Book cover via Amazon

If I had a Million Dollars….

Sure everyone dreams of owning a million dollars, of course John Mccain would still consider you middle class but for most of us a Million Dollars is the chance at having the American Dream.

Why a Million Dollars? Because it’s a huge number for most people, more than many could ever dream of.

I’ve always been a fan of David Bach’s Automatic Millionaire, and here are some tips I’ve learned from him that may help you along your journey towards becoming a Millionaire.

1. Pay yourself first. This is the biggest and most important step you can take to becoming a millionaire. Before you pay any bills or buy groceries, pay yourself. Put it in an ira or mutual fund and watch your money grow. It is recommended that if you want to become rich to save 10%, if you want to become rich faster save 15%, if you want to become rich super fast save 20-25%.With some mutual funds your money can double every 6-10 years which can mean a lot after compounding interest, no you won’t get rich today, or tomorrow but in 20 years you’ll be looking a lot better off.
2. With the current economic front it is now more important than ever to get your house in order, get out of debt, and you absolutely have to have an emergency fund. Before you invest 20% into your mutual funds its advised to have a savings fund that could pay all the major bills for at least 6-12 months. This isn’t an easy thing to do of course but when you get laid off from your job of 20 years, you will wish you’d had the foresight to build an emergency fund.
3. Find the little things that you buy that you could cut out. For instance many of us living in a fast paced life, eat a lot of fastfood and other junk food. Some people smoke, and could save a bunch if they quit, others drive a lot and could save by carpooling. The simple fact is the more you save, the more you can invest in yourself.
4. Become a homeowner. Right now is a wonderful time to buy, owning a home is a great way to build wealth and equity. My tip is to buy a house that you can fix up and resell for more than you paid for it. Buy one that you can pay off in 5-10 years easily. You don’t need a grand house from the get go that’s going to cost an arm and a leg and take 30+ years to pay it off. Once you own your home you can then sell it and upgrade, and keep doing that till you own the house you’ve always dreamed of.
5. Pay your tithes. If you’re religious of course, which I am – I always pay my tithes and I always seem to have more than enough to meet my bills, and if I don’t my church will pay them for me… If you’re not religious then it’s advised that you give 10% of your income to worthy causes trust me karma is a true principle and everything you give will come back to you more times over.
6. Learn to cook. Eating out is extremely expensive, and the alternative can save you thousands per year.
7. Ride a bike or take public transit. Not only will you be helping the environment, but you’ll be saving on gas, especially now that it’s around $4/gallon. You might also look into jobs that only require a 4 day work week, as that is becoming the norm, or even better would be to telecommute and work from home, if possible – I believe telecommuting will become the standard of the future, as energy prices soar and companies experience troubles recruiting.
8. Don’t worry about brands, brands don’t mean crap. Buy the non-name brand items and you’ll save a bundle over time. Everything adds up.
9. If you have the means invest in solar panels for your home. It is costly at first but over a 20 year period you will save a ton more than you paid for them, and may even be able to make money back off any unused energy.
10. Teach your children the value of saving money. Today’s generation is all about borrowing, and if something doesn’t change our children’s future will be even more bleaker than ours. The way to stop this is to start from an early age and teach them how to manage money and finances.
11. Freelance. It seems now a days everyone is moonlighting and freelancing is one of the top ways to do this. If you can pick up some extra money on the side why not do it? My suggestion is to immediately put all your freelance earnings into your mutual funds and investments to speed up the time it will take you to become rich.
12. Lastly but not least – study the best resources on making and saving money. There’s the Automatic Millionaire, and many more great books, audio and video on this subject, just do a search.

I hope perhaps this little info might help you as it has helped me.

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