My Children (and Grand Children) Can be Millionaires

As I reach an age where our children have moved out on their own I have begun to think of retirement and doing things that were not possible with children at home. One area of thought that has consumed much of m time over the past several months has been money. Not the lack of sufficient income because we live comfortably, but the lack of my understanding of the rules of becoming rich.

I have to admit that, even as a child, my lifestyle was to spend more than I earned. During high school, my brother Stan and I both worked for the same fast food business. I probably made more money per hour than he did but each payday, I noticed that I was always out of money a few days before the next paycheck while Stan still had his previous paycheck pinned to his bulletin board.

To overcome this "disability" of mine I got a college degree in a field that was well paid and worked hard. But the propensity to spend what I earned never seemed to be topped by earning more. Finally, in order to keep me from being mad about finances all of the time, my wife took over the books and bill paying. That solved one of the problems (my anger whenever I had bills to pay) but it did not resolve the other problem, the lack of financial wisdom and discipline.

A few months ago, while searching for some gardening information on the internet, I came across a blog about a family who was tracking their costs of running a garden to see if they could save money by growing some of their own food. It was a blog called Get Rich Slowly and I found a lot more than just savvy gardening information. J.D. posts a couple of times each day about his financial life from having been broke and $35,000 in debt three years ago to having paid off all of his debt except his house. He talks about saving and investing what he used to spend. He talks about what he is saving for now (he recently paid cash for a used Mini Cooper, his dream car) and the habits and tendencies that he has had to deal with, and still deals with, so as not to return to the debt-ridden person that he used to be.

J.D. also has from time to time provided information regarding finance books that he believes are worth reading as well as reviews of these books he has read. One such list had "The Millionaire Next Door" on it and I found it at the local library. Amazingly, none of the other books on his list were there so I may need to check my favorite used book store next.

The point of all of this gibberish is that I have started reading "The Millionaire Next Door" and I am finding it fascinating. The old adage that the way to wealth is to save more than you spend is true but it is not the whole story. The questions that I have also had regarding wealth are, "How do you save more than you earn?" and "What do you do with the money you save?" This book addresses the first question. It is a study of those people in America who have assets valued at over one million dollars compared to those with similar incomes who do are not millionaires.

Get Rich Slowly has motivated me to get started looking more closely at where my money goes and what to do with what I save. It has reminded me to grow that emergency fund. It inspires me to buy quality for less and to do well with less stuff. And mostly, it inspires me to help my children to learn these lessons while they are young so that they will all be millionaires, not just look like ones.