The Millionaire’s Way of Becoming Wealthy-Slow and Steady

Wealth is more often a result of a lifestyle of hard work, perseverance, planning, and most of all, self-discipline.  More than 80% of the millionaires in America are ordinary people who have accumulated their wealth in one generation. They did it slowly, steadily, without signing a multimillion-dollar contract with a sports team, without winning the lottery, without becoming the next American Idol.

So who are they?  What do they do? Where do they work? How do they live? Why are they millionaires?  Have you ever wondered how millionaires made their money and how do they really became a millionaire?  In his New York Times bestseller book, The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas J. Stanley describes how and why your typical millionaire became a millionaire and is staying a millionaire.

In his book, Thomas Stanley discovered something odd.  Many people who live in expensive homes and drive luxury cars do not actually have much wealth.  Then he describes something even odder: Many people who have a great deal of wealth do not even live in upscale neighborhoods. 

So what are the key factors of most of the millionaires in America?  Usually the wealthy individual is a businessman (74%) who has lived in the same area for all of his adult life.  Married once and remains married.  He is a compulsive saver and investor.  And he has made his money on his own. 

In the course of Thomas Stanley’s study, he discovered seven common denominators among those who successfully build wealth.  If you want to become wealthy yourself, do what they are doing over a long period of time or as Dave Ramsey encourages take one out to eat, and ask lots of questions.  Listen to what they say, and then do it.”

Here are some key factors to how they became a millionaire:

1.        They live well below their means. 

2.       They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth.

3.       They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status.

4.       Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care.

5.       Their adult children are economically self-sufficient.

6.       They are proficient in targeting market opportunities.

7.       They chose the right occupation. 

One of the main things that came out of Thomas Stanley’s study of millionaires is that most self-made millions are goal-oriented.  They set daily, monthly, and yearly goals more than non-millionaires. 

When they work, they work hard. They focus their energies to maximize their returns on their efforts.  Do you really want to become financially independent?  Are you and your family willing to change your lifestyle to achieve this goal? Many will likely conclude they are not. 

But if you are one who is willing to take the necessary trade-offs of your time, energy, and consumption habits, you can begin to build wealth and achieve financial independence.  Imagine who you can help and how many lives you can change if you and your family were the millionaire’s next door?

Ed Finnerty

Finnerty Financial Coaching