Retire with 10 Million Dollars: My Story
For many people it’s a dream to become a millionaire, but for me, I always had bigger plans. I currently have a plan to become a millionaire before the time I turn 30 (I am 22 at the time of writing this and in the process of building my own company, as well as this online platform.) This article is my plan to retire with 10 million dollars in net worth before the age for 50.
There are many paths to wealth, but they all have two things in common, action and time. You can achieve anything you want, given enough focused action and time. Take this platform for example, I have been working on this project for over a year and I just recently saw my first dollar come in. It takes time and patience.
If you want to retire with 10 million dollars, you must know that you have to do things differently than the rest. That is something that I understood a long time ago, when I was just 16 years old.
Why Being a Millionaire Matters
At the age of 16 I really started to dive into business, personal development, and above all else, investing. These topics stoked a fire in me. I was always an ambitious kid, but something about building wealth always stuck with me more than sports, school, or a good career.
Don’t get me wrong, I studied my butt off in college and graduated with a 3.98 GPA. My degree was in finance and I had a minor in communications. I figured I could pair the two together to be a good financial story teller (look at where I am now, writing financial stories).
I have always lived quite frugally, thanks to my mom, even though I grew up quite well off. I respected money and it seemed to respect me back.
I think many of my readers would agree that money isn’t actually that important, it’s the lifestyle, freedom, or accomplishment that is so much more satisfying. I knew I wanted to live a life that allowed me to pursue my dream and not have a boss creeping over my shoulder.
Why Retire with 10 Million Dollars?
You might be wondering why retire with 10 million dollars? What is the significance of that number? There isn’t much significance, to be honest. It’s the number that I have calculated to meet what I want. This number would give me just above 21k (in today’s dollars) to withdraw each month, infinitely, assuming very conversative metrics (4% growth rate at 3% inflation).
This amount of money is enough to pay for any lifestyle that I want, without me going crazy with my money. I won’t be able to buy everything I want, but I sure can buy anything I want. I can afford trips with my wife and kids, buy nice things like cars or clothes, and give generously with my finances.
Being able to indefinitely live off the returns from this money will also allow me to give more to my kids, grandkids, and community at death. Money isn’t the end goal. Financial independence is.
I want to travel the world training with world class athletes, military special forces, and martial artists building up strong skills, not only with money, but with my mind and body too. I want to buy the experiences that 1 in a 1,000,000 people have. That’s why I want to retire with 10 million dollars. The sooner the better, but my goal is by 50.
How Many People Retire with 10 Million Dollars?
A shocking large number of American Households could retire with 10 million dollars. According to financialband.com, “around 1,456,336 households in America have $10 million or more in net worth.”
What might have seemed like a pipe dream at first is clearly possible. If over a million households are worth that amount, then I also have the opportunity to become one of those households. It’s time to ask the right questions. What makes people worth $10 million different than the rest of us? How did they become ultra wealthy? How can we become ultra wealthy and grow our net worth to $10 million?
How to Grow Your Net Worth to 10 Million Dollars or More
There are three distinct paths that individuals and households use to retire with $10m or more. They are either, business owners, savvy investors, or high-income earners. You don’t have to do all three, but you have to at least do one of these.
Business Owners
Business owners that started companies and grew them to valuations in the multiple 7-figures dedicated their time to building wealth through direct business ownership. These business owners can be anything from service providers, to e-commerce store operators, or even app developers.
Business ownership is the fastest and most common form of creating massive wealth. Doctors with their own private practices, car dealerships, and even Walmart have built millionaires and billionaires.
Many business owners retire by sell all or part of their business. Business ownership is one of the only ways to build wealth as a younger individual. There have been many successful 20-year-olds that built business, brands, or products that made them millions.
**Want a great book on this topic: The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco
Savvy Investors
Have you ever thought about what would have happened if you invested in Apple when it first started, or Amazon? You’d be a millionaire. There have been thousands of savvy investors that made millions from the stock market, real estate, or private ventures.
If you aren’t the entrepreneurial type, investing might be your path to wealth. At a very basic level this is where most millionaires are created. Consistently investing money into the S&P 500 for 30-40 years will result in a massive accumulation of wealth.
Some investors are smart and move on good ideas early, and they can make millions with a single investment. Opportunities are available all the time in the public markets, but you can also build wealth by investing in startups, with the hope that they make it big. This is called angel investing.
Real estate has also been a large holder of wealth for hundreds and hundreds of years. There is only so much real estate on this planet, which takes advantage the universal law of supply and demand. Holding even just a few properties can lead to millions of dollars in 20-30 years.
**Want a great book on this topic: The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins
High-Income Earners
There are various ways to become a high-income earner, such as being a doctor, lawyer, investment banker, professional athlete, famous musician or entertainer, or executive at a company. The more income you earn the more you can invest into assets that grow your wealth.
Some of these professions can earn over a million dollars a year and provide you with opportunities to grow your wealth. However, earning a high-income doesn’t automatically produce wealth. You still have to be dedicated to a long-term investing strategy and build your net worth over time.
Plenty of high-income earners are just as broke as a college student because they spend every dollar they earn. Earning a lot of money is only one step to the process. That’s why so many professional athletes go broke a few years after retiring from their sport. However, if you can become a high-income earner then you have an advantage when building wealth.
**Want a great book on this topic: So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
My Roadmap to Retire with 10 Million Dollars
If I want to retire with 10 million dollars by the age of 50, I have to have a solid game plan. If you’re anything like me then doing a thought experiment like this is really inspiring and fun. Running a little math tells me that I will need to invest about 5.5k a month starting at age 25 to reach my goal by 50.
Yikes… That’s a lot of money, but I am not too worried. Why is that?
Well, instead of just taking one of the above strategies (being a business owner, investor, or high-income earner), I plan on using all three strategies to my advantage. I currently work in the tech industry and I like to keep my college budget.
**Related Article: How to Budget as a Broke College Student: 3 Crucial Things
These two things help me earn a lot and save a lot. Secondly, I have been investing for years (ever since I was 16). I plan on continuing to pour my earnings into my investment/retirement accounts.
Secondly, I am currently building a business, as well as this platform. I hope that one day this platform can reach hundreds of thousands of readers every single month. With that kind of traffic, I will also be earning enough to make the required investment amounts each month, and helping thousands in the process.
Lastly, I plan to take a large chunk of my money and start investing in real estate. I have plans to own 10-20 units before I turn 30. I have recently found a real estate mentor, and he has been teaching me the ropes of investing in multi-family projects.
Putting it All Together: How Would You Retire with 10 Million Dollars?
While I have a lot of irons in the fire, I believe that this is my path to wealth. What are your thoughts?
I can combine many aspects of my skills and passions to continuously pursue these goals. I know I didn’t go into all the details of my plan. I did that because I want this to be inspiration more than a blueprint, however, if you want a post that goes into each aspect of this plan, leave a comment and let me know.
That’s my plan to retire with 10 million dollars and I hope to do it before I turn 50. What is your plan? Do you want to retire with 1 million, 5 million, 10 million, or maybe even 100 million?
Until the next article!
**Hi, I am your author Ryan Lisota, and I am on a journey to educate students of all ages. I am young, just like you and I have a goal to be on Forbes 30 before 30. Help me make that dream come true by reading another article here or subscribing to my newsletter here.**
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