I'll always be grateful to you because you completely transformed my life. I also preach about you to everyone I know, telling them that you prevented me from incurring enormous debt with a mere little expenditure. Regards, Mrs Ann Elizabeth Messer

I had initially planned to retire at 62, work part-time, and save money, but the impact of high prices on various goods and services has significantly disrupted my retirement plan. I'm worried about whether those who experienced the 2008 financial crisis had it easier than I currently am. The volatility of the stock market is a concern as my income has decreased, and I fear that I won't be able to contribute as much as before, potentially jeopardizing my retirement savings.

You will need $2.3 million in SCHD to get $6,000 per month ($18,000 quarterly).

The single most important thing is to find a spouse that agrees with your financial goals.

Sometimes I want to just stick my head in the sand to avoid all the noise ...and just pop my head up and peek at my investments doubling every 7-10 years......

As I said before, spend 10% of your time saving money and 90% of your time increasing your income! Another good one Erin.

Still trying to determine how Erin has so much wisdom for a young woman.

You attributed “Live like no one else so that later you can live like no one else” to Charles Munger. Doing that is another way to build wealth. I know. I was fortunate to have very good income, and living waaaay below my means (by living like no one else) allowed me to build wealth. Great presentation, as usual!

Skill is important … discipline is essential. The first without the latter rarely produces the desired outcome.

I opened up a business with my brother and some of his acquaintances this year. And that’s in addition to my current full time job. Going hard on offense in 2024.

Hi Erin! I love your videos. The higher savings rate was an anomaly due to the stimulus and extra unemployment payments that were made during that year, which is not sustainable. Now we're seeing lower savings rates due to the high cost (inflation) of all goods and services. And, it's also driving more people to use their credit cards.

Building wealth is one thing and having investments to keep that wealth is another thing.

I've been thinking about offense a lot more in the last 10 years. We live frugally, but the approach that helped us the most toward financial independence was boosting our income. Great video, as always, Erin.

Thanks

Excellent content! 👏🏻 Building high value skills ➡️ high starting income ➡️ solid income growth and more opportunities over your career. And with today’s resources available, there’s no need to go deeply into student debt to achieve the above.

Happy Friday 😊

Hi Erin. Your comments were spot on as usual. I feel the root of the problem for the lack of so many doing those things is simply the lack of discipline and committment. Many don't see the need to do it or accept the real value in the tried and true steps required to build wealth. Many would rather put $1000 into Crypto Assets rather than a low cost growth Index Fund, looking to quickly make a fortune. No perspective, understanding or discipline. The irony is that with the wealth of infomation and knowledge available today coupled with all the employer plans, low cost funds and investment expenses - it has never been easier to do than it is today. That will upset some maybe and trigger a litany of excuses from them but it all circles back to what I stated in the beginning of my comment. Keep up the great content Erin. Have a good week. Larry, Central Valley, Ca.

Yes saving more was possible during the lockdown.

As Dave says, you’re biggest wealth building tool is your income. And not letting it go to debt every month

Be my financial coach Erin! Draw up a play for us!

Good stuff! Gotta have a plan and stop winging it. Cut the fat, prioritize savings first before spending.

If you start late, stay focused and reinvest cash flow

Your insight blows all the other personal finance folks out of the water. I'd argue offence is ALWAYS important, when you're both young AND old. Most folks think getting to FI before your targeted retirement age is the end of the game, but everyone's living for 30 to 40 years after they hit retirement now, so you need offence just to keep up with inflation and make sure your retirement and lifestyle don't get cramped. As for defence, that's all about making sure your expenses are low and income high, so your income gives you so much wiggle room that you can take more chances on investing offence. Then when you retire, your defence is having plenty of buffer room (ie way more than your FI number), so again, you can asset allocate toward offence, and have no worries if there's a downturn...

I think this makes sense. The second part of playing offense isnt intuitive to me. Can anybody recommend great resources on that part?

A big part of the higher savings rate during the pandemic was the COVID checks, Child tax credit expansion, and higher unemployment insurance payouts. Those three incredible peaks are the COVID checks. I wouldn't assume that just because people could save unexpected checks from the government means that they can save similar amounts now. That said, anyone who can obviously should be saving and investing.

I did a 1031 Exchange last month! Is that offense! I think so!

I am investing 45 percent of my income and delaying gratification

Love the content, as always. Are we going to ignore the fact that the play laid out was to have an extra player on your side? 😂(5 Os against 4 Xs)

The revs sounded strangely muddy, but crackle. That acceleration on the hand...!!! 😅

Saving in bitcoin has helped me feel the most finically secure I've ever felt.

The best defense is a good offense

“The best defense is a good offense” - George Washington

Omg, you’re big enough to get these spammers now

Get a good job with a pension and save like crazy in your 401k and Roth IRA. You can reach the 2 comma club in your 40’s like I did 😊

Erin - I feel you have made it on KZfaq when the bots invade your comments to post how they buy AMS59K and then like all the other bots that post the same thing.

new bomb

I Only have $400K saved, but w Pension, SS ect will receive income that should help me in Retirement. U don't need to have it All Before u can Retire?

You really rinse out the sealable plastic bags?

argh! I had to rewatch the video to get over the constant zooming in and out. This seems to be an annoying trend on more YT channels these days, equal to the overuse of powerpoint clipart back in the day. Offense is Munger's 1994 prescription to do whatever it takes to get to your first $100k, so you can get a compounding working more for you. Azul Wells on his channel adjusts for inflation and says $250k (inflation adjusted would be $211k) before throttling back. I see defense as offense, because everything you stated are things you should be doing proactively.

1.5 million needed for gen x? Where the hell are you people plan on retiring? California?

Not sure if this helpful or make sense

Find a rich woman or win the lotto...lol.

My friends will tell you I enjoy being offensive