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It wasn’t very long ago that I was living at home with my parents with two dollars in my bank account. I was like a lot of my friends, trying to make ends meet and start my own life. I was working hard to build a secure financial foundation for myself and my future so that I could be in a better position to pursue my dreams.

I had no idea about saving money or investing. I wish I had taken a course in personal finance when I was younger. I didn’t know anything about managing money in high school or college, and I hadn’t taken any personal finance classes. I didn’t know how to manage my finances when I graduated.

Not having any sucks was the only thing I knew about money. I wanted to become financially independent by learning how to make money. I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck and having my thoughts dominated by whether or not I could afford to live the life I wanted. I knew I had a lot to learn before becoming a millennial millionaire.

Over the past 5 years, I have read a lot about money management, investing, and wealth-building strategies. I have a better financial situation and am determined to keep it that way. Industry experts, writers, and money managers have also been reached out to by me. Over the past 5 years, I have used what I have learned through this process to increase my net worth from $2.26 to over $1 million.

I settled on the following ten essential steps and guidelines because I believe they helped me reach this goal. I’m excited to see what I can do in the future, and I’m thankful for the chance to achieve this goal. When you put these ideas together, they form a simple process where the sum is greater than the parts. You can help ensure better outcomes by following this process. If you follow just a few of the steps, you will be much better off financially than you are today. I encourage you to take action now so that you can experience the financial security and freedom that comes with being financially sound.

How to become a Millennial Millionaire

1. Get paid what you are worth

If you want to get to $1 million the fastest, you need to know how much money you are making today. If you want to reach your financial goals over time, you need to negotiate for a higher salary today. It is likely that you are not being paid what you are worth. Most of the people I know don’t have enough money to accumulate $1 million within the next 10 years. It is important to create a plan for financial success in order to achieve your goals. The math doesn’t work. We need to find another solution.

If you take your annual salary after taxes and divide it by 10, you can see what the number is. Your estimated net worth is a good indicator of your financial stability and progress. The most expensive cost of most companies is their employee’s salaries, so most companies will pay you as little as possible to keep you happy. Understanding the current market rate for your desired position and being able to negotiate a higher salary is essential for getting the pay you deserve. This is how they make money. They find new markets to explore, manage costs, and increase sales.

Check out my “how to get a raise” guide on how to hack your boss and get a raise. One of my readers increased their base salary by $7,500 by using the tips in my guide. They have taken the initiative to improve their financial situation. It is worth your time. Investing in yourself is a worthwhile endeavor.

Take a quick look at what you are doing in your role. If you are making less than your boss and/or HR department will pay you the market rate for your position, take it to them immediately. If you want to present your case, be sure to look at what similar roles are doing in the market. This will help you get a $5,000 to $15,000 salary boost, which will increase your long term income potential. As you progress in your career, you should be able to leverage higher salaries. Most people don’t get paid what they are worth because they don’t ask. It is important to advocate for yourself in the workplace. Don’t make that mistake. It’s worth it in the end if you take the time to think carefully and make the right decision.

If you want to make more money, what do you do? One way to make more money is to look into side hustles or other opportunities that you can do in addition to your regular job. There is a higher paying career track. To find a higher paying career track, take the time to research and network within your field to find out what opportunities are available to you. If you don’t like what you see as your future earning potential, pivot and learn new skills, or choose a path that will give you more compensation, do your research. If your current career path doesn’t give you the earning potential you desire, you can change it in the future.

For example, maybe you are a If you learned more about creative thinking, you could double your salary as a Chief Creative Officer at an up and coming company. You can take steps towards a higher-paying role in the creative industry with the right knowledge and experience. Don’t get stuck early in your career, focus on learning skills and not just trying to get the most senior job titles Make sure to take on new opportunities when they arise because having a diverse set of skills and experiences can help you progress in your career. At the end of the day your future earning potential is based on what you are being paid today and the value you can create tomorrow.

NEXT STEPS:

1. Read my “how to get a raise” guide
2. Check your salary against others who have a similar role
3. Take that information to your boss or human resource department
4. Evaluate more profitable career tracks that relate to your interests
5. Focus on acquiring skills, not just job titles

2. Save an insane amount of money

You need to start saving now that you have asked for more money at your job and are getting paid what you are worth. Most of the ways to build wealth require you to have some money to invest. With the right knowledge and dedication, you can create a long-term financial plan that will help you reach your wealth building goals. In order to build wealth, you need to make as much money as possible on your money. Investing is the key to wealth because you can only make so much money in a career. Investing allows you to make money without having to work for it, and can provide you with a passive income stream that can last for years.

I made saving and investing as much money as possible my number one goal after figuring this out. I set a budget that would help me reach this goal. If you want to save 50% of your income, talk to your HR company and have them deposit at least 20% of your income into an investment account before you see it. 20% of your income is spent on your 401k. You should allocate the rest of your income in a way that works for you. I have mine deposited directly into my investment account and the money is automatically invested into a mixture of index funds. This makes it possible for me to take advantage of the market’s movements while minimizing my risk.

This is a 100% automated process where I don’t see the money and I don’t miss it. The convenience of this process makes it a great option for busy people. This was a huge mindset shift for me – I started saving money and paying myself first. I’m glad I took the initiative to do it because it has made a huge difference in my financial future. It is amazing to see how quickly your money grows when you start investing it. When you invest your money over a long period of time, you can really benefit from the power of compounding.

NEXT STEPS:

1. Save at least 20% of your after tax paycheck before buying anything
2. Set up an automated investing process – make it automatic and leave it alone
3. Put the money you save (after you have built an emergency fund) directly into proven investments like index funds and let them compound over time

3. Find a side hustle and invest the profits

Now that you have maximized your earning potential, you can save as much money as you can from your salary. If you want to increase your wealth, now is the time to invest. Finding ways to makemore money and invest it is the next step. If you want to build wealth, you need to master the side hustle and make money other ways than just your full-time job. You can start by searching for ways to increase your income and develop new skills that will eventually lead to financial success. This can really be anything, including driving for Uber, consulting, building websites, or start a blog (my personal favorite!).

One thing that I do – I I have invested 100% of the money I make through my side hustles for the past 5 years. I have seen my savings grow over time with this approach. Whether it is $100 I get from participating in a market research study or $10,000 I get for building someone’s website – it all goes directly into my investment account. The future value of this money will be much greater than the present value. Investing my money now will allow me to reap the rewards in the long run. One tool I like to use is the future value calculator, where you can plug in any amount of money you are planning to spend today and see the future value of this money. It can help you determine the potential growth of your money, as well as help you make wise decisions about how much you should save and invest. Check it out:

I literally have 2 or 3 side hustles going on at any given time and put all of the money directly into Vanguard Index Funds to compound over time. I strongly recommend you think of your side hustle as a key to building wealth over the long term instead of just being rich today, because once you find a great side gig, you will be tempted to spend that money in your everyday life as your bank account grows. Just master the simple rules for investing and you the extra $200+ a week you end up making will turn into tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next 10 years. Setting yourself up for the future is what this is about. Ensuring a better tomorrow will be helped by making smart decisions today.

NEXT STEPS:

1. Find a side hustle – there are literally millions of ways to make extra money
2. Invest 100% of your side hustle money
3. If you are tempted to spend the money, first calculate the future value of that money

4. Invest in what you know

You are making more money, having a side hustle, and investing the profits. It’s great to know that you’re on the right path to financial success. You have to figure out how to maximize the return on your investments. Before making any decisions, it’s important to research the different investment options and assess the associated risks. It is pretty boring to just invest in the full stock market, even though I am a big believer in simple index fund investing. I allocate 20% of my investment capital to individual company’s products I use and believe in. Investing is a way for me to build long-term wealth and security.

There is a perspective on companies and products that older generations of investors simply don’t have. We have an advantage when it comes to making informed decisions about which companies and products to invest in. The stock market favors things that are useful and cool. Tech companies tend to meet all of these criteria, so investing in them can be a smart move. To pick a good stock I analyze what everyone else does and use platforms like Simply Wall Street, but I spend a little more time looking at what my friends and the people around me are doing. This is common sense investing to me. It can be applied to any portfolio.

A few simple examples: I first started investing in Apple after getting the first iPhone the first day it came out – I invested money because I thought it was cool. It will pay off down the line and give me a good return on my investment. It’s a pretty similar story with Google – I work in digital marketing and every day I see how much money Google makes selling clicks and this isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon. Finally with Amazon – I think Amazon will take over the world. It seems like Amazon could be unstoppable in the future.

People are buying everything from toothpaste to $50,000 watches online. Online shopping has made it easy to purchase items of all shapes and sizes. It isn’t hard to imagine a day when we won’t need physical stores and Amazon is leading the e-commerce train. Over the past 5 years, this strategy has generated significant investment returns for me. In the years to come, I’m confident that this strategy will be successful. My small investment in Amazon has generated over $100,000 in profit, all because I decided to click a button.

NEXT STEPS:

1. If you want to learn more about your investment potential, you should look at the products you use and consume every day. You can gain a better understanding of the companies by doing this.
2. Take a small portion of your investments and put them directly into a few companies
3. Continue to evaluate opportunities as you get exposed to new companies and products

5. Measure your net worth closely

Now that you have set your Millionaire Millennial plan in motion, you need to start tracking your data and make changes to your plan. Data like your income, expenses, investments, and savings goals can be tracked to measure your progress towards becoming a millionaire. Net worth is the most important number in your financial life. Tracking your progress over time can be done with your net worth. What is your net worth? I would like to learn more about your finances. It is a simple calculation of your assets and liabilities. This will give you an idea of your finances. It is what you are worth.

I look at my net worth every day when I wake up in the morning and have my morning coffee using Personal Capital. There are many reasons to see this number rise over time. It is possible to see the positive effects of your hard work. No matter where you start. My first balance was $2.26 and I have been tracking my net worth for the past 5 years. Watching my net worth grow has been an interesting journey.

I have 5 years of finance data that I can analyze. I can use the data to make predictions about the future of my finances. I take a deeper look at the data at the end of the year to see if I can improve my spending. I use this data to create a budget that will help me save money and achieve my financial goals. I discovered in 2012 that I had spent over 3000 dollars on Mexican take-out food in one year, which taught me a lesson. I try to be more aware of how much I spend on take-out food.

If you want to use a tracker other than Mint.com, you need to link up all of your accounts. Mint.com is a great place to keep track of your finances. Personal Capital gives you more data on your investments once you start building up a large portfolio. Users looking to keep track of their spending habits can use Personal Capital.

NEXT STEPS:

1. Set-up a Personal Capital account and link all of your financial accounts to it – don’t worry it’s as safe to use as your bank and has state of the art encryption
2. If one of your accounts is not available on Personal Capital, you need to manually enter the information of your assets and liabilities. For example, if you owe your Mom $10,000 then put it in the system as a debt/liability
3. Get in the habit of looking at Personal Capital every day – while this might be hard at first, it likely will turn into a huge motivator as you work to increase your net worth