Save 50% of your gross salary, invest in index funds, and be patient. You can speed up the process via geo-arbitrage, climbing the career ladder without lifestyle creep, working at a FAANG, being more frugal, or side hustles. Search for FIRE for more details.
Let's be honest, it's only possible for people with rare skills and/or prestigious credentials (which are largely a function of your parents social class).
Earning median wage most of that goes towards rent. There's nothing left to save. Move further away and you lose big on earnings.
> Earning median wage most of that goes towards rent. There's nothing left to save. Move further away and you lose big on earnings.
If you are in your teens or 20's in a median wage income, then I advise considering vanlife grinding towards FIRE. I spent so much time in libraries or labs at that stage of my life that in hindsight, I should have dismissed the stigma of "homelessness" and adopted vanlife, scraped enough together for a duplex down payment, rent both sides out initially until one side is paid off, and then settle in that side should I want out of vanlife at that point.
For some definitions of wealth, sure. I think the minimum definition is that you are freed from at least some need to labor. Clearly there’s a wealth point at which you need to capture excess value from the labor of others.
Exploited? Working for a living is called being an adult. The inverse of which is sticking your hand out and demanding that everyone carry you through adult life. People who agree to work for someone else are, in no way, being exploited. You have a choice to be a bum, as much as you have a choice where to work. And your options are greater when you're not a bum and have marketable skills that employers are willing pay for. Furthermore, if you're not a bum and you acquire skills, you can start your own business and do extremely well for yourself, and support dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of families if your business requires employees. I'm interested in discovering where you learned that successful business owners are "exploiting" people who willingly work for them.
Absolutely. I’m not a fan of the overly broad definition of exploitation meaning “anyone who has a job.” Clearly voluntarily selling your labour for money isn’t exploitation. Save your money and live off the interest.
