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Welcome to Live Your Wage!

If you’re new here, I want to help you start taking control of your money today.

My name is Aaron McHone and my wife and I built a 7-figure retirement portfolio in 15 years. In 2019 I retired from work at the age of 40.

That may sound crazy, but you should know…

for 10 of those years, we only had 1 income.
we have 4 small children all under age 10, and my wife has chosen to be a stay-at-home mom for the last 10 years.
we spent over 3 years paying off all our debt before we were able to focus on investing and building wealth.
I was a web designer and my wife taught music at an elementary school. Neither of us has a degree or certification in anything financial.
In my 18 year career, I started out making just $34k a year. (That college degree really paid off! 😁)
I finally reached a 6-figure income in my last 5 years of work, but I realize we did all the hard work of laying the foundation for our financial success long before we ever made “good money.”

The methods we used to build wealth and retire by age 40 are actually quite simple. They are methods just about anyone can use to achieve a reasonable level of financial security and live a healthy financial life.

If you’re looking to take control of your money and get yourself in a healthy financial place, then there’s no time to waste.

Here are some important articles to help you start making progress today.

Change Your Thinking

Contrary to what many believe, managing money well isn’t often a money problem, it’s a thinking problem. You have to start thinking about money in a completely new way before you’ll ever be able to master it. Change your mind, change your life.

Budgeting

Many people shy away from the “B” word, but you’ll never be able to manage your money well until you start creating a plan for exactly how you will spend every single dollar you make. Call it a Spending Plan. Call it a Cash Flow Analysis. Call it whatever makes you feel happy. Just don’t call it a waste of time.

Saving Money

It goes without saying that being able to save money is critical to building a life of financial security. If you’re willing to change how you think about money, change your spending habits, and do the hard work of destroying your debt, you’ll discover the power of saving money each and every month.

Ditching Debt

Debt is the 4 letter word that is holding so many people back from being able to make forward progress and build wealth. Managing your money so that you can gain freedom from debt forever is one of the hardest and most critical steps to building lasting wealth.

Cars

Auto loans are some of the biggest budget busters many people face. So many of us have fallen for the lie that we are what we drive, so we drive the car that we think we deserve instead of the car that we can truly afford. But what if I told you it’s possible to ditch car payments for the rest of your life. How much money would you be able to save or invest if you never had a car payment ever again? It’s worth thinking about.

Home Ownership

Buying a house is a big deal. This is likely one of the biggest financial transactions you’ll ever make in your life. Doing the homeownership thing the wrong way can have consequences for years. Really thinking this step through and making a smart choice can actually boost your financial stability. Don’t just follow the crowd when embarking on your homeownership journey.

Any Questions?

After reading the articles above, if you have any questions, I would love to hear from you. Just send me a note and I’ll get back to you. I love hearing from readers and talking through financial solutions.