This is a linkbait article for a financial blogger: of which there are several (Mr. Money Mustache being another that comes to mind). He publishes monthly upda

This is a linkbait article for a financial blogger: of which there are several (Mr. Money Mustache being another that comes to mind). He publishes monthly updates, so you could go back and figure out the "how" and the curve over time. It would involve looking at at least 100 blog posts, so here's a notional summary: Investments: Dropping $2k/month into a $70k financial account earning 8% per year for 8 years yields $400k. FV(.08/12,12*8,2000,70000). The power of compounding interest. Real Estate: A $266k property appreciating at 4% per year for 8 years is $365k. Those two facts alone total more than three quarters of a million. Debt is going nowhere but down. Scrimp a save a little more, get a few reasonable raises/bonuses and it's "easy". ----- I hate the treatment of debt in this article. DEBT IS BAD, it screams. Mortgages aren't bad; car payments aren't bad. Long-term CC debt is bad because interest rates are insane, but everything else is a time-value-of-money problem.