A Middle-Class Millionaire starts the journey to financial security with a heartfelt for others.
A Middle-Class Millionaire starts out with the heart to care about his or her family’s future, his children’s education, his spouse’s life if he should become disabled or die early and his or her joyful retirement unencumbered by money worries.
When I look at how someone develops a saver’s mindset, I first look to their heart. A Middle-Class Millionaire knows it’s all about living with a big picture view of his or her life. It’s about making financial decisions that make sense for today and for his or her life many decades from today.
How is it that someone with a saver’s mindset, yet who earns a relatively modest salary throughout their working life can accumulate a million dollars—sometimes several millions of dollars? It’s about living life and making financial decisions based on this long-term perspective.
Here’s what a saver knows: A life-long, disciplined savings habit leads to a financially secure life and retirement. It leads to having $1 million, or even $2 million or $3 million, for funding a retirement that can stretch out for 30 years.
Three Simple Precepts
In my book, Middle-Class Millionaire: Surprisingly Simple Strategies to Grow and Enjoy Your Wealth, I note how a person who wants to make themselves into a Middle-Class Millionaire lives by three simple precepts:
- They start saving early. They start putting money away early, and they continue saving throughout their working life.
- They live within their means. They don’t live on credit. They don’t let lifestyle creep eat up their salary increases.
- They pay themselves first. They put away 10 percent of their net income before spending anything out of their paycheck.
Just three simple habits. The Middle-Class Millionaire knows that these three basic habits—which all relate to that long-term perspective—will create a secure financial life before and during retirement.
A Middle-Class Millionaire develops a vision for their future and their family’s future, and then uses this vision to drive long-term goals, such as:
- Funding a 529 plan for his or her children so they can go to college with minimal or no debt.
- Saving for retirement early and continually so they can enjoy retirement without the fear of running out of money.
- Making investment decisions that stand the test of time, that don’t get burst in a bubble.
- Protecting his or her family with life insurance and other insurance to guard against a catastrophic risk that could occur far in the future.
Anybody Can Become a Middle-Class Millionaire
People who reach their goal of being a Middle-Class Millionaire come from all walks of life. An advanced education and a high-paying job are not prerequisites. It’s not about the degree you have or the huge salary you earn.
It’s about following the three, simple, long-term habits shown above.
Along with a heart for saving and long-time perspective, a Middle-Class Millionaire has one other very important characteristic. He or she is prudent. The Middle-Class Millionaire sometimes foregoes the short-term thrill of “toys” and consumption to achieve a huge difference in their long-term financial security.
