How many millionaires are there in the United States?
what If I told you that just in 2017, 700K people became millionaires. And now try to
guess the total number, it's in millions, to be exact, there are over 11 million millionaires
just here in the US! and now try to imagine how many millionaires
are there worldwide! the world is actually filled with millionaires!
Every single day, thousands of people join the club.
However, If you give it a closer look, all millionaires can be divided into 3 categories,
because, there are essentially 3 ways to become a self-made millionaire unless your dad will
give you a small loan of a million-dollar, and that will be the fourth way.
By the way, contrary to the popular beliefe. Only 20 percent of millionaires have inherited
their wealth, the other 80 percent made it with their blood and sweat.
In fact, out of 2604 billionaires worldwide, 56% of them are self-made.
So even if you are not born with a silver spoon in your mouth, your chances to become
one are reasonable There are basically 3 financially paths you
can take! Sidewalk, Slowlane, and The Fastlane!
1. Slowlane is get rich slow formula, or get rich old where you will be on a wheelchair!
The Slowlane is your typical parent's advice: Go to school, get good grades, graduate, get
a good job, save 10%, invest in the stock market, max your 401k, clip coupons…then,
someday, when you are, oh, 65, maybe 70 years old, you will be rich.
Congratulations, you have made it!
The problem with the Slowlane is that you will have to sacrifice your entire life so
that you can live your dream life when you are in a wheelchair.
Which I don't really like because once you are old, you can’t get back young again,
Time is out of your hands. So as your income, you can’t double it or
triple it every year, try asking your boss for a 100 percent raise, you will most likely
get fired!
So, If you decide to take this path, remember, you are not going to drive that Ferrari while
you are young, you are not gonna travel and have adventures because it's quite difficult
to do that when you are 70. You will live like a slave waiting for Friday to celebrate
your freedom and then get back to slavery on Monday.
If buffet started investing when he was just 11 years and only made his first million by
the age of 31. How long do you think it will take you to make even a million dollars when
you haven’t even invested a single dime in the stock market yet and you are 25!
Nonetheless, its probably the best strategy for most people. Although you will have a
boring mediocre life, you will have a financial plan that works!
Even if it's not exciting. You will be a millionaire in 30 or 40 years.
In fact, a considerable number of millionaires in the US have taken this path. It's safe,
secure and guaranteed and better than the second option - The Sidewalk.
2. Sidewalker
The Sildewalkers are usually one step away from bankruptcy, because they are more bothered
about living their dream life today and aren’t much into the future. They can even make millions
of dollars but still, end up poor like a professional athlete or an actor. Your album fails, you
get injured, you get homeless and file for bankruptcy.
Even if you have a prosperous carrier, chances that you will remain a millionaire after you
retire are really low. 78% of NFL players are either bankrupt or
under financial stress within 2 years of retirement. 60 percent of NBA players go bankrupt after 5
years of ending their career.
Imagine making millions of dollars but still Go broke. it sounds unbelievable, but that’s
what happens when you decide to become a pro athlete. There isn't time for financial education,
You have to work hard day and night to be at the top, there will be people who are more
talented than you or simply have better genetics. The number of athletes who end up making it
to the pro level are less than 1 percent. While you are having the greatest years of
your career, you get used to a certain lifestyle that’s completely taken care by your muti
million dollar salary, and once you retire its difficult to get back to an average life.
SO you go broke in few years.
The number of athletes who build a sustainable business while making it to the top like Michael
Jordan are an extremely small minority. And even those who end up earning 400 million
dollars like Tyson did can still go absolutely broke!
The worst part about it is that. With the rise of social media, everyone is
taking the sidewalk. You pull out your phone and see how these people are driving ferries
and living their dream lives. and You don't want to be left behind, You might be working
hard, but whatever money you make, you spend it on the next great gadget, on the next trip
so that you have something to post on your Instagram. On a more expensive car.
Sidewalkers are trapped in such a lifestyle where they are driven by their urgent instant
need for pleasure. Every dime you make will directly go to your
car payment, clothes, whatever.
You are not worried about the future because you think that someday, sometime in the future
you will hit big. but you most probably won't. So it's not the wisest option to take!
3. Fastlane
And then there is the Fastlane. The whole idea behind it is that, instead of sacrificing
today for tomorrow or tomorrow for today. Get out and provide value to as many people
as possible. You see most of us are consumers because to
provide value, you need to have something first. And most people do not take the time
and effort to build themselves up to a point where they will have something to give.
Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire in just a few years because he provided a platform
to millions of people to socialize.
If you give it a closer a look, the purpose of any business is to give value in different
ways, the store besides your house provides you with the groceries, the restaurant downside
the road provides you with the food. Your favorite YouTuber provides you with content
that you find interesting. Amazon saves you the time and makes shopping much easier!
And what makes this path much more appealing than the other two, There is no limit to how
much you can make! You want to triple your income in the next
3 month, It's under your control! You don't have to beg your boss for a 5 percent raise
like the Slowlaners do.
And you are not scarifying your future like the sidewalks do because Fastlaners take that
money and buy real esate, patents, businesses that will keep raising their income.
The challenge with the Fastlane is that you will have to spend first an enormous amount
of time to create something that will truly bring value to a substantial number of people.
Of course, it's not easy, and most people would never be able to do that, because the
other path looks more appealing since that’s what being rich means to most people.
But “When you finance an $80,000 Mercedes Benz
over six years because that's all you could afford, that isn't wealth, but the impersonation
of wealth.
You are Fooling yourself. It still blows my mind how people travel while
not having even a thousand dollars in their savings account.
Wealth isn't embodied in a car or clothes but in the freedom to know that you can buy
it.
That's why it's easy to find self-made not only millionaire but billionaires who are
cheap because they know that they have the freedom to afford pretty much anything anytime
they want.
On the other side, you have people who haven't paid their students loans yet but are completely
comfortable to take another loan to show everyone how successful they are.
People don’t choose to be poor. They make poor decisions that slowly lead them into
that direction.
Conclusion So here are the 3 financial roads that you
can take to become a millionaire. Of course, the Fastlane
is the most rewarding one where you can become a millionaire in just a few years and stay
one for the rest of your life., but its also the most challenging one, which is why most
people won't take it, but being a Sidewalker isn't sustainable, that's why the Slowlane
is probably the best option for most people.
This video is based on a book, the Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco, It's a brilliant read
which I recommend to everyone. It's quite different from all other books on this subject.
I will leave a link in the description and also an affiliate link to audible, where you
can free the audiobook for free! Thanks for watching and Until next time.