One war Americans should definitely withdraw from is the class war. Instead of whining and complaining about the rich everyone should join them. Joining the rich is a lot more pleasant, productive and satisfying than trying to get even with them. In fact, every time some politician comes up with a plan to “punish the rich” it misses the rich and starves the poor.
It is a fact of life that almost anyone who really wants to become financially independent can do so. The "deep dark secret" to doing this is to save your money and invest it. It does not take a rocket scientist or a financial genius to do this.
I used to lecture to the NSB High School students in Dave Moscovits’ and Paul Wright’s economics classes on this subject.
I would start with an old Newspaper headline: "Janitor Gives Millions to Local College."
When asked how he did it the kids always got the right answer saving and investing. Sometimes a few wise guys would suggest the lottery or grand larceny before the right answer appeared.
They often had a hard time coming up with an answer to the question, “Why did I pick an example with a Janitor?”
The answer was, of course, to demonstrate that anyone could do it.
The formula for success, possibly discovered before 2000 BC, is to save at least 10% of your income and invest it consistently over a long period of time. Compound interest kicks in to do the rest of the job.
The surprising thing is that virtually every person who does this has success even if they don’t have a big income.
On the other hand, those who don’t do this sort of thing are almost guaranteed financial distress no matter how large their income is.
One of the best vehicles for saving and investment is a company 401k plan or its equivalent.
The main grocery chains have it, the NSB Utilities Commission has it and a lot of businesses in town have it. Even that “evil” Wal-Mart has it.
There is now a 401k type plan for state employees. There are a lot of wild success stories including one local grocery store manager who retired before he was 50 years old. Employees of the NSB Utilities Commission have also been able to retire at a surprisingly young age.
One of the utilities commissioners proudest achievements, with the help of top management, was to get about 90 percent employee participation in the savings and investment program at the utilities commission.
This high participation was achieved by adding a company contribution to the employees contribution. On the day I left the commission, one of the managers came up and told me that he had been able to accumulate a very nice nest egg with this program whereas before he hadn’t accumulated a dime.
A former student who had attended one of my lectures came up and asked how she could get started on her own. I told her that any bank or brokerage house could get her started for a very small initial investment. (On the order of $50-$100.)
I personally use John Delevan at Edward D. Jones on Canal Street; but there are other very talented professionals who can also help her.
Getting your program started is more important than who you start with. It is also extremely important that you “pay yourself first” by putting your savings aside before you do anything else with your money.
In fact, it could be said that the main added value of a company 401k type plan is not their monetary contribution but that they get you to invest on a regular basis.
The bottom line is that we all should quit complaining about the rich and join them. It can be done by anyone and is much better for you and your country.