There are too many cases of getting rich, and the matter of "saving enough 1 million" is not even worth mentioning.
But the real data feedback reveals another world.
As of the end of June 2022, China's per capita deposit is less than 100,000 yuan.
5 years ago, CCTV also disclosed that the number of people with millions of disposable funds in China at that time was only 3.5 million (after deducting debts, and excluding **).
So if you can have 1 million, you can exceed 99% of Chinese.
However, in the current social context, wealth is concentrating on a very small number of people, and most of the people are still frugal for a few taels of silver.
Let's take the latest rich list criteria published on the Internet:
Those with an annual income of about 30,000-80,000 yuan are poor;
Those with an annual income of 6 million to more than 10 million are rich;
Those with an annual income of 10 million to 50 million are called the rich;
Those with an annual income of more than 50 million are the super-rich.
Therefore, only a small part of the real rich people are also "low-income poor" if they go back to their ancestors.
The 36-year-old never thought he would become rich, he just wanted to save enough money to retire early and stay away from the stressful working life.
He has been graduating for 14 years, and he only began to learn to save money 3 years ago, and he only left 3,000 yuan for himself every month for living expenses, and gave the rest to his daughter-in-law.
Who knew that 3 years later, the daughter-in-law actually saved more than 1 million.
So how did they save it? What can be changed with this money?
How much money should I save for early retirement?
In recent years, there is a word that has repeatedly rushed to the hot search, it is called "fier", which means "financial independence, early retirement".
There are not only a lot of successful people who pursue this state of life, but also many ordinary people from ordinary families.
At the beginning, Xiao Geng didn't have the idea of saving money, and he didn't know about "fire". He is a typical "moonshine guy" and even owes a lot of credit cards.
Later, the reason why he was able to save 1 million in 3 years was not earned at all, but by relying on his daughter-in-law to save it from between his teeth.
In the first few years of graduation, his salary was not high, and he didn't make any money anyway, and he didn't save it.
In 2015, Xiao Geng's parents bought him a house in Beijing, 44 square meters, with a down payment of 720,000 yuan, which was the pension money of the old couple, and Xiao Geng did not give a cent.
"At that time, I was very ashamed, I felt that I had been abandoned for so many years, and I was still gnawing at the age of 30."
After getting married, the daughter-in-law found that Xiao Geng always charged money into the game, and the two had a big quarrel, and the final result of the quarrel was that Xiao Geng could only leave a part of the living expenses every month, and hand over the rest.
Like many men, he had no choice but to give his salary card to his daughter-in-law, at that time Xiao Geng was a teacher in a tutoring agency, with a monthly salary of three or four thousand yuan, and he only kept 1,000 for himself.
I was wearing a shirt for more than 20 yuan and cloth shoes for more than 10 yuan, and I felt quite shabby at first, but after a long time, I felt like that, no different from people who wore famous brands."
Xiao Geng also doesn't smoke or drink, in order to push away socializing and dinners, he set up a lot of labels for himself: "can't drink drinks, lactose intolerance", "can't drink, alcohol allergy".
He thought very simply, he wanted to be able to "pay off" to his daughter-in-law every month, and by the way, save some money to repay the loan later, but he didn't expect to become addicted to saving up.
It's like playing a game and leveling up, from three digits to more than three, there is an indescribable sense of security."
They never buy tickets to go to the movies, they all catch up with the supermarket to get some free tickets, and Xiao Geng buys things for his daughter-in-law at a price of tens to hundreds of yuan, they rarely go to the restaurant, and it is more romantic to cook porridge at home.
He knows very well what he wants, Xiao Geng's brothers and sisters are all good, they bought 2 houses in Shanghai, both belong to the management of large companies, and the salary is very considerable, which is also Xiao Geng's ideal state. Pay off the mortgage first, and then continue to earn money.
In order to save more money, Xiao Geng joined the public *** and later joined a large company, and his salary rose to 8,000 per month, but the reality gave him a backhand slap in the face.
Their company's performance appraisal is particularly strict, if he is at the bottom for three consecutive months, he will be fired without compensation, during that time he was under a lot of pressure, and finally found a way, and the boss still "PUA" him every day.
Xiao Geng resigned in a fit of anger, and he went to teach in a private school again, with a monthly income of 5,000 yuan, in the eyes of others, he got an "iron rice bowl", but only he felt that life was boring.
"I thought about it, forget it, don't toss, stay and slowly get promoted and raised, and slowly save money."
After the average salary**, he only kept 3,000 yuan per month, which included his living expenses and family expenses, and the other 2,000 yuan was given to his wife.
In fact, to put it bluntly, Xiao Geng doesn't have any ideas other than saving money, just living with the flow. It wasn't until his brothers and sisters divorced that he felt that life was nothing more than that.
He also thought about not saving money, when will he be able to save enough 1 million yuan with a salary of 5,000 yuan?
So in his spare time, he would read the newspaper to dispel negative emotions, and who knew that he accidentally learned about "fier".
A sudden thought completely inspired his determination to retire early, but how much money can he save to retire? How can you save with a salary of 5,000 yuan?
Xiao Geng's school is a militarized campus, and after working there for a few years, he was really promoted, and his salary was raised to 10,000 2 per month, but the "996" work system also became "6116".
"996" means to start work at 9 a.m. and leave work at 9 p.m., 6 days a week. "6116" gets up at 6 a.m., gets off work at 6 p.m., and rounds the ward on time at 11 p.m.
Since Xiao Geng became a counselor, he has to revolve around the students all day long, and he doesn't dare to turn off his mobile phone in the middle of the night, because he will receive **::
Hello Mr. Geng, something is wrong with your classmates.
The militarized management of the school is very strict, no matter what needs to be solved by the counselor in person, Xiao Geng's spirit is tense every day, and the most he says in the office is: "I really don't want to do it, I'm too tired"!
Once he made a phone call with a friend who worked in a private company, and the other party looked incredulous when he heard about it:
"Why do you stay in class for so long? And not more wages? We all have a hard and fast rule that we can't work more than 40 hours of overtime per month."
Xiao Geng calculated, his working hours per week are about 75 hours, more than double that of others, although he gets more salary, but he always feels out of life.
Later, Xiao Geng's daughter-in-law saved more and more money, in addition to the wages of two people, Xiao Geng also learned to **, a total of more than 200,000 in the past seven or eight years, in 2016, he earned the most, earning more than 10 tens of thousands a year, Xiao Geng fell in love with ** and sold the game account, and by the way, he added an income.
"Do you think you can go to work with peace of mind if you go on like this? A hobby earns more than a job."
So in order to get out of the fast-paced work environment as soon as possible, he began to save money harder.
Xiao Geng bought a small mini rice cooker in the office, cooked the rice, and then poured the vegetables on top to make a rice bowl.
I've been eating for more than a year, and my daughter-in-law often asks me if she wants to give me more money every month, and I say no."
Planning how to spend a month with 3,000 yuan is a very fulfilling thing.
For example, when he goes to the fresh supermarket to buy vegetables, a handful of vegetables is 10 yuan, and he can eat two meals, and he usually fills up as a member, because the member is 99 can buy a handful of vegetables, and if you spend more than 10 yuan, you can also give a box of yogurt or a bottle of drink.
However, Xiao Geng likes to buy "the most expensive seasoning", and he will not hesitate to buy a bottle of organic soy sauce for 55 yuan a bottle, "I don't like the feeling of embarrassment, when I think of eating organic vegetables and organic seasonings every day, the feeling of embarrassment will disappear."
Every Wednesday, the supermarket will hold activities, a box of organic pork ribs costs more than 40 yuan a box, a few yuan cheaper than usual, although it is still very expensive, but Xiao Geng will buy it once a week.
In order to save 8 yuan for taking the subway, he worked hard to squeeze out 1,500 yuan to buy a bicycle, which not only saved transportation costs, but also indirectly exercised.
In terms of entertainment, he also doesn't like to wronged himself, he is a member of all ** software, Xiao Geng doesn't like to watch advertisements, he feels that advertising will make the quality of life deteriorate, "save money to save money, and you can't lack it spiritually."
When Xiao Geng was 35 years old, his cousin got married, and his grandfather paid 50,000 yuan, and the old man was old, so he also gave him the money left for Xiao Geng's marriage, a total of 50,000 yuan.
Coupled with the money they had saved before, Xiao Geng and his daughter-in-law just saved enough 800,000, and he was very confident that he would be able to save enough 1 million in another year.
Indeed, a year later, Xiao Geng and his daughter-in-law saved a total of 1.18 million yuan, achieving the first goal of 1 million yuan in their lives.
Is it time to go to early retirement?
There is a 4% rule in Fire, and if it can be done, then paid work will become dispensable.
The 4% rule simply sets a goal of 25 times your annual spending, and when your savings reach this number, you will achieve financial independence with a 4% annual return on investment.
Xiao Geng calculated that he still had more than 800,000 left after he paid off the mortgage, and it was difficult to "fier" such conditions, even if he had 2 million or 5 million now, he didn't want to "fier".
It has been 14 years since I graduated, and I have been trying to save money in recent years, and now I have become Xi to the lifestyle, if I really retire early, then I can only save money, and the task of saving money can only be forced to end. ”
Over the years, Xiao Geng has found a sense of security from money, although he does not plan to "lie down" and retire, but he is still out of the fast-paced work environment.
He moved to a third- or fourth-tier city with his parents and wife, rented a two-story rural house with a large yard, and found a job with an income of only four or five thousand.
The house in Beijing has also been rented out, and he can live in a small city with relish with his rent and current income, and the rest of the time, he plans to enjoy the slow life, without making too much money, and without having to work hard to save money.
Xiao Geng often quipped: "I didn't achieve fire, but I seem to have achieved 'semi-fire', which is not bad, at least I have a sense of security."
That morning, Xiao Geng drove the family to the lake for a picnic, the light rain hit the car window "crackling", he rolled down the window and took a breath, he never felt as free as now.
But it didn't take long for him to receive one ** after another
Xiao Geng, you earned so much in Beijing before, why do you have to go back to the third and fourth tier cities, don't you have the ability to resist pressure at all?"
Everyone is desperately squeezing into the first-tier cities, you are good, you run to the small cities."
Xiao Geng didn't explain, he hung up **, hummed a song and continued to drive forward.
I have to say that in the fast-paced life, "slow life" has become the goal that everyone yearns for, and the world never lacks the pressure of the fast pace, but the romance of the slow pace is lacking.
The concept of "fier" life and early retirement is indeed tempting, but there is also a prerequisite for such a life, that is, how to achieve financial independence.
In other words, you have to have capital to be free.
Everyone pursues a different way of life, so why not if you like it?