Think you can become a millionaire by working a regular 9 to 5 job? I know I have a lot of guests on the show who promote the benefits of entrepreneurship and working for yourself to get ahead financially. But for this Listener Series episode, I chat with Steve Cousins from Arkansas about how he was able to reach financial freedom by working as an employee for the same company for almost 40 years.
I know, I know, many of us Millennials may think that Steve’s story sounds exactly like the advice our parents gave us. Go to university, get a job, work hard, save and contribute to your retirement fund, then you’ll be able to retire in style. This was a way more common path for Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, but I don’t think it’s impossible for us Millennials.
When talking with Steve, it becomes clear that that’s not exactly the path you need to take to grow in your career. You can’t just get any degree. You need to get one that has a high demand for skilled workers.
You can’t just work hard. Everyone works hard. You need to realize when it makes sense to stay at a company and when it doesn’t. Just like he said, he encouraged some of his co-workers to leave his company because he knew that if they stayed, they wouldn’t move up as fast compared to if they went to another company.
And lastly, you can just save and contribute to your RRSP or 401K. You need to live frugally, not try to keep up with the Jones, invest wisely and have a plan to continue to earn money during retirement.
I absolutely love how Steve has become this serial entrepreneur with 4 different jobs now that he’s retired. And it’s not that he needs the money or is working 24/7 now. He gets to work when he wants to do what he wants to.
If that’s not living the dream, I don’t know what is! Thanks, Steve for sharing your story with me.
Got a story that you think would be good to share on an episode of the Listener series? Please email me!
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