So You want to Be A Millionaire

Timeless Financial Advice

The reason why you aren't a millionaire (or on your journey to becoming one) is really fairly simple. You most likely assume it's because you aren't earning enough money, but the truth is that for most of us, if you become a millionaire has little if any to do with the amount of money you make. It's the method in which you treat money in your daily life.

Here are some possible reasons you are not a millionaire:

You Care What Other People Are Thinking

If you're competing against them and their material possessions, you're wasting your hard-earned money on toys to impress them rather than building your wealth. How come you really care what they think - Is he or she paying your bills? What is real wealth anyway -having plenty of toys or having a secure future for you and your family? The person with the most toys does not win.

People with a lot of wealth tend to not show it off. The wanna be’s are the ones who have all the toys. As one of the richest men in the world, Warren Buffet said, “You never know who is skinny dipping until the tide goes out”.

You Aren't Patient

Until the era of credit cards, it was hard to spend more than you had. That isn't the case today. For those who have credit card debt because you couldn't wait until you had enough money to purchase something in cash, you are making others wealthy while keeping yourself in debt. But it's the way THEY tell us how to live.” Buy this and you'll be sexy”. “You need this.” We have been enslaved by the advertizing we succumb to and the debt we have. And the companies that sell the merchandise need it that way! The banks need it that way! We have been living in an economy of debt.

You Have Bad Habits

Whether it's smoking, drinking, gambling or some other bad habit, the habit is using up a lot of money that could go toward building wealth. Most people don't realize that the cost of their bad habits extends far beyond the immediate cost. Take smoking, for example: If you are to smoke a pack of cigarettes that cost $5 per day, for 40 years, it would cost you almost $190,000, using the compound method, assuming you would put that $5 per day into an interest bearing account.
Let’s say you go out for dinner and spend $50 per week doing that. Using the same criteria above, it would cost you almost $270,000!
How about pull tabs - $50 per week doing that. Cost $270,000.
If you would take the above examples only, you now have about $750,000.

The Magic of Compounding

Let me ask you a question:  Which would you rather have:  $2 million dollars or one penny ($0.01) doubled every day for a month.  The honest answer would be “You can put the 2 Million in my pocket right now”.  The real answer:  one penny doubled over 31 days will yield you $10.7 million!!!

For you math geeks out there, the equation is 2^n-1 where n is the number of days.

Check the math:

Day 1 .01
Day 2 .02
Day 3 .04
Day 4 .08
Day 5 .16
Day 6 .32
Day 7 .64
Day 8 1.28
Day 9 2.56
Day 10 5.12
Day 11 10.24
Day 12 20.48
Day 13 40.96
Day 14 81.92
Day 15 163.84
Day 16 327.68
Day 17 655.36
Day 18 1,310.72
Day 19 2,621.44
Day 20 5,242.88
Day 21 10,485.76
Day 22 20,971.52
Day 23 41,943.04
Day 24 83,886.08
Day 25 167,772.16
Day 26 335,544.32
Day 27 671,088.64
Day 28 1,342,177.28
Day 29 2,684,354.56
Day 30 5,368,709.12

Day 31 10,737,418.24