Don’t Gamble with Retirement 13: Serious Lives Lead to Extraordinary Retirements

Why is being serious considered a bad thing? I was always a serious person, and it has served me well. I joined the Marines 10 days after high school in 1999.

In the Marines, I never got passed over for promotion because I always took my job seriously. I retired at 42 and never have to work again because I take my money seriously.

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You are gambling with your retirement if you are not taking your money seriously. Do you want to work forever? Do you want to depend solely on social security? Do you want your kids to struggle worse than you did?

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What does it mean to take money seriously? Have you ever heard the saying, “Pay yourself first?” What does this mean? Does it mean that you must budget and save your money?

In the simplest form, this statement means that every penny needs to serve a purpose. At no point should you endure any financial surprises.

You should have some money whose sole purpose is to protect you during an emergency; we call this an emergency fund. Even though this money sits in an account, it can still collect significant interest via a high-yield savings account.

You also need a buffer account between saving and investing. You can call this account anything you want; I call it an operations account.

An operations account focuses on non-emergencies non-recurring events that happen semi-randomly throughout the year. Some of these events are paying for car registration, getting your annual maintenance on your air conditioning, and paying your annual HOA fees.

We should never touch our emergency funds or investments; therefore, our operations funds are vital to solving these non-recurring special events.

Make your money grow. One of the most important parts of retirement is ensuring your money continues to grow ahead of inflation and cost-of-living increases.

The only way to outpace inflation is to invest your money wisely. There are many ways to invest in the stock market, including index funds, dividend growth, and income investing. I personally favor income investing, but you can choose your own investing destiny.

However, investing is more than just putting money into the stock market; it’s about using your assets to generate money.

It would take $150,000 in your income investing portfolio (at an 8% dividend yield) to create $1,000 per month in dividends.

My wife and I have a roommate who pays us $1,000 monthly to rent a room. Do you see the value of using your resources to generate passive income?

Use your brain at all times. I have been retired for over one year, and my net worth and passive income are higher than when I retired. 

I attribute this growth to my love of building income streams. I go to college (and earn money), teach Marines online, have a roommate, and write books. I am constantly keeping my mind sharp and looking to earn (and save) more.

The worst thing you can do in retirement is sit still and let your bills catch up to your income. The better path is to not gamble with your retirement by creating passive income, saving for emergencies, and preparing for the unexpected. Good Luck!

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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. All Right Reserved Military Family Investing