The Millionaire Master Plan: A Strategic Blueprint For Success
When it comes to wealth building and creating a lasting legacy in the process, many people focus on lowering their taxes or receiving a large inheritance. While these measures can definitely help with your finances, they are often best for those who are already millionaires. However, if you’re looking for an effective plan that is cheaper than hiring a financial planner to create for you and that is more suitable for those of us with limited funds (i.e., anyone making less than $150k per year), then this post might be just what you need.
In a previous post , I discussed the wealth building strategies I used to go from $0 to over $500k in less than 10 years. Though the article was aimed at new graduates (i.e., those who had been out of school for less than 10 years), many people who were more experienced in their careers were intrigued as well. In fact, one of my readers, who is an active duty officer in the Navy, asked me to write a post specifically on how he could use these strategies while also serving his country without leaving his job.
I’ve encountered this question before and have always referred people to my original article on creating wealth when you’re young . However, for those who are serious about becoming millionaires and also want to serve their country without leaving it, I am providing a more detailed answer below.
The first thing to realize is that being an officer in the Navy (or in any other military branch) presents two different sets of problems. On the one hand, you have problems that are unique to military members and on the other hand you have those that are similar to civilians. Though the latter set won’t be covered here, I will address both below.
First, I’ll go over some of the unique challenges of being in the military and then provide my advice on how to overcome them.
Traits that are Unique to Military Members
Before I get into the actual plan, I feel the need to first point out that while being a member of the military does present certain financial challenges, it also includes many financial benefits as well. This is especially true for those who serve honorably at the highest levels (i.e., officers).
The problem is that military members often find themselves caught in very unique situations and their experiences often don’t match up with what I discuss below. For example, everyone knows how difficult it is to find work outside of the military and how long it takes to move up within one’s organization. However, some military members are afforded multiple opportunities to do both.
It is also important to remember that the financial advice I provide below is merely a workable blueprint for creating wealth. Though other people’s situations will differ from what I discuss here, the basic principles remain the same. Therefore, those who take my advice and apply it to their own lives will be able to create a plan that works for them and allows them to build wealth as well.
As mentioned above, the first distinguishing factor between being in the military and being a civilian is the difficulty of finding work outside of one’s organization. Given that I don’t want to get into a debate over which organization is better or worse, I will just focus on the challenges presented by the military.
Unfortunately, if you are in the military and interested in becoming really wealthy, then you’re going to find it nearly impossible to build wealth outside of your organization. This is true especially if you work for less than three years. After this, you risk becoming an outsider and will either have to find a new job or take a cut in pay (i.e., be demoted).
From my personal experience, I was able to quit my job after only one year because I had just had enough of the bureaucracy at work. Though I was certainly concerned about my finances, my concern quickly turned to concern for my mental well being and I decided to move on. As a result, I have never looked back and have been extremely happy with my decision.
However, for those who are in the military for a few years or more, they simply don’t have this option. If you are working at a higher level (i.e., being an officer), then you must stick it out until something better comes along or keep on working in hopes that you will land a new job after your current one ends.
The other issue that arises from military members being stuck in their organization is the difficulty of moving up within it. For example, if you are an officer and working in the military, it is incredibly difficult to move from your current rank to a higher one. For some people, this is even more difficult because they must work through their organization or they risk moving from being a relatively low ranked officer to being a very low ranked officer.
The fact is that many people who leave the military may never make back what they put into it. This is true even if they end up earning large salaries in their new jobs.
I have talked with many people who have left the military and continue to be amazed at all of the risks involved in making such a decision. Many people simply don’t realize how difficult it can be to get a good job out of it and the pay is often not great. In fact, if you move too far away from the base, then you may lose your benefits and will have to pay for them yourself.
In short, many people who leave the military never fully recover from their experience and are left worse off than before (unless they are holding one of those very lucrative jobs like Apple or Google). As a result, I always encourage people to become active in their current organization, even if they aren’t happy with it at all.
The reason for this is that once you leave your organization, you are essentially cutting off all of your ties to it and will have to start from scratch. In short, you lose all of your contacts and become just a random person on job boards.
In most cases, you will lose out on any benefits (like healthcare) that were afforded to you while working within the system. As a result, it is often much easier to just stick it out until something better comes along and then move on.
Because of the above reasons, I highly recommend that anyone in the military who wants to become really wealthy do nothing more than maintain their current job and try and get bumped up as high as they can go while working there.
Conclusion
I hope that you found this article helpful. If you did, please consider sharing it on Facebook or Twitter . Also, feel free to leave any comments or questions below.
Finally, if you want to learn more about creating wealth and want to live a life of freedom , then be sure to check out my free 5 day course on getting out of debt and investing in your future.
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