Financial Fellow

Written by J.P. Wicklein

     I picked up a book recently entitled “The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me” by Richard Paul Evans.  At 106 pages, it’s a pretty quick read.  For a small book it packs a lot of useful advice. 

Win in the Margins

     One of the author’s five lessons is to “win in the margins”.  What does that mean? It means this:  To become wealthy you need to find ways to increase contributions to your growing nest egg.  Not through your 9 to 5, forty hour a week job but through other endeavors.  Figuring out what your money making endeavor will be is the hard part.  If you spend enough time thinking about your passions and determining what you’re good at, sooner or later you’ll settle on your money making idea. 

Invest Your Proceeds

     As you earn money from your side venture be sure to save the vast majority of your profits.  Your day job is what you’ll use to pay your bills, support your family, etc…  Proceeds from what you earn on the side need to be invested.  Let’s assume that you find a way to earn an extra $5,000 each year.  If every year you take the entire amount and invest it an index fund that earns 10% annually you’ll wind up with $100,000 twelve years later.  Keep it up for 30 years and you’ll pocket over $800,000. 

Do something you really enjoy 

     If you choose a side venture that you’re not passionate about chances are you won’t stick with it long enough to earn $800,000.  Instead, you’ll quit well before you accumulate any substantial sum.  If, however, you find a way to profit from your passions it won’t seem like work at all.  That’s “winning in the margins”.