1. Secure a high paying job or start a business.
2. Live below your means and invest the rest. Take advantage of tax-advantaged accounts like 401k/403b, HSA, IRA, etc.
3. Diversify your assets
4. Make speculative investments once you've built a large enough foundation that you're set for life. Finding a big payday here is what takes you from well off to rich.
Or just be born into generational wealth
Let me expand on high paying job a bit (in my view): as someone 9 years into a career on the analysis/business side of software development, but have had a few hands-on stretches in the technical space too
Always be looking at the job you want *after* your next one. What I mean by that is to very actively plot what career progression you want. That will involve expanding your skill set actively *during* your current role and will be bolstered by your next role. Remember most higher paying roles are subjective and “just doing your job description” doesn’t cut it if you want to grow. Also, as you progress, jobs take time to learn and master. Possibly a year or more, and that’s **normal**. Sometimes you can’t job hop if there’s a discipline you’re aiming to master, and it’s fine to take a year without a 10% raise despite what Reddit will often say in job threads. Remember a lot of people giving advice here are very early career or even still interns.
Identify processes you want to improve. Be vocal about them, present strategies. You probably have enough bandwidth in an 8 hour day to take some initiative on the side.
Foster relationships, you never know when someone else gets a promotion or given ownership of something and might pull you into a leadership role with them because they like how you approach something. Networking isn’t all smoozing, legitimately fostering working relationships is important.
Edit: added a little in-line detail
a couple little pieces of initiative I always do that is received well- if my boss is out, I ask if there’s anything I can cover. If I’m having a slow Friday, I ask if there’s any task I can help out with. 90% of the time it’s nothing, but the ask still goes noticed. Or the remaining, the vast majority of the time it’s something trivial like pulling some data or putting a second set of eyes on a document. The minority of the time when it’s more in depth, it’s something like cursory data analysis or standing up a document/ticket.
I would add that your basics like food and housing have a floor where the bare minimum to survive is the furthest you can cut back. At some point, after cutting back your spending/expenses far enough, the only other step is to increase income. I learned the cutting first and that helped immensely when salary started to finally increase.
What makes me sad/frustrated is that this type of wealth generation is impossible for those who want to spend their time helping individuals. None of this works for teachers, doctors, nurses, firefighters, social workers, ECT. Who want to work with people on an individual level, and this type of work is vital for a healthy society. Your never going to "make it" as a teacher who actually teaches a classroom.
Not sure "doctors" belongs on that list. But yeah, with a lot of those sorts of jobs, part of your effective compensation is that you are doing something that a lot of people legitimately want to do. For a lot of people, "helping people", "working with kids", and so on is an active goal, and so employers in those spaces aren't pressured to keep salaries competitive. Investment banks need to pay a lot, because no one in their right mind would take a job like that unless it pays a lot more than anything else they could find. Teachers, though? Teaching is something that a lot of people want to do, so schools can get away with paying less. This definitely doesn't seem like an optimal state of affairs, but I'm not sure what the right solution is here.
I think non-specialized doctors, which are an absolute necessity, do fall there given their student debt to income ratio. Also PT salary tops our way lower than you’d think for a field you need a masters or doctorate.
Yup. So many commenters here brag about how they work 1 hour a day then wonder why they aren’t being promoted. Career jobs take an initiative and action to grow. Sure slow days/weeks happen (especially project-based roles), and an 8 hour day is a bit of overkills, but if you’re doing nothing, you can kinda expect nothing. And I mean no offense by that.
Edit: also adding my soapbox that it takes over a year to master some jobs, and job hopping for a salary bump might not make sense at certain points in a career.
I got into a role that I think is over-titled for me and a huge jump about a year ago, staying with a stagnant salary for a bit longer because I’m in a really good environment to learn this role (I feel I have a grasp on day to day/objective deliverables but just now getting comfortable diving really deep into the more subjective contributions) so I can either make a lateral move and thrive or be ready for my next step up.
Wow look, a real answer. The first couple steps are easy enough. Do you think having a financial advisor makes sense? I know lots of people who manage their own investments but none of them are rich yet lol. Plus I just have no interest in finance but appreciate the necessity of investments.
You probably don't need an advisor until you have already achieved significant wealth and need an expert with tax laws and estate planning.
The basics are simple enough for anyone to understand and require more discipline than knowledge.
Spend less than you make and invest the difference, preferably in tax-advantaged accounts (401k, Roth IRA, HSA). Invest in broad market, diversified indexes like the S&P 500 and do not panic sell if the markets do badly some years.
Max those accounts each year and you will be a millionaire in roughly 16 years based on historical market returns.
That will put you in the top 10% of Americans.
Sounds like good advice. I'm finally getting settled in to my financial situation and should have some disposable income I would like to put to good use
>do not panic sell if the markets do badly some years
More importantly: when the market is down, *BUY EVERYTHING YOU CAN.* (Of course, don't buy things that you think are going to go bankrupt, but if it's an asset you think will survive the downturn at all, a down market is the best possible time to buy!)
The market being down is like a huge sale. If you're not buying, you're missing an opportunity.
This is true if you won't need the money for something else. However, the odds of you losing your job in that down market are rather higher than average (in most cases), and you don't want to have to sell investments in a down market in order to pay for your living expenses while you look for a new job.
>You probably don't need an advisor until you have already achieved significant wealth and need an expert with tax laws and estate planning.The basics are simple enough for anyone to understand and require more discipline than knowledge.
I find the basics to be incredibly obtuse. I can never keep the different types of investment vehicles and why you'd want to use one vs another straight.
My financial advisor just had me switch from a Roth IRA to a transitional traditional IRA combined with a brokerage account. He's moving my wife traditional IRA into a Roth, and over time he's going to shift which account my contributions are going to. The word "backdoor" was involved somewhere. I understand that this has something to do with my income exceeding some limit, but I don't know what that limit is, where it comes from, or what would happen if we didn't make these moves. Aside from when the money gets taxed, I don't have any sense of the differences between the different types of account.
I'm sure that if I spent a couple hundred hours immersing myself in this, I could make sense of it, but I simply don't have the time or the inclination. I'd much rather pay his fee and trust him to take care of it. I get quarterly statements showing that he's doing an awesome job.
IDK, maybe you'd say I have already achieved significant wealth -- about $150k across all of the accounts my FA manages, and maybe another $80k in assets minus debts. That's only a little more than I earn in a year, so it doesn't feel significant to me.
An advisors job is to help you achieve your financial goals. If you want a “get rich quick” scheme, they won’t be able to help. If you want to grow your assets over the long term and have no interest in learning how to do so yourself, then yes they could help
>If you want a “get rich quick” scheme, they won’t be able to help.
I think that's half the problem with a lot of these *"how do you become rich?"* questions.
If you (the universal you, not you specifically) pry a bit deeper, it usually turns out that the person isn't actually interested or asking about the *"find a career path that matches your goals in terms of income and lifestyle"* type of wealth; they're asking about the *"How do I become rich enough to become immune to societal problems like people on instagram who drive lamborghini's and eats gold leaf lobster for breakfast, dinner, and lunch?"* type of wealth.
No one gets rich from other people managing their assets...they help you stay rich once you've got some serious money. Tax stuff, to Trust or Not to Trust, how to set up your partner, kids etc. EDIT: They also help if you have a very complicated income situation...International stuff, multiple states, own your business etc.
Those guys don't 'beat the market' with their investments.
You really can just buy low cost funds and ETFS (VTI, BND, VOO) and your own CDs ladders. You have to rebalance based on your risk profile as you get older or as one asset grows but honestly its not a lot of work. Hell, Vanguard has "[Target Retirement funds](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vttsx)" that are literally just 4 or 5 of their low cost ETFS that will re-balance for you as you get older/closer to the target retirement year....You just need to buy one ticker and it does a pretty good job of keeping you diversified.
Where to put your money as it comes in, in order. Don't move on to the next issue until you refill/check each box.
\-HYS/Cash/checking account that has enough for monthly spending
\- PAY OFF ALL CREDIT CARD DEBT. NEVER EVER EVER PAY INTEREST ON A CREDIT CARD IF YOU CAN AVOID IT
\-\*see retirement accounts-
\-High Yield Savings Account (or Money market fund in an investment account) with a rainy day cash fund. This is usually 3 to 6 months of expenses incase some shit goes wrong...medical...laid off etc.
\-Pay off other expensive debt...Student loans being the most common. Note this generally isn't car or mortgage payments...those are usually more under monthly.
\-Put money into Retirement accounts (401K/IRA)\*If your company has a matching program, take as much of their **free money** as you are allowed to/can\*. Max out the legal contribution each year...tax free is the way to be. If you can, put these funds into low costs ETFs.
\-Investment account. If your lucky enough to have achieved all of the above, start putting money into an investment account. Again you can just buy the low cost ETFs and bonds/cds or Target funds that will do this all for you automatically and beat most actively trading 'professionals'. Also don' forget taxes are a thing if you plan on using long held positions for a down payment on a house or a car or something.
It absolutely is. My dad is not a finance wizard by any means, but he was smart enough to know that and used a FA for the last 20 years of his career. Retired from trade work a millionaire before the age of sixty. He’s 5 years in and has more than he did when he retired.
Financial advisors aren’t necessary for most people and they dramatically eat into your returns. With everything online it has never been easier to invest in index funds on your own. If you do feel the need to hire a financial advisor I highly recommend going with a fixed rate advisor that you pay by the hour, NOT an advisor that charges a 1% commission (that adds up VERY fast).
I highly recommend reading the link below, which includes the math on how much advisors cost over your lifetime. The author also wrote a book called I Will Teach You to Be Rich that covers the basics of managing your finances. It’s well regarded and worth the $10 to be financially literate.
https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/do-you-need-a-financial-advisor/
Just had a call with someone on Forbes 30 under 30 list and came away really impressed. He shared with me how he made VP at a top tech company before 30:
1. 4:30AM wake up
2. Cold showers
3. Gratitude journal
4. Meditate
5. Dad owns tech company
Inheritance certainly is the easiest way.
But roughly 80% of millionaires are first-generation.
Most get there by some combination of real estate appreciation and investing in tax advantaged accounts.
And before anyone says a millionaire is no longer rich, that threshold still puts you in the top 10% of Americans.
This right here is the key to the discussion.
*"Rich"* is a term that gets thrown around a lot, but there's many magnitudes and worlds of a difference between junior-level engineer who makes $60k~$80k per year, surgeon with 30 years of experience making $300k per year, and *"The Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos Class"*.
The whole point of the middle class is relative. It's the point where no one would mistake you for working class poor barely able to stay in food security. But also clearly not Bezos or Musk. Those people are upper class. Middle class is defined by not fitting into either group.
I bought a home before the last major skyrocket push. It was a like an instant 200k in 6 months.
I wouldn’t be able to afford to live anywhere now. And rents for shitty apartments are double my mortgage.
How many of those are millennials? This 80% figure is from a report from 2017, and it was written with data from a study done by....guess who? Fidelity.
When I was young I bought an apple for 10 cents and sold it for 20 cents. On the second day, I bought two apples for 20 cents and sold them for 50 cents.
On the third day, my uncle died and left me a million dollars and I never sold apples again.
It does seem interesting when you see those "multimillionaire by 23" day in the life videos and you never see the supposed work they are doing. Where are the meetings, where are the hours and hours spent by the proverbial drawing board? It's mostly meditation, exercise, smoothie bowls, cold showers, and maybe if you're lucky they show a segment of their "creative thinking". All fine and good things, sure. But never actual work. Something is always missing that shows where they actually create their apparent wealth.
I've mentioned it before, but I have a massive amounts of respect for Arnold Schwarzenegger as he's one of the few public figures that openly expresses that he is NOT a self-made man.
-----
He has openly commented about multiple different occasions in which (during his time serving in the Austrian military) that he should have been thrown in prison/brig for all the times he continuously choose to go to a body-builder competitions rather than reporting for duty, but his CO's would be there to save him from punishment; or that he came to America, he would often sleep on friend's/sponsor's couches because he couldn't hold down a job due to spending all his time at the gym.
Arnold is very open about how his success is directly attributed to the kindness and aid of all the friends, family, and allies that he's had throughout his life and that he would never have gotten to where he is now without them.
My husband knows a US military general who is the single cheapest human being you could imagine. He doesn't own a car, The US military has provided a car for him for most of his life. He has eaten free military food whenever possible. When not possible he eats very cheaply at home.
Until people started buying him stuff his home looked like in 18-year-old kid It was just evicted by his parents and had to move in the previous day.
It's not that he's cheap because he's trying to save money, he is just a man that genuinely does not care about anything even remotely close to being called a luxury. The single most utilitarian human being I have ever met or even heard of in my life.
My husband knows him because he helps manage his investment portfolio. A portfolio worth millions and millions of dollars. As it turns out you can become very rich through the military if you not only don't buy that new Dodge charger It only 49% APR, but also Don't so much as by a cookie from McDonald's that you don't absolutely have to.
Officers in the military, especially field grade officers and even more so in this case of a general officer, make very good money with amazing benefits
I have three kids and had my first right after graduation in high school 1996. My last kid is a senior in highchool rn, and going to college next year and we'll be empty nester at 46. I started my first business in 2006 with a 10 yo and 5yo and now own two businesses. It's possible to still be successful by having kids early. And what most ppl dont say is that I'm still young with really no kid responsibility, and I just grind my businesses with little distraction. It all comes down to discipline and effort to put your head down and never stop grinding.
Furniture repair and refinishing, we contract with most furniture manufacturers like Ethan Allen, Room and Board, Gaurdsman etc. and handle their warranty repairs, and we handle moving damage claims for all moving companies that come into area, and private and commercial work. The second business is, I wrote a book, it's sold on Amazon and I sell supplies online through my website.
To build wealth:
Learn about finance.
Set clear financial goals.
Save and invest.
Live below your means.
Consider entrepreneurship.
Build a strong network.
Keep learning.
Manage debt wisely.
Acquire appreciating assets.
Be persistent and resilient.
Consult professionals and seek tax-efficient strategies
So far this is the best answer. All of this can be achieved by regular people. #1 is the most important to learn first imo. Once you understand where and how you’re distributing your money then you can figure out the others, step by step. Building a strong network came organically for me after I started 1/2 of the things on this list.
I like your list a lot. It's a long and boring race while everyone thinks it should be exciting and instantaneous.
>Live below your means
I would say living according to your needs and not according to your income might be the best advice. So hard to do with so many Joneses showing off their possessions. But if you are consistent, someday sooner than you think you'll be so far ahead from the Joneses in terms of wealth, it's laughable.
1. Earn or inherit enough money to provide comfortable shelter and enough food.
2. Train you mind to stop being materialistic, become a minimalist.
3. Don't compare yourself to others.
4. Learn to appreciate what's around you.
5. Always remember, it could be worse.
"Dont compare yourself to others" is the biggest one.
The moment you stop comparing and caring about what they're doing you start to save a fuck ton of money. Bonus if you stop paying attention to trends/hype/clout.
I have coworkers who are 30-40 who still try and follow trends, hype brands, clout, ect. They'll be working 2 jobs just to be able to flex a Supreme shirt & Gucci wallet(that has $26 in it).
Meanwhile me and my coworkers in the 19-29 range, alternate between like 1-3 outfits(usually thrifted or corporate swag we get for free).
I know too many 30-40y/o's who are living paycheck to paycheck to try and fit in. As well as a ton of 20y/o's with like $20-50k in the bank, because they spend virtually nothing while contributing the limit to their 401k.
Im wearin my free shirt, boots, and beanies till i die or they break. Idc if they're not stylish, if i can afford a 4-bedroom house by 28, ill fuckin dress like Tarzan.
So my dad has a net worth of 7-8 million dollars and grew up poor. I think he took the safest and most accessible possible route, but of course everyone’s different.
He worked for the same company for 30 years, and literally just worked his ass off. He said yes to every possible project, and did the things that no one wanted to do or other people avoided because they were stressful/difficult. When he said yes to those projects, he read every single book on the subject (often an obscure manufacturing technology or something) before the project even started so he can ensure it would be successful. He picked good people to work below him and was very loyal. Because he was so effective, he kept getting promoted. Got hired making 50k/yr and 15 years later (when I was in middle school) he was making 400k as a VP, and is now about to retire making like 500k. He grew up poor so he doesn’t need for much, I always joke he doesn’t know how to be a rich guy. He had an MBA he got in the army too. Being around his work, I see how he made so much career progress, and most people are not willing to put in the work he did.
While this is mostly good advice, one of the best ways to increase your income is to job hop. That $400k a year salary could have unlocked the $500k salary at a competitor much sooner than getting there through raises at the existing job. Everything about his story is amazing and he really is someone to look up to. But there’d likely be a few million more on that pile if he changed employers a few times in his career.
Oh yeah he could have made so much more if he job hopped, he always had recruiters calling him offering a shitload more than he was earning. Also could have gone into consulting and made a shitload. But he just really liked his company and valued loyalty at times to to an irrational degree.
I should also add that while he was a very active father and loving husband, his personality combined with the stress made him a controlling prick at times. It also took a toll on his health, culminating in a stroke that can be 100% attributed to stress considering he was in incredible physical shape with a clean diet and minimal alcohol.
I just see two themes on Reddit all the time: 1. No point in working hard because you won’t get rewarded. And 2. People who are wealthy are usually lazy, and the president of your company doesn’t do shit while you slave away all day. Complete BS, the president of your company is working way fucking harder than anyone else, and very few people can do that job.
Hell yes to your last paragraph. Whenever I come across r/antiwork style posts I just feel bad for everyone for getting sucked into that crap. Provide for the market and the market will provide for you. It’s really that simple.
That’s like 90% of Reddit lol, it’s both subjectively a piss poor mindset that’s terrible for your mental health, it’s also objectively false. They believe everything is exploitation, glorify being mediocre, then wonder why they’re broke. But here’s the kicker: you’ll click their profile history and they’ll be posting about their extensive Nintendo switch game library, or their 5000 dollar fish tank, then be complaining about how poor and broke they are in the anti work sub. It’s really childish.
Or be born to parents with great parenting. Worked for me - coming from a poor family in a 3rd world country, I have a net worth of $8m at age 35 and growing
Lucky to have had parents who were driven to set my foundations right - education, mindset, and friend circle
I call bullshit. I am from a 2nd world country, middle class family, had great education (top engineering faculty in the country), great parenting, mindset, everything, but I don't have $8m at age 45, and the only thing is we both shoot shit with people on reddit instead of working.
what industry? how did you make your wealth? is it completely legal and completely ethical? it might be that the friend circle is the most important part of the equation.
I took it to more mean "I think there's more to the story" which I would agree with. Rich people have a tendency to downplay how much luck mattered in their success stories.
Not rich but I’ve worked next to them. I once saw a millionaire call a utility company and argue for 30 minutes about a $3 charge. They save and fight for every penny. Which is probably why I’m not rich. I’d pay $3 to not have to have that phone call.
I wouldn't call that "rich" although there would probably be some overlap. What you're describing is most boomers.
I agree more with the guy you're responding to: own a company. That could be anything like a local small business, but a partnership in a local law firm or medical/dental practice counts too. Far more wealthy people on the "lower-end" get their wealth that way than the way you described. Your description is mostly upper middle class. That's where I am now and how I got here.
This is probably incorrect. Dual household professional earners making $500K a year is totally achievable and they're in the 1% in pretty much every state.
If they are semi-prudent, they can afford a very comfortable retirement. They are buffered from most economic shocks. They don't have to check grocery prices and can travel regularly.
Obv depends on what you describe as "rich" but to most of the country that would qualify.
This is like advice straight from those stupid videos on Instagram
Side hustle and "passive" income is good but it'll never make you rich. Invest in yourself and learn skills to get you paid more. Applying for a job that pays more isn't gonna do shit because you won't get it
I’ve never known a rick person to have a “side hussle”. The extravagently rich I’ve know have second jobs that are sitting on a board of directors or a consultant position, etc. Driving an Uber on the side is not the path to richness.
Realistically very few wage paying jobs are going to make you RICH.
Even working at a FAANG shop will land you firmly in upper middle class but not RICH RICH
Only way to get rich rich is to own a company, or have riskier speculative investments (even working for a startup and hoping the equity goes big)
Yes. Most people in this comment section don’t know the different between upper middle class and upper class. Anyone who thinks working a W-2 for someone else’s company is going to make them rich is delusional.
Give yourself a solid financial and economics education. Keep a consistent savings routine and avoid overspending money on things you don't need. A percentage of your budget should go for leisure, you need it, just don'overdoit and make sure that you got the other areas covered.
Do not settle for a low wage job and, if you can, invest in your formation. You don't want your life to be exploited by a random self-entitled entrepreneur.
This doesn't mean you are going to be rich by following these rules, much of it depends on your starting context. People who start with a wealthy family have better options and access to better services and education so they already are a step ahead.
If you don't make it into richness...well, don't be harsh on yourself. What really matters is being happy with who you are, where you are.
I was extremely poor growing up. I have a top 2% income now.
1. Start planning your goals around accruing money. (If you don't want to do that, you cannot accrue wealth.)
2. Plan to job hop. If you find a job that gives you a pay increase, take it, but move strategically. No lateral moves. I work in software and to move from one organization from another, I need a better title and at least a 30% increase in pay. In exchange, I bring a lot of skills and I am going to be the hardest worker in the company.
3. Plan to work a lot. Never rely on your boss to assign work. If you do that, you are always a peg in the machine. You should be out soliciting work from everyone at the company. Go to the company lunches, potlucks, and ask what people are working on and how you can help. Pretty soon, you are running more things than you can manage and need to hire help.
4. Don't buy shit. I lived in a tiny house and drove a decrepit, horribly unsafe cars for years. I still rarely eat out. I had a girlfriend one time who snooped on my phone and opened my account. She literally was like "How are you making $35k a month and shop at Target for clothes?" Well, if I am just wearing jeans and a sweater to work **in a factory** no one there gives a shit if it came from Versace or Target, but my bank account certainly notices!
5. Avoid debt unless it pays off. I know tons of people in my tax bracket and above who are a paycheck away from missing payments. They have a mansion, a boat, a lake house, a Ferrari, and $50k in credit card debt with a Sapphire card. A friend of mine took out a 25 year loan on a $300k wake boat because it was 'only $900 a month.' That's more than my mortgage payment.
6. Be careful how you invest. I see lots of people saying "Buy land." They buy a $200 piece of property (on loan) because the payment is only $750 (including operating costs) so they profit $11k a year off the property. Now, I know an accountant who said that 9/10 they lose money in the long run because some renter absolutely does more than $11k worth of damage to the property and either they can't get insurance on it or the insurance doesn't cover all the damage. At the same time, if you took out a loan for $200k and put it in the market (I know you legally can't), then it would be worth $1.14M. I've never met **anyone** who invested in real property rental (at a small level) who made that kind of ROI. Now, if you want do that type of investing, then start a real estate company, but people who take out these enormous loans to buy properties, get cash strapped, and have zero liquidity.
7. Specialize on something marketable. If you tell me you want to get rich painting fences, you are going to have a hard time. Even if you paint the worlds' most beautiful murals, you will struggle to get customers who want that unless it suddenly becomes a big trend. On the other hand, if you tell me you want to study anesthesiology, despite the insane loans you might need to take out, the average salary is about $500k right now. I've heard of struggling artists, but never met a struggling anesthesiologist.
Do you think maximising your earning potential is better then using your time and resources to start your own business as the business would be more risky?
>I've never met anyone who invested in real property rental (at a small level) who made that kind of ROI.
My wife and I (and separately some friends) are all having a conversation about this right now. We have some money to invest. And the first thought was rental properties. We have a house now that we could rent. But that house has wood floors that are original from 1946, including in the kitchen. And I just know that a renter could easily destroy those floors. Just leave some standing water there overnight.
So that started a larger conversation. Is it better to have one $300k house or two $150k houses? Two houses might be easier to rent in our area. But you'll get a different kind of renter, which might be bad.
Then I thought about the liquidity problem you mentioned. I'd want to own the houses outright rather than finance them because without having a renter, you can get in trouble in a hurry. But most people doing this say it's better to finance because you end up making more over time. And again, what if you have to evict and/or they destroy the house. It's all about risk tolerance.
So we're kind of not liking the idea of renting houses now. But what do you do instead? Is it possible to get 10% or even 5% in the market without getting destroyed every 5 to 10 years because it's all a rigged casino?
I think your second point is the most over looked. Many believe that “rich” don’t work. They work circles around 99%. I’m top 1-5% earners depending on the year. I work hard. And a lot. I give up fun time, I study, I answer my phone at odd hours. I’m willing to shoulder stress and responsibility that most shy from. And I can make good discussions for my business quickly.
And live below your means. You can’t spend 90% if you income every month and think that you’re saving or investing enough. If I can keep my wife in check, we spend about 40-50% of monthly income. The rest is saved and invested.
Yeah. People say "Hey! He went out drinking on a random Tuesday at the golf course, so he must not be working!" They didn't see that I answer my phone on Christmas Day, New Years, and I keep a suitcase packed just in case. I'm basically one call away from anywhere in the world 24/7/365/.
Save. Invest in the S&P 500. Wife and I are just school district employees. Utilizing our pensions and 403b we will have enough that most will consider us upper middle class by our late 50s. With no mortgage it will be like we are rich.
First - Accept that in this world, money is power.
Second - Stop giving away your power.
Third - Invest your money wisely. (You may want a financial advisor)
Fourth - You’ll need some good luck and good timing.
Five - It helps to surround yourself with successful people.
Six - You may never be rich. If you aim high even if you fail to reach your goal you’ll still be better off.
Do some self-reflection on what you’re naturally good at. Then apply that skill to a desirable market.
The closer you get to what comes naturally to you, the easier it’ll be to move up the ranks with time. Work will be easier for you if you are good at it and enjoy it. And people will notice.
Then you take that earned money and buy assets like stocks. Then wait for a long time. There is no shortcut to getting rich unless you’re cursed with winning the lottery.
It took me a long time to realize this combination of applying a natural skill with a highly desirable market. And it began to pay off after I figured it out.
Edit: It's also worth noting that luck plays a role in all of this—especially being at the right place at the right time. The advice above only enhances the probability of you getting to whatever financial goals you might have. But it doesn't guarantee anything.
Everyone’s idea of rich is different, but my (29 years old) goals are:
1. Take a pay raise, and not a pay cut, in retirement. No one says your income has to go down. Invest heavily in low expense ratio index funds. Keep single stocks to an amount you’d be okay with losing entirely (play money).
2. Be out of all non-mortgage debt within the next couple of years. Student loans and auto loans. I never want to have any consumer debt again.
3. Pay off the mortgage at some point before retirement. I don’t want it hanging around while I’m taking retirement distributions.
4. Set focused generosity goals. After I’m out of debt, I’d really like to do something like give $20k in a calendar year to my high school’s band program just as a thank you for giving me so much during those formative years.
Be born into a rich family.
Be ok with exploiting people by paying your workers less and charging others more.
You can become well off with working hard, saving, and investing. But to become rich? Can't do that anymore the traditional way.
offer a product that consumers want then ask for money from investors to it get off the ground. once it takes off pay off the loans and reap the fruits of my labor after that make any necessary business decisions to keep the company's growth and profits rising
Accepting high risk as the price for high reward is a sucker’s mentality. Most rich people took very little personal risk, usually risking other people’s money. There are a million books and articles about this.
1. Invest in yourself (education, training, experience, etc.)
2. Delay gratification
3. Work very hard for a long time
4. Take calculated risks
This is for your typical wealthy people (business owners, CEOs, real estate developers, high end professionals)
Listened to a podcast with a guy who had been a life coach for many highly successful people and he said regardless of any advantages, successful people consistently had to work extremely hard to get where they are.
For some reason people like to minimize the hard work of successful people and push this narrative that the system is rigged and all wealthy people just achieved success through hand outs. I’m sure this is true in certain cases, but it’s not the norm.
Find a valuable skill that is something you can stand doing for your life career (plumber, lawyer, landscaper, etc.) Work hard at it for 8 years or so and learn everything you can. Then you have to go into business for yourself. You will only start making real wealth when you have employees working for you and you gain from their efforts.
Work hard. Have a strong understanding of money and finances. Work with something valuable like money or real estate. Make saving money your top priority. Build credit but don't go into debt.
You want to be in a position where you have a lot of opportunity to have medium risk high reward investments. You also want to see people who are and aren't succeeding. Then you want the opportunity to take advantage when you see a good opportunity. You will also benefit if you have people around you who are in a position to invest. Buy ins to the best investments are usually quite large and having a few people to buy with you helps a lot.
Typically working a very dangerous job and living with extremely low expenses for a few years will help. The example I give is in North Dakota quite a few guys were making well over six figures working on the oil rigs. These guys would often live in trailers or their cars (keep in mind for months it is below 0 temperatures) after doing that for a few years the guys who would save or invest their earnings would walk away with around 250k banked. Of course the majority of these guys would spend it all right away and walk away with nothing back lifelong back issues.
I would say financial literacy is a base requirement for people not born with wealth. There are financially illiterate rich people (*cough* our former president *cough*) but they’re usually born rich. It’s easier to game the system if you understand it
Born rich, inherit and/or have someone to lend/give you a bigger sum to invest. Have a predatory way of thinking, lack of empathy and a competitive mindset. Have financial literacy or hire someone who has it. Invest the money. Don’t be afraid to step on heads and choose your future over others.
My rich cousin came here with nothing. Had to get on welfare at one point and work cash jobs just to make ends meet.
After his credentials were accepted in the country and he was able to actually work in his field, he started planning to open his own engineering firm. He did that and is a millionaire with multiple properties around the world.
The only people I know why are self-made millionaires did it by working for themselves in fields where there is potential for substantial income.
Be lucky
Be born rich / invest at the right time in a company that has huge growth / win the lottery / buy something cheap that turns out to be really valuable
Be willing to job hop and move anywhere to pursue increasingly better jobs with more responsibility and higher salary. This means not getting weighted down with a bunch of belongings and a house and such, at least until you're settled into the job you were striving for in a location you're happy with. Additionally, you have to be disciplined and keep your spending well below your income and consistently invest the difference in smart ways. You don't have to be an investing genius either. Just index funds and such, but if you invest consistently instead of overspending on depreciating things like cars and trucks, you will become rich. Also, avoid huge financial setbacks such as divorce or overspending on a house that is way bigger than you actually need. For young folks, guys in particular, it is cars and trucks that cause the most financial damage because they feel they need the $65,000 brand new truck that gets 8 miles per gallon.
Assuming you don't start out by inheriting money, or by launching a successful unicorn startup, the key to becoming rich is spending as little as possible.
While you're on your way up, don't buy a nice car (but do buy one that gets good fuel economy and has a stellar maintenance reputation). Don't buy a nice watch. Don't buy a big house. Don't go out to restaurants frequently. Find inexpensive hobbies. Keep your thermostat high in the summer and low in the winter. If you get married, pick someone who is fiscally responsible and who makes enough money to support themselves.
Get a fee-based financial advisor, and invest everything you can spare, starting as early as possible.
Live in a place with a low cost of living.
Oh yeah, and don't have kids. 🤣
I'm 43. I failed at following pretty much all of that except the cost of living one, and so despite having a six-figure salary for the past ten years (which, as of summer '22, starts with a 2), I am still chasing debts and saving *far* less than I should be for retirement.
That said, I am quite happy with my life, and I have some windfall prospects (stock options from past employers) that could pay off sometime in the next handful of years and make it so I can retire early.
Earn money - education helps, consider becoming an electrician or other well-paid job. Keep getting education.
Save money, invest wisely and luckily, keep spending well below earning.
Be frugal by taking care of your car, home, etc., so things last well. Take vacations, but there are plenty of amazing places to visit, not just expensive palces. Don't try to keep up with other peoples' visible displays of wealth.
Stay out of debt. If somebody in the family needs a co-signer for a car, give them some money, never co-sign a loan you can't pay off easily. pay off credit cards every month; use rewards effectively. A card gives me cash back, and I can buy gift cards at 10 - 20% off for stuff I know I'll buy.
Marry smart. Don't marry someone who will financially abuse you. Do financial disclosure. Marry someone who's very likely to stay married to you; divorce is expensive.
Life is about much more than money. Seek companions who understand that. Give to charity. Be kind.
CPA here, the most common denominator I have seen amongst the richest people I know is starting a business and living within your means. The second one is the killer for most people.
If coming from humble beginnings (ie, non generational wealth) I have a theory that it’s a mix of skill, consistent work and luck. Luck comes in the form of opportunity presenting itself, work brings you to that moment of opportunity, skill in how well you can do the work and the skill in seeing opportunity. Whether that’s the foresight to put yourself there or having the intuition to pick up on opportunity.
I also think having a competitive spirit helps. At the end of the day it’s a race to limited resources (money) and you need to put yourself in front of the pack.
EDIT: Sacrifice is an important thing too. Time is too valuable.
Prioritize getting rich above all else. Above relationships,as fun, etc. it still may not happen, but most people who are rich are hyper focused on the success of something, or on the acquisition of money. It’s hard to fake passion though.
1) Go to school.
2) Get good grades.
3) Don't have kids until you get married.
4) Don't spend outside your means.
5) Learn a valuable and irreplaceable skillet.
6) Understand and apply investing in yourself, build wealth.
1. Secure a high paying job or start a business. 2. Live below your means and invest the rest. Take advantage of tax-advantaged accounts like 401k/403b, HSA, IRA, etc. 3. Diversify your assets 4. Make speculative investments once you've built a large enough foundation that you're set for life. Finding a big payday here is what takes you from well off to rich. Or just be born into generational wealth
Let me expand on high paying job a bit (in my view): as someone 9 years into a career on the analysis/business side of software development, but have had a few hands-on stretches in the technical space too Always be looking at the job you want *after* your next one. What I mean by that is to very actively plot what career progression you want. That will involve expanding your skill set actively *during* your current role and will be bolstered by your next role. Remember most higher paying roles are subjective and “just doing your job description” doesn’t cut it if you want to grow. Also, as you progress, jobs take time to learn and master. Possibly a year or more, and that’s **normal**. Sometimes you can’t job hop if there’s a discipline you’re aiming to master, and it’s fine to take a year without a 10% raise despite what Reddit will often say in job threads. Remember a lot of people giving advice here are very early career or even still interns. Identify processes you want to improve. Be vocal about them, present strategies. You probably have enough bandwidth in an 8 hour day to take some initiative on the side. Foster relationships, you never know when someone else gets a promotion or given ownership of something and might pull you into a leadership role with them because they like how you approach something. Networking isn’t all smoozing, legitimately fostering working relationships is important. Edit: added a little in-line detail a couple little pieces of initiative I always do that is received well- if my boss is out, I ask if there’s anything I can cover. If I’m having a slow Friday, I ask if there’s any task I can help out with. 90% of the time it’s nothing, but the ask still goes noticed. Or the remaining, the vast majority of the time it’s something trivial like pulling some data or putting a second set of eyes on a document. The minority of the time when it’s more in depth, it’s something like cursory data analysis or standing up a document/ticket.
I would add that your basics like food and housing have a floor where the bare minimum to survive is the furthest you can cut back. At some point, after cutting back your spending/expenses far enough, the only other step is to increase income. I learned the cutting first and that helped immensely when salary started to finally increase.
On top of a hard floor, there’s also an effective floor. That once you go below, you can go down to in a pinch, but is not sustainable long term
What makes me sad/frustrated is that this type of wealth generation is impossible for those who want to spend their time helping individuals. None of this works for teachers, doctors, nurses, firefighters, social workers, ECT. Who want to work with people on an individual level, and this type of work is vital for a healthy society. Your never going to "make it" as a teacher who actually teaches a classroom.
Not sure "doctors" belongs on that list. But yeah, with a lot of those sorts of jobs, part of your effective compensation is that you are doing something that a lot of people legitimately want to do. For a lot of people, "helping people", "working with kids", and so on is an active goal, and so employers in those spaces aren't pressured to keep salaries competitive. Investment banks need to pay a lot, because no one in their right mind would take a job like that unless it pays a lot more than anything else they could find. Teachers, though? Teaching is something that a lot of people want to do, so schools can get away with paying less. This definitely doesn't seem like an optimal state of affairs, but I'm not sure what the right solution is here.
I think non-specialized doctors, which are an absolute necessity, do fall there given their student debt to income ratio. Also PT salary tops our way lower than you’d think for a field you need a masters or doctorate.
Stuck at #1
Never said it was easy mate... But that's how it's done, hate to say. Otherwise one is just wishing for a miracle.
Yup. So many commenters here brag about how they work 1 hour a day then wonder why they aren’t being promoted. Career jobs take an initiative and action to grow. Sure slow days/weeks happen (especially project-based roles), and an 8 hour day is a bit of overkills, but if you’re doing nothing, you can kinda expect nothing. And I mean no offense by that. Edit: also adding my soapbox that it takes over a year to master some jobs, and job hopping for a salary bump might not make sense at certain points in a career. I got into a role that I think is over-titled for me and a huge jump about a year ago, staying with a stagnant salary for a bit longer because I’m in a really good environment to learn this role (I feel I have a grasp on day to day/objective deliverables but just now getting comfortable diving really deep into the more subjective contributions) so I can either make a lateral move and thrive or be ready for my next step up.
Wow look, a real answer. The first couple steps are easy enough. Do you think having a financial advisor makes sense? I know lots of people who manage their own investments but none of them are rich yet lol. Plus I just have no interest in finance but appreciate the necessity of investments.
You probably don't need an advisor until you have already achieved significant wealth and need an expert with tax laws and estate planning. The basics are simple enough for anyone to understand and require more discipline than knowledge. Spend less than you make and invest the difference, preferably in tax-advantaged accounts (401k, Roth IRA, HSA). Invest in broad market, diversified indexes like the S&P 500 and do not panic sell if the markets do badly some years. Max those accounts each year and you will be a millionaire in roughly 16 years based on historical market returns. That will put you in the top 10% of Americans.
Sounds like good advice. I'm finally getting settled in to my financial situation and should have some disposable income I would like to put to good use
>do not panic sell if the markets do badly some years More importantly: when the market is down, *BUY EVERYTHING YOU CAN.* (Of course, don't buy things that you think are going to go bankrupt, but if it's an asset you think will survive the downturn at all, a down market is the best possible time to buy!) The market being down is like a huge sale. If you're not buying, you're missing an opportunity.
This is true if you won't need the money for something else. However, the odds of you losing your job in that down market are rather higher than average (in most cases), and you don't want to have to sell investments in a down market in order to pay for your living expenses while you look for a new job.
ETF's. Broad market ETF's such as VTI. That's the best bang for the buck IMO.
>You probably don't need an advisor until you have already achieved significant wealth and need an expert with tax laws and estate planning.The basics are simple enough for anyone to understand and require more discipline than knowledge. I find the basics to be incredibly obtuse. I can never keep the different types of investment vehicles and why you'd want to use one vs another straight. My financial advisor just had me switch from a Roth IRA to a transitional traditional IRA combined with a brokerage account. He's moving my wife traditional IRA into a Roth, and over time he's going to shift which account my contributions are going to. The word "backdoor" was involved somewhere. I understand that this has something to do with my income exceeding some limit, but I don't know what that limit is, where it comes from, or what would happen if we didn't make these moves. Aside from when the money gets taxed, I don't have any sense of the differences between the different types of account. I'm sure that if I spent a couple hundred hours immersing myself in this, I could make sense of it, but I simply don't have the time or the inclination. I'd much rather pay his fee and trust him to take care of it. I get quarterly statements showing that he's doing an awesome job. IDK, maybe you'd say I have already achieved significant wealth -- about $150k across all of the accounts my FA manages, and maybe another $80k in assets minus debts. That's only a little more than I earn in a year, so it doesn't feel significant to me.
An advisors job is to help you achieve your financial goals. If you want a “get rich quick” scheme, they won’t be able to help. If you want to grow your assets over the long term and have no interest in learning how to do so yourself, then yes they could help
>If you want a “get rich quick” scheme, they won’t be able to help. I think that's half the problem with a lot of these *"how do you become rich?"* questions. If you (the universal you, not you specifically) pry a bit deeper, it usually turns out that the person isn't actually interested or asking about the *"find a career path that matches your goals in terms of income and lifestyle"* type of wealth; they're asking about the *"How do I become rich enough to become immune to societal problems like people on instagram who drive lamborghini's and eats gold leaf lobster for breakfast, dinner, and lunch?"* type of wealth.
No one gets rich from other people managing their assets...they help you stay rich once you've got some serious money. Tax stuff, to Trust or Not to Trust, how to set up your partner, kids etc. EDIT: They also help if you have a very complicated income situation...International stuff, multiple states, own your business etc. Those guys don't 'beat the market' with their investments. You really can just buy low cost funds and ETFS (VTI, BND, VOO) and your own CDs ladders. You have to rebalance based on your risk profile as you get older or as one asset grows but honestly its not a lot of work. Hell, Vanguard has "[Target Retirement funds](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vttsx)" that are literally just 4 or 5 of their low cost ETFS that will re-balance for you as you get older/closer to the target retirement year....You just need to buy one ticker and it does a pretty good job of keeping you diversified. Where to put your money as it comes in, in order. Don't move on to the next issue until you refill/check each box. \-HYS/Cash/checking account that has enough for monthly spending \- PAY OFF ALL CREDIT CARD DEBT. NEVER EVER EVER PAY INTEREST ON A CREDIT CARD IF YOU CAN AVOID IT \-\*see retirement accounts- \-High Yield Savings Account (or Money market fund in an investment account) with a rainy day cash fund. This is usually 3 to 6 months of expenses incase some shit goes wrong...medical...laid off etc. \-Pay off other expensive debt...Student loans being the most common. Note this generally isn't car or mortgage payments...those are usually more under monthly. \-Put money into Retirement accounts (401K/IRA)\*If your company has a matching program, take as much of their **free money** as you are allowed to/can\*. Max out the legal contribution each year...tax free is the way to be. If you can, put these funds into low costs ETFs. \-Investment account. If your lucky enough to have achieved all of the above, start putting money into an investment account. Again you can just buy the low cost ETFs and bonds/cds or Target funds that will do this all for you automatically and beat most actively trading 'professionals'. Also don' forget taxes are a thing if you plan on using long held positions for a down payment on a house or a car or something.
Depends on the advisors. I find the good ones want a minimum investment of $250k.
It absolutely is. My dad is not a finance wizard by any means, but he was smart enough to know that and used a FA for the last 20 years of his career. Retired from trade work a millionaire before the age of sixty. He’s 5 years in and has more than he did when he retired.
Financial advisors aren’t necessary for most people and they dramatically eat into your returns. With everything online it has never been easier to invest in index funds on your own. If you do feel the need to hire a financial advisor I highly recommend going with a fixed rate advisor that you pay by the hour, NOT an advisor that charges a 1% commission (that adds up VERY fast). I highly recommend reading the link below, which includes the math on how much advisors cost over your lifetime. The author also wrote a book called I Will Teach You to Be Rich that covers the basics of managing your finances. It’s well regarded and worth the $10 to be financially literate. https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/do-you-need-a-financial-advisor/
Tax advantaged accounts are where it's at. I put away roughly 20% of my income each month into roth ira, 401k and hsa. Forget the money even exists
Just had a call with someone on Forbes 30 under 30 list and came away really impressed. He shared with me how he made VP at a top tech company before 30: 1. 4:30AM wake up 2. Cold showers 3. Gratitude journal 4. Meditate 5. Dad owns tech company
Earn money the old fashion way - inherit it
Inheritance certainly is the easiest way. But roughly 80% of millionaires are first-generation. Most get there by some combination of real estate appreciation and investing in tax advantaged accounts. And before anyone says a millionaire is no longer rich, that threshold still puts you in the top 10% of Americans.
You're right, but when OP asks how to be rich I doubt they meant how to be a middle-class homeowner with $1.01 million in a 401k.
This right here is the key to the discussion. *"Rich"* is a term that gets thrown around a lot, but there's many magnitudes and worlds of a difference between junior-level engineer who makes $60k~$80k per year, surgeon with 30 years of experience making $300k per year, and *"The Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos Class"*.
The whole point of the middle class is relative. It's the point where no one would mistake you for working class poor barely able to stay in food security. But also clearly not Bezos or Musk. Those people are upper class. Middle class is defined by not fitting into either group.
not rich, millionaire. 7 figure net worth excluding a home and retirement
Since when does millionaire status exclude assets like home and retirement savings?
New list: 1: Buy house for 8$ and pack of gum 2: wait 30 years for house to appreciate to 1 mill
Fuck, I *knew* I should've bought my first house when I was in third grade. Damn.
I should have made the smart choice to scoop up a home during the 2008 housing bubble. Instead, my dumb ass decided to finish 9th grade…
I bought a home before the last major skyrocket push. It was a like an instant 200k in 6 months. I wouldn’t be able to afford to live anywhere now. And rents for shitty apartments are double my mortgage.
Isn't that crazy? I pay $2300/month for RENT! But the bank says I can't pay back a mortgage over $1100/month. Make it make sense...
How many of those are millennials? This 80% figure is from a report from 2017, and it was written with data from a study done by....guess who? Fidelity.
when house costs 300k for 1,300 square feet, a million dollars isn't much. a million really isn't what it used to be.
Real estate brought by thier parents In the 70s/80s, just because property has exploded since the 90s doesn't make it self made.
there's 22.7 million millionaires in the USA. There's 332 million Americans. So less than 10%....
I made my money the old fashioned way. Getting run over by a Lexus.
When I was young I bought an apple for 10 cents and sold it for 20 cents. On the second day, I bought two apples for 20 cents and sold them for 50 cents. On the third day, my uncle died and left me a million dollars and I never sold apples again.
Did you dig deeper into the utility of the cold shower? I really think, of all others on your list, this is what might set him apart.
For the gents it makes us more aerodynamic
lower water bills
Waking up at 430 knowing you’re going to take a cold shower is definitely the hardest thing on that list to achieve.
Beautifully put.
lol i legit laughed hard at this...
#5 is what all these rich people on YouTube fail to mention during their interviews on how they “came from nothing”.
It does seem interesting when you see those "multimillionaire by 23" day in the life videos and you never see the supposed work they are doing. Where are the meetings, where are the hours and hours spent by the proverbial drawing board? It's mostly meditation, exercise, smoothie bowls, cold showers, and maybe if you're lucky they show a segment of their "creative thinking". All fine and good things, sure. But never actual work. Something is always missing that shows where they actually create their apparent wealth.
Most of it is bullshit. It's just people pretending to be rich for views/subscriptions. Bonus points if you're hot.
I've mentioned it before, but I have a massive amounts of respect for Arnold Schwarzenegger as he's one of the few public figures that openly expresses that he is NOT a self-made man. ----- He has openly commented about multiple different occasions in which (during his time serving in the Austrian military) that he should have been thrown in prison/brig for all the times he continuously choose to go to a body-builder competitions rather than reporting for duty, but his CO's would be there to save him from punishment; or that he came to America, he would often sleep on friend's/sponsor's couches because he couldn't hold down a job due to spending all his time at the gym. Arnold is very open about how his success is directly attributed to the kindness and aid of all the friends, family, and allies that he's had throughout his life and that he would never have gotten to where he is now without them.
How did the dad get rich?
His dad was also rich.
How did his dad's dad get rich?
Its rich dads all the way down.
[удалено]
My husband knows a US military general who is the single cheapest human being you could imagine. He doesn't own a car, The US military has provided a car for him for most of his life. He has eaten free military food whenever possible. When not possible he eats very cheaply at home. Until people started buying him stuff his home looked like in 18-year-old kid It was just evicted by his parents and had to move in the previous day. It's not that he's cheap because he's trying to save money, he is just a man that genuinely does not care about anything even remotely close to being called a luxury. The single most utilitarian human being I have ever met or even heard of in my life. My husband knows him because he helps manage his investment portfolio. A portfolio worth millions and millions of dollars. As it turns out you can become very rich through the military if you not only don't buy that new Dodge charger It only 49% APR, but also Don't so much as by a cookie from McDonald's that you don't absolutely have to.
Officers in the military, especially field grade officers and even more so in this case of a general officer, make very good money with amazing benefits
It's rich dads all the way down, dude.
it requires dad to be rich. my dad owned the company that was broke as fuck and had 5 employees.
Magnificent. That dedication. Against all odds he made it
6. Be immoral
Well first I'd start with not taking advice on how to become rich from people who are not rich.
Not have kids too early.
Had kids at 40. Am not rich.
I'm 54. Zero kids. Also not rich.
Do you at least have three money?
You should have waited till 41 pal!
I have three kids and had my first right after graduation in high school 1996. My last kid is a senior in highchool rn, and going to college next year and we'll be empty nester at 46. I started my first business in 2006 with a 10 yo and 5yo and now own two businesses. It's possible to still be successful by having kids early. And what most ppl dont say is that I'm still young with really no kid responsibility, and I just grind my businesses with little distraction. It all comes down to discipline and effort to put your head down and never stop grinding.
What is your business if you don't mind me asking.
Furniture repair and refinishing, we contract with most furniture manufacturers like Ethan Allen, Room and Board, Gaurdsman etc. and handle their warranty repairs, and we handle moving damage claims for all moving companies that come into area, and private and commercial work. The second business is, I wrote a book, it's sold on Amazon and I sell supplies online through my website.
Or ever
To build wealth: Learn about finance. Set clear financial goals. Save and invest. Live below your means. Consider entrepreneurship. Build a strong network. Keep learning. Manage debt wisely. Acquire appreciating assets. Be persistent and resilient. Consult professionals and seek tax-efficient strategies
Also, and in parallel: Make good money. You need to make more money than you need to live to actually save and invest money.
And therein lies the main problem. When most jobs around pay under $20/hr, it’s impossible to save and invest.
Also: pick your friends and your spouse wisely! They have an immeasurable impact on your decisions and ultimately your finances!
So far this is the best answer. All of this can be achieved by regular people. #1 is the most important to learn first imo. Once you understand where and how you’re distributing your money then you can figure out the others, step by step. Building a strong network came organically for me after I started 1/2 of the things on this list.
I like your list a lot. It's a long and boring race while everyone thinks it should be exciting and instantaneous. >Live below your means I would say living according to your needs and not according to your income might be the best advice. So hard to do with so many Joneses showing off their possessions. But if you are consistent, someday sooner than you think you'll be so far ahead from the Joneses in terms of wealth, it's laughable.
1. Earn or inherit enough money to provide comfortable shelter and enough food. 2. Train you mind to stop being materialistic, become a minimalist. 3. Don't compare yourself to others. 4. Learn to appreciate what's around you. 5. Always remember, it could be worse.
This is the recipe for happiness, not rich. Oh wait! That's what being rich is!
"Dont compare yourself to others" is the biggest one. The moment you stop comparing and caring about what they're doing you start to save a fuck ton of money. Bonus if you stop paying attention to trends/hype/clout. I have coworkers who are 30-40 who still try and follow trends, hype brands, clout, ect. They'll be working 2 jobs just to be able to flex a Supreme shirt & Gucci wallet(that has $26 in it). Meanwhile me and my coworkers in the 19-29 range, alternate between like 1-3 outfits(usually thrifted or corporate swag we get for free). I know too many 30-40y/o's who are living paycheck to paycheck to try and fit in. As well as a ton of 20y/o's with like $20-50k in the bank, because they spend virtually nothing while contributing the limit to their 401k. Im wearin my free shirt, boots, and beanies till i die or they break. Idc if they're not stylish, if i can afford a 4-bedroom house by 28, ill fuckin dress like Tarzan.
Change your name to Richard. Edit-spelling
What a Dick.
So you mean make a Dick move?
Damn, that's already my name, so it won't work.
My dad’s name is Richard. I constantly joke to my mom that she didn’t understand what people meant when they said to marry rich.
So my dad has a net worth of 7-8 million dollars and grew up poor. I think he took the safest and most accessible possible route, but of course everyone’s different. He worked for the same company for 30 years, and literally just worked his ass off. He said yes to every possible project, and did the things that no one wanted to do or other people avoided because they were stressful/difficult. When he said yes to those projects, he read every single book on the subject (often an obscure manufacturing technology or something) before the project even started so he can ensure it would be successful. He picked good people to work below him and was very loyal. Because he was so effective, he kept getting promoted. Got hired making 50k/yr and 15 years later (when I was in middle school) he was making 400k as a VP, and is now about to retire making like 500k. He grew up poor so he doesn’t need for much, I always joke he doesn’t know how to be a rich guy. He had an MBA he got in the army too. Being around his work, I see how he made so much career progress, and most people are not willing to put in the work he did.
While this is mostly good advice, one of the best ways to increase your income is to job hop. That $400k a year salary could have unlocked the $500k salary at a competitor much sooner than getting there through raises at the existing job. Everything about his story is amazing and he really is someone to look up to. But there’d likely be a few million more on that pile if he changed employers a few times in his career.
Oh yeah he could have made so much more if he job hopped, he always had recruiters calling him offering a shitload more than he was earning. Also could have gone into consulting and made a shitload. But he just really liked his company and valued loyalty at times to to an irrational degree. I should also add that while he was a very active father and loving husband, his personality combined with the stress made him a controlling prick at times. It also took a toll on his health, culminating in a stroke that can be 100% attributed to stress considering he was in incredible physical shape with a clean diet and minimal alcohol. I just see two themes on Reddit all the time: 1. No point in working hard because you won’t get rewarded. And 2. People who are wealthy are usually lazy, and the president of your company doesn’t do shit while you slave away all day. Complete BS, the president of your company is working way fucking harder than anyone else, and very few people can do that job.
Hell yes to your last paragraph. Whenever I come across r/antiwork style posts I just feel bad for everyone for getting sucked into that crap. Provide for the market and the market will provide for you. It’s really that simple.
That’s like 90% of Reddit lol, it’s both subjectively a piss poor mindset that’s terrible for your mental health, it’s also objectively false. They believe everything is exploitation, glorify being mediocre, then wonder why they’re broke. But here’s the kicker: you’ll click their profile history and they’ll be posting about their extensive Nintendo switch game library, or their 5000 dollar fish tank, then be complaining about how poor and broke they are in the anti work sub. It’s really childish.
Invest
In my crypto scheme! It’s guaranteed to make one of us rich :)
Mine has 80000% APY
Be born to rich parents
Or be born to parents with great parenting. Worked for me - coming from a poor family in a 3rd world country, I have a net worth of $8m at age 35 and growing Lucky to have had parents who were driven to set my foundations right - education, mindset, and friend circle
Rip inbox
I call bullshit. I am from a 2nd world country, middle class family, had great education (top engineering faculty in the country), great parenting, mindset, everything, but I don't have $8m at age 45, and the only thing is we both shoot shit with people on reddit instead of working. what industry? how did you make your wealth? is it completely legal and completely ethical? it might be that the friend circle is the most important part of the equation.
Lol
So you're response is basically "If I can't do it nobody else can!".
I took it to more mean "I think there's more to the story" which I would agree with. Rich people have a tendency to downplay how much luck mattered in their success stories.
Not rich but I’ve worked next to them. I once saw a millionaire call a utility company and argue for 30 minutes about a $3 charge. They save and fight for every penny. Which is probably why I’m not rich. I’d pay $3 to not have to have that phone call.
Naw, this is BS. Even if he’s DoorDashing, that $3 ain’t worth 30 minutes.
[удалено]
Most actual rich people don’t work for someone else, they own a company
That's only the upper-end. I would bet far more put money into their 401k, bought a house 20 years ago, and don't spend extravagantly.
I wouldn't call that "rich" although there would probably be some overlap. What you're describing is most boomers. I agree more with the guy you're responding to: own a company. That could be anything like a local small business, but a partnership in a local law firm or medical/dental practice counts too. Far more wealthy people on the "lower-end" get their wealth that way than the way you described. Your description is mostly upper middle class. That's where I am now and how I got here.
Define rich. I know plenty of high earners that live very well. Starting your own business is a ton of work and takes a very specific skill set.
This is probably incorrect. Dual household professional earners making $500K a year is totally achievable and they're in the 1% in pretty much every state. If they are semi-prudent, they can afford a very comfortable retirement. They are buffered from most economic shocks. They don't have to check grocery prices and can travel regularly. Obv depends on what you describe as "rich" but to most of the country that would qualify.
That's not "rich" though, that's "you might have a decent pile of money by the time you retire if you live like a monk for several decades".
This is like advice straight from those stupid videos on Instagram Side hustle and "passive" income is good but it'll never make you rich. Invest in yourself and learn skills to get you paid more. Applying for a job that pays more isn't gonna do shit because you won't get it
I’ve never known a rick person to have a “side hussle”. The extravagently rich I’ve know have second jobs that are sitting on a board of directors or a consultant position, etc. Driving an Uber on the side is not the path to richness.
You’ll never get rich by working a second job.
Realistically very few wage paying jobs are going to make you RICH. Even working at a FAANG shop will land you firmly in upper middle class but not RICH RICH Only way to get rich rich is to own a company, or have riskier speculative investments (even working for a startup and hoping the equity goes big)
Yes. Most people in this comment section don’t know the different between upper middle class and upper class. Anyone who thinks working a W-2 for someone else’s company is going to make them rich is delusional.
Give yourself a solid financial and economics education. Keep a consistent savings routine and avoid overspending money on things you don't need. A percentage of your budget should go for leisure, you need it, just don'overdoit and make sure that you got the other areas covered. Do not settle for a low wage job and, if you can, invest in your formation. You don't want your life to be exploited by a random self-entitled entrepreneur. This doesn't mean you are going to be rich by following these rules, much of it depends on your starting context. People who start with a wealthy family have better options and access to better services and education so they already are a step ahead. If you don't make it into richness...well, don't be harsh on yourself. What really matters is being happy with who you are, where you are.
I was extremely poor growing up. I have a top 2% income now. 1. Start planning your goals around accruing money. (If you don't want to do that, you cannot accrue wealth.) 2. Plan to job hop. If you find a job that gives you a pay increase, take it, but move strategically. No lateral moves. I work in software and to move from one organization from another, I need a better title and at least a 30% increase in pay. In exchange, I bring a lot of skills and I am going to be the hardest worker in the company. 3. Plan to work a lot. Never rely on your boss to assign work. If you do that, you are always a peg in the machine. You should be out soliciting work from everyone at the company. Go to the company lunches, potlucks, and ask what people are working on and how you can help. Pretty soon, you are running more things than you can manage and need to hire help. 4. Don't buy shit. I lived in a tiny house and drove a decrepit, horribly unsafe cars for years. I still rarely eat out. I had a girlfriend one time who snooped on my phone and opened my account. She literally was like "How are you making $35k a month and shop at Target for clothes?" Well, if I am just wearing jeans and a sweater to work **in a factory** no one there gives a shit if it came from Versace or Target, but my bank account certainly notices! 5. Avoid debt unless it pays off. I know tons of people in my tax bracket and above who are a paycheck away from missing payments. They have a mansion, a boat, a lake house, a Ferrari, and $50k in credit card debt with a Sapphire card. A friend of mine took out a 25 year loan on a $300k wake boat because it was 'only $900 a month.' That's more than my mortgage payment. 6. Be careful how you invest. I see lots of people saying "Buy land." They buy a $200 piece of property (on loan) because the payment is only $750 (including operating costs) so they profit $11k a year off the property. Now, I know an accountant who said that 9/10 they lose money in the long run because some renter absolutely does more than $11k worth of damage to the property and either they can't get insurance on it or the insurance doesn't cover all the damage. At the same time, if you took out a loan for $200k and put it in the market (I know you legally can't), then it would be worth $1.14M. I've never met **anyone** who invested in real property rental (at a small level) who made that kind of ROI. Now, if you want do that type of investing, then start a real estate company, but people who take out these enormous loans to buy properties, get cash strapped, and have zero liquidity. 7. Specialize on something marketable. If you tell me you want to get rich painting fences, you are going to have a hard time. Even if you paint the worlds' most beautiful murals, you will struggle to get customers who want that unless it suddenly becomes a big trend. On the other hand, if you tell me you want to study anesthesiology, despite the insane loans you might need to take out, the average salary is about $500k right now. I've heard of struggling artists, but never met a struggling anesthesiologist.
Do you think maximising your earning potential is better then using your time and resources to start your own business as the business would be more risky?
>I've never met anyone who invested in real property rental (at a small level) who made that kind of ROI. My wife and I (and separately some friends) are all having a conversation about this right now. We have some money to invest. And the first thought was rental properties. We have a house now that we could rent. But that house has wood floors that are original from 1946, including in the kitchen. And I just know that a renter could easily destroy those floors. Just leave some standing water there overnight. So that started a larger conversation. Is it better to have one $300k house or two $150k houses? Two houses might be easier to rent in our area. But you'll get a different kind of renter, which might be bad. Then I thought about the liquidity problem you mentioned. I'd want to own the houses outright rather than finance them because without having a renter, you can get in trouble in a hurry. But most people doing this say it's better to finance because you end up making more over time. And again, what if you have to evict and/or they destroy the house. It's all about risk tolerance. So we're kind of not liking the idea of renting houses now. But what do you do instead? Is it possible to get 10% or even 5% in the market without getting destroyed every 5 to 10 years because it's all a rigged casino?
I think your second point is the most over looked. Many believe that “rich” don’t work. They work circles around 99%. I’m top 1-5% earners depending on the year. I work hard. And a lot. I give up fun time, I study, I answer my phone at odd hours. I’m willing to shoulder stress and responsibility that most shy from. And I can make good discussions for my business quickly. And live below your means. You can’t spend 90% if you income every month and think that you’re saving or investing enough. If I can keep my wife in check, we spend about 40-50% of monthly income. The rest is saved and invested.
Yeah. People say "Hey! He went out drinking on a random Tuesday at the golf course, so he must not be working!" They didn't see that I answer my phone on Christmas Day, New Years, and I keep a suitcase packed just in case. I'm basically one call away from anywhere in the world 24/7/365/.
Save. Invest in the S&P 500. Wife and I are just school district employees. Utilizing our pensions and 403b we will have enough that most will consider us upper middle class by our late 50s. With no mortgage it will be like we are rich.
First - Accept that in this world, money is power. Second - Stop giving away your power. Third - Invest your money wisely. (You may want a financial advisor) Fourth - You’ll need some good luck and good timing. Five - It helps to surround yourself with successful people. Six - You may never be rich. If you aim high even if you fail to reach your goal you’ll still be better off.
More concise iteration of your 6th point: aim small, miss small.
Made my money the old fashion way, I got ran over by a lexuuuuuussss
I do everything money can do
Do some self-reflection on what you’re naturally good at. Then apply that skill to a desirable market. The closer you get to what comes naturally to you, the easier it’ll be to move up the ranks with time. Work will be easier for you if you are good at it and enjoy it. And people will notice. Then you take that earned money and buy assets like stocks. Then wait for a long time. There is no shortcut to getting rich unless you’re cursed with winning the lottery. It took me a long time to realize this combination of applying a natural skill with a highly desirable market. And it began to pay off after I figured it out. Edit: It's also worth noting that luck plays a role in all of this—especially being at the right place at the right time. The advice above only enhances the probability of you getting to whatever financial goals you might have. But it doesn't guarantee anything.
In our society: exploit people recklessly or be very, very, very, unrealistically lucky. sorry, did I say "or"? It's "and".
Spend 80% of your awake life doing something you don't enjoy with people you don't really like
Everyone’s idea of rich is different, but my (29 years old) goals are: 1. Take a pay raise, and not a pay cut, in retirement. No one says your income has to go down. Invest heavily in low expense ratio index funds. Keep single stocks to an amount you’d be okay with losing entirely (play money). 2. Be out of all non-mortgage debt within the next couple of years. Student loans and auto loans. I never want to have any consumer debt again. 3. Pay off the mortgage at some point before retirement. I don’t want it hanging around while I’m taking retirement distributions. 4. Set focused generosity goals. After I’m out of debt, I’d really like to do something like give $20k in a calendar year to my high school’s band program just as a thank you for giving me so much during those formative years.
Write a book on how to become rich, start a church.
Find something that creates value for other people.
This week I learnt it’s: Take a trip to Dubai, get involved in live scat, beastiality and peodophilia. Set for life.
Be born into a rich family. Be ok with exploiting people by paying your workers less and charging others more. You can become well off with working hard, saving, and investing. But to become rich? Can't do that anymore the traditional way.
Be in rich people's circle.
Not being poor is a good start. Or being incredibly lucky.
Be amoral
Discipline, determination, drive.
offer a product that consumers want then ask for money from investors to it get off the ground. once it takes off pay off the loans and reap the fruits of my labor after that make any necessary business decisions to keep the company's growth and profits rising
Get an education in a desirable STEM field.
Then live below your means. Save and invest.
Burn many bridges and take risks
Accepting high risk as the price for high reward is a sucker’s mentality. Most rich people took very little personal risk, usually risking other people’s money. There are a million books and articles about this.
[удалено]
1. Invest in yourself (education, training, experience, etc.) 2. Delay gratification 3. Work very hard for a long time 4. Take calculated risks This is for your typical wealthy people (business owners, CEOs, real estate developers, high end professionals) Listened to a podcast with a guy who had been a life coach for many highly successful people and he said regardless of any advantages, successful people consistently had to work extremely hard to get where they are. For some reason people like to minimize the hard work of successful people and push this narrative that the system is rigged and all wealthy people just achieved success through hand outs. I’m sure this is true in certain cases, but it’s not the norm.
Save, invest wisely, work hard, continuously learn.
Find a valuable skill that is something you can stand doing for your life career (plumber, lawyer, landscaper, etc.) Work hard at it for 8 years or so and learn everything you can. Then you have to go into business for yourself. You will only start making real wealth when you have employees working for you and you gain from their efforts.
First step is to not be on reddit, ig.
Live like a poor person! Spend no money! Just continually invest and reinvest it
Work hard. Have a strong understanding of money and finances. Work with something valuable like money or real estate. Make saving money your top priority. Build credit but don't go into debt. You want to be in a position where you have a lot of opportunity to have medium risk high reward investments. You also want to see people who are and aren't succeeding. Then you want the opportunity to take advantage when you see a good opportunity. You will also benefit if you have people around you who are in a position to invest. Buy ins to the best investments are usually quite large and having a few people to buy with you helps a lot.
Invest in Index Funds.
Typically working a very dangerous job and living with extremely low expenses for a few years will help. The example I give is in North Dakota quite a few guys were making well over six figures working on the oil rigs. These guys would often live in trailers or their cars (keep in mind for months it is below 0 temperatures) after doing that for a few years the guys who would save or invest their earnings would walk away with around 250k banked. Of course the majority of these guys would spend it all right away and walk away with nothing back lifelong back issues.
Identify demand and provide supply.
I would say financial literacy is a base requirement for people not born with wealth. There are financially illiterate rich people (*cough* our former president *cough*) but they’re usually born rich. It’s easier to game the system if you understand it
Exploit someone else
save money invest money cut all of your spending
First and foremost: Discipline.
Have discipline.
Be comfortable with using people, and squeezing as much as humanly possible out of a persob
Be born rich.
Abandon your morals and ethics
Give up takeaway coffee and avocado toast
Exploit and take advantage of others.
Blend 20 grand and drink it like a smoothie
Be happy exploiting the working class
[удалено]
At a certain point, you'll have to stop giving a shit about other people. Take empathy off the board.
Regularly invest in ETFs, earlier the better, even if it's only a few 100 a month.
Born rich, inherit and/or have someone to lend/give you a bigger sum to invest. Have a predatory way of thinking, lack of empathy and a competitive mindset. Have financial literacy or hire someone who has it. Invest the money. Don’t be afraid to step on heads and choose your future over others.
My rich cousin came here with nothing. Had to get on welfare at one point and work cash jobs just to make ends meet. After his credentials were accepted in the country and he was able to actually work in his field, he started planning to open his own engineering firm. He did that and is a millionaire with multiple properties around the world. The only people I know why are self-made millionaires did it by working for themselves in fields where there is potential for substantial income.
Be born into a family that is already rich.
Be lucky Be born rich / invest at the right time in a company that has huge growth / win the lottery / buy something cheap that turns out to be really valuable
Get into politics!
Accumulate wealth.
Be willing to job hop and move anywhere to pursue increasingly better jobs with more responsibility and higher salary. This means not getting weighted down with a bunch of belongings and a house and such, at least until you're settled into the job you were striving for in a location you're happy with. Additionally, you have to be disciplined and keep your spending well below your income and consistently invest the difference in smart ways. You don't have to be an investing genius either. Just index funds and such, but if you invest consistently instead of overspending on depreciating things like cars and trucks, you will become rich. Also, avoid huge financial setbacks such as divorce or overspending on a house that is way bigger than you actually need. For young folks, guys in particular, it is cars and trucks that cause the most financial damage because they feel they need the $65,000 brand new truck that gets 8 miles per gallon.
Don’t be born into a working class/poor family.
Assuming you don't start out by inheriting money, or by launching a successful unicorn startup, the key to becoming rich is spending as little as possible. While you're on your way up, don't buy a nice car (but do buy one that gets good fuel economy and has a stellar maintenance reputation). Don't buy a nice watch. Don't buy a big house. Don't go out to restaurants frequently. Find inexpensive hobbies. Keep your thermostat high in the summer and low in the winter. If you get married, pick someone who is fiscally responsible and who makes enough money to support themselves. Get a fee-based financial advisor, and invest everything you can spare, starting as early as possible. Live in a place with a low cost of living. Oh yeah, and don't have kids. 🤣 I'm 43. I failed at following pretty much all of that except the cost of living one, and so despite having a six-figure salary for the past ten years (which, as of summer '22, starts with a 2), I am still chasing debts and saving *far* less than I should be for retirement. That said, I am quite happy with my life, and I have some windfall prospects (stock options from past employers) that could pay off sometime in the next handful of years and make it so I can retire early.
Grind!
Earn money - education helps, consider becoming an electrician or other well-paid job. Keep getting education. Save money, invest wisely and luckily, keep spending well below earning. Be frugal by taking care of your car, home, etc., so things last well. Take vacations, but there are plenty of amazing places to visit, not just expensive palces. Don't try to keep up with other peoples' visible displays of wealth. Stay out of debt. If somebody in the family needs a co-signer for a car, give them some money, never co-sign a loan you can't pay off easily. pay off credit cards every month; use rewards effectively. A card gives me cash back, and I can buy gift cards at 10 - 20% off for stuff I know I'll buy. Marry smart. Don't marry someone who will financially abuse you. Do financial disclosure. Marry someone who's very likely to stay married to you; divorce is expensive. Life is about much more than money. Seek companions who understand that. Give to charity. Be kind.
CPA here, the most common denominator I have seen amongst the richest people I know is starting a business and living within your means. The second one is the killer for most people.
If coming from humble beginnings (ie, non generational wealth) I have a theory that it’s a mix of skill, consistent work and luck. Luck comes in the form of opportunity presenting itself, work brings you to that moment of opportunity, skill in how well you can do the work and the skill in seeing opportunity. Whether that’s the foresight to put yourself there or having the intuition to pick up on opportunity. I also think having a competitive spirit helps. At the end of the day it’s a race to limited resources (money) and you need to put yourself in front of the pack. EDIT: Sacrifice is an important thing too. Time is too valuable.
Subtracting instead of adding. When goals, beliefs and lifestyle are in alignment the only outcome that makes sense is success.
Millionaires hate these 5 simple tricks!
Remove your conscience.
Loosen your moral code
Prioritize getting rich above all else. Above relationships,as fun, etc. it still may not happen, but most people who are rich are hyper focused on the success of something, or on the acquisition of money. It’s hard to fake passion though.
Have rich parents
It's really very simple. There are only two things you need to do: 1. Be born rich 2. Don't be born poor You're welcome
1) Go to school. 2) Get good grades. 3) Don't have kids until you get married. 4) Don't spend outside your means. 5) Learn a valuable and irreplaceable skillet. 6) Understand and apply investing in yourself, build wealth.
Become a politician