๐ธ The terrible choices that make you poorer than your peers by age group
｜From My 20s to My 50s: Moments When Money Quietly Leaked Away｜
Money is not just a tool; it is the minimum shield that protects our freedom of choice. Looking back, I realize that at every stage of life I carelessly opened a “door that led straight to poverty.”
That door often looked like comfort, or like the thought “Everyone else is doing it, so it must be fine.”
From my university days to life in my 50s now, that door was always much closer than I thought.
๐น In My 20s — “I’ll just work hard now. I can learn about money later.”
I believed that once I got into university, everything would work out. After graduation I spent more than a year unemployed, obsessed with “building my rรฉsumรฉ.”
Getting a job was my only life goal. After I finally joined a company, I simply worked hard without thinking about anything else.
But poverty actually began in this period. Not studying how money works — that was my first big mistake.
A job can pay you a salary, but only an eye for the flow of money can build real wealth. I had no idea back then.
๐น In My 30s — “Everyone buys a house and a car with loans.”
My wife and I were both working, and our first child was born. “Now that we have a family, we need a bigger car,” we said, and took out a loan. “Rent feels too unstable,” so we bought a home with another loan.
One year of kindergarten cost 9.6 million KRW. Convinced that “we earn enough,” our spending quietly began to exceed our income.
Every month felt tight, but I ignored it. I didn’t realize that the financial habits of your 30s decide your life in your 40s.
๐น In My 40s — “Can I survive if my job starts to shake?”
Until my early 40s, I thought I was doing okay. But by my mid-40s, my company, my body, and my mind all began to shake.
My wife became ill from work stress, and I found myself asking:
“I’ve worked so hard… why do I still have nothing?”
Our child’s education costs and living expenses kept rising, but we had no real assets saved. The job was our only source of income. That reality felt even more hopeless.
Only then did I realize:
“If I had understood this future earlier, I would have prepared something beyond my job.”
๐น After 50 — The Fall of “Appearances” and “Retirement Fantasies”
What I really needed at this stage was the strength to cut expenses and the courage to accept change.
Jumping into business with no experience, just thinking “I’ll just start a small shop,” is extremely risky. Nearly 80% of small businesses close within five years.
And then there are the retirement fantasies:
- “My pension will be enough.”
- “My children will help me later.”
These are not plans; they are wishes. A real retirement is built when today’s “me” practices restraint and responds quickly to change.
๐ธ Conclusion — Poverty Is Not an Accident, It’s a Structure
Poverty is rarely the result of a single failure. It is the sum of our repeated choices.
In our 20s we ignore how money flows. In our 30s we consume like everyone else. In our 40s we have no assets or plan, and cling to the company — until one day we are let go. And then in our 50s, we finally meet poverty face-to-face.
We should be asking:
- “How long will my salary from this job realistically last?”
- “After I retire, how will I sustain my life?”
Rather than obsessing over other people’s success, the better question is:
“How should my future be built?”
That small difference in attitude may become the key factor separating a struggling old age from a comfortable one.
Poverty is not something that suddenly appears one day. It is the result of living without any plan, letting each day’s easy choice stack up, year after year.
Now, in my 50s, I am finally asking seriously: How should I live the next ten years?
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