You know I once asked a very wealthy VP of a Fortune 500 company what inspired him to be wealthy and his answer shocked me. “Money is a game and the man with the most notches on his belt wins.” This threw me back. I was in my late teens and wanted to become financially free because I never grew up with much to begin with. And when I mean nothing much, I mean zero. Yet after hearing this person tell me his response to his wealth plan, I looked deeper at him and frankly, he didn’t seem all that happy and the sense of incongruence in his life was apparent. He was out of shape and had a look in his eyes of anger. I could tell that he had crawled over many bodies to get to where he got. At that moment, I thought being financially wealthy took putting yourself first and tramping over people. It also meant that being wealthy meant putting the love of money ahead of everything. It was a conflicting time and made me reevaluate my views on money.

A few years later, I met a very wealthy businessperson who gave back to her community, had a large circle of friends, and always seemed to be abundant in so many other ways. I sat down and asked her the same question and what she told me has stuck with me ever since. “Wealth is simply a vehicle to magnify your deeper personality traits. If you are a good person, access to resources will only make you a better one. If your nature is negative, it will also magnify your unhealthy attributes on the downside. Wealth has the ultimate power of leverage.” Nothing is truer about becoming and deciding to become wealthy. It is a magnifying glass into your soul. I have tried to model myself after this philosophy and never forgetting that money is simply a means to achieving larger and greater things in life. After all, if the only reason you are pursuing buckets of money is to swim in it like Uncle Scrooge, you may find yourself the richest man in the graveyard.

In my own personal journey toward financial freedom, I dug deep into my soul and realized that having an abundant life in all regards was going to be important to me. Making sure that I workout and eat right to ensure that I keep myself in the best shape possible. Push myself each and everyday to learn and grow. Seek for ways to ensure that financial prosperity is a must in my life. That is key. You must make it a must to be financially prosperous but you must also find a deeper reason to do it or you will give up when the times get tough. Maybe you want to ensure that your family is well provided for even should you lose your job or become ill. Maybe you want to give back to your community. Maybe it is the sense of security that will come once you decide to become financially free. Ultimately, your mission for financial success must have a strong enough “why” or you won’t find the means to achieve it.

You aren’t rich when you hit a certain savings point. You are rich the day you decide to be rich. Being wealthy is a state of mind. Those that figure out deep down the reason for being financially secure and if it is a compelling enough reason, will find every method to become wealthy. I remember reading in The Millionaire Next Door, a fantastic book that profiles America’s millionaires that 80 percent of those surveyed where first-generation affluent. In other words, they are the first people in their family to become financially independent. Most do not own BMWs or Porsches of the current year, they do not wear $5,000 watches, and they don’t live in overly priced McMansions. They aren’t misers either. They wear $500 watches, nice suits that don’t go over $1,000, and have an average net worth of $3.7 million. The average age is 57. They live below their means. The idea of the millionaire that the media portrays is contrary to the actual statistics since it is more exciting to see the .01 percent of the population that are entertainers, athletes, or CEOs. These people make well in excess of $2 to $10 million a year and are in a different ball game. Yet many of the millionaires in the U.S. make somewhere from $75,000 to $200,000 a year. The way to become wealthy is to live within your means, invest wisely, and make it a must to become financially independent. The media would like you to believe that everyone that drives a foreign car, wears an expensive suit, and has 10 different credit cards is the picture of financial prosperity when in reality they are simply spending tomorrow’s fortune on today’s instant gratification. It is a cultural problem that is rather pervasive.

You must find it deep inside yourself the reason to be wealthy and you can achieve it. Becoming financially independent is not impossible but with hard work, hope, and a desire for this freedom, you can do it. Your mindset is just as important as your investments.

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So you want to become a millionaire? You’ve always had the desire to be financially secure but the task seems simply overwhelming. There are a few ways in becoming extremely rich. One of them includes being born into wealth and chances are, this may not be you. Plus, you don’t have much of a say in who your parents are! Another way is to invest and save your way into financial success. Many people never even start on the road to financial security because they view the entire process as time consuming and way too complicated when in fact, it is rather straightforward and requires discipline. The way to become wealthy is to save enough and invest wisely so your investment will compound overtime. Compounding is touted as a thing of wonder even for people such as Albert Einstein.

First, you need to decide to become wealthy. This is a psychological roadblock that you first have to overcome before you even think about being financially secure. Next, you need to setup investments that will be automatic and monthly. There are a couple ways of doing this. First, you can setup the investment in a 401(k) or 403(b). These are simply tax-deferred retirement accounts with your employer. This is the best place to first invest your money because your savings are taxed deferred and therefore you start with a bigger sum of money initially. You’ll be surprised how many median income earners in the United States have retired with one or two million. Sometimes even more. So don’t let the thought of not having a large enough income stop you. Here are a few scenarios to demonstrate what we are talking about:

As you see, any amount saved will produce a sizeable sum after time. Keep in these are people starting with zero dollars. Even at $500 a month over 30 years, at the current median income of the U.S. of $43,000 or so, all you need to do is put away 10 percent of your income to retire a millionaire. The more you put in, the more you get back and because of the magic of compounding, your tiny sum can grow to be very large. If you are young, in your 20s or early 30s it is very likely you will not have Social Security when you retire so it is important to plan for yourself. If you are starting later, you can save more but even with 10 years, you see that you can have a nice chunk of money.

Don’t let the magnitude set you back and get started!

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