In order to relax, you must first work very, very hard!

After about the 30^th day in a row of working 12+ hour days and eating rubber chicken dinners at the free cafeteria down at 85 Broad Street, I decided I had enough. There was no way I could last for more than five years working in a pressure cooker environment like Wall Street. I became obsessed with generating passive income starting in 1999.

We’ve discussed how to get started building passive income for financial freedom in a previous post. Now I’d like to rank the various passive income streams based on risk, return, and feasibility. The rankings are somewhat subjective, but they are born from my own real life experiences attempting to generate multiple types of passive income sources over the past 16 years.

The passive income journey is a long one. But thanks to innovation and technology, the ability to generate meaningful passive income is accelerating!

Everything is relative when it comes to money.  If we all earn $1 million dollars a year and have $5 million in the bank at the age of 40, none of us are very wealthy given all our living costs (housing, food, transportation, vacations) will be priced at levels that squeeze us to the very end.

As such, we must first get an idea of what the real average net worth is in our respective countries, and then figure out the average net worth of the above average person!

According to the Federal Reserve’s Triennial Consumer Finance Survey, the average net worth for the following ages are:

Under 35: $76,200

35-44: $288,700

45-54: $727,500

55-64: $1,167,400

65-74: $1,066,000

75+: $1,067,000

Not bad. But these numbers are skewed by the super rich who have generated an enormous amount of wealth since the financial crisis.

Although the average net worth for all Americans is $692,100, the median net worth is a more pedestrian $97,300.

Let’s look at the average net worth for above average people.

Growing up in a middle class household made me strong. My parents always drove beaters and frowned upon ordering anything other than water when we went out to eat.

I knew my parents were not rich because their incomes were in the public domain as foreign service officers. As a result, I made a conscious choice in high school not to attend one of the two private colleges that had accepted me in order to save money. Instead, I went to William & Mary, which cost $2,800 – $3,200 a year in tuition from 1995-1999.

We were by no means poor. We just pulled up to parties in a paintless 1976 Nissan Datsun alongside Audis, Mercedes, and BMWs for the four years we lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between 1986-1990. I was quite mortified as a kid I’ve got to admit.

I knew nothing of expensive shoes because I had none except for my wealthier friend’s hand-me-down Air Jordans that were two sizes too large. I couldn’t even afford a camera or a Nintendo game system. We led comfortable lives, but didn’t have more than we needed.

I was always curious about my wealthier friends. Many of their parents were business owners so one day I told my father, I too wanted to be a businessman.

By the time I was 13 I was hooked on every single episode of “The Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous,” narrated by Robin Leech. A million dollar house and a $40,000 sports car. What a life! I thought to myself in the 8th grade. Might as well give it a go. That’s when I started really hitting the books.

One of the most popular posts on Financial Samurai is The Average Net Worth For The Above Average Person. The “above average person” is loosely defined as someone who graduated from college (35% of the American population), works hard, plays well with others, takes full advantage of their pre-tax retirement plans, saves additional disposable income, stays on top of their finances by utilizing free financial tools, expects nothing from their parents or the government and is not delusional. If you were a “C student” and expect to live an “A lifestyle,” you’re definitely not the above average person!

Depending on the source, the average net worth in America is somewhere between $150,000 – $200,000. But the median net worth in America is closer to $80,000. Take a moment to study the above average person’s net worth chart again. Somewhere between the ages of 45-50, the above average person’s net worth reaches over one million dollars. We can all agree that thanks to inflation, easy monetary policy, a roaring bull market and a recovery in real estate, becoming a millionaire by the time we retire is fast becoming the rule, rather than the exception.

It’s important to note the figures in my chart are for individuals and not for couples. For those of you who combined your household net worth to see where you stand, so sorry. That’s cheating. At the same time, not everybody can find someone they love, hence why I initially created a per person chart. It would be presumptuous to assume we can all live in marital bliss. Further, not everybody is even allowed to get married thanks to the government telling us who we can and cannot be with. For simplicity’s sake, I will refer to “married couples” as anybody who is in a long term relationship.

This article comes up with reasonable “above average couple net worth” charts based on what I think, what the government thinks, what you think, and the realities of life. One can also define “above average” as one standard deviation beyond the midpoint of the normal distribution curve (top 16%). Not every couple can be above average. But every couple can certainly try.

Hawaii

There’s nothing better than being free to do whatever you want. However, unless you’re born with a multi-million dollar trust fund, you’ll unfortunately have to work for your freedom.

You can follow my savings guide to increase your chances of a wonderful retirement by 50-65. But, what if you want to retire earlier? Say at the age of 40 or 45? You’re in luck, because I have a very simple, yet effective plan for you. This is something I’ve been following for the past 13 years to allow myself the option to retire as early as 35-4-. I think you’ll like the option as well!

What’s important is recognizing your inner frugality, your Herculean discipline, the government’s generosity, and your enormous hustle. There’s nothing better than taking action with your finances and seeing results!

I have a theory the majority of us, no matter how little or how much we make, consider ourselves part of the middle class. When I worked at McDonald’s for $4 an hour, I was dirt poor, but considered myself middle class because both my parents had jobs and I had a bicycle and a cozy home to come home to.

When I finally graduated from The College Of William & Mary and started making more money, I felt poor because all I did was work in expensive New York City! For example, I shared a studio with a high school classmate for $2,100 a month and that was in 1999. It was only after I moved to San Francisco did I feel I was part of the middle class again. Money was more plentiful, a starter home “only” cost about $1,100,000, and I had more free time to explore.

I’ve experienced all three classes to varying degrees and I believe there are wonderful merits to each of them. From the poor Haitian immigrant who goes to college and becomes the first black female mayor in Utah, to the billionaire investor who gives 99% of his net worth to charity, everyone tends to come to center. My favorite class is the middle class. But first, we must define what middle class means.