Best way to become a millionaire?

[openeyes]

Most net worth millionaires have done so through real estate. It is the most reliable method for average people with average jobs. One of my friends, Jennifer, took this route. Married in her early 20s, she is a dental hygienist and her husband is a welder. Both make $25 per hour, ~ $50 grand per year. They live on his income and buy rental properties with hers, mostly getting small mill houses, fixing them up, and renting them out. Now in her late 20s, she has 13+ homes. By her early 40s the mortgages will have been paid off by the tenants, and will be worth millions in total. The beauty of real estate versus stocks is leverage: put 10 or 20 % down (or no money at all), and reap 100% of the profits. In stocks (unless using options, which is not recommended for the average investor) one must effectively put 100% down, and the average growth rates are similar.

[Johnny]

SET A GOAL AND PICTURISE

So you get in life what you want or visualise. You have the choice. To recreate yourself like angels of God you have to adopt this three-pronged
strategy: 1. Define your goals clearly, 2. Use autosuggestion, 3. Picturise your goals. Here is a very simple method to use this strategy.

1. DETERMINING GOALS: Take a few days to decide what you want to do in your life. Write your goals (two or three major goals only. If you can focus on one goal at a time it is better) on a paper and read this paper often. As soon as you write your goals you enter the top 5% section of the people. 95% people don’t know what their aims are so your success chances for a better life immediately increase.

2. AUTO-SUGGESTION: We also call it affirmation. Dose of daily affirmations keeps your mind positive and hopeful. You become focused and attract the same in your life. To become successful in life repeat this affirmation ten times in the morning and ten times before going to bed: ‘God has sent me in this world to become successful. I am achieving my goal’.

3. PICTURISATION: While repeating your affirmation see yourself in imagination becoming successful, achieving your goal.

[ricky]

Becoming a millionaire's quite simple actually. It's becoming a millionaire fast that is a little bit of a challenge. I am in Ontario, Canada. A computer person full time and a realtor part time. Simplest technique would be to buy 4 houses worth $250,000 each and the ones that have basement apartments already built. You rent the top portion and the basement out. Typical mortgage here is amortized over 25 years with 5 year terms. Obviously there are many different types but this is the typical one. So, now you have assets worth $1,000,000. You just take care of renting them out and after 25 years, the whole mortgage's paid off by your tenants and your properties are worth at least $1,500,000 by now. Now you are a millionaire. Obviously work is required such as renting the properties, maintaining them and so on but at least here's a formula for becoming a millionaire.

[hindweb]

If you are thinking of making a quick buck, I think if you have a killer web 2.0 idea today and you can make a neat project report, there are enough VCs with loads to fund you!

The other possible arena is real estate, one mega deal can get you that number, but how do you ge your client is the question...

[judge45]

Practically all the PD stuff on money says the same thing.

Be a millionaire inside, strong enough and for long enough and you will be on the outside eventually.

There's just so many ways to get there.

I think the best way is to just copy someone who has already done it in the way you would like to do it.

No point getting into the stockmarket if you interest isn't there.

Pick a field of endevour that is very interesting to you and find the people who got rich in that field and copy what they did.

Simple right?

Good hunting.

Jeff

[AndrewJ]

It looks like the global property boom is over for now so I'd tread carefully with property. Which ever way you want to make a million education is essential.

Andrew

[toptemp]

Very vague answer with vague potential answers. I opt for buyouts initially to maximize wealth creation with minimal resources. (And I'm even taking my own advice )

[Thomas Jensen]

The question is more why do you want to become a millionaire? It seems property is the only thing that really costs a lot of money these days, but that's only because certain geographic areas are more convenient for the majority of people (the majority of people who work for somebody else - so they can be close to their place of work, typically in large cities). So that has an inflationary effect on prices. I'm guessing there are lot of people on here who are already self-employed, and many of them could live in much more isolated areas - or the countryside - where property is cheaper. That is, assuming they make a living online (a big assumption I know).

I think maybe it's easier to aspire to millionairedom than to really sit down and think about what you want from life. If you fell into millions tomorrow, what would come next? Would you just try to make more and more?

The dreams of millionairedom are really inspired by large mortgage payments that tie people down into the same old lifestyle. They feel trapped. People really want to break free from mortgage slavery. You can sense that strong desire to lose the shackles. And it is perfectly understandable! I would suggest in all cases that becoming self-employed is the sensible choice to make if you want to feel more freedom in your day-to-day life. When you've done that, you won't necessarily feel a desire to 'quickly' become a millionaire. You will just appreciate the indepedence and believe me, it's a good feeling!

[Sam988]

Your question about the best way to become a millionaire is impossibleto answer without knowing the person who did the question.


If you mean by millionaire just having US$ 1.000.000, and you have an average job and dont like risk, its better to go for real estate or some risk-free investents in stock market, which give too little return.

But if you want many millions, and are willing to take higher risks, then go for entrepeneurship.

[Mike_T]

I don't think there is a best way--I think that's the wrong question.

Closer would be "what is the best way for ME to become a millionaire". The answer for you is probably different than it is for me.

Some people have a knack for real estate, love the challenges and opportunities, have connections, have capital, live in a good place for it, have the life circumstances that make it easier for them to succeed at it, etc., making it the best choice for them. Others would absolutely abhor being a landlord, looking over closing documents, worrying about a foreclosure before they get enough cash flow going, etc. and it might be the worst choice for them.

Similar arguments could be made for each of the choices you listed, and there's also no reason they must be mutually exclusive. "Other" is also a pretty large category in my opinion, which is why I chose that one for your poll.

One of the big flaws in a lot of financial advice is that it is presented as a one-size-fits-all solution, ignoring the vast differences in personality, risk tolerance, skills, interests, etc. of the people receiving the advice. To answer this question for yourself, you need to know (and be honest with) yourself, and based on that knowledge the answer may become more clear.

I also agree with tipsypixie in saying that being a millionaire isn't exactly easy street. Certainly reaching that figure is a good step towards being wealthy, and it offers you more choices than being broke, but there are a lot of millionaires that don't consider themselves wealthy or financially independent.

According to Quicken, my wife and I are millionaires (over $1 million net worth), and we reached that milestone at age 34. I feel very fortunate financially, and at the same time we're not going to be retiring to a beach house in Fiji any time soon.

One of the reasons I don't like your poll categorization is that I can't clearly put our family's success to date into any one of those categories, while I also don't consider our means of achieving millionaire status to be particularly unique. How did we get where we are today?

- A significant portion of our net worth is equity in our home. We were fortunate to buy our first home in a rapidly appreciating neighborhood, and our second home has also appreciated well. Some might not even include home equity in their definition of being a millionaire. I can understand why since I'm not likely to sell my home or take more loans against the equity, so barring any desperate measures I'm not expecting to "realize" this appreciation any time soon. Nevertheless, it is part of my net worth, and if we did retire and move somewhere less expensive, it would contribute to our nest egg, and it will likely continue to appreciate in value. Is this something that would fall in the "real estate" category? I wouldn't consider it that way since I've never owned an investment/rental property.

- We received an unexpected inheritance, which is not a huge percentage of our total assets, but it was enough to be a noticeable boost in net worth. That's not anything you can plan for, and isn't likely to happen again, but it is a part of how we got here.

- My career has been pretty successful, mostly as an employee. My income rose rapidly over the years, and I expect to have a high income for the remainder of my career. My wife also had a sizable income (also as an employee) until we had kids and she gave up her job to stay home with them while they are young (and she may choose to return to work soon). If there was any one factor in this list that "made us millionaires", this would be it, and it would be squarely in your "other" category.

- I did join a startup for a couple of years, and a chunk of our Quicken net worth is stock in that company (part stock grant, part personal investment), which I currently value at the price the initial investors paid for it (I haven't adjusted it up or down since the company was launched). The company is growing and has a chance of becoming very big, but it's not profitable yet and there's still a risk that it could end up going out of business.

- The majority of our financial assets are invested in the stock market, and those investments have done well over the years--we've done slightly better than the market averages. Most years we fully funded our 401k / IRAs, and our companies offered some matching. We do have some non-retirement stock market investments, but the vast majority is in retirement accounts.

The bottom line for us is that without every one of these things, we would not have over $1 million net worth (and it's possible we might not stay there, depending on what happens in the future). I could put one of them in the real estate category (or not), and I could put one of them in the entrepreneur category, but if you asked me how we got this far, I'd say something like:

- Developed a financially valued skill, and ambitiously followed a career path in an industry that values that skill

- Got married

- Bought a desirable and affordable home in a desirable neighborhood

- Spent less than we earned, eliminated all debt except our home mortgage, and invested our savings wisely

That last item is key, and has little to do with income. Without it we'd be broke no matter how much we made in income, and with it I think we'd have become millionaires at some point even with a much lower income.

As I've said, I don't consider having a $1 million net worth to be The Promised Land, but I certainly feel fortunate, and I think there's a "formula" in there that's just as applicable as "real estate" or "entrepreneurship". And once again, what has worked for me may or may not be the best strategy for you. My original point stands--I think knowing yourself, and evaluating your choices with that in mind, is probably the most important thing in choosing the best strategy for success.

[ispf]

How much time do you have? Anybody can be a millionaire if they have enough time and a little bit of discipline. For example, if you put away just $200 per month in a long-term account (eg. 401K, IRA etc) and earn 10% interest on average, you can be a millionaire in about 38 years. i.e., you can retire to a good life by just putting away a little bit of money every month.

If you are young, no matter what your plan A is, you should always use the power of compounding as your plan B! What have you got to lose?

(If you want to play with the numbers, check out this bankrate calculator)

[PMcDonald]

Most millionaires will likely tell you that owning your own business, i.e. entrepreneurship is the best way to get there.

However, the most profound comment I have ever heard regarding becoming a millionaire is to simply make a decision to become a millionaire. The power lies in the decision - once it is made and you guarantee the results then how you get there is just a story.

It took me a little while to really "get" that, but once I did it became very powerful.

[GoalGuru]

I believe the best way to become a Millionaire is to Follow Your Bliss

You will be happier and more fulfilled with life in general if you are immersed in your passions.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day.

That's 525,600 minutes in a year.

Most of those waking hours are spent at work.

You must be immersed in what brings you joy to experience the vitality, energy and enthusiasm on a day to day basis.

What's the point of being rich if you are miserable and dreading going to work each day?

Have you ever heard the saying:

"Success is not the key to Happiness, Happiness is the key to Success."

Steve Pavlina is a real world example. He is passionate about personal development and look at what he has created!

Let me know if you need help figuring out how to turn your passions into profit and I'll help you brainstorm.

Live Your Dreams,

-Jill

[twins15]

1) Spend less than you earn
2) Invest the difference
3) Repeat often

Voila!

[llong]

Originally Posted by twins15

1) Spend less than you earn
2) Invest the difference
3) Repeat often

Voila!

It is fitting that this is the last post I read. It's probably the most common method.

I'm not a millionaire, but I'm moving closer ($350k).

Next step is to invest more in the market.

[SeriousKidding.com]

Oh, we're all just dyin' to make a mint, aren't we? I know I certainly am, but after all the junk/crap/stuff I've tried (and I'm sure will try again), it always comes back to my writing. That's what I do best. That's what I should be focusing on. So, thanks for the opportunity, but I honestly don't have the dough to join all of these things, let alone market 'em. My friends think I am completely nuts. I won't talk to them or anyone I know about an online biz/opp to save my life EVER AGAIN, EVEN if I were making a fortune. They just wouldn't believe it, or think it was legal. I can't blame them either, after all the things I've tried.

[Eggzachery]

I learned a long time ago (and consistently have the lesson reinforced) that one should keep their "going up" goals very much to themselves. Even those whom one might think should be very supportive of your goal are not always so. "Giving up" goals? Sure share them with everyone you see. Most everyone is supportive of someone giving something up. Giving up smoking, drinking, weight, etc.

I now only share my goals with my Wife. I will share my vision with my children once they're old enough to understand. But none outside those three do I ever share my heart. People are much too quick to tear a person down. Just decide where you want to go, figure out how you're going to get there, then GET UP, GET OUT, AND GET ON WITH IT.

As for how to become a millionaire? That's been pretty well covered. I think it's first and foremost an internal decision. Then it's simply plotting your course.

Taking into consideration what tipxypixie had to say, I would recommend taking your focus slightly off net worth and figure out how much cash flow you would like to have, how much you can make passively (hopefully all of it), then build your net worth.

It's not much good to have a million dollars worth of equity in real estate if the cupboard is empty, and the clothes are ragged and full of holes. There are so many people where I live that have huge houses, but they're furnished with a mattress which is laying right on the floor, a couch, and (amazingly) a big screen tv. All because they wanted their million dollars of real estate.

[Brian Lee]

Don Clifton, huh? It's been awhile since I've heard that name. In fact I've never met anyone else who knew about him.

I used to work at his company Gallup, Inc. and I was in a mentoring program that he started at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. He did a lot of really great research that few people know about.

[hk999]

I think homebased business opportunity will be the best way to become a millionaire, robert kiyosaki ( author of richdad ) says that network marketing will make more millionaires than real estate, because the cost to start a business is low and the company trains all the associates and I believe him!

[W-Shadow]

Originally Posted by hk999

I think homebased business opportunity will be the best way to become a millionaire, robert kiyosaki ( author of richdad ) says that network marketing will make more millionaires than real estate, because the cost to start a business is low and the company trains all the associates and I believe him!

Be careful with what Kiyosaki says : John T. Reed's analysis of Robert T. Kiyosaki's book Rich Dad, Poor Dad

[Groundless]

Spent less than we earned, eliminated all debt except our home mortgage, and invested our savings wisely

This was worth repeating.

[Jill]

What is the best way to become a millionaire in your opinion?

The best way is to have no interest in becoming one.

[Dave B]

'entrepreneurship' seems like the clear winner at the moment and I'd have to agree...

There's been an explosion in UK house prices over the last few years but will it last forever...it's all about timing I guess.

Making money directly from you own talents (whatever they are) has got to be most consistent method...BUT it requires a lot of very hard work and persistence...and a total refusal to fail...I mean you will fail time and again...no doubt about that...but it's how you get up that counts...

Now, I ain't a millionaire. Have I given up? Nope. Still working at it...always will...not for the money per se but the fact that success brings other rewards with it.

Dave B

[jimsomchai]

I think in order to be rich we need to think rich.
If we want to be a millionnaire, we need to think like the millionnaire.
Apart from that , we need to take action incessantly.

Jim Somchai
The Law of Attraction Accelerator™

[Jojo21]

A well thought out post! Someone said to me the other day "the secret of success is in your daily routine", and it really brought home how important it is to be aware of how we use our time on a daily basis in working towards our goals.





selfdevelopmentsecrets dot com/howtogetrich.pdf

[theresabloginmysoup]

Well...I think the Secret could help. for one.

Perhaps just Creating a strong enough intention and sending it out into the universe could help, maybe you won't get a million, maybe you'll end up on Deal or No Deal and only get $200,000 - but what if you invest some of that and it eventually earns $1,000,000+ ---

Personally I think the best way is through entrepreneurship, whether it be a brick and mortar business or an internet business, or even a high trafficked blog...

I think though if you focus more of the vision on what you want to be in your life, not just money, but the better car, an extremely beautiful home, the ability to travel, etc..then you'll be much more able to manifest that into your life..

And for those who may have strong religious convictions if the Secret / Law of Attraction is a little of a stretch or seems to go against the grain of your belief system, do as I do - liken it to your beliefs, the universe is only another way of saying God, and for me personally, I just pray to my Heavenly Father like I've always done, but instead of asking and hoping, I ask and have faith that I'll receive, when it's my time to receive.

Try to live happier than you've been as well, I started keeping a Gratitude journal, that I also write my Life Coach's assignments in - it's helped immensely...

Take it from someone who's only recently started on the path of the Law of Attraction - having seen the secret just a few weeks ago, I've already built an extremely profitable blog - I've made $50 in 2 weeks in adsense and built up some nice traffic coming to my blog.

Take it from someone w/ an un-extinguishable intention to reach $1,000,000 income by my Birthday in 2009. I can feel things coming into my life in greater abundance, It's been 2 weeks and already things are starting to move in the right direction...

PMA - Positive Mental Attitude is the biggest - Whichever method you choose if you use the law of attraction and the secret each item will fall in your lap easier. I guarantee it!.

[infinitethoughts]

Originally Posted by FutureBillionaire

What is the best way to become a millionaire in your opinion?

Learn the non-existance of space and time.

[1000feet]

1) Write an interesting, funny, informative blog

2) Get a huge audience online

3) Get big book deals

Or, alternately, sell a book to a publisher about getting rich that's entertaining and engaging but doesn't really say anything new. You'll sell millions of copies of the original book and start a profitable series, while all your readers will "think positive" and hope for something good to happen.

[justJeff]

I found this site, and this particular thread after doing a search in a quest to help a neighbor/friend.

This is my first post, and this is the forum of greatest interest to me on this site, so a bit of an introduction is probably in order.

My wife and I are self made millionaires. We are self employed, and the source of our wealth is primarily entrepreneurship involving real estate. We develop and build residential properties. In the past we've also built custom homes for select clients, but in the past couple of years have focused primarily on spec home building. I am also an active options trader, mostly with covered calls.

We recently built a new home for ourselves and moved into a new neighborhood. We live well below our means and suspect that we have quite a bit higher net worth than most of our neighbors. Through somewhat of a fluke, a neighbor couple that we've become good friends with found out that our home is paid for. They have also said that they envy our obvious sense of contentment and happiness. They seem to have an earnest desire to get ahead, and we're trying to help them. We purchased a copy of The Millionaire Next Door for them so that they can begin to understand some of the realities of the wealthy in America as opposed to the general commonly held stereotypes.

In thinking of ways to help them, it's given us a good pause to reflect (which we do often) on the reasons for our past and continued success. For us one of the single biggest contributors was a decision early on to avoid any personal debt for depreciating assets, and to avoid debt in all forms when possible. All of our spec building and development is now done with our own money. There are countless books about leverage and lists of reasons why other peoples money is the way to riches. The fact for us though, is that we get a far better return on our own money than we would investing it anywhere else, and our own money doesn't "cost" us anything. The money that stays invested in spec projects conservitivly doubles about every two years, so a return of well over 35% annually. We don't pay any points to a lender, no needless appraisal and title insurance fees. It took a few years of living extremely frugaly and working very long hours to get there, but in looking back we have no doubt that it was well worth it. That focus and dedication to a purpose are in our minds the reasons that more people don't achieve the financial success that they seek. We believe very much to each their own, and respect that wealth isn't what a lot of people are seeking. For us, initial success started happening at a time when we were both recomitted to personal growth. Karma is something that we talk about, though neither of us could probably quantify it, it's a concept that we very much believe in. Good begets good. We are very upfront and honest with everyone. Subcontractors are paid on the day that we receive an invoice. We are extremely loyal to those that we choose to work with and have established relationships with great people that are key to our success.

We believe that there are many ways to achieve financial success and freedom. It seems to us that self employment is probably the most realistic way for many people to do so. If I remember the approximate statistics correctly, less than 20% of the US population is self employed, but the self employed make up about 2/3 of US millionaires. It was interesting to already be a millionaire when we both read The Millionair Next Door for the first time. It was very much Dejavu for us. Now more than ever when we see someone wearing a Rolex or driving an expensive automobile we think "UAW", or underaccumulator of wealth. Of course that isn't always the case, but it's not an unfair assumption either.

Wanting what you have, no matter what stage you're at, is key, or at least it was for us. As long as your progressing towards your ultimate goal, whether it's a particular net worth, a feeling of freedom, however you personaly define success, be sure to celebrate your victories along the way. It doesn't have to be champagne and a nice dinner, for us talking about it out loud and patting each other on the back and talking about the pride at achieving forward momentum was very rewarding.

The old saw about the first million being the toughest is pretty accurate. That may not be the exact number, but the idea underlying the statement is that when you accumulate enough money that it starts working for you, instead of you always working for more of it, is spot on. Compounding and growth can't be ignored, and must be understood. Take the interest rate and divide it into 72 and the answer will be the approximate number of years it will take a set sum of money to double. Learn concepts like this, and use them daily. There was a quote by Nicolas Cage in Matchstick Men that I really liked, something like "for many, money is a foreign film without subtitles". Most earn, spend, save money each and every day, but very few really understand money. The masses are asses as my wife always says. There is a reason that fewer than 3.5% of people will ever have a net worth of 1 million or more, even though a good percentage desire it. Drive, focus, sense of purpose, commitment and understanding are all key. Don't emulate the guy down the street that's leasing a new 7 series Beemer and living in a bigger house. He probably has a very low net worth. Find someone a bit less flashy that you suspect may have done well at their business. Befriend them. No matter what your specialty or business plan may be, there are a lot of similarities amongst all successful peole and businesses. Read a lot. Think and Grow Rich is a classic. Train your mind to take ownership of key concepts and soon they'll be part of your very belief system. You can't achieve what you cant' believe. With each success will come stronger beliefs that will lead to more success and understanding. Be a genuinely good person, be good to everyone, including yourself. Be your own worst critic, but be fair with yourself too.

Sorry to ramble on. Helping this neighbor has my mind spinning. We're trying to be realistic and realize that there is only a small chance that he'll be willing to do what is neccessary to achieve the financial success that he says he wants for his family. He has a lot of toys, and loans for most of them, depreciating toys with interest paid on them to boot.

[Shamou]

Hello and welcome aboard justJeff...

That's quite an introduction... very sound advice... thanks for sharing that with us...

Hope that you will stick around this board as obviously you have a lot to share...

Looking forward to reading your posts...

.