Who doesn’t want to reach a $100,000 in their investment portfolio. Me and Alex managed to reach 100K within 2.5 years, although it is still quite far from our goal of retiring early, for which we need $800,000.
Despite that, 100K is still a very good milestone. If you can reach that, you’ll be sure to reach whatever you desire. The hardest part is the beginning. You can start small but remember every dollar and every cent counts towards that achievable first $100,000.
There has always been economic uncertainty which have put our financial security at risk but that should not stop you from getting closer to your financial goals.
You can move forward to your goal through careful planning and budgeting. Keeping your personal financial situation problem free also helps.
We can keep your personal finance in pace with your financial goals by predicting the unpredictable like unwanted price rises or unexpected bills and keeping them under strict control. So that getting towards that first $100,000 becomes easy and the next one easier and the next one easiest.
7 Steps Towards $100,000
1. Have the right attitude
Now that you have made up your mind set to save $100,000 every small step of financial sacrifice counts. You should achieve that by avoiding excess luxury and taking that hard way home like availing public transport rather than leasing out or out rightly buying that expensive car. You have made up your mind to achieve a long term financial goal, so you should put every effort big and small towards achieving it, for that keeping the right attitude always helps.
2. Stick to your financial goals
It is always hard to give up something presently for a distant future. The temptations to break your financial goals towards that first $100,000 will be great. So, you need to stay motivated for the long run. This means you should create small achievable financial goals like weekly savings target to achieve the monthly ones and the yearly ones. That steady savings will add up to quite a good amount. You can also invest in money market deposits or treasury bills for the short term to save up towards that goal of $100,000.
3.Reduce your taxable income
It is very likely that you are employed in some way or the other and in that case you should go for such a scheme that reduces your taxable income, either through a roth 401k or a roth IRA.
You can sign up for a 401(K) savings plan. Since these are tax free, you reduce your taxable income. You can also sign up for an IRA or an Individual Retirement Account which also reduces your taxable income and saves money.
4.Clear all expensive debts
Clearing or reducing your debts is an essential step towards achieving your dream because you are on a long term savings plan. In case of credit card debt, you should try to get rid of it as soon as possible or start reducing your interest rate burden. You should also need to avoid the additional temptations of buying unessential items like a second television or a double door refrigerator.
5.Maintain a budget
You should always maintain a budget, to see where your hard earned money is going. It is also important to do so because you need to create a plan on how much to save daily, weekly, monthly and yearly towards your $100,000 savings goal. You can achieve this by focusing on meeting the essential requirements of everyday life and cutting down on those costly habits like liquor or extra shopping. This does not mean that you cannot enjoy yourself now and then but those occasions should be countable and within your means and budgets. Whatever you do you cannot over spend and not maintain a budget if you like to see that $100,000 in your bank.
6.Increase your streams of income
Taking up a second or third job always helps if you are young, healthy and strong. Even if you are not so, you should always look towards finding new sources of generating income. For example if you are a professional accountant by day, you can start teaching accounting to students for a couple of hours during the evening. You can also learn a new skill that will increase your likelihood of a second job. The extra you make will help you get to that goal of saving $100,000 more quickly.
7.Cut down on your expenditures
You need to cut down your costs and it is achievable if you are motivated and willing to take that hard road. You can always buy your groceries at a cheaper price if you buy in bulk for the whole month. You can cut down on unnecessary costs like gym membership if you can walk or cycle to work back and forth every day. You can save on home expenditure by buying recycled products. You can choose to have home cooked meals rather than visiting expensive places to eat alone or without any occasion.
You should always remember that no matter what you do to cut down expenditure, there always will be some reason in your head or some temptations to miss that weekly savings goal. In that case you should remember that week’s add up to months and months to years. So your every little sacrifice counts towards that goal of saving $100,000.
If you think you will be living a frugal life because of that, you are certainly wrong. What will happen is you will live a more healthy and prosperous life because you will be cutting down on unhealthy habits to save and you will be happy in the long run as you feel better because of your successful decisions.
This does not mean you will not face setbacks like missing a savings deadline or incurring unexpected costs but if you can jump right back and make that extra effort to save more, you will be the winner at the end of the day.
To Summarize..
Saving money is always a good habit and the sooner one gets to it is the better in the long term, although you will face new challenges and uncertain economic conditions and personal financial drawbacks. But what is most important is not to lose that motivation towards achieving that goal of $100,000 in savings.