Introduction

I'm pleased to announce that for the month of April, RyanWaggoner.com will be running a series called $3.1 Million in 30 Days and 12 Easy Steps: an Investing Primer for Young Adults. I know this is launching on April 1st, but this is not a prank. However, I should apologize for the title, as it's a little misleading. There's no practical way to make $3.1 million in 30 days and 12 easy steps, but you can lay the foundation to do so in that timeframe. The goal of this series is to take you on a journey towards financial peace and security. The series has been structured around 12 action steps that take place over 30 days. I've tried to break things down as much as possible and not get too complicated with each step, and the end goal of the series is to help you setup a solid financial foundation that will enable you to accomplish your goals going forward.

Note: The $3.1 million figure was derived as follows: a 25 year-old investor making $50,000 / year invests 10% of her salary each year and earns 10% per year on her investments. Her salary increases by 3% each year. At age 65, she will have $3,159,929.

Why I'm Doing This
In my conversations with friends and acquaintances in their twenties, I've come to the realization that many young adults are missing out on a fantastic opportunity to build a solid foundation for their future. While it will still be possible to do so after a decade or so, it will never be as easy as it is today. There's a lot of information out there, and some of it is even geared towards young people, but I wanted to do something very focused and action-oriented. I'll be referencing a lot of those other resources and materials where appropriate so you can dig deeper where you want to.

Who It's For
This series has been written for those in their twenties who know they should be investing and planning for the future, but are confused and overwhelmed by the options and don't know where to start. To keep things simple, my examples will revolve around someone 25 years old and making $50,000 / year in household income. This may not fit you exactly, but the principles remain the same, and I'll point to my sources of information so you can crunch the numbers for your situation.

What We'll Cover
We'll cover a bunch of personal finance and investing topics, including investing for retirement, budgeting, where to save a little extra money, the types of retirement accounts out there, setting up a financial plan, and more. I've tried to break the topics up into logical chunks so that things don't get too overwhelming.

How It'll Work
Starting April 2nd, I'll be posting 3 posts per week (Mon, Wed, Fri) for the next 4 weeks, for a total of 12 posts. Each post will have an action at the end that should be completed before you read the next one. I would love for readers with questions, comments, or suggestions to post in the comments for each post. I will do my best to answer any comments quickly and thoroughly.

What This Can Do For You
My goal for this series was to create something that would help make investing more understandable, approachable, and manageable. By following this plan, you can build a solid financial foundation for the future with money that you may not even miss each month. You can retire with millions of dollars in investments that will pay you an annual income for the rest of your life. Best of all, after the next 30 days, you can do all this with very little time or energy. A few hours a year may be all that's necessary to manage your investments.

What You Need
In order to effectively finish this plan, you'll need 3 things: commitment, discipline, and most of all, honesty. You'll need to do some soul-searching and really take a hard look at yourself. If you're not going to follow this plan out to completion, I'd advise you to not even start. Procrastinating in this area of your life can be very tempting, especially since you're planning for something that's four decades away. However, every day that you wait to begin investing is lost forever, and as we'll see in the first post, the magic of compound interest means that these next ten years are more valuable than the following thirty combined. Thinking about putting money aside when you're struggling to pay the bills can be tough, but I urge you to make a commitment right now to finding a way to make it happen. Someday you'll be glad you did.

Check back tomorrow for Part 1: Financial Goals.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional financial adviser. All information herein is provided in good faith. It is not intended to be, and should not be relied on as, a substitute for independent legal, financial, tax or other professional advice. Readers should seek appropriate legal, taxation, accounting, investment or other expertise in their local and overseas jurisdictions.