There are roughly 11.8 million Americans with a net worth of at least $1 million, making up 3% of the U.S. population, according to Spectrem Group’s 2019 Market Insights report. Although being a millionaire today isn’t what it used to be, reaching that milestone is still a significant achievement.
Before I became a millionaire at 28, I told myself I was either going to make it or be an absolute failure by the time I turned 30. The fear of having no job, no savings, no investments and no option to retire early kept me motivated.
There’s no “secret formula” to amassing wealth. But I can tell you that road to becoming a millionaire is much easier when you’re in your 20s: You have more energy, less dependents and little to lose.
Here are the 10 money rules that helped me reach a $1 million net worth at 28:
1. Stay focused in school
Slacking in school won’t get you anywhere. Your binge-watching habits will only hurt your GPA. There are tons of people who graduate in the top 1% of their class every year. Be one of them. You’re paying thousands of dollars for your education, so why not take advantage of it?
You can keep insisting that grades don’t matter, but it won’t change the job market competition. While some prestigious companies will tell you that “GPA isn’t the whole story,” it doesn’t mean they won’t ask for your transcript — because believe me, they will.
Graduating with a 3.78 GPA helped me land a job at Goldman Sachs. But it still wasn’t easy. I spent six months aggressively applying for jobs and went through 55 interviews before getting an offer.
