In the US it takes a bit of hard work, consistent intentional savings and investments for over decade or more and people will achieve some level of wealth. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Prior performance does not guarantee future performance.

I think in Europe its a little bit harder.

just beetcoin if you understand it

@@n-wordsay3r651 how to understand Bitcoin.

Yeah, it is pretty boring until the assets start making more per year than the day job. Just consistent investing over a significantly long time. It is hard to stay motivated in the beginning and most people either never start or give up early. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Prior performance does not guarantee future performance.

A little does a lot, over time. It works both ways, though, which is why tracking expenses is at least as important as making considerate investment decisions.

Consistent Investing, Patience, and the Self-Discipline to not try to keep up with others spending habits, also make sure your spouse does not like to spend everything they have. (I drive the same car from 12+ years ago until it dies or becomes unreliable, my wife drives the same car from 10+ years ago. I will get a new one for my wife once mine dies and I will take hers, but we are in no rush and like our lives and enjoy simple things in life such as going to the pool, family walks, going out to eat, etc.)

@@financial_freedom101 GJ!

don't forget to make a lot of money.This guy has to be making 80k or more per year. WOW! 2012 at $0 to 2013 $50,000.

I was making $58k in 2010 in my 40 hr/week day job and then worked another 20+ hours a week scraping metal and other odd jobs for another $10k. The reason for the jump from $0 to $50k was because of the house appreciation and some prior investments.

Congratulations, and good job making sure to get the company match it makes it much faster to grow your wealth.

That’s awesome marsh my company has 6% and considered “good” wow ..

What does financial literacy mean in this context? And also sorry for my bad english grammar by the way?

I am glad that you enjoyed it. It was nothing fancy but something that people can copy if they are willing to put in the effort, money, and time. There are always downturns like when I lost my job in 2009 or another crisis that in the moment everyone panics, but life goes on. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Past performance does not guarantee future performance.

Good job, keep it up. After I got the company match any additional money I put in a ROTH IRA until I max that out and when I had more I would continue increasing the 401k until that becomes maxed out. I like the ROTH IRA because after 5 years it has many advantages over a 401k and can be used for items other than retirement (down payment on a home or adoption etc.). All investments carry risk and can lose value. Prior performance does not guarantee future performance.

Yes, it was not that exciting building it up and it is starting to be impressive now looking back. It is hard to stay motivated when starting and people like to put down others so they do not have to compete or change. They would also tell me such and such (who was broke) knew how to get rich and the new shinny thing would get me there. Boring consistent investments in profitable companies and real estate and a lot of hard work to provide the initial money over a long time got me there. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Past performance does not guarantee future performance.

Rome was not built in a day, I have no rush. I joked when people came over and asked where was my furniture in some rooms and I would act surprised and say "Oh my God. We've been robbed!" and then tell them I will get to filling the room when I find something that we like.

Yeah, it is nothing too fancy so many people will think that it takes too much work and not click on it. Of the people that build a million dollar net worth they tend to do so in their late 40's while working normal jobs and consistently contribute to a retirement account and own their home. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Prior performance does not guarantee future performance.

That is the goal. The grass is generally greener in my yard because I water and fertilize it. (I take my wife out very often and we are best friends).

@@financial_freedom101is this really all it takes to have a successful relationship?

People fall in love while they are dating so never lose / stop what made them fall in love with you in the first place. Too many people get married and then stop dating their wife/husband and then get out of shape and fight over money. Then someone else that is nice and does not fight with them and people are surprised that they leave for someone else. If there is a problem don't tell the other person what to do as they are an equal not a kid. Stand together and together look at the problem as a third party and the two of you are a team against the problem. "How can we figure out..." Well, first you both need to care about each other (physically, financially, emotionally, etc.) and have similar values. I have life insurance, but it will never be for my benefit it is completely because I care for my family. I generally dated women that were friends of mine first. I was also broke at that time that I met my wife, so she had to like me for me, because I had nothing else. To me it is about two people wanting to do whatever it takes to help the other. I want to make sure to provide for my family so I work and pay for everything we have and I want to my family to enjoy our time. So I pay for pool passes and go out to eat. She wants everyone to have clean closes and does laundry for all of us. My wife wants us to have shoes/clothing especially as kids grow out of things so she hunts for sales and buys good clothes at good prices as she wants to reduce the cost for us and I pay for it because I care about our family. We do not argue about money, but we have talked about when can we get cable again and when should we start paying for someone to mow the grass. When she is sick I get her the bucket, medicine, saltines, ice pops, etc. and when I had my appendix issue and thought it was constipation she helped get enemas and magnesium citrate and drove me to the hospital when I could not stop vomiting and ended up having surgery. My wife lets me sleep until 8 am on the week end when everyone wakes up at 6 am as she knows I make KZfaq videos until 2 am some nights. We each do for the other for the selfless good of the other and take from ourselves to do that out of love / care / respect. I put $7,000 a year into my wife's Roth IRA so it is only in her name and if we ever separated it would still be her IRA this is because I care about her well being even in the future and if we stay together then we get more trips / meals together.

You made it brah​@@financial_freedom101

@@financial_freedom101 Thank you for responding to that. Many people think relationships and marriage are a "set it and forget it" automatic thing that they never have to work on. It take lots of love, understanding, work, selflessness, and care to have and keep a loving, healthy relationship. It is neither for the weak, selfish, nor for the lazy.

You still have more than the majority of all retirees.

170k. What occupation

They never state their income and expenses rather than returns. They should be honest

My regular income was around $68,000 from my job at that point. My stock and investments went up around $8,000 and I used it to buy an undervalued home which I fixed up. I bought the house at $130,000 and was then valued at $170,000 made up $40,000 of the net worth at that time.

or live a GOOD inexpensive life outside the us...many go to become debt free in se-asia Thailand or vietnam where u can live pretty good on 1500-2000$ total incl housing food insurance and visa

@@financial_freedom101 okay so real estate. Sigh. Would be good to see these without real estate.

​@jetpark374misleading at best.3

You're welcome!

I am in the Amazon affiliate program where for my other KZfaq channels if I am using something I put the links in the description and if someone clicks on it and buys anything from Amazon for the next 24 hours I get around 3-4% of the total sale. To qualify I needed around 500 subscribers and sell 3 items within a few months on Amazon. I like it because there is no money out of my pocket so much less risk.

It serves as a benchmark for performance comparison, guiding investment decisions and strategies

Being traded on exchanges like stocks, ETFs offer liquidity throughout the trading day, allowing investors to buy and sell at market prices

Due to their structure, ETFs typically have lower capital gains distributions compared to mutual funds, enhancing tax efficiency for investors

It serves as a benchmark for performance comparison, guiding investment decisions and strategies

most people don’t realize how important financial planners are until they messed up

Here is a video on how to start a KZfaq channel and make money: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qJadmrCX3dK9cmQ.html I currently only have from 9pm to 12 midnight to work on KZfaq. Make a goal and take one step every day towards that goal even when you don't feel like it just like you go to work regardless of how you feel even if it is learning how to do something. It will take ~160 videos on average and 15 months until most people make any money from KZfaq. Pick a topic you enjoy otherwise people give up. I used a month of vacation to produce over 100 videos in January this year and have started making $3/day on this channel in 6 months. Keep at it and try a few different channel ideas and do not get discouraged as it will take time to learn what works and what does not. I have a $500+/month channel on fixing cars, another $1,000+/month channel on home repairs and putting stuff together and gardening, this newer channel just started making $90/month but has the most potential. I also started a video game channel, but no one watches that one so I stopped putting up videos because I follow the data of what works for me. When making content for KZfaq first focus on searchable topics with long format videos then make a KZfaq short from the long format video to gain quick views and subscribers. I still use a cell phone that records in 4K and a $20 tripod when outside and the same with addition of some soft lights for around $80. I use free software for video editing called Divinci Resolve and if you want screen capture another free software is OBS Studio. Goals: 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of long format watch time = $ from Google Adsense If you want to talk I also have a discord link: discord.gg/TpcxEGVrY3 (I am travelling a lot to Europe so there may be a week here and there that I am not online.) I started working construction from 12 to 22 years old until I graduated and then worked as a scientist in process safety, then pilot plant engineering, then process engineering. In addition to the primary position I have consistently tried out various business ideas (bakery, farm, KZfaq, Amazon, landscaping, construction, investing, options trading, marketing, etc.)

@@financial_freedom101 Amazingly generous of you to communicate in such detail.

I am glad you enjoyed it.

Yes, I am back from Europe. I will be traveling back and forth for the next few months.

Thanks for visiting

Yes, it is made up from 4% match, 2% stock, 5% cash balance pension which several years later was then contributed into the 401k as well for a total of 11% company contributions.

I have a BS in Chemical Engineering, BS in Chemistry, MS in Chemical Engineering, PE in Chemical Engineering. I also worked in general construction from age 12 through my early 20's. I also was licensed in life insurance, food handling, and second mortgages.

In the beginning I wasted some time and did not always pick the best returning options. It is hard to say anything about a conservative/moderate/aggressive investing as this does not say what you would actually be investing in company x, y, z. I put the majority of my money 80-90% in the SP500 and total US market low cost ETFs/funds. Around 10% in international funds and up to 10% in bonds when interest rates are going down as they move opposite the interest rate. I will continue to do this until I am 5-10 years away from retirement, then I will put the money I need in the next 5-10 years in CD ladders / Individual bonds / money markets / high yield savings accounts and leave the rest in the above mentioned low cost ETFs/funds. After I got the company match any additional money I put in a ROTH IRA until I max that out and when I had more I would continue increasing the 401k until that becomes maxed out. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Prior performance does not guarantee future performance.

Thank you!

There are currently 24 million millionaires in the US currently. The average age millionaires first become millionaires is in their late 40's and comes from equity in their home and a 401k/403b/IRA or other retirement accounts. It is more achievable than most people think, but it takes consistent investing over many years. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Prior performance does not guarantee future performance.

Glad you enjoyed it

2009 ~$10,000 I got laid off, 2010 ~$58,000, 2019 finally made $100,000. (This is not including stock or asset gains.) Currently for this year stocks have made around $5,000-$7,000 per month in addition to normal income.

@@financial_freedom101 I love your transparity.

@@financial_freedom101 wow. This is really impressive. I will emulate much of this. Thank you for responding.

Good to hear. It seems to go very slow in the beginning where most of the investment is through hard work, but after building up $100,000 a 10% change in value is $10,000 and at $500,000 the change is $50,000 and that's when it really became fun at least when it was going up in value and it is a real test to see one's resolve and dedication to consistent investing when I saw a $100,000 unrealized loss with Ukraine in 2022. The downturns are just additional opportunities to buy good companies at a discount which takes years of investing and seeing the news to realize that things will work out, and if they don't money is the least of our worries. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Past performance does not guarantee future performance.

Good job, keep it up. After I got the company match any additional money I put in a ROTH IRA until I max that out and when I had more I would continue increasing the 401k until that becomes maxed out. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Prior performance does not guarantee future performance.

@@financial_freedom101 Why put it in roth ira instead of continuing with regular 401k after company match?

We pulled money from our 401k when we bought the land to build our house on, and the penalty was steep. Because we have health concerns that mean we probably won't both live to retirement, the Roth seems more attractive because it sounds like it's easier to pull at least the amount we contributed (not the earned interest) if we have to do it early, which is likely. I'd like to hear other people's opinions on whether that's definitely the case. Thank you for the very interesting video.

Capital came from working my day job and investing in my own ideas while limited the cost/risk. For example starting a bakery: I rented a commercial bakery for $125 / night once or twice a week, insurance was $30/month, supplies were around $200/night and then we sold them at a farmer's market which cost $40/day and could sell $500/day just to get started. I find ways to reduce risk to try out an idea. I never want to risk financial ruin and make small bets on business ideas first and allow the business to pay for itself in order to grow.

@financial_freedom101 I like this thought process a lot. I may be aiming to high to start which is causing me to stop in my tracks in fear of the risk. But if I can work like this and make my input minimal, therefore risk low, I may be more willing to try ideas like you. Thanks you for your response. And thanks for the video.

Glad you enjoyed it

Thank you, becoming financially educated (I had some good mentors) and application of consistent investing and purposeful spending made it possible. It feels easy now, but it was very hard in the beginning when everyone else is spending every dollar they made.

If it is a taxable account it will make a new cost basis and you will have to pay taxes on the profit from each share which will reduce the total value.

@financial_freedom101 so wouldn't you have to pay zero taxes on your profits if they don't exceed the zero capital gains tax bracket for that tax year? I read an article on how a guy actually wanted to raise his cost basis so that he made less in profit, which means the profit that he did make would keep him in the zero capital gains tax bracket. Ultimately I just want to know, in your opinion do you think it's a good idea to sell off shares for profit to buy even more shares (your contribution + profits from the sell) or would you not sell at all (until retirement that is).

Other Than That you have your Financials very Optimized and add to it every Year while still keeping a Family afloat!!

At the time unemployment benefits would not be paid by the government if you were a student. Since I was a student I was not eligible for unemployment benefits / payments. So I took out additional loans when I lost my job while still a full time student in graduate school.

It is my cash balance in this case which I can take with me if I leave the company. I would need to roll it into a traditional IRA or pay taxes if I did so. There are different types of pensions such as defined benefit and defined contribution / cash balance pensions.

I had more bonds while interest rates were dropping and avoided bond funds while interest rates were increasing as they move inversely to interest rates. I generally kept around 10% in international stocks, but they have underperformed the US market and even when the SP500 was down the international funds seemed even worse. The majority of my holdings have been in the low expense index / ETFs that track the SP500/total US market/Midcap stocks over this 14 year period. I also started several businesses and in general most businesses will not become profitable in the first few years and most often close so I would limit my risk and see if each had the potential to become profitable and make early decisions on was it worth the effort, time, and money to continue them. I did make good money in construction, landscaping, marketing, engineering, computer programming, consulting, and sales. I also learned more from doing then I ever could in a class room so even the small losses I gained valuable education. I also purchased real estate and leased farm land. So I am in multiple asset classes (stock, real estate, businesses, etc.). All investments carry risk and can lose value. Past performances does not guarantee future performance.

Why international? They’ve consistently underperformed. General growth funds and U.S. equities are the way to go.

Past performance does not guarantee future performance. Looking back we can say that, but what if there is shock to the US market (rapid US inflation/tax hikes/trade war/hot war/reserve currency status change/etc.) and the issues do not harm other countries/companies then the international stocks may have outperformed the US. I only keep a very small holding of international stocks and hold around 90% US stocks mostly in the SP500 index.

I would say your time is the most valuable thing. Try and other things or strategies to invest in your free time. I was in the same position, was making less and had the opportunity to work for more money. I did, but was just to busy with the job and not having any time for me. I prefer to work less and have my time to learn and do other things that just get more money. You do what you think is right.

Compounding is key over a long time period. I would never get here without it.

I was 24 when I started investing in stocks and retirement accounts in 2010. I started working when I was 8 silk screening shirts with my dad, started working in pool construction outside of the family at 12 and started a small landscaping business cutting grass and hardscaping around 13.

​@@financial_freedom101Thank you *so* much for your reply!

From age 12 to my early 20's I worked in construction and helped me to see how much it would take to fix something up (Drywall, spackle, calk, paint, new windows, some leak repairs, new ceiling lights, ... are cheap and the labor is expensive) So I lived in the house and fixed it while I lived in it for at least 2 years which also made up to $250,000 in gains tax free. I saw 40-50 different homes and this had an overgrown lawn and a bunch of bushes/trees and looked in bad shape but the home was in great condition with no structural issues. I took a chainsaw to everything and cleaned up the yard and recoated the driveway and repainted the external parts as well. The neighboring houses were all selling/sold around $170,000 and I offered $139,000 with seller assist and then renegotiated post inspection which brought it down to $130,000 in the end. Deals are made not found. A similar house on the block was sold for $15,000 and that is not a typo and then sold for $200,000 a few months latter, but it took months of work to replace everything and I wish I put an offer in. For stocks I made some mistakes early on and learned from doing it and talking to others. It took me 5-10 years to understand the majority of investing vs trading and the importance of systems and processes for businesses as when I was younger I tried to do everything myself and just work harder which helped, but would not have got to over a million dollar net worth. I was the first one in my family to do most of what I did. And I did it to never question if we had enough money to pay for food, heat, gas, rent,... as that was an almost daily discussion I heard my parents talk about when I was a kid before they got divorced.

@@financial_freedom101 Thanks for replying. Makes alot of sense now

Where I work has 4% company match, 2% additional stock, and 5% to cash pension which then just went to 401k. I work as an engineer in a pharmaceutical industry. I have seen some small businesses that give half of all money ($11,500) contributed up to the limit for 401k ($23,000).

The three that I am currently earning on have a total of ~11,000 subscribers and total ~300,000 views per month. It is around $5 per thousand views depending on what the channel is about. It can be higher or lower. Shorts get paid a lot less than long format videos.

It is still 4% of the total income. Make sure you at least contribute enough to get the full match and I prefer around 10-15% of my income to set aside to some form of investment.

www.youtube.com/@MountainManMo www.youtube.com/@WelcometotheFamily1

I have seven KZfaq channels, but only three that I post anything currently. Here are the car repairs: www.youtube.com/@MountainManMo Here are the home repairs/assembling toys/gardening/and random videos: www.youtube.com/@WelcometotheFamily1

The crop is worth $400,000-$800,000 and it is not guaranteed. I can provide an update when I harvest. I only lease land which was to reduce my upfront risk before making a profit. I rent before buying, then once I know I am making enough revenue to cover buying I then I reinvest and buy.

How to invest commercial farm like u have? Steps pls thanks

​@@hermanwong7177many Americans inherited land because it was effectively seized from natives. In exchange however, natives got to operate casino's, 8a businesses for contracts, their own health system (IHS), reserved land called reservations, tax benefits, and more... Lots of this goes unmentioned.

www.youtube.com/@MountainManMo www.youtube.com/@WelcometotheFamily1 The first channel Mountain Man Mo was making $250/month a few years ago. I am making ~$1,000 on a home repair/family channel and ~$500 from a car repair channel, this one was not making money then, but is now in the $300-$400 range so it is close to $1,800+ per month in total. Each channel has 3,500-5,000 subscribers so all are fairly small.

@financial_freedom101 wow that's incredible income from smaller channels and that's just KZfaq Ad revenue?

Thank you for the request, here is the commercial farm video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z86lerihqcDep3k.html

www.youtube.com/@MountainManMo www.youtube.com/@WelcometotheFamily1 The first channel Mountain Man Mo was making $250/month a few years ago. I am making ~$1,000 on a home repair/family channel and ~$500 from a car repair channel, this one was not making money then, but is now in the $300-$400 range so it is close to $1,800+ per month in total. Each channel has 3,000-5,000 subscribers so all are fairly small.

@@financial_freedom101 awesome! I didn’t realize that even small channels have such huge potential.

I love my wife very much and she usually makes good decisions, but if you ask her she will tell you that she regrets not taking the company match because she did not want to see her paycheck drop below $1,000. Her boss and other coworkers also sat her down and told her that she was making a mistake by not contributing to a retirement account in her early 20's and losing any potential company match. My wife now seeing what I have accomplished and realizes what she could of had. Well at least I have been able to provide a ROTH IRA for her and as long as we are married it is all our money and allows us to invest even more in tax advantaged accounts. (If we ever get divorced it would be her money anyway.) All investments carry risk and can lose value. Past performance does not guarantee future performance.

I see that as taking on extra risk. What if the stock market lost value that year and the bank called the line of credit since the stocks could be worth less than the loan then I could have lost my home. I will never risk complete financial ruin or loss of my family's home. I prefer to take asymmetric risks with small potential loses and larger potential gains.

@@financial_freedom101good analysis

Yes, that is true that some people can have great success at an early age. That is very uncommon and difficult to replicate. What I did is more repeatable and may take longer or shorter depending. All investments carry risk and can lose value. Past performance does not guarantee future performance.

2009 ~$10,000 I got laid off, 2010 ~$58,000 from my primary job and another ~$10,000 in scrap metal from dumpsters/trash, 2019 finally made $100,000 from my primary job. (This is not including stock or asset gains.) I bought a house in 2013 for $130,000 which I fixed up and was then valued at $170,000 which made up $40,000+ of the net worth at that time. Currently for this year stocks have made around $5,000-$7,000 per month in addition to normal income. I cannot share my current job income as people I work with also follow my channels.

Forget to mention expenses: 2010: $960/month 1 bedroom rent, $600/month school loans (Overpaid around $1,500-$2,000/month towards loans) $600/month for food 2013: $1,300/month mortgage $60/month water $200/month electric $320/month car $800/month food 2024: $3,090/month mortgage ($3,800/month with extra principle payment) $110/month water $250/month electric/gas $1,200/month for food For most years I had internet, but I did not have cable tv and just used a digital antenna to save money. Car insurance has always been around $100-$200 per month per car. My wife and I still drive the same 10 and 12 year old cars we bought new in 2014 and 2012 and I fix them myself when something breaks. We joke that she finds all the curbs, nails, and screws so I have gotten very good at tire plugs.

Yes, that helped a lot. I also struggled in 2008-2009 when I was laid off of one position and then my other position cut the pay in half and I had to take on an additional $12,000 of loans to pay for my living expenses during my master's degree.

It was 4% match, 2% stock, 5% cash pension and changed to just an additional contribution to 401k. So 11% total to the 401k as long as I add 4% to get the 4% company match.

That is step 1. But saving can only take us so far and step 2 is compounding growth through good investments start adding more to the pile than I can save each year at this point. All investments carry risk and can lose value.

There were many things that went wrong such as when I was laid off in 2009 while also going to college at night. All stipends were removed from my second job, but still had to work as it still covered tuition. I was technically homeless for 1 year while either sleeping on friend's couches or in my truck. My mom got cancer and needed help with rent when I finally started a decent job for several months. My wife got laid off twice and then shortly after my daughter was born my mom's cancer came back and within 4 years my mom and step mom both passed away. The farm produced $0 thus far and will likely not make money for 1-2 more years. The bakery was a $4,000 loss.

True for the most part, but not always.

There are 340 million Americans and 24 million Americans are millionaires so around 7% are millionaires in the US by total population.

@@financial_freedom101 So you're not in the 24 million, since you're married and therefore a half millionaire?

It is 4% match, 2% stock regardless of contribution, and 5% cash balance pension for a total of 11%. This is in the pharma industry.

@@financial_freedom101 fasho

Something is off here

I was making $58k at my day job and around an additional $10k when I scrapped metal. I recycled around 34,000 lbs of various metals that year from trash days and dumpster diving. It was also fun taking everything apart and seeing how TVs, microwaves, AC, etc. were made. Microwaves have some nice ring magnets that I would put a rope around to help pick up nails and screws. People also throw out perfectly working video games, CDs, VCRs, vacuum cleaners, etc. that I sold to second hand places. I grew up poor so I found many different ways to make money.

I made $29/hr and was $43,000 in student debt at the start of this time frame.

I have a $2 bill.

I have over 1.5 million in assets and 400,000 in liabilities (debt) which equals around 1.1 million in net worth.

Every wealthy person does not just sit on a pile of cash as cash devalues over time. The majority will be invested in various asset classes. The only time to hold large amounts of cash is when looking for an opportunity to buy another asset.

It was $1700 last month from two other channels. At the time I recorded this I was only making $60/month on this channel, now it is around $400/month and total income from KZfaq is close to $2,000 a month.

That is a fast way to become a millionaire. My wife and I went to Costa Rica and withdrew 20,000 colones and did not realize that it was only $40. Then we took out 200,000 which was only $400 and took pictures to send to our parents to make it look like we won at the casino for fun. No one wanted colones in Costa Rica, they all wanted US dollars.

Over 90% of active investors fail to outperform the S&P500 over a 20 year time period. I use the S&P500 due to that fact and it is more passive than looking for individual stocks. Also the SP500 removes and add companies based on if they make a profit quarterly.

2009 ~$10,000 I got laid off, 2010 ~$58,000, 2019 finally made $100,000. (This is not including stock or asset gains.) Currently for this year stocks have made around $5,000-$7,000 per month in addition to normal income.

@@financial_freedom101what was your degree in/job?

I have a BS in Chemistry, another BS in Chemical Engineering, Masters in Chemical Engineering, PE for Chemical Engineering, I was licensed in PA for life insurance and second mortgages, I also held a food handler's certificate for the bakery, and worked/trained in carpentry and plumbing. Currently my primary occupation is in engineering. I took and tutored several business classes at my university and debated getting an MBA, but realized that it was not very useful to me in terms of potential earnings. I found it was just as easy to risk less money and start businesses and learn as I went through mentors that were already successful rather than some teacher that has never actually applied the lessons that they teach.

www.youtube.com/@MountainManMo www.youtube.com/@WelcometotheFamily1

Well, you are only 9 years behind. Best of luck it is better to learn from other's and as young as possible. The time will fly by.

Yes, I am making ~$1,000 on a home repair/family channel and ~$500 from a car repair channel, this one was not making money then, but is now in the $300-$400 range so it is close to $1,800+ per month in total. each channel has 3,000-5,000 subscribers so all are fairly small.

If there is a fire or extreme drought that could be wiped out. Once I harvest and the cash is in my hands then I will count it. It is still my plan "C" or "D" for my ability to retire early / financial independence.

Yes, that is most of it. Living on much less than you make is also very important. Most millionaires are actually teachers, engineers, accountants, and managers through boring consistent investment over many years. There are less millionaire doctors than millionaire teachers in the US so it is not even that income needs to be that high to build a million dollar net worth if started early. All investments carry risk and can lose value.