How Anyone Can Become a Millionaire (At Any Age!)

You've heard it your whole life. Work hard, save money, and one day you'll be a millionaire. But here's the problem. Most people never get there. No matter how hard they work or how much they save, the truth is the path to a million looks very different depending on your age and the season of life you're in.

Today, I'm sitting down with Phil Clark, who for over 30 years has helped people in their 20s, 40s, and even 60s hit that millionaire milestone.

Everything that's worth having requires discipline. If you think about the power of compound, it's the eighth wonder of the world. It's very powerful. So, if you fail to use it, that's on you. I don't think anyone is restricted from becoming a millionaire.

Whether you're just starting out in the middle of your career, or wondering if it's too late, we're going to break it down by age and show you the moves that actually make it happen.

Phil, today we're continuing the impromptu Johnny on the spot, however you want to say it, questioning. And so I'm putting you to the test. And I've got a number of questions today. Today is going to be a lot of fun because it's a topic that we talk about all the time with our clients. And these questions that I'm going to ask you are questions that we field constantly.

Some of them are from the younger generation. Some of them are from the middle age generation and then some of them are from our older clients. It's not a different question. It might be asked a different way but all these questions by and large are the same.

And so I'm going to start with the first and that is everyone wants to be a millionaire but tell us what separates those who just talk about it and those who actually get to be a millionaire.

If I had to describe it in one word it would just be discipline, right? There's just discipline and people that want to be a millionaire. When I grew up, Spell, everybody. When I grew up, the number was if we could get to a million dollars, we'd be so wealthy. It would be beyond anything that we could imagine. It was like winning a lottery. And so, but it was almost insurmountable. We couldn't really see how to do it.

What we learned along the way, and it's no different today, is discipline, right? You've got to create a path and then you have to stay on that path. And every time you get off that path, you don't necessarily destroy the opportunity, but you absolutely set back the time to success. So you create more work for yourself.

So if people could have discipline, figure out what the game plan looks like, what's it going to take to get there, and then follow that path, I think almost anyone could become a millionaire.

Yeah, without a doubt. So to make a dream turn to reality just requires a little bit of discipline.

Everything that's worth having requires discipline.

True.

Period. You look at the best sports team. Spell, you were a soccer player from your very formative years all the way through your university years and a darn good soccer player. It didn't happen because you were born with great footwork, great physique and strength. You weren't born with all of that ready to go. It took years of getting ready, right? And the years of getting ready was discipline.

That is true.

Right. Without the discipline, you would have never been captain of a university soccer team.

What's the number one mistake that you see quietly killing young people? Not people who have been in their career for a while. These are young people. So, think 20s. What mistake that you have to, you have to list one. What's the number one mistake?

It's priorities out of order, right? They don't get their priorities right. So if you have discipline to do anything, then you're probably going to be pretty good at prioritizing because priority doesn't always mean putting things in an order that's going to feel good.

Yeah.

It means putting things in order to get a certain result. And if you don't learn how to do that, then you probably don't have much discipline.

Yeah.

Right. Or you're not going to stick to it.

Yeah.

So I think young or old really doesn't matter the age. You need discipline to carry out the mission because to start the mission everybody gets excited and they say, "Oh, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it." And a lot of that's emotion and that emotion gets us started. The problem is the emotion wears off after a while unless it's something that you truly have passion for.

So, if you don't have the passion, let's just say it's almost a whim and you say, "Well, I'm going to do this." Think losing weight, so I'm going to go lose a lot of weight. Well, you get excited, but then things get real when you plateau and then you got to really change your diet and you might even have to work out. Well, now all of a sudden things aren't nearly as fun. And that zeal that you had is starting to die a little bit. And so then without discipline, you can't finish it.

That's right.

So you can be emotionally charged, but if you're not passionate, then you better hope you have good discipline. So I think then priorities, right? You're going to set good priorities. You're going to figure out what those are, and you're going to set them, and then your discipline's going to make sure you keep them in the right order.

Yeah.

Yeah. So I'd say it's bad order of priority.

Okay. Yeah. Phil, you've been in this business for a little over 30 years.

33 years now. 33. 34 years. 34 maybe.

Okay. I want you to take yourself back to your 20s and 30s. What bold moves would you make today given that you were a 20 or 30 year old to set yourself up for success to be a millionaire? What would you do differently?

I did one thing right early in my 20s. I had this insatiable urge to save. Now, part of that, Spell, was because I came from nothing. So, I didn't have anything. And when I started making enough money where I could save, I wanted to save everything.

Yeah.

And it was not because I was trying to make myself wealthy. It's because I wanted this cushion. I wanted to feel secure. And so I would forego out to eat with friends. I would forego even dating. I didn't want to do that because I had to spend money. It's expensive. And so I just wanted to see my bank account grow.

Mhm.

So that was one discipline that helped and that discipline today still serves me well. But there's something that I didn't do that I should have. Okay?

Okay.

And I didn't invest aggressively enough early because I was too busy focused on just trying to get myself this cushion and I was forgetting the very thing that I was teaching other people. And I look back on that. I don't worry about it today and I certainly don't regret any of it. But my net worth today, I really don't know what it could look like, Spell, if I had started sooner with more aggressive investments. But in a lot of ways, when I was in my 20s, I invested like an old man and it was really too conservative.

Yeah.

And I see a lot of people make that mistake today, particularly young people when we're in 401k meetings or enrollments. I see people that are 25 years old and they invest like they're going to retire next year.

Yeah.

And so I'd say that was, saving was not a problem for me, but investing the right way early enough. That probably was one of the mistakes that I made.

So you would have changed, not a savings issue, which unfortunately most of America has a problem with today. And the statistics tell us that personal savings are by and large at an all-time low.

Yeah.

You didn't have that problem. You had that box checked. But what you wish you could go back and do over is the allocation or the way in which you were invested, the aggressiveness of the investments that you held.

Well, if you think about the power of compounding and you think about it being the eighth wonder of the world.

Yeah.

What an incredible thing. It is a pretty incredible thing. And if you use it, it will deliver some good results to you. But it's the eighth wonder of the world. It's very powerful, but it only works for those who use it, right? So if you fail to use it, that's on you.

Yeah.

So savings wasn't a problem. In fact, saving was such an easy thing for me, Spell. It was sort of a, not a game, but it was a challenge. And I remember in my early 20s, all I had my sight set on was I want to see $100,000 in my savings account.

Yep.

What a horrible place to have it. And when I got there, I thought, what are you doing with $100,000 in your savings account? Yet, I didn't change it. And I think back in my 20s, I should have changed it because now in my 50s, just that first hundred would have been worth millions today.

Yeah, for sure.

Just that. And so that huge mistake. And I think more young people need to recognize that you're not investing for tomorrow, meaning next year. You're investing for 20 or 30 years down the road, right? Let the markets and let compound interest do its thing and reward you.

Yep.

That's a huge mistake that a lot of people make.

Even though you may not like it, I'm just going to give you a little insight into what that $100,000 that you accumulated in your savings account would be worth. I assume that you got to the $100,000 mark at your age, let's just say 23.

That was about 24, first 100 saved.

All right. So 24, you hit 100. I said, "Let's earn 10% on that money year-over-year, not add anything to it." Today, that $100,000 would be worth $1.75 million.

And that's the spirit of this show. And that's the spirit of this episode. We're talking about how to become a millionaire. And it's really, for those who are younger, it's not as hard as it may seem to get to the two column club or the two comma club.

Yeah.

Is not as difficult as one may make it out to be.

Goes back to the first thing I said. It's discipline, right? You've got to have the discipline. My discipline was, and at that stage in my life, I had friends who enjoyed going out.

Yeah.

And of course, a young man, that's the scene where you can meet a new girlfriend or find lots of fun things to do and maybe even find your future bride.

Yep.

That wasn't the case for me and because I was so focused on the savings. But so I think it goes back to the discipline and I can't iterate or make that, I can't reiterate that enough.

But here's the other thing you said. What's the number one mistake that they make? Well, I don't know if there's a number one, number two. But I can sure tell you that that discipline, that structured approach to trying to build your wealth, it starts with a budget.

Yeah.

And I think if young people could get their mind wrapped around a budget.

Yeah.

I know they don't want to. Most people don't like a budget because they believe it's restrictive. But if you could learn to use a budget and really understand what's coming in the door and what's going out the door and where those dollars are being spent, right? So great that you have income and great that you maybe have a little bit left over, but where did it go? How are you spending it? And knowing if it's a required expense versus a desired expense.

Yeah.

That can be gamechanging for people. And if someone had just given me that advice, it would have supercharged what I was trying to accomplish.

Yeah.

Now, things turned out okay. But as I look back, if there's one thing I could get young people to do today, it would be to organize their priorities around things that matter, not the things that don't matter. They're not the things that going to bring them joy. They're certainly not going to bring them long-term success, right? They're probably going to cost them a lot of money, but it's discipline.

Get those priorities right that you've already asked about. And part of that is, within all that, it's getting that budget right.

Yeah.

Saving early and investing like you're a young person, not like you're 60.

Right. Okay. Let's talk about someone who may be 60. So the next question is a lot of people say or think, well, for me it's too late. I can't become a millionaire. Is that true?

I think it's true if you believe it. If you believe it's true, then you'll talk yourself out of doing it. Is it true in reality? No, of course not. Right. It's only true if you make it your truth, so to speak.

Yeah.

And as much as I hate, that's part of why I hate that term, because people will turn things into a truth that's really a lie. It's not, it's...

Yeah, it's false.

It's just a lie. And so, they can lie to themselves and they'll say, "Well, I'm too old to do it." Spell, we meet with people all the time that are heading towards 60 fast and they're still able to accumulate a million dollars if they understand how to do it, and much more.

Well, yeah, I was going to say or more.

Yeah, significantly more.

So, I don't think anyone is restricted from becoming a millionaire. Yeah. I think most people are restricted from getting out of their way. Yeah. Getting out of the mindset of I can't do and getting into the mindset of I can do, and then building a plan so that they understand what to do, and then have the discipline to do it. Yeah.

And if you don't have the discipline to do it, then get someone who can hold you accountable. True. That might be a financial planner, that might be a wealth adviser, might, whatever it is you want to call them. It might just be a good friend who will hold you accountable, but get someone who will hold you accountable if you can't keep the discipline going. Yeah.

Not to take this away from finance, but you brought up a good analogy I think maybe that will resonate with folks, and that's weight loss. Weight loss on your own can be very, very difficult, but if you have a personal trainer or you have a friend who you go to the gym with or who you go walk with or whatever it is, you have the accountability piece now, and that I think creates discipline.

Accountability is so important, and Spell, as much as I don't like this, this is an outcome that's occurred for a lot of reasons, but we don't have a lot of accountability today because people don't want to say things to someone that might hurt their feelings, right? And I think that's a horrible way to live, because what people need to know is what's real, not what you think they want to hear. Tell them what you know they need to hear. Right?

And so if they've told you what their goals are, then don't play back to them some stupid platitude that's going to cause them to fail. Play back to them the very things that will help hold them accountable. It's true. So if it's weight loss, if it's money savings, if it's accumulating a million dollars, whatever it is. Yep. An accountability partner is huge, which is why I believe in marriage, or I believe in having a significant other, someone who will help you. That becomes your best friend usually. Oh, yeah. And that person will know you better than any, and they will help hold you accountable.

Now, short of that, get your best friend. Someone who you know, like, and trust that you know is not going to leave you in a time of need. Someone who's going to tell you the truth. They're going to be straight with you. Get that person in your life and do the same for them. Yeah.

What's the most surprising way that someone has become a millionaire? 40s and 50s. Yeah. There's a number of things that I think about here. Probably the one that surprises people the most is inheritance. True. But because so many parents in the boomer generation, they don't share anything with their kids. Yep. They feel like that's taboo. And so they don't really talk about the money with the kids, and even the generation beyond. So they don't want to talk about that.

And I see a lot of people in their 40s, particularly in their 50s, parent dies and all of a sudden they have just inherited 200, 400, 500,000, and they already have a few hundred,000, maybe a half million or a million in their 401k, and all of a sudden, boom, they could even be a multi-millionaire. And so that comes as a surprise. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to clients say, "I had no idea." Yeah. That mom or dad had this kind of money.

The other one is their investments finally take off. So they've been saving and all of a sudden they realize that the compounding effect is starting to work, and they creep over that million mark. I had a client recently, very, and his mark, this was $10 million mark for him. Yeah. But he sent me an email. Here's a guy that's getting towards 50 years old. And he said, "I knew I was getting close to the $10 million mark." And he said, "But I realized that one of these accounts shouldn't be there." And he asked me to remove it from his portal. And we did. And so he was just under. But his excitement, you could feel it. Oh, yeah. He said, "I knew I was close." And he said, "I'm almost there." And it feels the same for someone who just hit a million.

But I think inheritance is one of those that creates great surprise. Yeah. And the other one is business owners, young entrepreneurs who have a business, and after they've had that business and it's finally taking shape and taking flight, all of a sudden their P&L in the business begins to look really, really good. They've paid off a lot of the debt in the business, and suddenly they've got a million-doll income potentially.

How much does the type of career you choose affect or matter in your journey to a million?

We'll get right back to today's show, but first I'd like to ask you a quick favor. If you're enjoying this episode, hit that like button and make sure that you're subscribed to our channel so you don't miss what's coming next. And hey, if something in today's episode has you wondering about your own financial plan, why not get a second opinion? Visit omnistarfinancial.com to schedule a consultation with one of our team members. It's quick, it's easy, it could make a huge difference in your financial future. Now, let's get back to the show.

The simple answer is, and the one that everybody, all of our listeners right now are saying, "Well, of course it matters." If you're a doctor, if you're a surgeon, if you're some, people naturally say, "Well, of course that person's going to get to a million because they make so much money." Yeah. I'm going to just take that thought away from our listener for a minute. Do it. And I'm just going to simply say that yes, income matters. Of course, the more you make, the more chance, or the better your chance of reaching a million. Mhm.

But let's go back to something else for a minute. I don't care how much you make. If you are afflicted with something called lifestyle creep, then I don't care what you make, you're never going to get to a million, because you're going to blow everything that you make. Yep. So I think once again, back to discipline.

So yes, career matters. If you are fortunate enough to get into a career where you can make 500, 600, 800,000, or even a quarter of a million a year. And a lot of people right out of school, within a few years, that's what they're making. Yep. So, yes, that's going to make a difference if they have the discipline to save. They can get there really fast if they have the discipline.

But you know what? I've seen people, Spell, that make $75,000 a year get to a million faster than a person that makes 250. That's right. Because they have discipline. Right? They had a goal and they are focused on it and they live below their means. They don't have lifestyle creep, because at 75,000 they can't afford the lifestyle creep like someone with a quart million, and all the grandiose things are not in their eye like it is with someone who's making 250, because they can reach it. They know they can go buy that stuff. 75,000 a year person, they're not as apt to do it, or as likely.

You can make a million dollars worth of accumulation in relatively short order if you understand the power of compounding. Spending does not allow your dollars to compound. Saving, and then to go back into your 20s or 30s and maybe adjust slightly how you invested what you saved. Right. That's the name of the game. Yeah. That's the name of the game. It's simple. The discipline to save today is going to make you a millionaire tomorrow. Period.

You are spot on. I think of a situation, or a relationship, years ago. Mhm. Anesthesiologist. Now, think about this for a minute. This was probably 15 years ago. Guy's making 480, 500 a year. Yeah. Every time I turned around, he had a new Porsche, a Range Rover. Everything that could spend his money, he had it. And every year he had to have more. He needed a bigger house. He needed all kinds of things.

Now, when I look at that person making a half million a year as a young man, he should be at the millionaire status in short order. Couple years, shouldn't take long. No. Right. Four years tops, he could have done it. But, and here's the other part, he didn't have any debt. He was fortunate enough by way of his family to come out of med school and literally be debt-free. He came out of and was an anesthesiologist. And was an anesthesiologist. Wow. Because his family paid for his education. That's a golden ticket right there. What a golden ticket. That by itself is worth millions over your lifetime. It's worth millions. Oh, for sure.

So, here's a guy that needed so many things because that became his identity. That was his identity and he needed it. He craved it. And so I would compare him to clients who were making a third of what he made, and their wealth picture, their trajectory, was far better than his, because their lifestyle creep never occurred. Yeah. They lived a certain life and they were happy with that life.

So you look at a guy like that, he needed all this stuff for his identification. Yeah. But he was wasting great years, Spell, where he could begin accumulating a lot, and so he had no discipline. His priorities were way out of order. Yeah. And as a result he spent a small fortune, and to some people a large fortune. So I do think career matters. It does, but it only matters if you have the discipline to allow it to matter. Right. Right.

All right. We're going to do something fun to close. So, I'm going to go all the way from 20 into the people who are in their 60s. You've got two or three sentences for each group, and then I want you to, then we'll wrap. But if you had a 20-year-old in front of you and you had two to three sentences, what would you tell them? What piece of tailored advice would you give a 20-year-old to help them become a millionaire?

Figure out what you're making. Figure out what you're spending. How much of it's required? How much of it's desired? What do we have left? How much are you willing to save? And invest. What does that look like? What kind of investment program fits for you? You've got 40 years to retirement. Let's be aggressive and let's get started now.

And if I was going to tailor it just a little bit more, everything that we could push into Roth, that's where it would go. If he was employed, we'd start a Roth IRA. And if he's at an employer, I would absolutely have him moving everything he can into the Roth part of that 401k. Okay? Because it's all tax-free. Okay?

So to shorten that, you would say figure out what you're making, analyze required versus desired, and then strategize where the money is going. That's right. Okay. 30s. What would you tell somebody who's in their 30s?

So in 30s, I would start with required versus desired expense, because they're probably already saving. If they're not, then we're going to call that out. We got to get them saving. Y in their 30s, you've just missed the best part of your savings years where compound interest can really make a difference. So they would have missed that part. So if they're not saying we got to fix that, but then it's in their 30s, that's where lifestyle creep is spotted more often than not.

And so I would say required versus desired becomes the most important part. If it's not required, then it's desired. And if it's desired, that means part of it can go away. Yep. So, we have to prioritize what part of desired needs to stay and only keep what is truly required. Okay? Then we're going to have more discretionary income. Save going to build wealth faster. Okay?

I'm not even going to try and abbreviate that. So, it's just required versus desired. Then, we're still figuring where the money goes. That's right. Okay.

40s, things are a little bit different, because in your 40s, you're probably reaching some of your best earning years, and so at that point, you have to be concerned about some other things. Yes, investing is important, but if you've done anything halfway right, you're already on your way. But you got to make sure that risk is taken care of in your 40s. So, what if you are killed? Is your family going to be okay?

So, you got to make sure that risk management's under control. And that could be disability insurance, life insurance, could be property and casualty insurance. All those things need to be in place, because if an event happens, you're at your peak generally in your 40s heading into your 50s. Something comes unraveled at that point, there's probably not enough time to fix it. Yeah. Right. There may not be enough time to recoup. Y and so in your 40s, early 50s, you've got to make sure that risk management is cared for properly.

Okay. So 40s is still saving. You've get probably peak, maybe not quite peak, but really good earning years. Figuring out where the money's going. Hopefully you've already got that established. And then ensuring that the other things, the what-ifs, are covered. Yeah. It's the risk that nobody thinks about, right? There's so many of them. And they're throughout your life. Yeah. But around that age, in your 40s, that's where I tend to see people miss a lot of that. Yeah. And you better have that buttoned up, because something could happen. Got it. Got it. All right. 50.

So we're sort of in the last decade prior to really gearing up for retirement. So what do you tell somebody in their 50s?

Yeah. Unless they have really just done such a great job with saving, and unless I can look at their situation and know that they're ahead of the curve, then we're going to get focused on the last 10 years of maxing everything. You got to try your best to save. Save in the right places. This is where tax efficiency becomes really, really important. You got one last sprint.

Yeah.

To get really prepared for retirement, right? You're 10 years away. Most people today want to retire by 60, 62. So, you got 10 years. This is where you better get it right. And so, if you're short, you have to get so disciplined at this point. And if you've allowed lifestyle creep at this point, it's going to be harder because now you've got to reverse some of this. You've got to say, you know what, I'm willing to give up some things. And most people today don't want to do that. It's challenging at that point, but it's doable.

Okay. All right. So 50s, you're maximizing contributions in every possible place, keeping in mind tax efficiency and tax diversification across the tax environments.

Yeah.

And you're trying to focus more on your discipline, particularly if you're way behind.

Yeah. And keep in mind as you're working on that discipline, there's one more thing that goes with that. You're learning what your lifestyle really needs to be.

Yeah.

Right. Which gets you set up long before retirement. Because when you get to retirement, that's the wrong time to think, "Oh, I'll just cut my living expenses now." It doesn't work that way because I don't have enough. It doesn't work that way.

No, most people can't do it. And then they end up with huge amounts of debt. So, we'll probably get there in a minute, but go now.

So in the 60s, this is when you've got one chance to finalize everything to be sure the estate plan's in good order. You got to make and you should already have the basic stuff. All right. Now, it's time to be sure things get directed the way you want them to be directed. Hopefully, you've accumulated a lot. But this is the chance to be sure that your investments are dialed to the level of risk that's appropriate for you. Right? We've been in accumulation all these years. So, aggressive, aggressive, aggressive. We get to distribution phase of life. Retirement planning is different. Distribution is different. And we've got to make this money last for the rest of your life. So, we can't invest like we're 30.

Right.

Right? We've got to change that a little bit. So, how much risk can we take? What's appropriate? The other one is now taxes become even more of a complication because you're going to have not only taxes as you finish retirement, those last earning years. Now, you're going to go through this period where you don't have any taxes potentially.

Yeah.

If you've done this right, we'll have this little lull or this little valley of income where things like Roth conversion can be important. Things like getting more tax efficient can be important. But if you miss those things and tax efficiency is missed, we don't get all this right, your retirement plan is still going to be a retirement plan.

Yeah.

But it's going to spend much differently because of all the tax. And so I say when someone gets to their 60s, it's time to get really serious. Now discipline becomes not an option. Now it's mandatory. And if you haven't been a good disciplinarian, it's going to be even harder.

Phil, I like the analogy that you used at the start, and this was not planned, but I really like it. The working out analogy. Our bodies deteriorate over time. But if we work out our muscles, which strengthens them, they can go longer and longer and longer. Same thing that I experienced on the soccer field. And anybody who goes to the gym regularly knows that you create endurance. It's no different with the financial picture. You discipline yourself from an early age. So 20s, 30s, save all you can, invest appropriately, keep that up through your 40s and 50s so that when the time comes for your ultimate retirement, you've got the legs to run the rest of the game.

You said it, it's endurance. And part of it is also just building habits early. And we all know that the sooner we build good habits, which is why I implore parents to teach their kids at an early age about money.

Yeah, teach them about money.

But that means the parents got to learn about money as well. They have to be good. But the sooner we teach young people good habits, one, there's a very low likelihood that they'll forget those habits, right? So, we build muscle memory, just like we do in the gym. And as we continue to do it, we strengthen the muscles, we build endurance, right? The heart gets more efficient.

Mhm.

Same with money. Practicing good habits, learning how to deal with tax, learning how to negotiate the tax brackets, learning how to mitigate all those risks, things that come with life. If you learn that early, you'll continue to develop it throughout life. When you reach retirement, even though you might not have the discipline that you want for every facet of your life, you will have the muscle memory to know exactly what to do. And then if you aren't quite sure, you get a good planner on your team, you're going to be great. You're going to be successful and it'll carry you through.

I say to people all the time, age is not just a number. People love to say that, but the body's going to atrophy at some point, right? People that work out a lot, people that eat a certain way and try to take care of themselves, they live a far better life for much longer in most cases. Understand if there's any advice that I could give anyone at any age.

Yeah, it really is discipline over emotion and deal with the tough times. Sometimes things won't be perfect and sometimes you'll feel like, gosh, I wish I had a little more or I wish I could do something extra.

Yeah.

But discipline is what almost any successful person will tell you got them to where they are.

There you have it. So, discipline is the key ingredient to becoming a millionaire.

Discipline and understanding priorities. You get those two right, you're going to be a millionaire in no time. If you're 20 years old and you save $188 a month for 40 years, $188 a month and earn 10% on that money, you can have a million sitting in the bank when you turn 60.

So, not even $200 a month.

Nope. Save that. Let it be invested. Put it in a Roth IRA. Leave it alone.

Put it in a Roth. And you don't just have a million. You have a million of tax-free dollars.

That's right.

Cuz once you put the money in, it's never taxed again.

Right. That's right. In that Roth, it is protected from tax on the growth and the distribution.

That's exactly right. And if they have kids and leave it to the kids, the kids don't pay tax on it.

That's exactly right. Doesn't get any better.

Pretty good right there. And then we'll talk about something else. I don't know what it'll be yet, nor will you until you get at this table. But it'll be fun.