I was talking to an acquaintance last week and the subject of retirement and Roth IRA's came up. More specifically he was telling me he was trying to get his 17 year old son to start saving for retirement.
After we discussed the subject for a few minutes, he said
"I wish someone would talk to my son about it"
I jumped all over it. I went immediately to his son and began the dialogue. "I hear you like money" I said. In typical teenage male fashion he said "yeah."
"Do you know who Albert Einstein is?" "Yeah." "Just for fun, who is he?" "He's that real smart guy." (great answer by the way and fits perfectly into the discussion).
"He said the 8th wonder of the world is the power of compound interest; and the 9th wonder is the power of compound interest and time."
I shared with him what investing $50 a month over 50 years will do for him. I chose 50 years because that is about how long he has to save for retirement. On a $50 a month basis, $600 a year, total investment of $30,000 here is what it looks like:
at 8% interest the future value is $344,262.09
at 10% interest the future value is $698,345.12
at 12% interest the future value is $1,440,010.95
This blog is not about Roth IRA's but about speaking truth and wisdom into other people's lives. This 17 year old boy's face lit up and excitement ran through his mind when I, the outside voice, spoke to him. That was not the same reaction he had when his father spoke to him about saving for retirement.
2 things:
1) If you have teenagers, it is important for you to create opportunities for a respected, but non parent adult to speak truth and wisdom into their lives. It is better if it is a non family member like a Sunday School teacher, coach of a sports team, etc, but a loved Aunt/Uncle, Grandparent, will work too. The other side is to be that outside voice for your friends and associates who have teenagers.
2) Your clients can benefit from hearing an outside voice that reinforces your marketing plan to sell their house or back up something you said.
One other thought; in my experience, the outside voice is more powerful if the voice does not have a financial interest in the outcome.
Rick Trowe and I'm Standing Up.
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