How to Be A 17 Year Old Millionaire
At my age it’s not hard to become a millionaire. I don’t think most of our generation realizes that. Everyone writing about it is writing to our parents. They forget that we can make decisions too. I’m going to be a senior in high school this year and it’s crazy how many times I’ve been asked what I want to do with my life and then, when I answer, have them look at me and say “you’re just a kid, we will see where you are in 20 years.” You see, I don’t think it’s crazy to say I’m going to be a millionaire. I have something that they don’t have. I’m young. I have time.
I’m not going to bore you with a bunch of math. I’m just going to give a quick and easy example of compound interest. If I have ten thousand dollars and it makes seven percent next year I have $10,700. If that makes seven percent in the next year I have $11,449. In two years I made $1449 just letting it sit there. Imagine what will happen in fifty. That’s compound interest. There is a good graph that shows it here.
So, it all starts today. We have time. The older generation doesn’t. Anything we do today to save money toward retirement puts us ahead of the older generations. In upcoming posts all four of us will be sharing our school year challenge and the different ways we are going to make our money work for us. If you want to join us the first step is opening an account. You will need your parents. Talk to them. Tell them you want to open an IRA.
A quick explanation on a Roth IRA…it’s an account you can put your income into as a tool to make your money work for you. Look at it this way, every dollar you put in there today will multiply exponentially. There are rules. You have to have income from a job. They tax any earnings from that money before you are 59 1/2, but if you’re saving anyway why not make sure it’s not sitting in a savings account doing nothing. Make your money work for you so you don’t have to work forever. If you don’t have a job there are other accounts. Stay tuned for a list of options you have. It’s coming.