Making A Million Dollars

Just like how life is a journey, making a million dollars also takes time and experience. Experience is often the best teacher along with education and knowledge. A certain amount of luck plays a big factor. But with hard work, comes luck.

We are now going to explore six factors that are going to make a difference in your journey to become a millionaire.

There are certain degrees that flat out pay more money than others. As an undergraduate you would be making a good financial decision by majoring in petroleum engineering or economics. For petroleum engineering, a bachelor's degree is often sufficient. But in the case of economics, you would need a doctorate from a very limited list of PhD programs to stand a chance to make in excess of $80K a year.

But, interestingly a lot of millionaires didn't attend college or finish high school.

Having a technical skill demonstrated by a bachelor's degree gets you on the path to becoming a millionaire. With a technical background, well-compensated jobs will come. According to Payscale.com, jobs that pay over a $100K annually after 15 years of experience include database architect, actuary, chemical engineer, semiconductor engineer, strategy consultant and medical perfusionist among others.

Today’s millionaires in the U.S. are made up of managers (17%), educators (12%), corporate executives (7%), entrepreneur/business owners (6%), and attorneys and accountants. The $5 million+ group is made up of corporate executives (17%) and entrepreneurs/owners (12%).¹

Frank, Robert. “Millionaire Population Grows by 200,000.” The Wall Street Journal. March 21, 2012. Accessed: December 31, 2012.

http://facts.randomhistory.com/millionaires-facts.html

Keeping a Budget

Big Picture Goals

Monitoring the Stock Market

Getting the best Interest Rate

Millionaires bargain shop, wear discounted clothes and eat out very infrequently. If you want to be a millionaire, you have to be willing to save diligently. Don't worry, you can still have fun while doing it. The millionaire mindset can be cultivated even if it is hard work at first. Frugality can be a good thing and it is necessary to have money left over to invest.

Suits, shoes, expensive watches and cars are not investments. It is the instruments that produce returns like treasuries, certificates of deposits, stock portfolio and a business among other things that should be looked upon as investments.

A lot of millionaires are concerned about their kids' education and they want their offspring to go on to become doctors, attorneys, tax advisors and executives. The might pass on the scrap metal business or the pavement contracting business to their kids, but it is just an inheritance.

In the 'The Millionaire Next Door', it states that two-thirds of millionaires in America own their businesses. And the same trend can be seen for the rest of the world. A lot of these businesses are dullnormal like rice farming. So starting a business is definitely a big step to take towards becoming a millionaire.

One of my favorite millionaires in the world is the eccentric Maxim mogul Felix Dennis. He really can't be termed a millionaire as he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But the reason I like him is that he really doesn't care. This is a very important trait for one to possess if one aspires to be a millionaire.

Getting financially educated is a very important step. The earlier you can learn about money and how it works the better. I recommend books like 'The Millionaire Mind' by Thomas J. Stanley. It is a fascinating book about the elite in the U.S. and their journey to the millions.

Another book I want you to look at is 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' by Robert Kiyosaki. Building wealth through investing can be learned from reading this book. Financial independence is also a big theme right throughout the book.

If all of the above doesn't work then you can always look to marry a millionaire. But this is easier said than done. A lot of parents know about this and will make sure that you find it hard to get your hands on the money if you're marrying purely for that.

Nonetheless, if you follow steps 1 through 5 outlined in this article, marrying a millionaire wouldn't be that hard.