Wealthy people usually aren’t born that way. Most spend their lives amassing their fortunes by working hard, spending little, saving a lot and investing wisely. It may sound like a simple strategy, but the fact that the vast majority of Americans fall short of millionaire status proves that it’s easier said than done.
Only 5.8% of the country, or about 7.2 million households, qualify as actual millionaires. To reach that bar, you must have investable assets of $1 million or more, excluding the value of real estate, employer-sponsored retirement plans and business partnerships.
Source: 12 Reasons You’ll Never Be a Millionaire
But you see, you can be a millionaire, virtually anyone can. Read the obstacles to being a millionaire. You will see that you can overcome them, by hard work and prudent money management and gaining the necessary knowledge about investing.
And keep in mind, that how you spend money is as important as how you save it.
The good news – Proper saving, investing and money management you can become a millionaire.
The bad news – I graduated high school in 1974 and only made about $350,000 during my working years and had a military pension since 1995, the only thing that kept me above the poverty line.
A million dollars today only has the purchasing power of $200,000 1974 dollars. To have the same buying power after working 40+ years you will need over $5,000,000. Still think you do not need to save for retirement and Social Security will be enough???? I sure wish I would of saved something.
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You are a bit off on the numbers. To keep up with inflation since 1974 fur $200,000 you would need a bit over $1,000,000
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RD – My point was that 1,000,000 today is not what it was when I started working. It is worse than I thought 1 million $ today = 184,813.56 in 1974 dollars. So, with interest rates going up, it will increase inflation and you will need more than 5 million $ to equal what 1 million $ buys today, in 2058+.
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I was a single working mom of a disabled child since he was a year old. Thank God I was wise in my spending and investing which enabled me to retire early comfortably and debt free at age 55. After 11 years in retirement, my nest egg is still growing and I may yet reach that million mark.
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