Money goals and wealth goals, in general, are changing. Most millennials and zoomers aren’t necessarily interested in the conventional work-till-you-retire framework. At least, not in the sense that their parents and grandparents were.
Many want to work until they retire, but they also plan on retiring much sooner than their 60s. This means hitting their first million sooner than ever before and gaining financial freedom from the daily grind. Here are 5 ways you can make your way into the 7-digit club.
1. Set Specific Goals
Make sure you keep regularly achievable goals to keep you motivated and on track. Not just lofty ten-year, or twenty-year goals, but short-term goals. If you are just starting on the path to wealth-building, your first goal should be to become debt-free.
Use Credello’s debt guide to help you figure out the best way to pay down your debt and free up your income so it can start working for you. Snowball method? Debt avalanche? There are a lot of options; pick one, stay motivated, and reach those goals.
2. Never Stop Learning
Being a voracious learner is one of the characteristics found in many of the hyper-successful and wealthy. There is a reason that so many top earners hire top consultants and firms, and it is so they can learn from them. Follow the leaders, and always be hungry to learn.
Be sure you maintain the mindset of growth and wealth-building, which means deferring to those who know more. Find out who leads innovation and growth in your particular field, follow them on social channels, and listen to who they’re reading, podcasts they enjoy, recent publications or articles that have been influential, and so on.
3. Maintain The Mindset
A mindset focused on long-term growth will be tremendously helpful on the journey to becoming a millionaire. You won’t always be the smartest person in the room, and so when you are presented with the opportunity to glean some knowledge from someone, take advantage of it.
4. Invest Relentlessly
Don’t save. Period. Invest. If you save excess money, it sits in an account that gains interest slower than inflation kills its value.
Invest any money you can afford, up to 20% of your take-home pay if you can, into well-managed investment funds. People like Warren Buffet are insanely intelligent investors, so follow them, look into popular funds, and spread your money out a bit. Some social investment platforms will even let you mirror the exact investments of popular investors.
5. Don’t Talk About It, Be About It
Don’t just hope that you’ll become a millionaire by putting away your spare change. Fire up your inner hustler, and put your spare time to work. Start to create multiple, long-term revenue streams that you can use to really rev up your investments or help you climb out of debt quicker.
For instance, a popular blog post with monetization can provide monthly or quarterly passive revenue for years to come. You can also consider freelancing in your spare time or joining the gig economy. Becoming a millionaire won’t happen overnight, but it will happen quicker if you put in the work and employ these strategies.
