Most Millionaires Do This First… Almost No One Else Does

If you're making good money and still broke, something is seriously off. And no, it's not the economy. I see it every week. And most people never figure out the problem until it's too late. Our team has spent over 30 years fixing this problem. And we are experts at helping high earners maximize their income. If you watch this next part, you'll finally see the habits draining your bank account and the moves that can flip your entire financial future and put you on the path to becoming a millionaire. Let's get into it.

And Phil, the other thing that I think typically plagues a nine-to-five worker, when they get a salary increase, it turns into, oh, I've got more money to spend. The instinct is, got more money now, I'm going to spend it. The instinct should be, I have more money, let me save more. Why? Why is it that as soon as money hits your pocket, it burns a hole in it?

Well, here's why. Because all of these people that want this path to millionaire status.

Yeah.

And everyone listening to the show already has the path. They might not be on it, but they have access to that path. They don't have a goal. They don't have a game plan. And they lose focus. They lose sight. They just say, "In general, I want to be a millionaire."

Yeah.

Well, you got to go a little deeper than that. But you've got to figure out when do I want to get there. What pace am I willing to run to get there? What am I willing to do to get there? You got to set all of that on the front end.

Yeah.

If you don't, you're going to fall off the track, right? You're going to be off that path in short order.

In short order. And Phil, the important thing about this fourth power move that we're talking about, you need to know what savings rate is appropriate for you. So, we say pay yourself first. And you, a listener might say, "Okay, guys, well, that's really helpful." The helpful part of that is understanding that if you make $100,000 and you save 30% of your income, you can reach a millionaire status faster than someone making $300,000 saving 5%.

Absolutely. I see people all the time that make 300, 400, 500, a million.

Yeah.

But they don't save. They live a lifestyle that's equal to the income or beyond, right? So they have no discretionary dollars. Certainly they can't pay themselves first. Spell, we've had people, we've listened to people say these are people that made five 600,000 a year and they say, we really don't have any money left each month.

Right.

That is shocking to me.

Yeah.

That they make that much money and they have no money left each month. That shocks me. But it is reality. And so I think you're right. The savings rate's important. And for people that are a little older, if they're over 50 like me and you feel like you're behind, if you've done some analysis and you realize you're behind, you've got this thing called a catch-up contribution.

True.

That allows you to put in 2026 another 8,000 can go towards your 401k savings.

Yep. That's a big possibility for catchup right there. Give up a little bit now so you can live better tomorrow. And that means don't spend more than you earn.

Right. And certainly if you have to make sure it's for something that is absolutely necessary. If it's not, don't do it.

Yeah, that's right. Phil, you talk about burn rate all the time with our clients and so why don't you walk the viewer through burn rate? What is burn rate and why is it so important to our power move number seven?

Everyone has one and whether you measure it by the year or by the month. I like to measure them by the month, but your burn rate every month tells you here's what I'm going to have left at the end of each month. Here's how fast my money is going out the door. And if you don't know what that burn rate is, you're certainly not going to control it.

No.

But once you see it and you realize that that money is just flying out the door, now you've got a chance to change it, right? But if you don't, then you're never going to create a consistent surplus of income. And if you don't create surplus, then the conversation about growing your wealth to a million or beyond, it's over. It's done. Why even have a why even talk about it if you're not willing to put the credit card down? Live on what you earn or below what you earn because the ideal target savings rate is 20 to 30%.

Now, most people are probably saying, "Wow, that's high." And it is. That's precisely why most people never get to the status of being wealthy because they're never willing to think about it as not being high.

That's right.

But think about it as being a goal. And I'm going to get to that goal of 20 to 30%.

That's right.

Period. I'm going to do it. I'm going to learn how to live on less.

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