Some Realistic Ways to make One Million Dollars

One million dollars is and is not a lot of money. It’s the first million that’s the hardest which is what people mean when they say it takes money to make money. Once you make the first million, your money starts doing the hard work. So let’s get that one million dollars!

There are a few decisions you have to make at a relatively young age, and they can help or hinder your progress to making one million dollars.

Pick the Right Major

At least at the beginning of your journey to making one million dollars, the salary you earn from your job is going to make up the bulk of your wealth. Because you are going to spend at least a few decades working, you want to work in a field that will earn you good money.

A college education isn’t the only path to wealth but getting one can certainly make the way smoother. Those with a four-year degree earn at least 66% more than those with only a high school diploma.

Your chances of being unemployed are significantly reduced by having a four-year degree as well. The unemployment rate for those with a high school diploma is 5.4%, 2.8% for those with a four-year degree and just 1.7% for those with a doctorate.

A college degree is a good investment and picking the right major can make a big difference in how fast you accumulate that first one million dollars.

When you’re deciding on a major, these are some of the best paying.

Start Investing Early

This is the biggest thing on this list. If you want to be a millionaire, this is how you do it.

There is no substitute for time when it comes to investing. The earlier you start, the faster you will make one million dollars.

“On average, millionaires invest 20% of their household income each year. Their wealth isn’t measured by the amount they make each year, but by how they’ve saved and invested over time,” writes Ramit Sethi in his New York Times bestseller, “I Will Teach You To Be Rich.”

In other words, a project manager could earn $50,000 per year and be richer than a doctor earning $250,000 per year — if the project manager has a higher net worth by saving and investing more over time.

You don’t need a lot of money or a lot of knowledge about investing to get started with Betterment. There is no minimum, the fees are low, and the process is simple. If you’re not investing, stop reading this and open a Betterment account.

Get That Free Money

An employer-sponsored 401k is the first foray into investing for many of us, and it’s an excellent place to do it.

A 401k is an employer-sponsored retirement savings vehicle that allows you to invest part of your paycheck, pre-tax, into an investment account where it grows tax-free until you are ready to start withdrawing from it after age 59 1/2.

The money is taken directly from your check before it hits your checking account so it’s invested before you get a chance to spend it which makes it a great way to invest for people whose money burns a hole in their pocket.

A 401k also lowers your taxable income. If you earn $5,000 a month and invest $1,000 into your account, you are only taxed on the remaining $4,000. Some employers offer to match.

If you invest 6% of your income, for example, the company will match 3%. Even if you have high-interest consumer debt, like credit card debt, you should invest enough to get the match because it is free money!

For 2018, you can invest up to $18,500 a year in your 401k. Your employer will offer you a few choices of different investments; most plans are made up of mutual funds that include stocks, bonds, and money market investments.

This is where most people run into trouble. They just don’t know how to pick or what makes a good pick. This is where Blooom can help.

If you’re not sure if your 401k is doing as well as it should or could be, Blooom can tell you.

Blooom will do a free analysis of your account. It takes just three to four minutes, and the most complicated question you’ll be asked is when you want to retire.

In a play on the company’s name, you’ll see how healthy your account is in the form of a flower. The healthier your flower, the healthier your account.

When you join Blooom, you’ll pay a flat fee of $10 a month. They will show you how your money should be invested, what your allocation should be and if changes need to be made, Blooom will make them for you.

Invest in Real Estate

We have written a lot about real estate as a great source of passive income, and it is. But you don’t have to buy a house and rent it out to make money on real estate.

Fundrise lets you invest in real estate for as little as $500. It can be a great way to get your foot on the property ladder before you have the money to buy a rental property.

When you are ready to buy a rental property, you don’t have to be a hands-on landlord. You can buy a turnkey property with Roofstock. They do all the heavy lifting; you just watch the passive income roll in.

Be Smart About Debt

Into every life, some debt must fall. That’s not true for absolutely everyone, but it’s true for most of us.

There is good debt and bad debt. Good debt is taking out student loans to get a degree in a high paying field or borrowing money to buy a home. Bad debt is buying stuff on credit cards you don’t need.

The beauty of good debt is that it’s essentially an investment, just like a stock or bond. You’re spending money now in the expectation of getting your money back, and perhaps some profit on top of that, at some point in the future.

And because you’re spreading the payments out over many months or years, you can buy the item you’re financing immediately instead of having to wait and save up enough money to buy it all at once.

On top of that, good debt tends to carry a relatively low-interest rate in the single digits.

But good or bad, we want to pay off debt smartly. If you have student loan debt, you can refinance it for a lower interest rate through Earnest. Even refinancing for an interest rate just 1% lower than your current rate can save you thousands of dollars over the term of the loan.

Should you wait to invest until you’ve paid off your student loan debt? No! Remember, there is no substitute for time when it comes to investing.

Because student loan interest is usually relatively low, 2-4% and the average return in the stock market is 7%, you can make more money investing than you are paying in interest.

Credit card debt, on the other hand, is an emergency. Because the interest is so high, you need to pay it off as quickly as you can. If you have credit card debt, make a plan to pay it off. Just throwing extra money at various balances isn’t efficient.

Use the snowball or stacking method to pay it off quickly and efficiently. If your credit is good enough, you can apply for a balance transfer credit card. The card has a 0% APR period so the balance your transfer from a high rate interest card can be paid off without accruing additional interest.

If you don’t pay it off before the 0% APR period ends though, the remaining balance will be subject to the new interest rate. But that no interest period can give you some breathing room and the ability to make some progress on your debt.

Mind Your Credit Score

How much debt you take on is partly determined by your credit score. When you want to borrow money for a home or a car or to start a business, the interest rate you’re offered depends on your credit score.

The better your score, the lower your interest rate. Having a good credit score makes your life cheaper.

There is no need to chase the perfect 800 score, all you need is a score north of 760 to qualify for the best rates.

You can get your free credit score at Credit Karma. While having a good score is essential, you don’t need to obsess about it. It’s most important before you borrow money so if your score is not ideal and you’re thinking of borrowing money, work on improving your score before applying for a loan.

Improving your credit score isn’t tricky and while it doesn’t happen overnight, it happens faster than you might imagine.

Mo’ Money

Whether it’s from your 9-5 or a side hustle, if you want to make a million dollars, you need to get more money.

Are you being paid what you’re worth? Do you even know how much you should be making? Most employers aren’t just going to give you a raise because you’ve been with the company for another year. If you want a raise, you need to ask for one.

You can find out what people in similar positions in your area are making on sites like Glassdoor and PayScale. This gives you a starting point when it comes to negotiating a raise.

Before you ask for a raise, compile a list of the reasons you deserve one. What have you achieved over the past year and how has it helped your boss or the company?

While getting a raise is great, it might not mean much more money in your pocket. The average raise is just 3%. If you really want to earn more money, you should be changing jobs, and often.

Those who change jobs every two years, earn an average of 50% more over their careers than those who stay in the same job for longer.

If you do get a new job offer, don’t just accept whatever salary you’re offered like a supplicant. Again, know what others in similar positions near you are earning and be prepared to negotiate for more money and better perks.

Make More

Most of us are not on the limit when it comes to having the time to make more money outside of our day jobs. If we can spend five hours a day watching TV, we can spend a few of those hours making more money.

And if you want to be a millionaire, you’re going to have to.

Absolutely everyone should have more than one income stream. We could lose our jobs through no fault of our own and then what? Even if you have a hearty emergency fund, it’s nerve-racking not to have any money coming in.

You can aim high and look to start your own business while working full time but that admittedly takes time, time to work on it and time before it starts to make any money. It can be worth it though, as LMM proves. The site now employees several people full time.

Spend a few nights a week driving for Uber to bring in some extra cash. Babysit in the evening or on weekends with Sittercity.

I'd rather hustle 24/7 than slave 9 to 5.

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You can also use your downtime to make a little extra money with a site like Survey Junkie. You can answer surveys on the site and be paid via PayPal or gift cards. It’s not a ton of money, but if you’re diligent, you can earn a few extra hundred a month.

Spend Well and Make a Budget

It won’t matter how much money you earn if you don’t know how to spend that money well.

A budget doesn’t have the magical ability to control your spending, but it can help keep you accountable and show you exactly where your money is going. If you’re new to budgeting, go to Mint and get started.

It’s easy to use and free. Once you get things set up, Mint does most of the work for you. If you’re not sure how to set up your budget categories, we have it covered.

If you don’t know how to allocate your money, use the 50/30/20 rule. Makes things nice and simple.

Avoid Fees

You might not think of fees when you think of ways you spend money because most fees are automatic, you don’t take out your credit card or cash to pay them. But you are paying them.

The average US household pays almost $300 a year in bank fees! If your bank is nickel and diming you, open an account with Chime.

There are almost no fees when you use Chime.

There is no minimum balance, so no fee if you fall below a specific dollar amount, no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, and no foreign transaction fees.

While none of us wants to lose $300 a year to bank fees, it’s small potatoes when it comes to losing money to investing fees.

Americans pay $600 billion in investment fees every year. On an individual basis, you lose about one-third of your retirement money to these fees over time.

FeeX can show you how much you’re paying in investing fees. FeeX will analyze your investments to uncover where you are paying fees and how much you’re paying. They will then find you cheaper alternatives with the same asset allocation. You connect your accounts in FeeX, and they do the work for you.

Don’t Upgrade

What do you do when you get a raise or a bonus or your tax refund check? Do you blow it? If you continuously upgrade your belongings and your lifestyle ever time you come into more money, you will never be a millionaire.

One common trait of wealthy people (and there is a very great difference between being rich and being wealthy, you want to be rich) is that they live below their means.

Avoid lifestyle creep if you want to become a millionaire.

Don’t Buy Things

Spending well doesn’t mean not spending any money apart from what is absolutely necessary. That’s no way to live. But when you do spend your discretionary money, spend it on experiences rather than things.

Don’t buy a new pair of shoes, buy some concert tickets instead. Why? Because it’s been proven that we are made happier by our spending when we buy experiences rather than things. And it makes complete sense.

Experiences become a part of our identity.

We are not our possessions, but we are the accumulation of everything we’ve seen, the things we’ve done, and the places we’ve been.

Buying an Apple Watch isn’t going to change who you are; taking a break from work to hike the Appalachian Trail from start to finish most certainly will.

“Our experiences are a bigger part of ourselves than our material goods,” said Gilovich. “You can really like your material stuff. You can even think that part of your identity is connected to those things, but nonetheless, they remain separate from you. In contrast, your experiences really are part of you. We are the sum total of our experiences.”

You buy a pair of shoes, great you have shoes. You might even show them off to your friends who will nod and smile. The first few times you wear shoes, it’s fun! You like wearing them and look good in them.

But eventually, they become just another pair of shoes like all the others in your closet.

But when you buy the concert tickets, you get to enjoy the anticipation of the upcoming show. You will probably attend the show with another person and enjoy it together. The concert becomes a happy, shared memory.

Buying experiences is much more satisfying and a good example of spending well.

Trim It

We waste a lot of money on things like subscription services we no longer use. When is the last time you went to the gym? But life gets in the way, and we can’t keep track of everything.

You might not even realize that you are paying for these things. It would be nice to have an assistant who looked through your bank statements and credit card receipts and found this kind of stuff.

That’s what Trim can do for you.

Trim combs through your transaction history and looks for subscriptions to things like magazines, gym memberships, or food delivery services. They cancel anything you no longer want to pay for.

Shop Smart

There are a lot of great apps that can help you save money when you shop whether it’s in a brick and mortar store or online.

When you join Swagbucks, you can get cashback when you buy online from more than 1,500 retailers including places you probably already shop like Amazon, Target, and Starbucks.

Nearly 80% of Americans shop online and the majority site cost as a more significant reason than convenience. If it’s already cheaper to shop online, why not make it even less expensive? That’s what Ebates does, and you’ll get $10 just for signing up!

You use their portal for your online shopping at more than 2,000 stores like Sephora, Macy’s, and Apple. Ebates members also get exclusive discounts, promo codes, and coupons. You earn cashback with each purchase and will receive it in the form of a check or through PayPal.

Eat OutSmart

We all like to eat out, but there’s no question that it can get expensive. That doesn’t mean you have to give it up; you’re allowed to spend some money on fun things. But you can make eating out cheaper when you use Seated.

Use Seated to make a reservation at a participating restaurant. For each completed reservation you will get a $10-$50 gift card for Lyft, Starbuck’s or Amazon.

Pick the Right Place

After college, you need to decide where to live. You often have to decide this based on where the jobs are, and the jobs are in cities and cities can be expensive.

But there are cities apart from New York and San Francisco, both of whom have some of the highest cost of living in the entire world.

These are good decisions, pick them wisely.