As children, we probably all wanted to become a millionaire. However, it’s fairly difficult, hence why there are only around 47 million of them (compared to 7.8 billion people in the world!)
So which are the best ways to become a millionaire?
For the purposes of this article, I am defining “millionaire” as someone with a net worth of $1 million (US dollars). This means that they have assets worth more than $1 million (minus any debt they may have!)
11. Invest
Whilst not particularly glamorous, or even as exciting as the other ways on this list, investing is perhaps the most proven way to become a millionaire. After all, almost 30 million people are millionaires thanks to investing.
By “investing,” I am talking about using your money to make money. Whilst there are hundreds of different types of investments, the two that often spring to mind are stocks and real estate.
Here, you place your money into the market, knowing that you will make more money from it. This is done in two ways: rent/dividends and appreciation.
For most stocks, they pay annual or biannual dividends (a portion of the company’s profits) whilst real estate often yields monthly rent payments.
Over time, both should also increase in price too, allowing you to get the best value-for-money!
However, you will need to stay ahead of the curve. This means knowing how to properly invest, such as following Benjamin Graham’s value investing, or Phil Town’s rule one investing (other philosophies are also available!)
10. Get in Early on a Fad
Investing, however, is quite time-consuming. Not only may it take years for you to find the right stock at the right price, it may be decades before your investment surpasses the $1 million mark.
For some people, they aren’t that patient. Perhaps, that is you. So, if you want something a little quicker, you might choose instead, to get in on a fad quite early on, before selling it when everyone else gets in on the action!
By “fad”, I’m talking about things like the “Pet Rock” of the 1970’s, pogs of the 1980’s/90’s and fidget spinners from the late 2010’s. Something that becomes quite popular for a short period of time, and then subsides.
Obviously, it will take quite a bit of time trying to find a potential future fad. However, if you can get in on the ground level early enough, such as manufacturing them, or importing them, you could make millions over a few short years.
Naturally, however, this does come with a lot of risk. There is absolutely no guarantee that you will become a millionaire from it. In fact, it’s often the opposite, with it more likely you’ll lose money than gain it!
9. Save as Much as Possible
No, saving is not the most glamorous way to become a millionaire. However, if done right, you could soon find yourself staring at a seven-figure bank account.
If you want to go about it this way, you’re best bet would be to start saving young. No, I’m not talking about starting in your thirties. I’m talking about your early twenties.
With this, you’ll probably want to deposit a given amount of money in your savings account each month. Most people who do this tend to save a set portion of their monthly income (eg. 10%, 15%, 20% etc.)
Here, your money sits in a bank account accruing interest. Essentially, you make money by letting our money sit in a bank account (or several) for years, most likely decades.
However, if you choose this option, you will need to be vigilant. Interest rates are constantly changing, which will affect your savings either positively or negatively. As such, you’ll need to move your money around to get the best deal!
8. Invent Something
If you look at how most people on the Forbes 400 (the 400 richest people in the US) made their money, you’ll probably find that most hold the prestige of having invented something that revolutionized the world.
For example, Mark Zuckerberg invented the modern social media. Yes, there were social media sites before then, such as Myspace, but they lacked the intuition that Facebook had, which later helped to make it such a household name.
Incidentally, this also made Mark Zuckerberg a millionaire, and later, a billionaire.
Another example would be Henry Ford. He invented the first modern, mass-producible automobile, which allowed many members of the middle class to own their own car.
This made him a millionaire at the time, and a billionaire in today’s money (being worth roughly $200 billion in today’s money!).
Whilst I have picked famous billionaires, there are many more inventors who are also millionaires. If you can replicate what they have done, you could potentially set yourself down the road for millions.
7. Start a Business
If you’re serious about wanting to become a millionaire, you’ll probably find that starting your own business is the best way to do it. Of the richest self-made millionaires today, all of them started their own business!
Personally, this is the route I took. And, whilst not trying to sound immodest, I have amassed a relatively large fortune, which has taken me well over the $1 million mark.
For me, starting a business is the best way to become a millionaire. After all, you get to be your own boss, set your own hours, and unlike working a dismal 9-5, you don’t cap how much you can earn!
Perhaps it’s just me, but I also like the freedom it gives me. Let’s assume I get some work that I really don’t want to do, I can delegate it to an employee, which is something that I probably couldn’t do if I worked a 9-5.
If you receive an influx in the amount of work you get, you can simply expand by adding more people to your team. Here, they can take on the extra work, and help you to fulfill, or even exceed, that demand, thus allowing you to take on extra work.
And it’s not as difficult as people say it is. A number of highly successful businessmen today, started their business with only a few hundred dollars, before turning it into millions, and sometimes billions!
6. Start a Side Hustle
However, starting a business is incredibly risky. There’s no guarantee that you’ll do well, in fact, the odds are actually against you, with most businesses going out of business within their first five years.
So, what if I told you that there was a way to get all the joys of running your own business, with very little, if any, risk? Enter the side hustle, used by entrepreneurs since the dawn of time.
During the day, you go to your regular 9-5 job, counting down the hours until you can go home. In the evenings and at the weekend, you run your business, essentially allowing you to get two streams of income, rather than just one!
In effect, you get all the benefits of running your own business – eg. doing what you love and being your own boss. However, you do this without the risk – eg. losing your home or becoming worse off.
For all you know, your side hustle may take off! Here, you could quit your depressing 9-5 job and run your business full-time. In fact, this is what a number of successful businessmen and entrepreneurs have done in recent years.
5. Marry a Millionaire
Whilst not necessarily the most exciting way of becoming a millionaire, it is perhaps the easiest way (and most romantic!)
By choosing to marry a millionaire, you yourself become a millionaire by association. Yes, you personally may not have $1 million worth of assets, but combined with your spouse, you will have such assets…
Assuming you choose to have children, there is also the likelihood of your children inheriting your millions after yours and your spouse’s passing.
Whilst not trying to sound sexist, this is really only open to women. Studies have shown that most millionaires are men, with only a few percent of millionaires worldwide being women (such as Rachel Zietz).
Many of these studies have also shown that most millionaires are much older, often being in their forties, fifties and sixties. As such, there is the possibility that you’d be marrying someone much, much older than you!
4. Inherit Millions
On the topic of inheriting millions, it is actually a legitimate way to become a millionaire. However, this factor does assume that you are born into some kind of well-off family, whether openly or not.
It’s highly likely that if you are in this situation, usually because your parents/grandparents are independently wealthy, all you need to do is wait. From here, you just need to ensure the will is executed properly.
If you’re reading this article, however, I’m going to assume that you probably aren’t from a wealthy family, and as such, this may seem more like an exercise in futility more than anything else!
But not necessarily. You see, millions of people die each year, having no next of kin to inherit everything. As such, the state gets it. However, if you can prove that you are the closest kin, the state will often allow you to inherit it.
If not, there’s always the hope that you’ll have a rich relative you’ve never met, leave you everything! (Yes, it does happen, and perhaps more regularly than you’d imagine!)
3. Start a Collection
If you don’t want to invest, or start a business, or invent something, your options of how to become a millionaire are somewhat limited. If you are in this predicament, perhaps you’d think about starting a collection…
You see, today, practically anything can be classed as a “collector’s item”. It’s really just a case of seeing who (if anyone) will buy it. The most common things people tend to collect, today, are things like comics, coins and art.
Naturally, collecting is a rather long-term way of becoming a millionaire. Chances are high that it’ll take you several years, to build only a modest collection worth a few hundred thousand.
Assuming you stay the course, however, and continue to collect for potentially decades, you could soon find you have a collection worth millions of dollars.
Often, this is more rewarding that many of the other ways you can become a millionaire!
Personally, I know a number of people who have gone down this path. Many of them have been collecting comics, coins and/or art since they were children/teenagers/young adults, and are now worth millions of dollars!
2. Become a Celebrity
Today, celebrities get a bit of a bad rep. You’ll hear many complain that we have a “celebrity culture,” meaning that everyone is looking to become a celebrity, mostly due to shows like American Idol and the Got Talent franchise.
However, if you can ignore that, and actually become a celebrity, it could be your path to becoming a millionaire. Obviously, you are going to need some sort of “reason” to become a celebrity, be it due to your job or a skill you have.
From what I’ve been told, being a celebrity is all about networking, eg. being seen with the right people at the right parties. From here, it’s just a matter of getting your name out there, and capitalizing on it.
Assuming you can become a big enough household name, you can probably diversify away from what you initially started out doing. Just look at Kylie Jenner, who became the world’s youngest billionaire from being a celebrity!
With that being said, you’ll need to remain relevant (in order to keep earning), or have a good accountant. After all, you’ve probably seen the lifestyles of some celebrities from the 1990’s, it’s not pretty to say the least…
1. Have Special Skills
Whether we like it or not, some skills are more important than others. Often, these more important skills take years to fully manifest, and even more years to master.
However, if you can master one or more of these skills, it could potentially be your path to millions. After all, if it’s rare enough and/or in high enough demand, people will be willing to pay you handsomely!
Perhaps the best example is art. Each generation, there are only a handful of people who are truly amazing artists. With this, those artists can sell there work for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars a piece.
Another, more common one, would be law. If you’re great at corporate law, or family law, or criminal law, you could quite quickly build up your clientele, to the point where you can charge thousands of dollars per hour!
Sadly, for most of these special skills, you are either born with them, or not. However, there are a few that you can gain through hard work, and constantly brushing up on and expanding them.
Which are your favorite ways to become a millionaire? Have you yourself tried any of these? Tell me in the comments!
