Tips For Raking in Riches in Your Golden Years
Ah, lifestyles of the rich and famous. Behemoth mansions that could have been designed as palaces for Roman emperors, a fleet of exotic Italian muscle cars stored in personal underground parking garage, swimming pools filled to the brim with crisp hundred dollar bills – is any of that realistic? Not exceptionally. But is it possible?
Photo Credit | Deposit Photo | @ jukai5
If it’s been said once it’s been said innumerable times: easy come, easy go. Get rich quick schemes almost never work. Unless you’ve hit it big at the casino, win the lottery or have been responsibly accumulating wealth for the past few decades, it’s not easy to strike it rich after retirement.
That being said, it’s a popular area of study. Mostly, because it’s been accomplished by a select few. For instance, Harland Sanders was 62 years old when he first franchised KFC. Twelve years later, Sanders sold off his equity for $2 million (with inflation, that would be approximately $15 million in 2015.
Striking gold like that was an uncommon feat 60 years ago. But nowadays, according to AARP Magazine editor Ken Budd, the thirst for financial success in the Golden Years of an individual’s life is particularly common.
“They’re focusing on possibilities and opportunities and redefining what it means to be old,” Budd told ABC News. Self-made millionaire Steve Siebold, age 50, might agree. According to Siebold, becoming wealthy after age 50 is a breeze.
“I don’t think it’s too late at all [to get rich] if you’re over 50,” Siebold told Huffington Post. “There’s nothing mystical or magical about getting rich in a free-market economy.” Instead, Siebold said wealth is all about building value. Apparently, it’s as simple as that. “Looking at it as complex prevents people from acting and becoming wealthy,” he said.
So, how long does it take? Business Insider claims 55 year olds will need to save $156.12 every day if they want to build $1 million by age 65. 50 year olds, on the other hand, would need to save $73.49 per day, and 45 year olds would need to put away $38.02.
ABC suggests aspiring millionaires delay their Social Security. “Many middle-class couples could accumulate $1 million if they delayed claiming their Social Security until age 70, and then saved and appropriately invested,” said Lighthouse Financial Planning president Barry Korb.
For those of us over age 70, Bankrate.com has some advice: invest like you mean it, preferably in real estate.
Before you know it, you’ll be living in one of those fancy Roman palaces swimming in a pool of hundred dollar bills.