Stuck in the 45 Year Rut
(Linear Income)

Most people, without knowing it, are living their lives according to the 45 year plan. For 45 years you work 40 hours a week for 50 weeks a year (90,000 hours!), for somebody else in order to earn the right to retire with about one-third of the income you earned while working.

The income you earn with this type of plan is linear income, which means that you work an hour and get paid for an hour. Or in sales, you sell one item and get paid one commission. Even if you are on salary, your income reward for working is directly proportional to the time and effort that you, and you alone, put forth. Here are some facts about this famous plan:

• Your income is determined by the opinion your boss has of you.
• Your boss controls your hours, wake-up time, vacation, and sometimes even what you do on your own time.
• You are safe and secure only as long as your boss or company feels you are useful to them.
• The average worker spends 57 hours a week commuting to and working at their job. (Fortune magazine)
• Even though owning a traditional business may theoretically put you on a different plan, most business owners spend twice the hours, while many make less income than their employees.
• Reports show that for every 100 people who follow the 45 year plan, at age 65:
  • 29 are dead
  • 13 earn less than $5,200 per year
  • 55 earn between $5,200 and $33,000 per year
  • Only 3 earn greater than $33,000 per year

Many people are simply in a rut. They get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, get up, go to work, come home, go to bed . . . over and over and over again, year after year.