Ask just about anyone and they will say that becoming a millionaire is an impressive financial feat. However, what’s more impressive, becoming a millionaire when you’re 95 years old or at 30? While you can always argue better late than never, I think we can all agree that having seven figures in the bank would offer you much more utility while you’re young than when you’re so old you can’t even remember your own birthday. As such, let’s dive into the blueprint of how one can become a millionaire by 30 and the common pitfalls one must sidestep to get there!
Before we get started, there’s one thing about becoming a millionaire by 30 that you must understand — it’s not going to be easy. As I already mentioned, becoming wealthy at a young age is a very impressive financial feat and as such it will unfortunately not be an attainable goal for the majority of people. But, the good news is that you are not the majority of people. You’re disciplined, intelligent and financially savvy and as such are the perfect person to put this blueprint in place and achieve all of your wildest financial goals.
However, we need to address the elephant in the room before we go any further. If you’re already over 30 or are soon approaching your dirty 30s then this path to 7-figures will not allow you to go back in time or generate this million dollar net worth in one or two years. This blueprint assumes you are presently 18 years old and have 12 years to work with to go from $0 in the bank to $1 million.
With that being said, the good news whether you’re 30, 40 or 60 years old, the financial principles I’m about to share are applicable to achieving this impressive financial feat, however the only difference for you will be the timeline in which you achieve it. So, with that disclaimer out of the way, let’s first dive into some of the benefits you’re going to enjoy once you join the millionaires club and the common mistakes most people run into trying to get there. Then I will share your foolproof approach to meeting this lofty financial goal!
Benefits of Your First $1 Million
When most people think about how great it would be to have a million dollars to their name, they think of all the material goods it could buy them. A nice house, a new car, and the ability to vacation more than 1 week a year. There’s no doubt that having 7-figures in the bank can offer you all these aforementioned things, however the true benefits of embodying this financial state run much deeper. If you ask me, there are three main benefits with the first being less financial stress.
If you’ve ever lived paycheck to paycheck before then you know how stressful it can be. You’re constantly worried about whether your next paycheck will come through because without it you’ll slip into a debt down spiral and only see your financial state worsen from there. Ideally, when you have a million dollars or more, meeting your routine bills ceases to be a worry and as such is a reason why you want to achieve this financial objective.
Secondly, having a million dollars in the bank gives you ultimate lifestyle flexibility. If you want to move to a new area of town, you can afford to. If you hate your job and want to take your time finding a new job, you can afford to. These are luxuries that most people don’t enjoy but when you have a significant amount of money in the bank all of a sudden your choices in life expand greatly.
Finally, when you have a million dollars or more, making more money becomes that much easier. Just take the example of routine investing. If you have $1 million dollars in a fund that nets a 10% return annually, you’re earning $100,000 a year as opposed to seeing $10,000 in profits if you only have $100,000 instead. As you can see, it pays to have money and if making more money is your goal then having the capital to do so definitely helps!
At this point, it should be a foregone conclusion that you have the goal of becoming a millionaire simply due to all the benefits you’ll enjoy when you reach this financial milestone. Unfortunately though, most people are on a financial path that will never get them to this point so before I share the blueprint you must put in place to reach your 7-figure goal, let me share with you what most people get wrong.
Mistakes of the Masses
When it comes to achieving any level of financial success, there are certain habits and traits that one must possess. For instance, you must have the habit of budgeting and always increasing your skills to offer more value and in turn make more money. Unfortunately, most people lack the financial intelligence required to create and maintain a proper budget or have a budget but let their poor spending habits neutralize any benefit their budget would offer them.
Another roadblock most people lay on their own path to financial success is trying to turn their 9 to 5 job into their primary income generating source. I hate to break it to you but your employer has the incentive to only pay you as much as they need for you not to quit. As such, you’re probably going to spend the entirety of your adult life collecting disappointing pay raises that will never allow you to achieve all of the benefits I’ve previously mentioned which is a shame because I think we all deserve to live a life of financial abundance.
Finally, even if you do have a good amount of money coming in every month, the final issue that trips up many people is that they are too afraid or are not actively engaged in the stock market or investing as a whole. While there has been a significant increase in interest in investing in the past year or two, most of these new investors are only investing in hot stocks they see on TV or on their Twitter feeds and I can tell you first hand that this is not a recipe for investing success.
Therefore, unfortunately, most people are their own worst enemies when it comes to becoming a millionaire by 30 or by any age for that matter. Fortunately, I do believe that with a bit of guidance and discipline, anyone can achieve this financial feat so let’s now dive into how you can do just that!
$1 Million Trifecta
Your blueprint to becoming a millionaire by 30 or any age for that matter, will consist of three core components: saving, earning and investing. As such, let me share with you how you must approach each to hit the 7-figure mark right now.
What you first must understand is that no matter how good of an investor you are or how much money you make, if you suck at saving money, you’ll have zero chance of becoming a millionaire. This is because no one can earn money quicker than they can spend it which means that you need to have your savings game on point if you want to achieve this lofty financial goal. Now, the question you may be asking is how much you need to regularly save to hit this financial milestone so let’s address that now!
In a perfect world, you would be saving each and every penny you make but unless you are living at home and have all your expenses paid for then this is not a likely savings approach you can take. However, this doesn’t mean you’re off the hook! What I recommend is that you save 70% or more of your income every month if you want a shot at becoming a millionaire by 30. Now, I know most of you just fell off your chair when I said 70% because for the majority of people, with their current set of expenses, this number seems downright impossible to achieve. Well, let me tell you, nothing is impossible and with a few changes to your finances, you can definitely rise to meet this savings rate.
I think it goes without saying that if you want to achieve this high savings rate, you are going to have to have your expenses streamlined. As such, start your quest to join the 7-figure club by reviewing your expenses and asking yourself which are necessary and which can be cut. Then, from the ones that remain, ask yourself which can be reduced through modifications to your lifestyle. Perhaps you can bus to work instead of driving or can give up your two-bedroom apartment for one that will still meet your needs but will come with a lower monthly price tag.
Now, here’s the harsh truth about cutting out these expenses, this still won’t be enough to get you to a 70% savings rate. Reducing your expenses will move the needle a bit but will likely not do enough for your savings to get you where you need to be. This is where earning comes into play.
If you’ve ever seen articles or videos about people saving 99% of their income, it typically comes from those who are making significant amounts of income. For instance, if you earn $100,000 a month, living off $5,000 would have you saving 95% of your income. Therefore, as you can see, the magic in having a high savings rate is having an income large enough to get you there.
Now, I am not saying that you need to make $100,000 a month to achieve your goal of becoming a millionaire but I am merely stating that you must have an income large enough to support a high savings rate because with this saved money, you are going to invest towards your ultimate financial goal of having a million dollars to your name.
At this point, you may be wondering how at 18 years old you can be making enough income to support this financial endeavor and that’s a great question. Fortunately, these days you don’t need a college degree or a standard job to make a lot of money. With the rise of the internet and the resources within it, you can acquire very highly demanded, highly profitable skills you can use to make a ton of money. Alternatively, you can build your own following that will allow you to make more than enough money to start investing towards your 7-figure dream. I mean, if a 9 year old can make $30 million a year unboxing toys on YouTube then I think you can figure out how to have a million dollars to your name by 30!
So now that we have saving and earning out of the way, let’s talk about investing. First, let’s go over what kind of contributions you’d need to be making to achieve your goal of having a million dollars by 30 assuming you started investing at age 18. If we assume you earn a 7% rate of return and invest for 12 years, you would need to be investing $4,500 a month to get to this point. Again, I know for most people this amount seems radical but when you start to shift your mindset away from earning in the traditional 9–5 model and see the power of earning at scale through the means I just mentioned, making and investing this kind of money will seem a lot more feasible.
Now, for the doubters out there who don’t believe they can get to this level of contribution, there’s still hope. All you need to do is extend the timelines involved in your path to ultimate wealth. For instance, if you’re instead willing to wait until 40, you would only have to contribute around $1,500 a month — a number most of us should see as being realistic and feasible.
The final question you may have is, what do I invest this money into? Personally, I think your best bet is to invest in low-fee index funds because there is little research involved in investing in reliable funds like the VOO or VTI. By eliminating the guesswork that’s typically involved in individual stock investing, in my opinion, you give yourself a much greater chance to succeed in reaching this lofty financial goal.
Now, of course there are other asset classes like real estate and crypto that you could entertain and of course with the right investment, you can speed up your timeline to riches. However, real estate often comes with a high capital barrier to entry and crypto is still clouded with uncertainty therefore again if you ask me, using the stock market as your primary wealth vehicle remains your most reliable choice in achieving your millionaire net worth goal!