In recent years with interest rates so low many people ignore the need to save. Also with considerable research it is possible to find small to medium sized companies in industries that appear to have good potential. If a person invests at the right time in a cutting edge company they can increase their net worth at a good rate. Index funds from reputable companies have
performed well throughout the years if the investor does not panic and sell out every time there is a big decline. Hanging on to an index fund will almost always result in the value of the investment outperforming what a person could get putting in a fixed interest account.

A really good table
Effects of saving $500 a month assuming a 10% return over time are:
Year Savings Total
1 $6,335.14
5 39,041.19
10 103,276.01
20 392,848.45
30 1.139,662.66

From this table you can see how saving can provide a great nest egg for your family if you only discipline yourself to do it.

My mother’s cousin’s husband saved 50% of everything he made. His mother taught him this rule when he was a child. He was a mechanic working for the county where he lived in Colorado. He and his wife had saved 50% for almost 40 years. They were millionaires that lived in a small house with furniture obtained from used furniture stores. They drove an older pickup for many years and later bought a new smaller Chevrolet car but he did not want a radio or air conditioning because they cost too much when added to the base price. This man was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer at age 60 and died less than a year later. He was a smoker. They had no children and my mother’s cousin disliked her two nieces and did not want to leave anything in their will to them. They became attached to a young teenaged Hispanic girl that lived on a ranch near them. After the girl grew up she was a clinical psychologist and had her own practice, she married a medical doctor.

The cousin and her husband decided to will everything to the clinical psychologist if her husband would give unlimited time to caring for her husband in the last days of his life. The doctor was semi-retired and only practiced part of the time. He moved in with them and took care of him for the last eight months of his life. The doctor agreed to take care of the cousin after she died by putting her in an assisted living facility. She lived several years after her husband passed away. The clinical psychologist and the doctor inherited several million dollars from the estate. It seemed like a sad thing that they did not need the money and both of the nieces were practically poverty stricken. One had four children and no husband and the one had been in the military for several years and had a low paying job after she got out.

The point I am making is it is possible to be a millionaire if you start saving early and continue until your retirement years. Then use the money wisely when you retire and you can enjoy the fact that you saved all those years. No one knows how long they will live but certainly travel , mountain get aways, cruises, beaches seem appealing to retirees. To have the money to enjoy those things is a comforting accomplishment. I always felt it was so sad that my mother’s cousin and her husband did not enjoy the benefits of saving all those years.

Not everyone can save $500 a month but even if you only save half that you can see you will have a substantial amount to assist with your retirement. Or if you start saving late possibly your income is higher at that point than if you had started out earlier so then possibly you could save $1,000 a month?

The moral of the story is saving is a necessity for families to have a more secure future.