[skalenfehl]

It can be daunting at times. My upside is having a business and creating a potential for earned income greater than an hourly/weekly wage. I can work around the clock to get jobs done faster and build a stream of accounts receivable quicker instead of doing the regular 40 hour work weeks without worrying about labor/overtime issues. It's when the market is bad like now that backfires the whole process and puts me behind. I'm also not getting younger. I can't wait for things to pick up again at full steam.

I've learned that ten years is a good average for beginning to build wealth. If one can live within his means to set aside at least 10% of his income, then in ten years he will have saved one year's worth of earnings that can be used for more earning power. However along the way by setting that money aside and adding to it incrementally the extra change, the occasional wage increase, and any extra money will continue to add to potential interest earned in a safe investment.

In ten years I will be 48 years old regardless of what financial decisions I make now. But because I've built debt instead of wealth I will be working extra hard to kill my debts starting with my highest interest debt (second mortgage). Once I kill that slave master I will take the money that I paid each month and kill my next highest interest debt and kill that slave master. Before too long (a matter of years) my debt to income ratio will be less and my earning power will increase. I will then be able to start adding to my old investment account.

Fortunately the work that I do now is not back breaking so I have no problem working longer hours to expedite my debt killing strategies as I've been doing for the last several years. It also helps that my boys are full grown and no longer draining my income with all the juvenile fines the state imposed upon me for their "poor community choices", bless their hearts!

I've tried to teach them to start saving and building wealth now, but kids just want everything now. Just like I did. That brings to mind an extremely important point in getting out of debt and building wealth. Procrastination. Prosperity and procrastination do not go hand in hand. Success is little more than hard work that doesn't stop. This topic is just as much for me as it is for anyone who is still trying to figure it out, especially you twenty-somethings. Hopefully it's motivated you to take stock of your financial position.