How to Become a Millionaire?

by: Timo Yla

Even though a million dollars is no longer as much money as it once was. Not too long ago one could almost retire on one million, but it is still a lot of money. If you are old enough to retire near future one million dollars could help you a great deal to have a nice comfortable retirement.

That is if you have lived within your means for the last 10 to 20 years. But if you have a lot of debt and expenses you can burn through a million real fast. You may not even be able to retire as this is the case for too many people today. They have trusted their good luck or just wish for some sort of miracle that will enable them to retire in debt free. Most people in US don’t have enough money to retire and to keep their current living standards.

According to the Social Security Administration; take any 100 people at the start of their working careers. Follow them for 40 years until they reach retirement age, and here’s what you’ll find:

• Only 1 will be wealthy.
• 4 will be financially secure.
• 5 will continue working, not because they want to but because they have to.
• 54 will be dead broke – dependent on their meager Social Security checks, relatives, friends, and even charity for a minimum standard of living.
• 36 will be dead.
• That means only 5% of the work force ends up being financially successful while 95% retire more or less destitute.

What group of people you will belong to at your retirement? Even if you are close to a retirement age, there are still many things you can do to better your future. And if you are still young don’t trust your good luck that you will be ok at the retirement age, even if the most of the population does so.

Simple solution: Be smart; plan early and act on your plans. Be careful with your money. Start saving money early. Spend less than you earn. Invest smart. And the most importantly live healthy so that you will not be one of the 36 who will be dead. Find your passion, eat healthy foods, don’t put on excess weight, live clean life without drugs and cigarettes, eat your vegetables, stay mentally and physically active, take your vitamins, exercise and reduce your stress levels. Stress kills!

If you are already close to the retirement age; make a clear plan for the next few years with a calculator in hand. Sell all the junk you don’t need. It’s surprising how much money you can make that way and you will feel better when your closet and garage are empty. Stop buying junk and start saving like there is no tomorrow. Get rid of useless second cars, boats, trailers, summer homes etc. if you are not using them. Pay off your debt; especially credit cards. Put your savings to work by investing them to something that will give you good return, but since your are close to the retirement invested safely. Try to find a second source of income if possible. Something that you can do on the side like; selling stuff on EBay, making something by hand that you could sell. Write book and sell it. Do consultations on your field of business etc. This second ‘job’ should be something you truly enjoy doing not just a job. You will need something challenging and interesting to keep you going once you retire. Sell your home and downgrade it; you may not need as big of a house or apartment any more. All this can easily save thousands of dollars that will be very handy once you retire. Most folks have no plans what so ever. A good plan is half the battle.

There is a way to retire rich, but it takes a lot of planning and doing. If you are from a rich family then it’s a different story, but if you are on your own, then you must be very smart in order to retire wealthy. One mistake is that especially when it comes to investing and stock trading people expect huge returns or they have no good plan as how to make the market to work for them. You must be patient with the market. Don’t spend your hard earned money on stock recommendation letters that promise you something that sounds too good to be true. Find a turtle that delivers positive returns year after year.

Actually it doesn’t take that much growth to have a nice nest egg at retirement if you have the luxury of time. For example…. actually why should I do it for you? You calculate yourself how much money you need to save to retire in style (millionaire) and maybe you will learn something in the process. Yahoo site below has a ton of financial calculators. It even has a ‘How to become a Millionaire’ calculator.

Good luck with your quest for money and happiness. Don’t forget the happiness part it is more important than money. Too many people work for long hours for years practically killing themselves trying to become wealthy to be totally disappointed once they reach the riches. Enjoy the trip; you may or may not reach your monetary goals, but you will have a certain amount of time on this great earth; use it wisely by enjoying it as much as possible at any given time of your life.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/calculator/career-work/sav-01

http://finance.yahoo.com/calculator/index;_ylt=AnULo0WF5MqIm5Kcz5nudMq7YWsA

About The Author

Timo Yla-Soininmaki is from a small town of Lahti, Finland. He decided to leave Finland at the age of twenty-four for America. He has so far three books published in Finland on top of two e-books in English. He offers educational services: namely, conducting seminars, training and counseling for business executives, professionals and entrepreneurs in the field of emotional well-being and success. He also studies investing and trading psychology. 2002 Timo left Hollywood and now divides his time between Finland and Thailand. He is currently writing books about Thai language and culture.