How to Get Rich, Make a Million, and Retire a Millionaire

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By David Sarokin
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Article Rating: (8 Ratings)

If only it were this easy!

Make saving a serious habit, and you can retire with a million dollars or more. The earlier you start the better. Here's how.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Step 1

**Get Started**

Putting something away for the future can be daunting. The price of gas is skyrocketing. Food prices are through the roof. The stockmarket is tanking. Jobs are hard to come by. But things won't be this way for ever. Think long term, and prepare now for the day you retire.
Step 2

***Plan for Age 25 (if it's not too late!)***

If you can sock away $75 a week ($300 a month) in savings, you can retire at age 65 with a million bucks in your pocket. (Assuming an 8% annual return, which seems like a lot these days, but is a reasonable target for the long term).

Put it in your 401(k) retirement plan, if you have that option at your job. Your employer might even match part of your contribution, making your money grow even faster.

If a 401(k) isn't available, set up a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA as your retirement plan, and start making deposits.
Step 3

***Plan for Age 35***

No savings yet? Time to get started, but you'll need to be more aggressive (happily, though, you're earning more than you did at 25, right?). Put away $671 a month, to reach a million at age 65. Even better, max out your 401(k) at $15,500 (in 2008), and you'll hit a million even sooner.
Step 4

***Plan for Age 45***

What! Still no retirement account? Time to get going, but now you need to save big. Put away $1,700 a month, and you can still make a million at 65. Since you'll hit the limits on a 401(k), get started on an IRA as well.
Step 5

***Plan for Age 55***

It's getting late, and you may need to consider postponing retirement for a few years. You'll need to be socking away $5,450 a month to reach a million in ten years. Not many people have the income to let them save at that rate. All the more reason to start young.
Step 6

***Stay Informed***

The Resources section has more information about retiring in comfort.

Comments

juliastudent said

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on 9/9/2009 It's a lie that if I save 300$ a month from 25 to 55 years of my life I'll be a millionaire. Let's count: 55-25= 30 years for saving, 30*12= 360 months for saving, so if I save 300$ a month I'll get 300$*360months= 108,000 in 30 years of saving! It's 10 times less than 1 million!
It's a pity that the author of this article cannot count. Promising millionaire should can.