There is a lot of talk about
becoming a millionaire.
There are a lot of books about
it.
Plus a lot of videos about it.
I've even created videos about
it.
I've talked about how others
have become millionaires,
their steps to do that.
Plus my own steps for me
becoming a millionaire.
So what is all of the hype
about a million dollars?
Is it really so special?
In today's video you're going
to learn what it really means
to become a millionaire.
Plus,
we are going to talk about
some very interesting
statistics about millionaires,
and then we will talk about
how you can actually become a
millionaire.
And then we'll decide if a
million dollars is really
enough or not.
I am Tiffany Thomas with
wealthytiffany.com
and like I said,
I became a millionaire and
became financially free.
So if you're looking to do one
or both of those things,
make sure and hit that like
button and hit the subscribe
button and we're going to dive
right in.
What does it mean to actually
be a millionaire?
It means that your net worth
is a million dollars.
And what is net worth?
Net worth is when you take all
of your assets,
everything you own,
and you subtract out all of
your liabilities,
everything that you owe,
for example,
if you own a home and a car
and then you have money in
your savings,
you would take the value of
your home,
the value of your car,
and then add in the amount
that is in your savings.
That would be all of your
assets.
And then you would subtract
out if you had a mortgage loan
and a car loan,
and then any other debts that
you have,
and then that would be your
net worth.
And if you have more questions
about net worth,
I have a specific video about
that.
I'll leave a link above and
below.
You can check that out later
on.
So when we are talking about
millionaires,
we are talking about those
with a net at worth of a
million dollars,
not just those that make a
million dollars or have made a
million dollars because a lot
of the time when people
actually make a lot of money,
they are spending a lot of
that money.
So they don't actually have
that million dollars.
And what is so special about
that million dollar number?
A million dollars is a nice
round number.
And it's also an easy number
to work toward instead of
$900,052
or something like that.
It's just a million.
And once you hit that million
dollar mark,
then that pushes you into the
seven figure category instead
of these six figure category.
And when you are in that seven
figure category,
then you are getting closer to
the multimillionaire status,
or even that billionaire
status.
It's that benchmark number
that will push you up into
that seven figure category and
then help you continue to
build your wealth.
And let's talk about some
really interesting statistics
about millionaires.
There are about 22 million
millionaires in the
United States and 8.8%
of U.S.
adults are millionaires.
And I thought this statistic
was pretty interesting.
It is 33% of U.S
millionaires are women.
I actually thought that
would've been lower,
but I'm glad that it is at
least 33%.
I would love to see it even
higher.
So for all of you women out
there watching this video,
let's build our wealth and
increase that statistic.
Also having 1 million dollars
puts you in the top 10% of
wealth in the United States,
not the 1%,
but the 10%.
And then there are about
56.1 million
millionaires globally,
a 10.2%
increase from 2019.
So we are definitely
increasing our wealth over
time,
which is a good thing because
inflation is also increasing
over time.
And I am curious to know
comment below and tell me if
you are going to become a
millionaire or if you already
have,
and noticing that there is
just over 8% of millionaires
in the United States that are
adults.
That is a pretty small
percentage.
A lot of people talk about how
it's not that hard to become a
millionaire and a million
dollars isn't that much
anymore,
but yet only 8% of adults are
millionaires.
So I feel like that is still a
pretty good achievement when
you have reached that
millionaire status.
And now let's talk about some
different statistics in
relation to age and
millionaires.
The world's 100 richest
individuals earned their first
million at age 37 on average.
So if you are 25 years old
thinking,
I haven't reached my first
million,
you are not alone.
The average age has been 37.
And even if you are older than
that,
it is not too late to get
started.
We can always start investing
our money today.
And the average millionaire is
57 years old.
So even though you may see a
lot of videos about people
becoming millionaires in their
20s,
that is not the norm.
It is not common.
The average age is 57.
So it is a little bit older.
It is not extremely young.
And then let's talk about
education in regards to
becoming a millionaire.
88% of surveyed millionaires
graduated from college.
That is a pretty high
percentage for millionaires.
So once again,
if you are seeing all of these
videos,
I mean,
I see these videos all the
time.
So I'm guessing you've seen
some too,
but it's a lot of younger
people that are becoming
millionaires.
And they are saying that they
have dropped out of college
and started their online
business and became an
overnight millionaire.
But we aren't really seeing a
lot of videos about those who
have worked hard,
who went to college and
increased their income over
their career,
and then became a millionaire.
It just doesn't sound nearly
as exciting,
but that is more of the norm.
It takes a long time usually
to become a millionaire,
to build up our wealth.
And if we have more education
then the more likely we are to
become millionaires,
and I do realize the world is
changing.
So it may not be that formal
education that we need,
but we still need to be
educating ourselves and
learning new skills and
developing those and then
continuing to improve over
time.
And then a 62% of surveyed
millionaires graduated from
public or state schools,
just 8% said they attended
prestigious private schools,
which goes to show that we
don't need to be spending a
ton of money going to a
private school.
Of course there are certain
degrees or certain career
paths that will mean you get a
higher paying job if you do
that.
But for the majority,
we can go to the community
colleges which are less
expensive or the public or
state schools,
which don't cost as much
money,
but we still get a good
education.
And then 52% of surveyed
millionaires earned a master's
degree or higher.
So just over half do have that
higher education.
This is far more than the 12%
of the general U.S.
adult population that has
earned above an undergraduate
degree.
So if we are looking at the
U.S.
as a whole,
only 12% have received a
higher degree,
but if we are just looking at
the millionaires 52%,
just over half have received
that higher degree,
which goes to show more
education cannot hurt as long
as you are not going into a
ton of debt and then not being
able to pay that debt off
because it wasn't worth it
because you aren't able to
make enough to pay that school
loan off.
So the lesson learned here
let's get as much education as
possible,
but let's also be smart about
our education and not pay a
ton of money for that when it
is not necessary.
I know for me personally,
I didn't spend a ton of money
going to college.
I went to a school that had a
good business program,
but it wasn't a top business
school,
but nonetheless,
I was able to get a great job.
And then I also did my
master's degree through
Western Governors,
which is all online.
So it worked great because at
the time I was working my
full-time job,
my nine to five job.
So I was able to do school
before and after work and on
Saturdays,
but it was not that expensive
to attend Western Governors.
It was a lot less than a lot
of the universities that were
around me.
And when I did get that
degree,
I ended up getting a promotion
at work.
So that increased my income.
But like I mentioned before,
it's not necessarily that we
have to go to a university.
We can definitely do some
courses online and get
education that way,
because if we want to focus in
on something really specific,
then we may not need all of
the other courses that go
along with getting a degree at
a formal university.
So do what works best for you.
And I do want to highlight a
couple of gender statistics,
the average age for women to
have $1 million set aside for
retirement is age 58 and a
half.
The average age for men to
have 1 million set aside for
retirement is 59.3.
So I was pretty excited to see
that females are a little bit
better than males in this
regard.
They are able to have that
1 million set aside at just a
little bit of an earlier age.
So I like that statistic.
Well done women,
because that has definitely
not always been the case.
And let's move to statistics
about location and
millionaires.
New Jersey has the highest
percentage of millionaire
households of any state.
And then the second state is
Maryland.
Then Connecticut,
then Massachusetts,
then Hawaii.
And that's not to say,
if you don't live in one of
those states,
you will not become a
millionaire because I live in
Utah.
That is definitely not one of
those states.
And I was able to become a
millionaire,
but I thought it was just
interesting to see where the
highest percentage of
millionaires were in the U.S.
And then looking globally,
the U.S.,
China,
Japan,
Germany,
and the United Kingdom are the
five countries with the most
millionaires.
Comment below and tell me if
you are in one of those
countries.
And then just a couple more
interesting statistics is,
a millionaire in the top 1% of
wealth in the U.S.,
know a millionaire isn't in
the top 1% of wealth in the
U.S.
To be in the top 1%,
you would need to have a net
worth of over 11 million
dollars.
To be in the top 10% however,
you need a net worth of 1.2 to
2 million dollars,
which means most millionaires
are in this range rather than
in the 1%.
So if you are looking to be in
the top 1% of wealth in the
U.S.,
you are going to need at least
11 million for your net worth.
And then if you are wondering
what the total percentage in
the entire world of
millionaires is,
it is 1.1%.
This adds up to about
56 million people.
And then if you are wondering,
well,
which profession should I go
into?
The profession that has the
most millionaires is the
finance and investment
profession.
And in fact it also has the
most billionaires,
371 to be precise,
but just because finance and
investment is the top
profession,
it doesn't mean you have to go
into that profession to become
a millionaire.
I was honestly doing marketing
before I started my own
business and helping people
become better with their
finances.
And I also invest in real
estate.
So there are a number of
different options out there
for you to become a
millionaire.
And since there are so many
options out there,
let's talk about how you can
actually become a millionaire.
Like I mentioned,
I like investing in real
estate and in the stock
market.
So that is one way that can
help you to become a
millionaire.
And if you are wondering how I
was able to invest in real
estate,
I have a video for you about
that.
I'll leave a link above and
below,
but if you have no desire to
get started in a real estate,
you can definitely keep it
simple and just invest in the
stock market.
I want to show you an example
on how you can actually reach
a million dollars by investing
in the stock market.
If you are age 20 and you
invest $200 every single month
for 45 years,
you will become a millionaire.
And this is with an 8% return.
So the reason I chose 8% is
because that is the average
return for the past 30 years
for the U.S.
stock market.
And actually it's a little bit
over 8%.
So I was pretty conservative
and just kept it at a flat 8%.
And since it is for the U.S.
stock market,
I personally like investing in
the Vanguard total stock
market index fund or ETF.
And this means you are
invested in a whole bunch of
different stocks that just
follow the U.S.
stock market.
So it's a very easy investment
to invest in.
And if you wanna know more
about that fund,
I have a video about that.
I'll leave a link above and
below,
but essentially if you are
investing in the U.S.
stock market $200 every month,
which means a hundred dollars
from each paycheck,
then you will become a
millionaire.
And yes,
that will be at age 65.
So if you want to become a
millionaire even earlier,
then you can invest even more
money.
And a lot of young people may
be thinking,
ah,
$200.
That's a lot of money,
but when you look at this
graph,
you can see the compound
interest that has been working
for you.
The earlier you invest your
money,
the more money you are going
to make because of compound
interest.
In the graph,
you can see that the green
color is the compound
interest.
So this is your interest
earning interest.
This isn't money that you have
put into the account.
The blue color is the amount
that you have put into your
account.
So you can see in the
beginning,
it's a lot more blue color.
And then over time it becomes
more of the green color,
more of the compound interest,
which means if we are
investing,
as soon as we can,
then over time,
we are going to be able to
build our wealth
astronomically.
And if you are starting later
in life,
then definitely put more money
in so that you can take
advantage of the compound
interest.
And if you haven't really
started investing,
or maybe you just have a 401k,
I have a video that I created
a very simple way to get
started investing in the stock
market.
I'll leave a link to that
above and below,
but we really need to stay
focused and stay consistent
with our investments so that
that can grow over time to a
million dollars and beyond.
Plus once we have made that
first million,
it gets easier to make that
second million and that third,
and then so on because of
compound interest.
And because we have learned
the finance knowledge that we
need to invest our money.
So while getting to a million
dollars may seem daunting or
overwhelming,
keep at it.
And once you reach that,
then you can continue on and
it will be easier and easier
to get to that next million
and so on.
All right,
here's the question,
is a million dollars enough?
A lot of people say that a
million dollars is nowhere
near enough that we need
3 million,
5 million,
10 million,
whatever it might be.
That because of inflation,
there is no way we can live
off a net worth of a million
dollars,
but then there are other
people who are saying,
you can lower your expenses.
You don't need to be so
extravagant and spend a ton of
money.
So a million dollars would be
fine.
And honestly,
it really depends on your own
circumstances.
Some people may be able to
live off a million dollars
that is going to be just fine
for them.
They live in a lower cost
living area and they don't
have high expenses.
And then for other people,
a million dollars won't
enough.
So you need to figure out what
is going to work for you and
then work toward that goal.
And if you're not sure how
much you're going to need in
order to retire,
I like using the 4% rule and I
do go into more detail in
another video,
I'll leave a link above and
below,
but essentially if you take
your annual expenses and
multiply that by the number
25,
that is going to give you the
amount you're going to need to
have invested in order to
retire.
And that would be living off
4% of that portfolio value and
not running out of money in
retirement.
And the reason I like using
the 4% rule is because I
retired early.
So some people are saying you
can withdraw even more than
4%.
So if you are retiring later,
then that could be the case.
But for those of us that want
to retire early,
I like using the 4% rule.
And to give you an example,
if your annual expenses are
$40,000,
you multiply that by the
number 25,
you are going to get a million
dollars.
So then a million dollars
would be enough for you to
live off of.
Comment below and tell me if
you've already figured out how
much you are going to need to
live off of.
As always remember to keep
investing your money,
invest as much as possible as
soon as possible so that you
can become financially free,
whether that is accumulating a
net worth of a million dollars
or accumulating a net worth of
5 million dollars,
or maybe just $40,000,
who knows.
Comment below and tell me is a
million dollars enough?
And if you found this video
helpful,
please hit that like button
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Thanks so much for watching.
I'll see you in the next
video.