Over the last 45 years, I have given hundreds of seminars on the topics of tax savings, retirement planning, and real estate. I typically see 50-100 each year who attend my seminars and then schedule their free strategy meeting that typically lasts two to three hours. Here’s what most of them have in common:

1. They are American success stories because of sustained discipline!
   Whether they have saved $500,000 or $5 million of financial assets, most are optimistic about their retirement future or current retirement status. It took 40 years of hard work and the ability to ignore millions of ads that say, “Buy me Now!”

2. They saved substantially!
   They were employees and typically saved at least 20-30% of their income. The world of conventional financial planning says that you should save 10%, but that is not always sufficient.
   
   Example: Suppose a family has a gross wages of $100,000/year. If you save 10%, or $10,000/year for 30 years (assume age 35 to 65) and earn an average 7% after Wall Street fees inside an IRA or 401k, you will have $944,607 at age 65. However, any income pulled from one’s IRA will be taxed at ordinary income rates just like wages. If you still earn 7% or $66,122 and subtract a 20% tax rate, you will have $52,898 of net spendable cash flow. Depending on when one triggered the Social Security retirement benefits, you may well have $100,000 of total income. That’s Great! However, $100,000/year retirement income today is not the same in 20 years. If we have an annual 4% inflation rate, in 20 years you will need $219,112 of annual income to buy what $100,000 buys today. If you saved 20%, you would have double and are covered for future inflation.

3. They started a business and owned real estate investments!
   Many immigrants could not get high-paid jobs and were forced to start businesses. Example: The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act provided an absolute 10-year ban on Chinese laborers coming to the US. This ban was extended for decades and in 1943, all exclusion acts were banned but there was an annual limit of only 105 Chinese immigrants allowed into the US. There was discrimination against many jobs and so 100 years ago, over 25% of the Chinese operated Chinese restaurants or laundries. During World War 2, over 100,000 Japanese were put into US internment camps, lost everything, and had to start farms and other businesses. After the Vietnamese boat people came to the US, they dominate the nail salon industry.
   
   Asians don’t trust paper assets and invest in real estate much more than other American groups. In Asia, wars and revolutions can make your bank and paper assets worthless overnight. It’s normal that Asians own their own personal home; the real estate their business occupies; and 2-4 rental properties. Eventually, they are all free and clear and worth at least $2 million.

To RSVP for the seminars or schedule a free consultation, please contact Dr. Harold Wong at (480) 706-0177 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. His website is www.drharoldwong.com.

Dr. Wong earned his PhD in Economics at UC Berkeley in 1974 and passed the National CPA exam in 1979. He has appeared on over 400 TV/Radio programs.