Yes, Virginia, You Too Can Be Rich - A Guide for New Female Investors

A good friend of mine is a flight attendant for one of the major U.S. carriers. When she was only 21 years old, she approached me with the singular goal to have $1 million by the time she was 35, making it absolutely clear that whatever needed to be done, she was willing to do. Using a time value of money formula, we calculated that at the historical rate of return on stocks in the United States, she would reach her goal by contributing $33,000 to her investments each year. Although that number seemed daunting to her at the time – she was barely making ends meet while living in a 500 square foot apartment near Manhattan – she was committed to her dream and vowed to make it happen. Thanks to the flexible nature of her profession, she was able to pick up a second career outside of her day job, making it possible to reach those funding goals through the extra income and the 401k match provided by her employer. Today, unbeknownst to her friends, she is on track to reach her objective while maintaining a comfortably middle class lifestyle. At 35 years old, the laws of mathematics dictate that she’ll be able to do one of two things: Create, in essence, a self-funded pension plan by living off the dividends and interest her $1 million endowment generates each year. She’ll quit one of her jobs and between her remaining profession and her investment income, pull down over $125,000 annually; or, lock the money away for thirty years until she turns 65, never adding another dime and using her existing salaries to massively upgrade her lifestyle, resulting in nearly $23 million by retirement. That’s not a typo.