A million dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to but it’s still a nice chunk of change. I’m always fascinated by media articles and blogs that feature wunderkind who achieve seemingly unreachable financial goals by a very young age. So I pulled a few pieces to share with you in the hope that something may resonate and help you to exit the rat race sooner rather than later.

In The 10 Most Common Millionaire Habits, Jessica Kane writing for the Financial independence Hub says most of the people who have achieved the status of millionaires engage in daily rituals that help them meet their goals. Some of her suggestions are: be an early bird; read about current events; learn something new every day, and sleep less than 8 hours each night.

Grant Sabatier, the founder of The Millennial Millionaire went from $2.26 to $1 million in 5 years, reaching financial independence at age 30. He also shares A Few Not-So-Easy Steps.  Several of my favourites are:

• Get paid what you are worth. Negotiate a raise or look for a higher paid career track.
•  Save at least 20% of your after tax pay cheque before spending anything.
• Find a side hustle and invest the profit.

Kyle from Young and Thrifty offers 6 Non-Traditional Steps to Becoming a Canadian Millionaire In Today’s Market that will certainly raise some eyebrows. He says there are many paths to prosperity and only some of them lead through university. One alternative is to take shop or industrial arts so you can start your education in the trades while you are still in high school. Then you can start making money right away when you graduate. Also, don’t be afraid to move where the jobs are.

Millennial Revolution is a FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) site started by two computer engineers/children’s authors, FIRECracker & Wanderer, who retired at 31 to travel the world with a seven figure portfolio.

They primarily attribute their ability to save and invest scads of money to renting instead of buying in the pricey Toronto housing market. But they have also published a detailed and highly entertaining series on their blog about “how they got there.”

How We Got Here, Part 1: God, We Were Spendy Back Then
How We Got Here, Part 2: PANIC
How We Got Here, Part 3: After the Crash
How We Got Here, Part 4: The Bearded One
How We Got Here, Epilogue: The Real Cost of Traveling the World

And finally, Alexis Assadi is an entrepreneur and he believes that getting rich in Canada is easier than you think. In fact he has written about it extensively in his book Rich At 26 . He says rather than having to work for money, financial independence occurs when the revenue from your business and investment holdings surpasses your cost of living. He recommends that readers:

• Invest in income producing assets.
• Take advantage of TFSAs.
• Contribute to RRSPs,
• Start a business.
• Learn about and use tax incentives.

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Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

Written by Sheryl Smolkin
	Sheryl Smolkin LLB., LLM is a retired pension lawyer and President of Sheryl Smolkin & Associates Ltd. For over a decade, she has enjoyed a successful encore career as a freelance writer specializing in retirement, employee benefits and workplace issues. Sheryl and her husband Joel are empty-nesters, residing in Toronto with their cockapoo Rufus.

By Sheryl Smolkin

Last week I couldn’t resist buying bright yellow forsythia, pussy willows and stalks of purple iris from the florist at one of my favourite grocery stores. It will be a few weeks before the flowering trees in my neighbourhood burst into bloom, but when I walked the dog this morning I heard the rata-tat-tat of industrious woodpeckers and crocuses were already pushing through the damp earth on the sunny side of the street.

If it’s spring, Alan Whitton aka the Big Cajun Man says its time to revisit the idea of a spring financial cleaning. A few of his ideas include:

• Think about rebalancing if you are a Couch Potato investor.
• Clean out and shut down any superfluous bank accounts.
• Consider how many credit cards you really require and close extra accounts you don’t need.
• Is your mortgage about to be renewed? Time to go shopping for a better rate.

Minimalist blogger Cait Flanders decided to move to back to her hometown in Squamish this spring. Although her rented condo is not small, she says she is living small in her not-so-tiny home. To Flanders that means living below her means with less stuff and making do, mending and prioritizing her life. Her list also includes getting involved in and supporting her local community.

“Living small is essentially not chasing ‘more’, but  learning to find the more in less,” she  notes. “It’s about utilizing the space you have, shrinking your carbon footprint and being an active member in your community (whatever that looks like for you).”

Kerry K. Taylor aka Squawkfox says our accomplishments are not just a matter of luck whether they be saving enough for the down payment on a house, paying down debt or scoring the winning goal in a soccer game. She reminds readers that “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” and urges each one of us to own our successes and accept the kudos we deserve.

Why it’s NOT okay to be in debt when approaching Retirement by Douglas Hoyes was recently posted on the Financial Independence Hub. In the most recent Joe Debtor report issued two years ago by his firm Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Inc., the company reported that seniors are the fastest growing risk group for insolvency and that’s still the case today.

Hoyes says if you have more debt than you can handle, talk to a Licensed Insolvency Trustee about filing a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy.  In most cases, you can keep your RRSP even if you go bankrupt.  Also, he suggests that if you own a home, you should discuss a consumer proposal as a viable alternative to bankruptcy. Both solutions will allow you to eliminate your debt, and preserve your RRSP.

And finally, on My Own Advisor, Mark Seed explores whether Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) is right for him. He reviews the financial and social implications for his family of retiring significantly earlier than his current target date of age 50 (which is still pretty early) and concludes that he and his wife are not ready to make any radical changes.

In his early 40s now, he concludes that more time and freedom would be great but instead of rushing towards this, they are more or less inching in that direction.

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Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.