Anina
What is the easiest way to become a millionaire?
I know some people might not like this question, but I hope you'll be willing to share your advice anyway! My name is Anina and I'm a high school senior interning at CareerVillage. You would be surprised how often this question comes up in high school, especially as students are starting to realize how much college is going to cost them. For those of us that really need to be financially secure when we grow up, it feels like trying to become a millionaire makes a lot of sense. Does anyone have any input on what would be the easiest (emphasis on "est") way for a high school student to become a millionaire? #business #finance #money
4 answers
Peter J. Brennan
Peter J.’s Answer
Anina, You're absolutely right: Some people don't like that question. Ignore them.
The prior advice from above is good. Let me add a couple of things.
The fastest way to become a millionaire is to a.) own your own business and b.) provide a service that is difficult to duplicate (think of it as a moat). Think of companies with products difficult to duplicate: Coke, Facebook, Microsoft, etc.
Here are some businesses easy to duplicate: restaurants, hair salons, souvenir stores.
Revenue is the key to determining whether your company is offering the right product.
If you are working for someone else, save 10% of every paycheck and invest, particularly in indexes and some other managed funds you'll learn about as you grow older.
There are a lot of exciting toys out there to entice you like nice cars, boats, recreational vehicles and trips to Europe. Credit card companies will happily extend you credit to make you fall in debt. Avoid taking on debt. And if you must, keep it below 5%. Anything above 10% is hard to recuperate from.
Good luck!
Christopher Picerni
Christopher ’s Answer
The only easy way is to be given a million dollars from your parents or whoever. If you need to do it on your own, its never easy.
There are some very helpful ways to get you on the right path, such as the ones Jordan listed in the previous post. Other than that, it comes down to hard work and patience. There are a lot of different routes to becoming a millionaire, but they all usually involve working really hard and being better at what you do than your peers. Chances are if you excel at something you are interested in, you will be successful from a monetary perspective over the long run.
If you are looking for the best way to just become a millionaire in a year, well unfortunately that answer does not exist.
Jordan Fisher
Jordan’s Answer
1) Work hard in school
2) Always weigh the cost of what you purchase vs the value you get
(i.e. is a full scholarship to University of Texas a better value than paying full tuition to go to Duke)
3) Spend less than you earn
4) Don't get into credit card debt. If you can't afford something, don't go into debt just to buy it (this refers to material possessions, not borrowing money for an education)
5) Invest in low cost index funds and try to save the maximum amount in a retirement account (401(k))
6) Realize that many things in life that destroy wealth don't provide lasting happiness...for instance, a new car is exciting for maybe a few months, but can be way more expensive than buying a used car and keeping it for 10 years.
Saving $5,000 every year between the ages of 23 and 65 and assuming a 6% return on investment gives you $1,076,768 by the time you are 65. Over long periods of time, compound interest is tremendously powerful.
