforce, ensure they have assets before entering their first job.
Let’s say our kid has a $100,000 dividend portfolio at age 18 that generates 10% of income as dividends. At age 58, the portfolio would be worth $4.5 million and generate $450,000 annually.
Unless our child becomes the most famous doctor in the world, he won’t create that much wealth under an employer.
40% retirement. The 401K experiment was a lie. It’s not that 401Ks don’t work, but they work much better for wealthy individuals. Here’s why.
My First Day of Retirement
When I served in the military, I invested in my 401k. However, I didn’t have enough left to build an emergency fund, so whenever I needed funds, I would borrow against my 401k.
Wealthy people understand that the most essential aspect of building wealth is letting your investments compound without touching them. They create emergency funds first, then maximize their 401k, Roth IRAs, Health Savings Accounts, and 529 Education accounts.
When we enter the workforce without the information, we believe our 401k is our savings account. I didn’t even know what a high-yield savings account was until I turned 38.
By the time most of us learn anything about investing (if ever), we are well into our 60s. We don’t have the proper amount of time to leverage compounding.
Retirement & Dividends: Enjoy Your Time Off
So, at age 60, we settle for our $100,000 portfolio and pray social security pays us enough to survive. We are lucky to receive 40% of the income we earned during our working years.
Changing the narrative. Most people fall into the 40-40-40 plan because they don’t know anything otherwise—it is the standard operating procedure.
However, if we pay attention to what is happening, we can rewrite the script. There is no need to complain, only to adjust.
We have to ask ourselves deep questions. Is it better to buy our kids a home or send them to college? Is it better to invest in our 401k or buy ourselves a business?
Everything I know about personal finance changed in 2019. I was on a path to nowhere because I followed the 40-40-40 plan to a tee.
Financial Freedom Road Trip #4: Creative Writing
However, with mounting credit card debt and a non-existent 401k, I made a hard pivot into the unknown. I learned about passive income and never looked back.
Conclusion. Reject the 40-40-40 plan. While it may work for some high-net-worth individuals, most of us can’t enjoy those perks.
The 401k is a tax shelter for the wealthy because they have massive emergency funds to protect the power of compounding.
You need more than 40 hours a week to grow your collection of assets. You must do everything possible to build a portfolio of real estate, royalties, and stocks to ensure you generate money while doing nothing.
Financial Freedom Road Trip #3: Rental Income
Your kids’ stories can be different if they own assets. I own a home for each of my kids and plan on purchasing even more. I also have savings and stocks for each of them.
We are on a battlefield between the haves and have-nots, between the rich and poor. There is no need to dislike or resent the rich because you can become one of them.
Exchange the 40-40-40 plan for the Happy Cash Flow Retirement plan, and all good things will come. You must step outside your comfort zone, but it will be well worth it. Good Luck!
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