What's the Secret to Financial Independence?

The secret? Stop voting for the Bolshevik Communist Democrats!

"What's the Secret to Financial Independence?"

A: Having nothing to do with anything "sponsored by" Bank of Amigo!

How do save money on a part-time job when u have to paid bills,President B.Obama needs to really help the lower middle class hell with the middle class,we the lower middle class needs the help real bad there isn't anymore full-time jobs and then they say go back to school ya! right take a course up graduate and then find out nobody hiring in your field?,U can't even buy a house on a part-time wages.Get with it congress Help the lower middle class !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I took a risk and used credit cards to fund my start. It wasn't easy but now the rewards are priceless. Unlimited income and freedom from the rat race. Why wait til 65 when you can do it much earlier by doing it your own way?

Most Americans have different jobs with different salaries therefore their lifestyles will vary. But no matter what your income is if you live within your means, save money and don't get into debt you will be fine.
Here's a secret:
Stay away from credits cards.
Don't buy if you can't afford it.
Do your research before shopping (because you will save money.)
Negotiate when you need or receive services like (car maintenance, phone service, internet service...etc.)
Glutton! Stop being excessive when it comes to over eating, alcohol beverages and anything else that's not necessary.
Ok I'm sure you get the picture now, anyways you would be surprised on how much money you waste annually. Papasean7

This being brought to you by Bank of America is really ironic..Didn't Bank of America receive a government loan to keep from going under when the housing market went to hell in a hand basket? Really ironic. Are you sure you want to take finicial advice from this source? Think about it...lol

save - be like the ant

The people complaining about others who have made better financial decisions then them should quit boo-hooing and pay attention to some good old fashion advice!

We need fewer articles about what we should have been doing the last thirty or forty years and more articles about turning our "101(k)" or "001(k)" back into a "401(k)", then leveraging that to produce residual income for the balance of our lifetime.

Trouble is, of course, they don't teach that in either college or the CFP classes and it's not on the CFP exams.

It is all about minset. I have lived on next to nothing (under $10,00 a year) and still managed to live within my means. I'm married with two kids now and make more. But, like everyone else, we don't have that much to go around. We make about $40,00 a year. We have our house within 3 years of being paid for and put a few hundred a month into both of our IRAs. I'm cheap and proud of it. My sister-in-law and her husband (no kids) make over $100,00 a year between them and she confided to me that they are deeply in debt over their heads and she's scared they will lose it all. You've got to stop trying to keep up with others, stop believing you "deserve" this that or the other thing. Stop believing you are destined to be screwed by the "man", so no point in trying. No matter how little you have, you have to learn to live within your means. Good idea to get some education, a better job if you can but in the meantime you've got to work with what you've got. We cut corners where we can, make hard decisons, save for what we want. We are not in debt at all except for the house payment. We drive older cars, don't eat out a lot. When I was really broke, I was lucky to put $50 a month away, but I've been doing it for many years and it does add up. I have a Roth IRA and have educated myself on how to invest. I can withdraw my principal at anytime so have a good sized emergency savings I have not had to tap -yet. If we lose jobs, we've got the equivalent of 9 months savings to draw on. You need to believe you can get financially fit regardless of whether you make a lot of money or not. Stop waiting for other people to fix it for you. GET UP OFF YOUR BUTT, get a budget, get a plan. Put $30 a month away if that is all you can spare, but put it up and don't touch it. It will add up over the years.

I think you are all crazy!? Read the book unfair advantage by Robert Kiyosaki and you will realize this entire article is a joke! Why wait until 65? There are so many opportunities available that will allow you to create residual income by leveraging your time, not money! IRA's are a complete scam!

Don't tell me it can't be done. My income (not capital) is $24,000 a year. Out of that I maintain a three bedroom house, pay taxes, utilities, food, clothing, insurance, provide food and medical care for 50 cats (fosters and cat colonies) and still save close to $10,000 a year. (I don't pay rent as my house is paid for. And the reason my house is paid for is I lived on half my "take home" until it was paid for.)

I did not "come from wealth." I did grow up in a household where we had the bare minimum in material goods and we worked, saved and paid cash for what we wanted.

It's not about "coming from money". It's about living on less than you make and paying yourself (401K or Roth) first before you pay anything else. Unless you make saving a priority, you will never do it, no matter how much money you make.

this is ridiculous....what Americans need is to get to ride the real "gravy" train like all those on wall street... how come it can't be we get to invest in things (with out some "too high" minimum) and get to see our shares or stocks jump up .. over night success.. not waiting 30 years for it to get to 2 million when in 30 years that might STILL not be enough... we need it MUCH sooner.. 3 years not 30 years.. we need help with some organization to get us regular folks invested into high climbing and REAL money making stocks.. not somethin roth or IRA or something crap... the rich don't and never have used those..they get to play BIG TIME making money in 4 or 5 years like they just won the lottery.. this advice is NOT going to help anyone . People who have MADE money on stock market should be able to show OTHERS how to do it.. or even better work out something so they are along with us as we try to do it ourselves..

I think one purpose of article like this is for young people or middle aged people to realize that they may need to get jobs that pay more. Now I know that right now there are not many jobs but look at the list for the best jobs for the next 10 years--and they need some type of education.

Yes, It's hard to save on $24,000 a year but shouldn't that make you think it's time to take a course in Web design, or driving semi, or heating systems, or starting a business? I have a relative who is mentally challenged from birth but he goes around cutting down dead trees for people and sells the wood. He also works on a farm that he does not own. Even though he has the IQ of about a 13 year old (he was tested, I'm not being mean), he is ambitious and wants to earn his own living. He about 60 years old now and he works weekends, often 6 days a week. People have to be willing to put in some extra effort--whether it's going to a tech program or working longer hours. What if you make $24000 for 40/hrs a week but if you worked an extra 4-8 hrs a week you could put that money in savings.

I'm impressed where I work, we have two secretaries--both single and about 58 years old, who work a second job as a receptionist in the evening and Saturdays at a medical center--so they can boost their savings. Some people just know how to do it.

I get the bit about saving being a mind-set, but I do not believe that the miniscule savings from such activities actually makes much difference in the long run. The most important thing is income level, period. People making $20K a year have to do these things just to get by, actually they'd probably have to get a ride or take public transportation to the airport. It's great when people practice frugality at any income level, but really it's far more important to maximize income.
And of course housing is the biggest expense, and salaries and costs of living are NOT uniform around the country. People forget that, I think.

People just dont get it... how does someone making 24k a YEAR save 10k of that?! Do the math that leaves a whole 14k to live on for the rest of the year. I dont know that you could even pay rent on a place for that much less food, utilities, insurance, etc.

this is ridiculous....what Americans need is to get to ride the real "gravy" train like all those on wall street... how come it can't be we get to invest in things (with out some "too high" minimum) and get to see our shares or stocks jump up .. over night success.. not waiting 30 years for it to get to 2 million when in 30 years that might STILL not be enough... we need it MUCH sooner.. 3 years not 30 years.. we need help with some organization to get us regular folks invested into high climbing and REAL money making stocks.. not somethin roth or IRA or something crap... the rich don't and never have used those..they get to play BIG TIME making money in 4 or 5 years like they just won the lottery.. this advice is NOT going to help anyone . People who have MADE money on stock market should be able to show OTHERS how to do it.. or even better work out something so they are along with us as we try to do it ourselves..

Idiots.. someone who has $10,000 to spare a year just for their savings is NOT in financial hardship. I am sick and tired of people who come from wealth telling those of us who do not come from any money how to do it! Idiots!!

when we needed additional income to pay our bills --like car payments, rent, the necessities- we all got second part time jobs. yes working 13 to 14 hours per day.. yes it wasn't easy. but it paid off. before 2009 - we were doing well, then all madness came about with the dems. looking forward to 2012 elections.