How to Become a Self-Made Millionaire With No Money
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Learn how to become a self-made millionaire with no money without saving every penny. You can become a self-made millionaire and still enjoy life.
Becoming wealthy doesn't have to be difficult.
Anyone can become wealthy over the long-term by following the proven strategy that I'm going to explore in this article.
Whether you're investing in your 20s, investing in your 40s, or even your 50s, there will be a suitable option for you in this list.
I'm going to start off by exploring the eight steps on how to become a self-made millionaire with no money, to help you on your road to financial success!
After that, I'm going to show you exactly how much money you need to invest to become a millionaire by age 60 (which is easy to remember and just off the average retirement age in the USA, which is 62).
How to Become a Self-Made Millionaire With No Money: The Habits
Many people want to know how to become a self-made millionaire with no money. You may believe that you will never become a millionaire and afford the life of your dreams.
However, almost anyone can become a millionaire if they set their mind to it.
You can achieve millionaire status by following time-tested habits and routines. I have included what I feel to be the most important habits/routines in this post, backed by research.
Let's dive into the eight steps exploring how to become a self-made millionaire from nothing with no money.
1. Become a Millionaire By Creating a Written Plan
The first step towards achieving millionaire status is to create a written plan.
Writing down your goals makes them tangible, and by writing them down, you make it harder to forget these ambitions.
You should hang the list of your long-term goals up somewhere you will see it every day.
It's important that you see your written plan every day.
Placing your written plan somewhere visible will help you keep your end-goal in mind and persist when times are tough.
2. Make Increasing Your Income a Priority
As Dave Ramsey says: “Your income is your most powerful wealth-building tool!”
And you must focus on increasing your income if you want to become a millionaire.
Increasing your income is crucial, as it will accelerate nearly every other process in this list.
There are many ways to increase your income including:
- Asking your boss for a raise
- Improve your level of formal education, thus, increasing the value you can potentially provide to your workplace
- Work a second job or “side hustle”
Increasing your income will not only allow you to destroy debt more quickly, but it will also help you build wealth faster!
If you are making $70,000 a year you will be able to save $14,000 a year—assuming a 20% savings rate.
While someone making $180,000 a year will be able to save $36,000 a year at an equal savings rate of 20%.
These two income earners will have drastically different net worths by the time they retire. This assumes of course that they started investing at the same age.
Increasing your income will help you destroy debt faster, build wealth faster, and ultimately shorten the time it takes you to retire!
3. Start Investing Early to Become a Millionaire
You must start investing early if you want to build significant wealth in the future!
The age whereby you start investing will drastically affect the size of your retirement fund!
If you invest $610 a month from age 25 you will amass an investment portfolio of $1,011,894 by age 60, as you know.
But if you invested the same $610 a month but started 10 years later, you will only have $462,983 at the same age!
By building an investment portfolio at a young age, you're giving compound interest plenty of time to do what it does best.
Grow your money!
I wrote a great article exploring how to invest your first $1000 here.
4. Develop Multiple Streams of Income
Diversifying your income is a great way to protect yourself in the event of a financial emergency. And it's a tactic that many millionaires use today!
Developing multiple sources of income will be especially helpful in the case that you lose a primary income source.
This may be your full-time employment or owning a business. Either way, developing multiple income streams will lessen the impact!
Thomas C. Corley conducted a five-year study on millionaires and found that:
- 65% of millionaires had three or more streams of income
- 45% of millionaires had four or more streams of income
- 29% of millionaires had five or more streams of income
Not only is diversifying your income a great way to build wealth, but it will also take a load off your back knowing that your income is safe!
Also, regularly waking up and seeing new deposits in your bank account is one of the most satisfying feelings!
Build multiple streams of income over a prolonged period and you are sure to become a millionaire!
5. Automate Your Savings
Automating your savings is one of the best ways you can secure a big, fat nest egg for retirement!
Maxing out your tax-advantaged retirement accounts like your 401k's, Roth IRA's or other IRA's is a great idea.
Also, putting aside a portion of your money before it ever reaches your bank account will reduce your likelihood of spending it, and will help you build wealth on autopilot!
Automating your savings will allow you to grow your wealth over a prolonged period and pay minimal taxes at the same time!
My favorite high-interest savings account is offered by CIT Bank. Their Savings Builder Account offers some of the highest interest rates of any savings account!
6. Live Below Your Means
Some of the wealthiest people in the world live below their means—in certain aspects of their life that is. I'm not going to go out and say that every billionaire lives frugally, because that is just not the case.
My list of frugal billionaires includes Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, as I will explore below.
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett has become famous for both his intense frugality and investing prowess.
Buffett lives in the same house that he bought in 1958 for $US31,000, despite having peak net worth of $86.6 billion!
Here is a picture of Warren Buffett's house for reference:
The house has an estimated value of $US652,619 today!
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg, the Founder of Facebook, drives a car worth only $30,000!
His primary car is a Volkswagen GTI, with a manual transmission.
Bill Gates
Another billionaire known for their frugal habits is Bill Gates (if we forget about his $63 million house).
He wears a $10 watch and insists on doing the dishes after dinner!
Need I say anything more about frugality?
Living frugally while increasing your income is one of the fastest ways to become a millionaire!
7. Exercise Regularly
This is probably something you didn't expect to see on a list about money. However, regular exercise is an important habit that many of the world's wealthiest people swear by.
Cardiovascular exercise has many proven benefits for both your body and mind.
Here are some of the benefits of cardio:
- It will help you sleep better
- It reduces stress
- It gives you more confidence in how you look and feel
- It makes you feel good by increasing dopamine and serotonin release
Here are just a few benefits of regular cardiovascular exercise.
Regular exercise is also known to increase your energy levels, which will allow you to work harder—for longer!
Verywellfit.com recommends, to improve your health through exercise, that you:
“Try moderately-intense cardio 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or vigorously-intense cardio 20 minutes a day, three days a week. You can also do a mixture.”
Exercising regularly will optimize your energy levels, and have you feeling at your very best!
8. Become More Knowledgeable
I don't like to use clichés too often, but it's very true that “knowledge is power”.
Continuously educating yourself is one of the most common habits of the wealthy.
No matter who you are or where you're from, everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. What you choose to do with your 24 hours is entirely up to you.
Zig Ziglar
It's a fact that most billionaires spend a lot of time reading. The late Zig Ziglar claimed to read three hours a day.
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett claims to spend 80% of his time reading, typically reading around 500 pages every single day.
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is a billionaire American businessman and investor and is the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.
He said “I read everything I can. I don’t care what the source is,”. Mark Cuban says his reading routine takes up “four to five hours a day.”
You are sure to become a millionaire if you follow the steps/employ the habits that I have laid out in this post!
Now you know the eight most common habits among millionaires. Now it's time for me to show you how to become a self-made millionaire with no money by investing!
How to Become a Self-Made Millionaire With No Money by Investing $610 a Month
Now I'm going to show you how to become a self-made millionaire with no money by investing your money in the stock market.
I bet you didn't know that you can attain a net worth of over $1 million by consistently investing in the stock market.
If you start investing $610/month at age 25, your investment will have grown to $1,011,894 by your 60th birthday.
Here is what your investment will look like while investing $610/month from age 25-60.
Made with a great compound interest calculator.
It will have grown to $1,461,329 if you're happy to let it grow for another five years!
Here is what that would look like.
This is based on the average US stock market returns over the past 140 years of about 7% (adjusted for inflation).
And at a savings rate of $610 a month, you will have invested just $292,800 over 35 years, which as mentioned, will be worth over $1 million by age 60.
This shows just how important it is to invest your money.
Do I Need to Make a High Income to Become a Millionaire?
The great news is that you don't need to make a high income ($100,000/year+) to become a millionaire. Becoming a millionaire is definitely achievable on a typical household income of roughly $61,000/year.
You will need to start investing $610/month or $7,320 a year, at the age of 25 to become a millionaire by age 60.
How to Start Investing at 35 to Become a Millionaire by 60
You can still become a millionaire from nothing even if you start investing at 35. You'll just need to invest more money to achieve millionaire status.
You'll have to invest $1,320/month instead of $610/month to become a millionaire by age 60 if you're 35 years old and haven't started investing yet!
Here is a graph showing what your investment would like now.
Notice how compounding has less time to take effect and how you have to invest more money because you waited longer.
How to Become a Millionaire in 10 Years
It's pretty unlikely that you'll be able to become a millionaire in 10 years by investing in the stock market if you're starting from scratch.
It's still possible that you could become a millionaire in 10 years from other routes. This could be launching and selling a business, receiving a significant inheritance or winning the lotto.
However, I'm going to run through the numbers just for fun.
You'll have to invest $6,050/month or $72,600 a year in an S&P 500 index fund to become a millionaire in 10 years.
Here is what that would look like.
As you can see, you would have invested $726,000 over that period with only $277,074 of your wealth resulting from compound interest.
This is assuming that your investments steadily grow! And the stock market is prone to price fluctuations, so I wouldn't bet on it.
You can see how important it is for you to start investing early if you want to retire as a millionaire. I'll go into more depth on this topic later on.
My favorite way to invest money is through the stock market, as I'll explore more below.
Or you can check out my list of the best ways to invest your first $1000 here for more investment ideas!
Is Stock Market Investing Safe?
You may be skeptical about investing your money in the stock market, but you don't have to worry. The stock market has proven to be one of the most consistent and lucrative investment vehicles for over 140 years!
You can make decent returns without the hassle of managing your own money by investing in stock market index funds. Not to mention that index funds outperform managed funds 80% of the time.
Your investment of $610 a month with grow exponentially thanks to compound interest.
What is Compound Interest?
Compound Interest is interest paid on the initial principal as well as additional interest that is accumulated on money borrowed or invested.
In investing terms, you are gaining interest on the money you originally invested as well as any interest gained through capital gains on your investment.
My Favourite Stockbroker
My favorite trading platform is Webull. Webull is a trading platform that gives you the tools you need to analyze and buy stocks—commission-free.
This makes Webull a great option whether you’re new to investing or an experienced trader.
Webull specializes in the following investments:
- Stocks
- Options
- Exchange-traded funds
You can learn more about Webull through my Webull review here.
Where to Put Your Cash When It's Not Invested
Now I'm going to explore where you should leave your cash when it's not invested, and reiterate why it's important to invest your money.
US historical market returns are about 7% annually (adjusted for inflation). At this rate, your investment will double in value in just over ten years.
Your money will grow much faster this way compared to leaving it in a high-interest savings account!
Savings accounts typically offer interest rates between 1-3%. Your money will take roughly 36 years to double while growing at a 2% interest rate!
While they aren't great for building wealth, high-interest savings accounts are a great place to store your emergency fund or investment funds between trades.
My favorite savings account is CIT Bank's Savings Builder Account. This account pays some of the highest interest rates of any savings account!
Related articles:
How to Become Wealthier
So maybe $1 million isn't enough for you to retire the way you want to. I'll show you what happens when you add a few extra dollars towards your investment contributions and how it'll affect the size of your nest egg.
By increasing your investment contributions, your portfolio will grow exponentially. For example, $1,500 invested monthly (compared to $610 invested monthly), starting at age 25 will have grown to $2,488,264 by age 60.
You will have only contributed an additional $373,800 over the 35-year period but will have an additional $1,476,370 by the time you're 60!
Through this investment plan and a lifestyle of hard work, perseverance, planning, and self-discipline, you too can achieve millionaire status!
For ways to start investing money to build wealth, visit my How to Invest $1000 article where I explore plenty of smart ways to invest $1000!
Conclusion on How to Become a Self-Made Millionaire With No Money
Now you know how to become a self-made millionaire with no money! Remember to start investing now so you can have more money later!
This article doesn't by any means guarantee that you'll become a millionaire, but it shows you a clear path to get there!
Don't forget to check out my Webull review here to learn about my favorite discount broker.
And visit our post on ways to invest 1000 dollars and start investing today!
