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What is Next Bracket about?

Knowing how to get to the next income bracket is easy. It’s about:

  1. living below your means (spending less than you earn),
  2. paying off debt,
  3. and socking away as much as possible into retirement savings.

The difficult part is doing these three things when there are so many things out there begging for your hard earned money. On top of that, you deserve a lifestyle that your friends have, right?

When I was 26, I had a negative net worth of about $15,000. I was in graduate school and focused on everything but personal finance. Although not rich, I grew up in a priviledged family and never had to worry about money. When I entered the work force, I figured that my salary would cover my easy lifestyle in Manhattan but the debt seemed to creep higher and higher. I realized one day that I couldn’t keep up with the lifestyle and had to be serious about my finances. For the past 5 years, I’ve learned a lot about money and about myself. My wife and I bought a house and aside from the mortgage, I took on an additional home equity loan of $15,000. I’ve been much better about living below my means, paid off my debt, paid off the home equity loan and put away the maximum amount in retirement. There’s so much more to do, but I’m committed to getting to financial freedom. For me that means not having to work because I have to, but because I want to. I’m fortunate to have a great job, but I still have worries about supporting my family.

The reason I’ve created this site is to continually educate myself on personal finance issues. The more I learn, the more I feel I don’t know anything. I hope to learn from you, and I hope you’ll learn a thing or two from me. For those who feel hopeless, remember, it’s not how much you earn. It’s how much you keep. Put your mind and action towards your goal and you’ll get there.

The worst thing in life is letting something bring you down. Never give up and follow your dreams. If there is a will there is a way and you only get out what you put in. Don’t give up on your future by giving up. Let’s get to the next bracket!