- Hi, guys. It's Mark.
So today is gonna be a really special video
'cause I'm gonna be breaking down the exact spending
and saving strategies that allowed me
to become a multimillionaire.
And they may help you do the same in the future.
I'm gonna separate these into age groups
so you're able to see how each stage
gradually builds upon the other.
These are all things that I've personally done
as I believe in walking the walk
and not just talking the talk.
So when you're relaxing in your mansion worth millions,
make sure to come back to this video
and hit that thumbs-up button.
Nearly 63% of people go through their life
paycheck to paycheck.
And this is probably because they were never taught
the correct way to manage their money.
My aim for this video is to give you all the tools you need
to be able to get ahead of everyone else.
So let's start off with 13 to 18-year-olds.
In my opinion, these early years are some
of the most important because every dollar
you have at this age will be worth $10 in 30 years' time.
When I was given money for birthdays, Christmas,
or even cash from washing people's cars,
I'd always make sure to save 50% of it.
Now, I know that sounds like quite a lot.
Obviously, it's not always possible
when you're older to do that.
But usually, as a teenager, you're living at home,
which means your expenses are incredibly low.
In fact, my dad was always banging on about it.
He said, "This is like living in a hotel for free.
"All your cooking, washing, heating and bills,
"they're all taken care of."
And you know what? He was right.
Saving became a massive habit for me.
And it was just something I did without really
even thinking about it.
When I was younger, I opened up a high interest
savings account to grow my money.
Back then, the interest they paid was a lot better
than it is today.
However, now there are more options
for teens to be able to invest.
Something great that wasn't available when I was younger
are custodial accounts in the USA
and Junior ISAs in the UK.
These allow you to put your money into the stock market,
with your parents' permission of course.
And if you were to invest in let's say the Vanguard S&P 500
index fund, you can historically expect an average return
of seven to 10% tax-free.
At this stage, all you wanna do
is get a taste for investing.
It's not about putting all your money into the stock market
as there are so many more useful things
that you can do with it.
I always think it's important to have hobbies.
And they can often turn into ways of making money
if you're a little bit clever about it.
My son loved creating videos when he was younger.
So I encouraged him to buy camera equipment
and keep improving his skills.
Those small investments in his hobby when he was younger
have helped him travel all over the world
and filming for people like Red Bull and even filming
these videos for me.
To be fair, this is probably the highlight
of your career, isn't it, Curtis?
- [Curtis] Of course it is, dad. This is great fun.
- The real moral here is not to be scared to spend money
on the things that you love as they have a much better
return for you.
You don't just want to limit yourself by locking
all your money away in the stock market.
Building a good credit score is also extremely important
if you ever wanna buy a car or a house in the future.
Now, lots of people think you can't do anything about this
when you're under 18 but you can actually become
an authorized user on your parents' credit card.
And you'll be able to start building your credit
from a very young age.
Wherever you go, make sure to ask for a student discount.
Even if they don't openly say that they give a discount,
you'll often get one.
And this really adds up and gives you extra money to save
and invest into the things that really matter to you.
You also have to make one of the biggest financial decisions
in your life in your teens and that's whether
to go to college.
I chose to do an apprenticeship as a carpenter instead.
And because of that, lots of people think I'm against it.
However, that's not entirely true.
I think college can be a real smart financial choice
if you go into it with a plan and you know what degree
you need get to the next stage of your life
and earn a higher income.
You really want to avoid getting into lots of debt
that just limits you in later life
and is a constant drain on your finances.
College is a big investment, not only in money
but also in time.
So think good and hard.
Now let's move on to 18 to 30-year-olds.
This is when the habits I formed when I was younger
really came in useful.
It's so easy to make mistakes at this stage
as people might finally have some decent income
and want to live in the moment
rather than thinking about the future.
Now, this is proven by the fact that 44% of Americans
The sooner, the better.
Like I said before, having a credit card
and paying it back in full by the end of the month
is great for building credit.
I used to just use mine for gas, which wasn't very much.
So my usage was really low.
It's all about demonstrating you're able to take care
of your money.
The sooner you get a credit card, the longer the line
of credit you'll have.
And this is a big factor when determining your credit score.
When you're over 18, you're allowed your own
checking account, which is really, really useful.
I like to think of it as a base for all my money.
Everything should go into the checking account
and there you can split it off into a variety
of different places.
First, I made sure to build myself an emergency fund
of three to five months of my living expenses.
Obviously, it's a good idea to live at home
for as long as possible, as it will keep
all your expenses really low.
However, I didn't have that privilege.
So I needed some money that was easy to access
in the event of an emergency.
This means it shouldn't be tied up in the stock market.
It needs to be just sitting in a high-interest account.
I actually did have to use this once
when my water heater went bang.
If I didn't have an emergency fund, then I would've probably
had to take out a payday loan and that's never a good idea.
Next, it's really important to set up a Roth IRA in the USA
or an ISA in the UK.
These accounts allow you to invest in the stock market
and avoid paying any taxes on profits you make.
They are so powerful they actually limit the amount
of money you can deposit each year.
So it's really important to take advantage
of these as soon as possible.
During this time, I also got very good at knowing
what was a need and what was a want.
And what I mean by this is I prioritized all the necessities
like food and rent and I stopped myself from buying
too many luxuries until I had contributed to my investments
and paid off any debt that was hanging around my neck.
This is also around the time I started looking
into more investments like individual stocks, real estate,
and now cryptocurrency.
I always think it's important to allocate a small amount
of your portfolio to fund educated guesses.
And that's what I've been recently doing
with the cryptocurrency.
I started this style of investing
when I was between 18 and 30.
And I've certainly had some big wins
from some really small gambles.
While you're young, you can afford to make some mistakes
as there's plenty of time to make it back again.
If you feel your money won't stretch this far,
then this is why you need a side job.
It can be so useful.
Well, I used to have three of them.
My wage would cover my lifestyle.
Then I could save or invest everything else.
Next up is 30 to 40-year-olds.
This is when the responsibilities really start to pile on.
Shockingly, one in four Americans admit that they don't pay
their bills on time, leading to debt and bad credit.
If you've managed to follow these steps up 'til now
you may be in a position to buy your own house.
Now, lots of people will make the mistake
of thinking this is an asset when actually it's a liability.
An easy way to tell if something's a liability
is it takes money out of your pocket
rather than putting money in.
A great idea a lot of people seem to be using
is called house hacking.
And if you're able to get a housemate or even buy a duplex
and rent out the other side of the house,
you can actually cover your mortgage and turn your house
into an asset.
It's all about thinking of smart ways like this
to stretch your money further.
I switched my focus to real estate investing
during this period of my life.
I bought some properties I could rent out
and I knew that when I wanted to retire,
all the mortgages would be paid off
and I will be left then with a bunch
of cash-producing assets.
Although I wasn't as focused on it, I was still investing
in the stock market with my tax-advantaged accounts
into low-cost index funds.
These just build up in the background and I can go months
without even looking at them.
When I was at this age, I started to get
a little bit worried as I was feeling
more tired after work.
I finally realized I wasn't Superman
and one day I'd have to slow down.
This is when I started to get really interested
in passive income and making sure
that everything could run perfectly
without me even being there.
We have already talked about real estate.
But there are lots of different ways
to produce passive income with the internet.
I've actually done a video all about this.
So feel free to go and watch it afterwards.
If you're doing well, then you'll start to notice
people asking you for financial help.
Now there's nothing wrong with that.
But one thing I would say is never co-sign or lend any money
as this is the fastest way you can ruin a relationship.
Think about it.
The bank requires someone to co-sign for a reason.
If that person doesn't keep up to date with their payments,
the bank's gonna come after you.
When people see you're doing well, they will try
and leech off your success.
It's great to help where you can but it's your job
to make sure that you stay on target.
Now for when you're old and gray like me.
Yeah, you've got it, 50-plus.
At this age is a good idea to change things
around a little bit.
Shockingly, 33% of American adults
have saved $0 for retirement.
It's not too late to start.
But ideally this should be the time
to start moving your investments to lower-risk
asset classes, such as bonds and wrapping up your mortgages.
The aim is to have fewer worries and more security.
If I were to lose all my money at this stage,
it would be very, very hard to recover.
I say this but it's all down to your own
personal risk tolerance.
My financial position allows me to enjoy playing the markets
and having fun with my investments.
But I still never invest more than I can afford to lose.
So I'm gonna leave the next video up there.
Don't click on it just yet.
Remember to subscribe to the channel
if you wanna grow your wealth.