The Investing Plan

The problem with most people is not making money, but keeping it. Even those that save their incomes diligently find that capital preservation, let alone capital appreciation, is getting much harder these days.

The old mantra of money management, namely investing in a diversified portfolio of stocks for the long run, simply hasn’t worked the past decade. What financial advisors won’t tell you is that there are downward cycles in stocks that last decades. If you take the advice of financial advisors and invest for the long run during one of these downward cyles, your retirement hopes will disappear.

That being said, my current investing plan consists of investing in commodities, including gold and silver. While most assets are deflating in value, commodities have appreciated quite considerably in the past decade. With strong and growing demand globally for raw materials, this trend seems to be firmly intact.

I am still avoiding real estate like the plague, although I do think opportunities will open up in the next few years. In order to capture the coming opportunities in real estate, I am trying to build up a considerable cash reserve. Cash is certainly king when there is a high level of distressed selling, which is what I foresee in the years ahead.

I strongly believe that those who follow conventional investing wisdom will suffer dearly in the next decade or two. It is time for intelligent individuals to take control of their financial futures, since Social Security certainly won’t be there for many of us to retire on. I continue to add to my education daily so that I can make prudent decisions in the turbulent times that are ahead.

Rising Early: The Foundation of a Diligent Life

I am no early bird.

Waking up early has always been a huge problem of mine. I blame it on my college years, where I would drink until 5 am and wake up at 5 pm… on a Monday. Let’s just say my college years were not my most productive.

My college habits, unfortunately, died a slow death. As an employee, I would regularly stroll into work late because I couldn’t seem to wake up on time. I managed to be productive, but not as productive as I should have been. In short, I was far from diligent.

However, in order to achieve my goal of a million in 10 years, I knew I had to get my sleeping habits under control. I have recently tried- with some success- to alter my sleeping habits. This takes a lot of hard work, grit,  and persistence, but it can be done.

And lo and behold, I’ve found that there are several benefits to waking up early. Here are some of them:

1. Head start!

This may seem a little obvious, but by waking up a little earlier, you have a head start on the day. This gives you time to finish up tasks from the day before, eat breakfast, and still get to work on time. By waking up earlier, you can be more productive at work, which only helps your future earning potential.

2. Preparation Time

I’ve found that it’s absolutely critical to have a roadmap for the day ahead. The simple act of sitting down in the morning and listing out my most important tasks for the day has increased my productivity tremendously. Never underestimate the power of an organized day.

3. No distractions

It’s amazing how much you can get done when you’re not constantly checking emails, answering phone calls, or being distracted by outside noise.

4. More Energy

I don’t know about you, but it usually me takes some time to get my mind functioning correctly. It’s usually only after lunch that I get any meaningful work done. By becoming an early riser, I have more clarity of thought, which corresponds with more productivity.

I know I must be a consistent early riser to achieve my goals. Every time I’m tempted to sleep in, I envision the person I want to be in 10 years, and somehow I always find a way to wake up.

My Million Dollar Plan

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog!

Allow me to introduce myself.

I am a 26-year-old single male who has recently embarked on a journey to a million dollars. I plan on attaining my first million dollars in the next 10 years. With a current net worth of exactly $0 dollars, this is a tall order indeed, but I believe my goal is very achievable with the right mix of discipline, focus, persistence, and diligence.

Why a Million? And why in 10 Years?

Good question! The thing I value most in life is freedom- freedom to spend my time as I please, freedom to travel the world, and freedom to think for myself. While I know money won’t buy me happiness, it will give me a measure of freedom I don’t have now- and that’s priceless.

The 10-year million dollar plan is somewhere between doable and utterly insane, which is where I feel any goal should be. I love pushing myself to the limits and dreaming big in all that I do- so why should my money goals be any different?

Ok, so now let’s get to the nitty gritty of exactly how I will attain my first million dollars!

1. Save

This is an obvious one. In order to achieve my financial goals, I know how important it is to pay myself first. As such, I currently save 30% of my net income. I know it’s crazy, but I want to get this number up to 40% of my net income while I’m still single.

For a young male in a big city, saving money is one of the hardest things to do. All of my friends my age spend- and they spend freely. It’s hard to stay focused on the future and my long-term financial goals while everyone around me has different motivations, but I somehow manage.

2. Earn More Income

I am currently working on building multiple streams of income so that I can escape the 9-5 life once and for all. I have some income coming in from another blog, and perhaps this blog will end up being another source of income. But for now, this blog is meant to simply document my journey.

My goal in the next month is to find part-time work, and to save 100% of the money I receive.

3. Invest Wisely

While saving is undoubtedly the foundation to any million dollar goal, investing wisely is what will determine how quickly I get there. The recent economic recession has battered investors throughout the globe, and I am sure many “paper” millionaires have disappeared. I don’t want to be merely a paper millionaire with a ton of assets, but no cash flow. I want to build a fortress that will weather any storm.

I invest tons of time in my financial education. I am an avid reader, and I am confident the knowledge I have gained will assist me on my million dollar journey.

With the capital I hope to accumulate, I plan to invest in cash-flow producing real estate as soon as the market turns up. I plan to slowly grow my real estate empire in the next 10 years to the point of receiving at least $10,000 dollars in passive income a month.

4. Be Diligent!

To me, diligence means working hard and working smart. It means making sure I’m not wasting an inordinate amount of time on fruitless activities (like watching TV). It means waking up and working even on the days that I don’t want to.

Diligence is one of the hardest things to learn since it goes against human nature. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of doing just enough to get by and not to follow your dreams to their conclusion. One of the main reasons I started this blog is to hold myself accountable and to motivate myself to be diligent throughout this long journey.

Let the Journey Begin!

I know the journey to a million dollars will be filled with naysayers who think it is not possible to achieve this kind of wealth in this short of a time frame. I’m out to prove the naysayers wrong.

I hope you all join me in my journey so we can learn and grow together. This is going to be fun!