Comments on: What It Takes to Become A Millionaire

By: Brenda M

Brenda M — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:53:26 +0000

I’m just gonna say this for a second time….OMG

Wow, I just have to say one thing.

I completely stumbled across this thread.

I was shocked when I was reading the credit card limits on some posts, as I have 2 measly credit cards that are maxed out for a whopping total of 1500 dollars.

Just so you guys know as your trying to figure out how to build your big money into bigger money, that you could always contact me.

My life would literally be turned around with even 5000 dollars.

I have 2 disabled children and a very hardworking husband in construction and we barely make it by……

Think helping someone….

might not grow your money, but it might make you feel good…

Ok, I’m done…lol, I think I’ve gone a little type crazy…haha

signing of=)

By: Super Saver

Super Saver — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:04:07 +0000

In 2008, the path to becoming a millionaire was to begin the year as a multi-millionaire

By: Get Out of Debt in 2009 | Money Smart Life

Get Out of Debt in 2009 | Money Smart Life — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:55:59 +0000

[...] Sun’s Financial Diary ponders what it takes to become a millionaire [...]

By: Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:15:16 +0000

This is a great example of why you need to start investing in your 401k as early as possible. Most people won’t be able to put away “extra money” monthly religiously but those same people can easily be contributing to a 401k and not even know the difference. Gotta love the wonder that is compounding interest.

By: Bill M

Bill M — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:23:48 +0000

Very Nice graph, would be nice if it was bigger..

By: investor

investor — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 23:54:15 +0000

Off topic, but check this out.

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/credit_card

By: MoneyStand

MoneyStand — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:09:32 +0000

These charts are great I save £300 per month which is about $500 but $1,000,000 of your American dollars is about £700,000 so it’ll be a few more years on top of what you’ve mentioned.

By: Manshu

Manshu — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:53:07 +0000

That’s a good graph Sun.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:25:32 +0000

I really like this graph and table. I find numbers always tell the truth, as long as you look at them correctly. You did that nicely here.

Lisa

By: Mighty Bargain Hunter » Blog Archive » Link roundup: Ukrop’s edition

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:37:05 +0000

[...] The Sun’s Financial Diary asks what it takes to be a millionaire. [...]

By: Mighty Bargain Hunter » Blog Archive » Link roundup: Ukrop’s edition

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:36:57 +0000

[...] The Sun’s Financial Diary asks what it takes to be a millionaire. [...]

By: Reaching Financial Independence, Bargain Hunting Addiction @ The Roundup

Reaching Financial Independence, Bargain Hunting Addiction @ The Roundup — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:20:33 +0000

[...] The Sun’s Financial Diary: How long will it take you to be a millionaire? Some great tables here to help you speculate! [...]

By: » Weekend Roundup - Countdown to Vacation Edition @ fivecentnickel.com

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:26:07 +0000

[...] What It Takes to Become A Millionaire Sun adds some perspective to the idea of becoming a millionaire by working out exactly how long it [...]

By: Millionaire Calculator | The Suns Financial Diary | A Personal Finance Blog on Saving and Investing

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:18:00 +0000

[...] I wrote a post on what it takes to become a millionaire, where I gave a table showing given your monthly savings and an annual rate of return, when you [...]

By: Friday Finance Findings for February 15th - Looking for a Guest Post or Two : Generation X Finance

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:08:22 +0000

[...] When and What it Takes to Become a Millionaire – The Sun doesn’t think too kindly of lists stating how to become a millionaire, and instead gives us the plain and simple when and what it takes. Some pretty good information here for sure. [...]

By: Enough Wealth

Enough Wealth — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:44:03 +0000

It’s interesting that the table was pretty much spot on for my situation – I always aimed at saving around $1000 per month and invested in stocks and real estate which produced around 8%pa return. I hit millionaire status last year which was around 26 years after I started saving seriously while working and going to uni.

The table also shows that
a) doubling your savings rate won’t get you to 1 million in half the time. For example, saving $1000/mo at 8% takes 26 years, but if you managed to live extr-frugally and saved twice as much, you’d still take 19 years to become a millionaire. Possibly not worth the big impact on your lifestyle that doubling your savings rate for 19 would have.
b) High income/savings rates make ROI less important. For example, if you can save $3000/mo you would become a millionaire after 15 years if your investments make 8%, but this would only reduce to 11 years if you managed to achieve 15% returns (with a higher risk of going broke!). In contrast, if you’re only saving $500/mo it would take 34 years to become a millionaire investing at 8%, but if you managed to get 15% returns your $500/mo savings would make you a millionaire in 23 years.

Finally, it’s interesting to see that by helping my sons save just $200/mo and investing for the long term in high growth investments such as stocks (that might make 11%pa), they would become millionaires in their own right by age 36.