The MMM way has always been my thing and I got no inheritance or head start. My wealth is all through my own hands and investments. I had $0, yes ZERO in July 2012. When I first started work right at 18 I instantly thought "I'm never going to be happy again". My goal then was to build up a passive income that matched what I was earning at work (35K per year at the time) and now 36K per year with my full time job (39 hours per week). I live in an annoyingly expensive place called Australia so my wage is around half the average yearly wage in Australia. It may sound good if you compare it to a US wage but trust me, if you live in the US half my wage to give yourself a more accurate understanding of the value of what I earn. My current job which I'm leaving soon to run my own business pays me SUPER (kinda like 401K in america). I pretend it doesn't exist... it will just be a nice surprise for me when I hit 65. Last time I checked it was like $3,000 but I haven't checked for ages and don't include it as a part of my net worth.
Anyway I'm 21 and have a net worth now of 145K (only loan is the 1 bedroom unit I bought near Sydney) which I bought to start my own business towards the end of the year (currently collecting rent). I have 2 other mini jobs which combined take up around 20 more hours per week combined. I live off the income of these other jobs (to pay for rent (living in a single room like a pro MMM!) and food) and fully save/invest income from my full time job and investments into more investments to build my passive income. My goal is to retire at 30 with 5 investment properties (won't be fully paid off but WILL be positively geared to ensure they quickly pay themselves off.
Those around me in their 20's at work go to clubs, bars and holidays in their time off or on weekends. They always want an escape from work. One of them on the same income as me saved up for an $8,000 one month trip around Europe. I made them a welcome back message hanging from the celieing and they weren't impressed when they came back. They were like "Take that down, I don't want to be reminded that I'm back in this shithole". Internally I was laughing my head off at their response.
Unlike others my age I NEVER go on holidays. This may seem biased and actually it is but I've convinced myself that an area just a little north from Sydney is the BEST place in the entire world and I'm so happy with it that I've stayed in it for life! Obviously my comment about the rest of the world being worse than my area isn't true but to me, I like to think it is so that I never have to go anywhere. I love going on walks on the weekends and for me that's my holiday. Why go anywhere when I'm already in a great place? Oh and I don't have a car, what a waste of money... Instead I walk to work (only 30 minute walk max or 10 minutes if I sprint as fast as I can).
Oh and here's the best thing I've heard at work. I was discussing with a less financially smart person around 26 years old who was telling me how she hates her job. I was about to be the nice guy and tell her about the MMM way but she just couldn't understand it. I started off saying "Yea, this job is pretty awful but one day imagine when we don't have to work anymore". She was like "But we will always have to work, you need money to live, you're not telling me you can't live without money are you?". She had an absolute fit and fell into a state of major confusion. I was then explaining that if you save money in the bank you can earn 3% interest on it per year. She didn't get it so I didn't bother continuing to tell her about better investments.
Anyway I'm eager to hear that I'm not the only 21 year old following the MMM way. Who else here is around my age? (not looking for a relationship, just interested to know). Thanks in advance for your replies oh and if you are older now yet followed the MMM way at my age I'd love to hear how you are going now.
