My Personal Wealth Building Challenge

     There's a story about a wealthy man who has a son. Now the son will soon be eighteen and going out in the world to make it on his own.  His father, having taught him well, and wanting to help him out as he starts life on his own, calls him into the office and makes a special offer. There are two coffers sitting on the desk, one has one million dollars ($1,000,000), the other a penny.(.01). The boy has to choose between the two coffers. If he chooses the coffer with the million dollars he gets it immediately, but if he picks the coffer with the penny he has to wait until his birthday 30 days away. However, his father will double the money in the coffer every day for the thirty days, and he will get whatever money is in the coffer at the end of that time. Which would you choose?

     The boy chose the penny. Here's what happened to his penny. On the first day he had a penny, the second, two cents, the third, four cents. At the end of the first week he had 64 cents. fifteen days into the deal he had $163.84. Half way through and the kid only has $163.48... are you starting to think the kid made a Big mistake? Lets continue, on day 25 the boy still only has $167,772.16... A far cry from the million dollars in the other coffer, and he only has five days left. Lets keep going, and see how short he comes of the million dollars in the other coffer. 

Day 26: $335,554.32

Day 27: $671,008.64

Day 28: $1,342,177.28 (one million,three hundred forty-two thousand, one hundred seventy-seven dollars and twenty-eight cents.) Um...wait the penny was supposed to be a bad deal! And there's still two days left! He was $832,227.84 Short of a million dollars with just 5 days to go. and now he's over by $342,177.28 and he still has two days to go.

Day 29: $2,684,354.56

Day 30: $5,368,709.12

     On his Birthday, the boy is given a coffer with over 5 million dollars in it! 

     This story is often told to show how compound interest can add up over time. I, however, being the smart guy that I am, knows that no one is going to offer me 100 percent compounded interest, tax free, for 30 days. So I got to thinking, "What if I turn these numbers into a game?"   

     So this is my Personal Wealth Building Challenge. Instead of days, I'll make it 30 months, starting January, 2013. (I'm sure glad the Mayans were wrong!) Now January, 2013, the goal is only 1 cent. Now I'm not going to stick a penny in a jar and be done for the month. I'm going to put as much money into my account as I can. 

     I am going to do whatever I can to build wealth legally, ethically, and morally. I'm gonna find some sort of  net worth form, and cash flow form, to keep track of my progress. I also got a transaction register to keep track of all my spending. I'm not going to say,"I can't." I'm going to say, "How can I..." 

     I realize that this is a bit far-fetched. But this is all about learning to build wealth, and having fun doing it. So Win, Lose, or Draw. I think that somehow I'll still come out ahead. So if anybody reads this, If you want to join me in this challenge I'd love to hear about your struggles and victories with this challenge. I'll post about how, and what I'm doing. 

Challenge Months:

January 2013: $0.01                   January 2014: $40.96                     January 2015: $167,772.16

February 2013: $0.02                 February 2014: $81.92                  February 2015: $335,544.32

March 2013: $0.04                     March 2014: $163.84                    March 2015: $671,088.64

April 2013: $0.08                       April 2014: $327.68                       April 2015: $1,342,177.28

May 2013: $0.16                       May 2014: $655.36                        May 2015: $2,684,354.56

June 2013: $0.32                       June 2014: $1,310.72                     June 2015: $5,368,709.12

July 2013: $0.64                        July 2014: $2,621.44

August 2013: $1.28                   August 2014: $5,242.88

September 2013: $2.56             September 2014: $10,485.76

October 2013: $5.12                 October 2014: $20,971.52

November 2013: $10.24           November 2014: $41,943.04

December 2013: $20.48           December 2014: $83,886.08