Every year I receive a statement from the Social Security Administration that tells me how much I can expect to receive in Social Security, Disability, and or Medicare benefits - along with an explanation as to how these benefits are estimated. Another part of this statement outlines what my taxable income has been ever since I started working.
(I would suggest that you reach out to the S.S.A. and sign up to receive this statement ... it doesn't cost a thing! www.socialsecurity.gov)
Anyway, I was looking over the statement and I asked myself, "How much have you earned since you started working?" Then something inside said, "Add it up silly!" So I did just that. I added up every dollar I earned going all the back to my very first job in 1986. In the 21 years that I have been drawing an income (2008 not included), I have earned over $757,000.00. That's an average of roughly $36K a year. Again, that's an AVERAGE of all the years combined - because during those early years I WISH I was making that kind of money.
But then I got to thinking ... I'm not even 40 yet. I'm not even halfway through my career yet. If I was capable of earning just over three quarters of a million dollars in the 21 years leading up to and nearly half-way through my career, how much am I capable of earning; more importantly - MAKING over the course of the next 21 years?! Oh yes ... there is a difference between earning money and making money!
Right now, as I said above, I am nearly half-way through my career as I only plan on giving my "9 to 5" 20 years of my life. So in "guess-timating" what I stand to make over the course of the remaining 11 years of my career, which will be followed by my pension ... the future looks pretty bright. Add to that the fact that I am now more aware of the importance of financial literacy than I once was ... the future looks even brighter. Even taking into consideration and preparing for life's ups and downs, twists and turns, bumps and bruises ... the future looks even MORE brighter. Additionally, I'm taking into consideration the fact that I am in the process of building my own business NOW so that I actually have something worth while to do once I do retire from my "9 to 5." So - like the song goes ... "my future's so bright I gotta wear shades!"
We all agree that you can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been, so why should you not do what I did and evaluate your financial history up to this point in your life? You should evaluate - not what you've done with that money (since it's already been spent), but what you can do with the money you stand to earn (or make) moving forward. You know how people always ask the question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Well, take that question and project your earnings into the answer. Then ask yourself "Am I capable of doing more so that I might earn (or make) more?" I know I started this off talking about the past, but what I'm really trying to get through to you is the concept of paying more attention to the future.
The future ... the future is a strange beast. The future is a beast that we all must face. The future is a beast that we cannot fight and win. As long as we're blessed with another day, the future becomes more and more prevalent in our lives. Do you want to know why we cannot beat the future? The reason why we cannot beat the future is because as each day comes, the future disguises itself as the present, and just as the greatest trick Satan ever pulled off was convincing the world he doesn't exist, the greatest trick that the future pulls off is that we pay more attention to the disguise it discarded (the past), and the disguise it now wears (the present).
I know I cannot beat the future. I know that the future is going to come. Therefore, my strategy is to see where I want to be and start building towards it now. The only places where the tallest buildings in the world started out that way was in the architect's imagination and on his or her drawing board. However, once the time came to make those sketches and blue prints a reality, they had to start with a foundation and then build up.
If you want to be amongst those with few to no financial woes, then you're going to have to evaluate what you've done up until this point in your life. Then you'll have to determine where (and how) you want to end up. Finally ... you'll have to get up off your butt and put in work. If you want to see how it's done ... watch me! If my life were a book right now, the title would be "Success at the Ground Floor." You see, I have a dream which I transformed into a goal, and now I am on the grind of building my skyscraper of personal success one brick at a time. Now success ain't no spectators' sport! If you want it for yourself then you're going to have to go after it for yourself. No one is going to give it to you.
I am reminded of a question my wife asked me the first time she was asked by a newlywed couple how much she would charge them for some pictures she took at their wedding. In response to her question, I asked her "How much is your effort worth?"
If you get that statement from the S.S.A., you will learn exactly what your past effort was worth. I hope that you do get that statement ... and then I hope that like me, you begin evaluating your past so you can even better chart out your future.
Remember ... Fortune Favors the Brave!
1 comment:
Sankofa
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