Our question of the month comes in from Whitney from California:

Andy,

I’ve been enjoying your show for the past few months. Your message of financial empowerment is really motivating me lately to clean up my family’s debt and grow our wealth.

I have a question that I think could be fun for you and informative for me.

With all of the millionaires you’ve had on your show, what are the top three things you’ve learned so far? I’m in my early 30’s and I’d love to become a millionaire before I’m 40.

Keep up the excellent work on the podcast, Andy!

Whitney

Thanks for writing in Whitney. I love this question …

When I started the podcast, I never thought I’d be able to learn as much as I have. This is now the 85th episode of the Marriage, Kids and Money Podcast and loosely I’ve interviewed and been inspired by around 80-100 money geniuses so far. That’s between the Money Masters of the Week, our weekly guests and some stellar interviews that are yet to be released.  

As far as millionaires though:

• I’ve only had a chance to interview less than 10.
• It's closer to 5 total for millionaires who've openly shared their net worth.
• And millionaires in their 30’s, the number decreases to 3. Perfect for your question!

Let’s go through the 3 major lessons that I learned from the inspiring 30-something millionaires I’ve interviewed.

What I Learned from 3 Interviews with Millionaires in their 30's

1.  Keep Investing Simple (Scott Alan Turner) 

Listen to the Interview: Investing Made Simple – with Scott Alan Turner

This self-made millionaire helped me to understand that investing does not have to be complicated. No day trading, no individual stock picking, no fancy annuities … if it’s not simple and you don’t understand it, stay away from it.

Scott recommended investing in low-cost index funds through companies like Vanguard. This recommended passive investing option is not only less complicated than active investing, there is now proof that it performs better. In 2007, Warren Buffett made a $1 Million bet with some big hedge funds that passive index fund investing would beat out their active investing over a 10 year period.

Guess who won?

Warren Buffett and the charity “Girls Inc.” that he gave the money to.

Index Funds also help you to keep your fees extremely low. They are well-known for having fees that are 80 or 90% lower than the typical mutual fund.

And since index mutual funds mirror major market indices like the S&P 500, your portfolio will be diversified.

So … do as Millionaire Scott Alan Turner does and Keep Investing Simple!

2.  Create Multiple Income Streams (Grant Sabatier)

Listen to the Interview: How to Become a Millionaire by 30 – with Grant Sabatier

Grant’s story is incredible. In short, he became a millionaire before his 30th birthday … no inheritance, no free ride and starting with a balance in his bank account of just $2.26.

I learned a lot from our interview last summer, but the main lesson that stuck out to me was how he grew his wealth by diversifying his income.

1. He had a full-time job in digital marketing making $50,000 per year.
2. Website building and freelance digital marketing services became his side hustle of choice. This grew his annual income to $400,000!
3. Grant also began investing in (you guessed it!) passive index funds.
4. He grew another income stream through blogging and so on and so on … voila, Millionaire!

This income stream diversification became a lifelong practice for Grant and has served him well.

And a REALLY great bonus of this approach is that if for some reason one of your income streams dries up, you’re supported by the other ones!

So … do as Millionaire Grant Sabatier does and Create Multiple Streams of Income!

3.  Build Your Career and Salary (Liz, the Chief Mom Officer)

Listen to the Interview:  How to Increase Your Salary and Become a Millionaire in Your 30's – with Liz, the Chief Mom Officer

I’m always motivated by exciting stories about entrepreneurs who went out on their own and built some incredible company, service or product that people love. It’s alluring and I always thought that I had to do something that to build wealth.

Liz helped me to think twice about that notion.

You can become a millionaire by growing your salary and your career right where you are. You don’t need to invent the next mind-blowing app or become the next Steve Jobs – you can build wealth by working hard, providing value and exceeding expectations at your job.

Investing and diversifying your income streams help too, but your day-job can be a HUGE help as well.

Over the course of your career, you have the ability to earn millions upon millions of dollars. If you put that money to work for you, that’s how you become a millionaire.

The point here (or the epiphany for me at least) is that your career can be your greatest wealth builder. Use it and grow it.

So … do as Millionaire Liz does and Build Your Career and Salary!

This was a fun question, Whitney! I’ll have to catch up with some more millionaires on the show soon so we can all learn and build our wealth too.

Carpe Diem Quote

“Before you can become a millionaire, you must learn to think like one. You must learn how to motivate yourself to counter fear with courage.”

—Thomas J. Stanley

What do you think it takes to become a millionaire?

Please let me know in the comments below!