Okay so this post is just for fun…

But SERIOUS fun!

Did you know that high school is the EASIEST time to become a millionaire?  You probably think I’m nuts and about to sell you some “system” that will let you in on the BIG SECRET, but no! No secret here, just good old fashioned sense, basic math, and forethought. 

In the interest of full disclosure, I did NOT actually do this when I was in high school, but I sure wish I did! 

Okay, enough already, here’s how you do it….

Step 1) Get a part-time job.  During the year you can work after school and/or on weekends, and in the summer you need to work as much as possible.  If you struggle with grades, just stick to the summer job thing.  Minimum wage is $5.85 right now, will be $6.55 this summer, and $7.25 next summer, so this is doable no matter what job you get, though obviously more pay is better.  For our math, we’ll use the $7.25 figure, but with a little legwork you can make much more given how computer savvy you probably are.

Step 2) Open a Roth IRA. This is basically a type of savings/investment account where whatever you put in it will never be taxed assuming you follow the rules.  There are legal documents to sign, so you’ll need your parents to sign for you since you’re under 18.  Once you hit 18, you’ll have full control of the account.

Step 3) Work 20 hours a week for 40 weeks of the year. This allows you ample time for family vacations and other obligations, but at $7.25 an hour means an annual income of $5800! 

Step 4) Put $5,000 per year into your IRA. Do this for 2 years.  Yeah, this is the hard part.  If you can find a job paying more per hour, you can have the rest of the money to spend.  Or, save $2500 per year for 4 years(though this would mean working and saving during your first 2 years of college too).  Either way, you’ll want to have $10,000 put in your IRA, and you can only put in up to $5000 a year, so any way you can make that add up will still work.

Step 5) Celebrate! Yes, that’s it! Sure, you’ll have to wait about 40-45 years for the money to grow, but you can rest assured that you will DEFINITELY be a millionaire!  Only a small percentage of people ever make it that far, and you can spend the rest of your working years knowing that you’ll retire in comfort and style no matter what. 

There’s no other time in your life when you can save so little and have it turn into so much.  If you decide to wait 10 years, you’d have to save $33,000 to have the same result later, and saving $33,000 when you’re paying all your own bills is MUCH harder than saving $10,000 when living at home!  Wait 20 years and you’d have to save over $100,000 to have the same result at the same time. 

Conclusion: Saving $1,000,000 in high school is easier than it’ll EVER be again! 

How?  A little thing called compound interest. Never heard of it?  Ask your Math teacher ;-)