The Forty-Year-Old Threshold: "Should You Really Be Financially Successful by the Age of Forty?

Navigating Financial Success: Lessons from Two Forty-Somethings

by Rob San Miguel

Many years ago, as an uppity young man struggling to find his niche in this competitive capitalist country ruled by oligarchs, I was in a conversation with two forty-something individuals.  One was financially successful. He has all the trappings of material wealth: a car, a big house, a condominium unit in Makati, and a high-paying job. He regularly travels abroad using his hard-earned money, not from grants or money from relatives.  The other forty-something individual is financially secured as well but his monthly salary is slightly above average.  He has a car but it is for family use only and he often takes the jeepney, the train, or the taxi if necessary.  However, you mention his name in his field of work, and people will be impressed. "Oh, you know him? Wow, he's one of the foremost authorities in blah blah blah."

In our conversation, one of the forty-something individuals informed me that if you had not made your fortune by the age of 40, especially if you started working at 21, then you would most likely spend the next forty years struggling financially.  He said that it only takes 20 years for a person to make his fortune.  If you are still not financially secured by 40, it means you have miscalculated during your twenties and early to mid-thirties. You have made some bad choices. Perhaps, you job-hopped too often or you stayed too long in a company that did not appreciate your value.  You may have also spent more than your means and you have never had a workable financial plan.  You can still catch up after 40 but it will be difficult because the market will have changed. He was already 41 back then and he said that the younger generation was more competitive and the industry had changed. He was also forced to change but because he was already set, he was at an advantage.  He said, "Imagine if you are 40 and you are still competing with the new twenty-somethings. It is hard."

The other forty-something reacted. He said that not everyone is hell-bent on earning tons of money and padding themselves with material wealth. To some people, being successful and respected in your field of work is also equally important.  He said that if you earned unquestionable credibility and respect from your colleagues in your line of work, that also can be considered success.

This other forty-year-old man is a well-respected professional. He has written several books and different individuals and organizations have sought his advice concerning his field of work.  In a way, he does not need the trappings of money because his intellect and skills are more valuable. If people wanted his services or his mere presence, people would provide for him. This sometimes includes hotel accommodations, travel expenses, and dinner if the meeting will take place in a restaurant.  Most importantly, his words have value.  Most often, they have more value than a person who earns much money working in the same field.  This other forty-year-old man also has a loving family.

Fast forward, nowadays I see many young individuals who brandish their latest gadgets, brag about the bars they frequent, the amazing travels that they have taken, the beautiful people they surround themselves with, and the countless outfits and selfies they post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  They reminded me of myself during my early twenties.  I did not have any financial plan nor did I have an inking to be an expert on anything.  It was all party and seeking attention.

Luckily, I had a wake-up call at the eleventh hour.  Am I successful now? Absolutely! I successfully remained a perennially ironic, sardonic, dissatisfied, sexually, politically, and religiously ambiguous self-publishing writer and ex-cartoonist surviving on a 20,000-peso budget.

Did I miscalculate? Yes. Did I job-hop? No. Did I stay in a company that did not financially match my hard work and contribution for too long? Yes. Did I waste my money? Yes, if providing for your family is a waste of money. Did I believe in the importance of integrity? Yes, perhaps foolishly. I could have earned more money if I had made a deal with countless devils who gave me enticing offers.

We also have to consider our profession. A public school teacher will never reach the level of financial security of a stock broker or a surgeon. So there. Perhaps, some of us are just in the wrong profession. Have we been tricked into following our passion when that passion leads to some kind of bliss but financial dearth?

Looking back, the cynical side of me regrets not monetizing my youth. The cynic in me would say, "We were only young once. We could have monetized it. You could have been a sugar baby."

For all you young people out there, how will your fortieth year look like? When you get to that threshold, will you like it?

Thankfully, those two forty-year-old individuals that I discussed are not entirely correct. Life does begin at forty, especially if you have the right genes, the guts, and the audacity to prove people wrong.

To paraphrase the American philosopher Richard Rorty, "fitness" counts. "Fitness" implies that youthfulness does not make you win.  Being constantly adjusting to the ever-changing rigors of life is the key to survival. This requires "fitness," flexibility, and some degree of madness.

In the end, I think the “sufficiently fed and healthy individual” should define success on his own terms. Quotation marks intended.

That being said, all these extrapolations only count if you belong to the "educated" and "employable" Filipinos.  Many Filipinos still live in the margins. They only matter during elections or as subjects of news items or human-interest stories. Beyond these, the majority of Filipinos living in poverty are invisible and no matter how much they save, they may never escape their predicament.  Such is the country we live in, we do not live in one country, we live in patches: a patch of the First World here, a patch of the Third World there, a patch where the rich and the poor intermingle, and a patch of something indefinable.

If you are 21 years old now, by the time you turn 40, those patches will have grown from the size of a district to as big as a region. There will be more rich people in the future, but there will be more poor people as well. The gap will grow wider. I know because I have witnessed it.

Good luck to us all and advance “Happy Fortieth Birthday” to all Mister and Miss Twenty-something. I hope that I am dead by the time you blow that fortieth candle, or worse, the oldest person to have an Onlyfans account.

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KEY WORDS
"Navigating Financial Success: Lessons from Two Forty-Somethings"
"Financial Security vs. Success: A Tale of Two Generations"
"The 20/40 Rule: Insights on Achieving Financial Security"
"Redefining Success: Beyond Material Wealth at 40"
"Forty and Financially Sound: Insights for the Next Generation"
"Success Stories: Lessons Learned from Two Forty-Something Professionals"
"From Youthful Indulgence to Financial Wisdom: A Journey to 40"
"The Road to Financial Security: Insights for Millennials and Gen Z"
"Success Beyond Money: Rethinking Wealth at 40"
"Forty and Flourishing: Finding Success on Your Own Terms"