Millions of Millionaires

Millions of Millionaires

The newsfeed tells me that last year, 1.1 new millionaires were created in the US. That brings the USA’s total number of millionaires up to 15,356,000 according to Credit Suisse, the financial services company. What is your guess on the number of these new millionaires that got there following the advice of millionaire self-help gurus? I say very few.

A skyrocketing market helps if you own stock. Owning a desirable home helps in a hot real estate market. Having a business helps when a competitor flush with cash is expanding. Controlling multiple income streams allows for investment when opportunity knocks. The death of a close relative helps if that relative was wealthy. Those are the most common “origin stories” of the millions of millionaires.

Having millions is a rough way to measure one’s ability to generate or maintain happiness, so it’s a worthwhile marker and something to aspire to. And, as the research has shown, using a coach for any endeavor speeds up results but if you go this route in your pursuit of millions of dollars, look for someone who has helped others in a similar situation to yours.

If the coach tells their story in this fashion:

As in, “I was trying all sorts of things, none of them worked, I hit rock bottom, then I discovered something, applied this secret every day, now I’m rich and you can do this too if you just follow my secret,” I suggest you keep looking for another coach.

If you see this language on their material: “DISCLAIMER: Blah, blah, blah. . .” I suggest you keep looking for another coach.

Finally, if the coach you are considering mentions walking barefoot on hot coals, run.

Good stuff.