Aim High
When I first started my job here, a co-worker and now a good friend of mine gave me a large block of post-it notes with the watermark “Aim High” inscribed in large letters on every sticky note. It was the right tone and foot to start my job here because the work actually ended up being much more intense and challenging than I had ever imagined. Although I’m still at that job, so I guess it’s not that bad ; )
Right now as I flip through and re-read the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, which by the way is awesome and one of the original motivational books, there is a poem that is buried within:
I bargained with Life for a penny
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.
I really like this poem and I absolutely believe it’s true. If you really, completely, whole-heartedly want something, Life will give it to you. But you need to make the effort to get there.
For me, my motivation is to retire by the age of 35 and I will focus my mind in finding ways to accomplish that task and give it all I’ve got.
What is it that you want from Life? Remember to Aim High.
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If your goal is to retire by 35, why are you investing in a 401k or Roth IRA? These accounts cannot be touched, without penalty, until 59 yrs old.
Actually the principle in a Roth IRA can be removed without any penalty but you are right about the 401k. If you look at my assets, less than 5% are in retirement accounts currently. For my overall plan I want part of the portfolio to be non-retirement assets and another chunk to be retirement assets. That way I can plan for a long future while also taking advantage of any perks the government allows us. I just need to maintain enough assets in non-retirement accounts so it will survive me long enough until the “normal” retirement age limit kicks in and then I can utilize the retirement accounts. If I don’t then I risk running out of assets by the time I am old and gray since I forfeit all of the benefits for tax-deferment (401k) and tax-exemption (Roth).