The 3 Ways To Become A Millionaire

The 3 Ways To Become A Millionaire

How many millionaires are there in the United States? What If I told you that just in 2018, 700K people became millionaires. And now try to guess the total number, it's in millions, to be exact, there are over 11 million millionaires just here in the US! And now try to imagine how many millionaires are there worldwide! the world is actually filled with millionaires! Every single day, thousands of people join the club. 

However, If you give it a closer look, all millionaires can be divided into 3 categories, because, there are essentially 3 ways to become a self-made millionaire unless your dad will give you a small loan of a million-dollar, and that will be the fourth way. By the way, contrary to the popular belief. Only 20 percent of millionaires have inherited their wealth, the other 80 percent made it with their blood and sweat. In fact, out of 2604 billionaires worldwide, 56% of them are self-made. So even if you are not born with a silver spoon in your mouth, your chances to become one are reasonable. There are basically 3 financially paths you can take! Sidewalk, Slow lane, and The Fast lane!

1. Slow lane is get rich slow formula, or get rich old where you will be on a wheelchair! The Slow lane is your typical parent's advice: Go to school, get good grades, graduate, get a good job, save 10%, invest in the stock market, max your 401k, clip coupons…then, someday, when you are, oh, 65, maybe 70 years old, you will be rich. Congratulations, you have made it! The problem with the Slow lane is that you will have to sacrifice your entire life so that you can live your dream life when you are in a wheelchair. Which I don't really like because once you are old, you can’t get back young again, and Time is out of your hands. So as your income, you can’t double it or triple it every year, try asking your boss for a 100 percent raise, you will most likely get fired! So, If you decide to take this path, remember, you are not going to drive that Ferrari while you are young, you are not goanna travel and have adventures because it's quite difficult to do that when you are 70. You will live like a slave waiting for Friday to celebrate your freedom and then get back to slavery on Monday. If Buffet started investing when he was just 11 years and only made his first million by the age of 31. How long do you think it will take you to make even a million dollars when you haven’t even invested a single dime in the stock market yet and you are 25! Nonetheless, it’s probably the best strategy for most people.

Although you will have a boring mediocre life, you will have a financial plan that works! Even if it's not exciting. You will be a millionaire in 30 or 40 years. In fact, a considerable number of millionaires in the US have taken this path. It's safe, secure and guaranteed and better than the second option - The Sidewalk.

2. Sidewalker: The Sildewalkers are usually one step away from bankruptcy, because they are more bothered about living their dream life today and aren’t much into the future. They can even make millions of dollars but still, end up poor like a professional athlete or an actor. Your album fails, you get injured, and you get homeless and file for bankruptcy. Even if you have a prosperous carrier, chances that you will remain a millionaire after you retire are really low. 78% of NFL players are either bankrupt or under financial stress within 2 years of retirement. 60 percent of NBA players go bankrupt after 5 years of ending their career. Imagine making millions of dollars but still go broke. It sounds unbelievable, but that’s what happens when you decide to become a pro athlete. There isn't time for financial education, you have to work hard day and night to be at the top, and there will be people who are more talented than you or simply have better genetics. The numbers of athletes who end up making it to the pro level are less than 1 percent. While you are having the greatest years of your career, you get used to a certain lifestyle that’s completely taken care by your multi-million dollar salary, and once you retire its difficult to get back to an average life. So you go broke in few years. The numbers of athletes who build a sustainable business while making it to the top like Michael Jordan are an extremely small minority. And even those who end up earning 400 million dollars like Tyson did can still go absolutely broke! The worst part about it is that. With the rise of social media, everyone is taking the sidewalk. You pull out your phone and see how these people are driving ferries and living their dream lives. and You don't want to be left behind, You might be working hard, but whatever money you make, you spend it on the next great gadget, on the next trip so that you have something to post on your Instagram. On a more expensive car. Sidewalkers are trapped in such a lifestyle where they are driven by their urgent instant need for pleasure. Every dime you make will directly go to your car payment, clothes, whatever. You are not worried about the future because you think that someday, sometime in the future you will hit big. but you most probably won't. So it's not the wisest option to take!

3. Fast lane And then there is the Fast lane. The whole idea behind it is that, instead of sacrificing today for tomorrow or tomorrow for today. Get out and provide value to as many people as possible. You see most of us are consumers because to provide value, you need to have something first. And most people do not take the time and effort to build themselves up to a point where they will have something to give. Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire in just a few years because he provided a platform to millions of people to socialize. If you give it a closer a look, the purpose of any business is to give value in different ways, the store besides your house provides you with the groceries, the restaurant downside the road provides you with the food. Your favorite YouTuber provides you with content that you find interesting. Amazon saves you the time and makes shopping much easier! And what makes this path much more appealing than the other two, There is no limit to how much you can make! You want to triple your income in the next 3 month, It's under your control! You don't have to beg your boss for a 5 percent raise like the Slowlaners do. And you are not scarifying your future like the sidewalks do because Fastlaners take that money and buy real estate, patents, businesses that will keep raising their income.

The challenge with the Fastlane is that you will have to spend first an enormous amount of time to create something that will truly bring value to a substantial number of people. Of course, it's not easy, and most people would never be able to do that, because the other path looks more appealing since that’s what being rich means to most people. But  “When you finance an $80,000 Mercedes Benz over six years because that's all you could afford, that isn't wealth, but the impersonation of wealth. You are Fooling yourself. It still blows my mind how people travel while not having even a thousand dollars in their savings account. Wealth isn't embodied in a car or clothes but in the freedom to know that you can buy it. That's why it's easy to find self-made not only millionaire but billionaires who are cheap because they know that they have the freedom to afford pretty much anything anytime they want. On the other side, you have people who haven't paid their students loans yet but are completely comfortable to take another loan to show everyone how successful they are. People don’t choose to be poor.

They make poor decisions that slowly lead them into that direction. Conclusion  So here are the 3 financial roads that you can take to become a millionaire. Of course, the Fastlane is the most rewarding one where you can become a millionaire in just a few years and stay one for the rest of your life., but its also the most challenging one, which is why most people won't take it, but being a Sidewalker isn't sustainable, that's why the Slowlane is probably the best option for most people. This Article is based on a book, the Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco, It's a brilliant read which I recommend to everyone. It's quite different from all other books on this subject.