We are made up of our habits. So if you want to be wealthy, here are some habits of millionaires that you—yes, you!—can totally learn to do too.
1. They make decisions quickly.
Millionaires do not waste time on indecision. They make decisions quickly and effectively based on their values. They know what their values are, so their decisions come relatively easy. Once a decision is made, they stand by it.
2. They don’t just save their money—they invest it.
You’re losing roughly 2% of your money’s value every year just from inflation. That means, if you keep it sitting in your savings account (earning a measly 0.01%!), you’re not growing your money.
Millionaires know this. That’s why they invest their money in the stock market, in real estate, or even in cryptocurrency to see huge gains. (Warning: These also carry higher risk.)
3. They’re frugal to the point of being a cheapskate.
I once dated a hedge fund manager who had a lot of money, and I’ll never forget this little event that really bothered me: We were shopping at a grocery store for a picnic we were going to have. He grabbed a bottle of iced tea for $4, but then he stopped, looked at the price tag, said, “That’s too expensive,” and PUT THE BOTTLE BACK. It was $4.
At the time, he was a millionaire—he could afford a $4 bottle of tea! Me, on the other hand? I had about $200 in my bank account, and that was it.
Can you see the difference in behavior? I, the poor person, was willing to waste $4 on a bottle of tea, when I could easily drink water for free. While he, the wealthy one, was not willing to waste his hard-earned money on something he didn’t need. While saving those $4 is NOT what made him rich, it was his mentality and behavior that did.
4. They have a healthy relationship with money.
There’s a lot of talk about “money mindset,” and it makes me want to roll my eyes, but there is some truth to it: If you view money as something that always slips from your fingers, if you live in constant fear of losing it, then you WILL lose it.
If you want to be a millionaire, really dig into your past to learn where you got your mentality about money. Maybe as a kid your parents were poor and taught you that only certain people have money. Maybe they instilled a fear of money into you. Unlearn those mentalities and behaviors.
5. They have multiple streams of income.
Look at any millionaire and you will see that they didn’t become wealthy from just ONE source of income. They have many—businesses, rental properties, investments.
6. They run at least one business (but probably more).
Another thing about millionaires: They’re almost all self-employed. I mean, how many desk jobs have a salary of a million? I rest my case.
When you’re an employee, there is a ceiling to how much you can earn, even if you get promoted. But when you’re self-employed, there is no limit on how much you can earn.
7. They surround themselves with people who help them grow.
That whole “you’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with” is TRUE. Millionaires know this. While they don’t necessarily surround themselves with people of equal wealth (although, they often do), they DO surround themselves with people of the same values and goals. They have close friends who are helping them GROW.
If you’re trying to become a millionaire, but you spend time solely with people who think money is gross, or that they’ll never have it, or that they’re a victim of their circumstances—you will NOT be able to become a millionaire. You”ll be held back by their mentality.
8. They give their money generously.
One of my favorite money principles of financial expert and millionaire Dave Ramsey is to give first. Technically, he recommends giving 10% of your income to charities and such, but I think the most important thing is simply to put giving first—before paying your bills, before buying yourself nice things.
This ties into the money mindset we talked about earlier. If you train yourself to view money as a gift that’s worth sharing, you free yourself of the fear of losing it. You realize it was never really “yours” to begin with.