Hello everyone! In the previous blog, I've explained what is Financial Independence Retire Early(FIRE), how and why someone need to pursue it. In this blog, I'll share you very valuable information about how to build wealth systematically. Most practical, easy to understand and useful.
4 Phases of Building Wealth
I won't waste time explaining what is wealth and why you need it. Money is essential, being rich isn't enough. You need a sustainable wealth to lead a wonderful comfortable life. Being rich and being wealthy aren't same thing. Probably, I'll write a detailed blog on that topic some other day.
Accumulation
This is the first phase of building wealth. First, you need to increase your earnings. Understand if you are being paid fairly, if you are being underpaid ask for a pay rise. Upskill yourself to improve your earning capacity. Change the company/job if you believe it can increase your earning potential.
After increasing the income, now its time to save bulk of the income. In this phase, your saving rate should be 50% of your income. It is possible to save 50% after increasing your income and cutting down on 'wants' & do not upgrade the lifestyle when income increases. The goal of this phase should be to** accumulate 5x of your annual expense**. Remember, we discussed about calculating yearly expense in previous blog. The term to achieve this phase should be less than 5 years.
This is NOT the time to buy a new car, house, go on foreign tour etc.
Growth
Next phase after accumulation is "Growth". This is the longest phase in terms of number of years. In this phase, the saving rate reduces down to 20%. We shall spend some money on 'wants' and naturally the responsibilities would have increased. During this phase we may already have a family and kids, we can compromise current family needs for a future wealth. So don't be too stingy, nothing wrong in spending something for family and other 'wants', hence our saving rate is 20% now but remember we would already have 5x expense from accumulation phase.
The goal for this 'Growth' phase is to build 25x of annual expense, hence the timeline to achieve also stretches to 10-12years. You should be disciplined, stay on track and not to be too aggressive.
This would be the time to own a car, may be get a home(only if needed) and go out with family etc. You have a life to live too while building wealth!
Independent
By end of growth phase, you should have 25x annual expense. You would now be more confident in life, able to take decision without worrying about financial commitment, change the job/location or even quit to start anything on your own.
There is no saving rate in this phase, you can set your own rate and by now you would be wiser in money management. Goal should be to achieve 50x annual expense in this phase. Tenure can span between 5-6 years. You will experience the magic of compounding as you would witness your wealth growing from 25x to 50x of annual expense.
Abundant
If you have completed all the above 3 phases, you are very well financially independent and in this phase there is no target or goal, no saving rate, no limitations. One crucial thing is not to screw up and fall for any money making trap as you might be enticed with 'make quick buck' schemes and other overnight wealth scams. Stay cautious and preserve the wealth you had built so far.
Lead a sustainable life, use the wisdom you have gained so far in this 20 years journey of building wealth. Do no be greedy nor look down upon others. Help others with your money and wisdom, be grateful of family, friends and people who helped you so far.
This is 'Abundance' phase, this is the last stage of your wealth building journey. Congratulations if you have reached so far, and be proud of yourself.
Summary
This framework of building sustainable wealth spans across 20+ years. If someone start it in 20s during their first job, they can very well achieve Financial Independence Retire Early(FIRE) in their 40s. Even if someone start at 30s can also achieve by 50s and do not have to work until 60.
I've prepared the following table to help you for ease of understanding and future reference,
| Milestone | Savings rate | Timeline | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accumulation | 5x of annual expense | 50% savings | 5 years |
| Growth | 25x | 20% savings | 10 years |
| Independent | 50x | set your own limit | 5 years |
| Abundant | > 50x | -- | -- |
Hope this framework would be useful for you, let me know your thoughts. In future posts we shall see where we need to park our saved money and how to grow it to achieve our milestones.
