How To Build Wealth in Your Teens and 20s(Updated)

September 2, 2021
Stephen Ajulu
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Here’s how you can build wealth in your teens and 20s.

1. Live below your means

Never before has there been such a rise in self-comparison especially with the invention of Instagram. But forget that for a second. Remember 50% of those people you see flaunting money and living in luxury are in debt and are using loans to keep the facade.

Embrace minimalism and essentialism. Live below your means. Don’t focus on how people view you, focus on yourself. I can assure you 70% out of the 50% are living miserably and in debt. They are depressed and sometimes desire to commit suicide.

Live below your means. Here’s how you know you are living below your means.

You retain close to 30% of your monthly income after all the deductions including water, rent, food, and other bills.

2. Create an emergency fund

An emergency fund usually entails saving up money capable of taking you 3 to 12 months with zero income.

You create an emergency fund by adding up all the bills you need to foot including rent, food, waste, and transport, then adding the occasional self-treatment/payment/enjoyment/leisure, then adding up medical costs/insurance, and finally adding up 20% of the aforementioned additions times 3 or 6 or 12.

Basically, an emergency fund is a fund capable of keeping you alive and healthy for 3 to 12 months. This means food, rent, bills(internet, electricity, waste, water, health, car, among others) times 3 months or 6 months or 12 months. The further the better.

Mine comes up to Ksh. 40,000 or 400 USD per month, now times 6 = Ksh. 240,000 or 2400 USD. Don’t get extravagant because you’ll need to save up the amount you end up with. Remember BASICS and 20% of the basics(for leisure).

3. Manage debt

Not all debt is created equal, there’s good debt and bad debt. Find the difference and manage it. If you can eliminate all debt. The top 10% know how to use debt to create income. Make sure the income is 3x higher than the debt to prevent issues.

4. Invest

Invest immediately you get your income. I’d suggest you invest in index funds if you live in the US and other first-world countries.

Generally, I suggest you invest in stocks, cryptocurrencies, mutual funds, unit trusts, ETFs, NFTs, and others. Rule of thumb: Invest 30%(50% is great) of your income, if you can invest more, do it. Working on an ebook that will teach you more ways to invest and even simplify investing.

Also Read: Investment Opportunities

5. Get a job or build a business

This is a no-brainer. Apply to jobs or build a business, even better: do both. You need as much money as possible. Don’t be afraid to do “low caliber” jobs. If you can do multiple small jobs without burning out or experiencing degrading health, do it.

6. Create multiple streams of income

This is very important. Find ways you can build multiple streams of income e.g you can write articles even as you build your business or do your job. This will eventually grow into something that makes money for you while you sleep.

The creative economy is a great thing, research and create products then sell them on platforms like Gumroad or Podia. You can also productize your service and sell them.

7. Stay healthy

By staying healthy you keep yourself from getting sick and having to use the money to pay for bills. But that’s not the only thing that it will help with. You will also be in better shape to earn more money and build wealth. Also, consider investing in medical insurance. Find a good one, research the pros and cons before settling.

See a previous post on how you can become healthy.

Remember: Low/NO Sugar, No Soy, Moderate Sodium, High Fat, Low Carbs, More Veggies, More Meat, More Water, More Fiber, Fewer Fruits, More Eggs and Less Frequently(One Meal A Day, One And A Half Meals A Day, Intermittent Fasting, Autophagy)

Also Remember More Sun, More Fermented Foods, More Movement/Exercise.

Also Read: Mini Self Improvement Framework For Everyone

8. Learn & build your skills

Building skills makes you high value, which means you become twice as likely to be hired every time you learn a new skill or master an old one. The same is true for business, the more skills you learn the more likely you are to attract potential clients.

Also Read: High Value In-Demand Skills

I’d suggest signing up for Skillshare, use this link to get 1 free premium month worth of content: https://skl.sh/3wxbE9O

I’m currently learning

  • Financial Literacy
  • Web Design with Figma and Webflow
  • Copywriting
  • Facebook ADS
  • Graphic Design
  • Python
  • Ruby on Rails
  • Golang
  • Web Development

9. Start a retirement fund

I know, I know, you are in your teens and twenties, you think you are still young. But trust me, if you want to build wealth, start a retirement fund. Try Roth IRA, 401k, you could also ask your bank if they offer retirement accounts or go with your country’s retirement fund. But make sure you get the most bang for your buck. Requirements for a good retirement fund: 1. The company is regulated and was founded 10 years ago or later 2. The rates are very good(you’ll need to research multiple funds to know if the rate of the one you choose is great) 3. Can be hooked up to your bank of choice, employer and supports manual payments(not primary) - Basically, you need to have an automatic payment system in place where money is automatically deposited into the funds but allows you to top up.

10. Stop gambling

Gambling is a bad habit and could cost you everything.

11. Take responsibility for your life and finances

That’s the end of this post.

To all who take the initiative to put the above into action, “Greatness is coming!”.

More ways will be explained in my ebook: “How to Invest and Build Wealth”. I still don’t have a date but my newsletter subscribers will be among the first to be notified together with a 50% coupon code.

Subscribe to my newsletter down below.

See you soon.

See Also
wealth
 
investment
 
finance