What would it take to become a millionaire?

The term millionaire is this goal that everyone thinks is only possible in their dreams. When you hear the term “millionaire” you assume that someone is so rich. I’m talking golden throne rich. At least I did when I heard the term “millionaire” growing up. As I have gotten older and understood how money works, I have realized that becoming a millionaire is not only something most people could attain, but it is something that most people SHOULD attain.

You see in my opinion becoming a millionaire is something anybody can do and in my opinion, you will need to do one of three things to become a millionaire, but first let me explain why everyone should become a millionaire. Did you know that for most people, they will need over a million dollars in their retirement account to retire comfortably? Well according to finance.yahoo.com, 64 percent of Americans will retire with less than $10,000 in their retirement account. Luckily we live in a great country that will (if it can) take care of these people, but anyone that knows basic economics knows that “money from the government” really means taxes. Yes, the money you and I pay in taxes goes towards helping other Americans retire. I don’t want to go into to much depth but that fact of the matter is: 1. Retiring a millionaire will benefit our economy because you will be contributing instead of taking. 2. Retiring a millionaire will provide you with a more comfortable retirement than the engorgement will ever grant you. Now that you know why it is so important that you become a millionaire, let’s talk about how you can achieve this great goal. In my opinion, you really only need to do one thing to become a millionaire, invest. I’m am not saying that is the only way you can save a million dollars, you could find buried treasure, win the lottery, start a successful company or be a trust fund baby. For most people, this isn’t the case so here’s what you need to do. Invest as much as you can as early in life as you can. Yep, that’s it. Ok, but how much should I invest? (this is where I am legally obligated to advise you to ask your CPA or attorney). If we were to assume a 7% return on investment for the length of my professional life (age 23-60) then we could reach $1,000,000 dollars quite easily. Because I am 23 and have 37 years to invest until I am 60, I don’t have to put that much money away every month to reach the million-dollar threshold. If I was starting with $0 I would need to invest $5,900 per year or $491.66 per month to reach $1,000,000. The crazy thing about this is that $5,900 dollars per year is only $218,300 dollars invested. If you do this, you will have made over $750,000 just by saving your money! Not bad right? So what does it take to become a millionaire? Good decisions, a little bit of luck and a whole lot of diligence! If it was easy, everybody would do it!