Snapshot of Your Average Multi-Millionaire

In my five year Rich Habits Study, I asked 233 multimillionaires 144 questions that covered almost every aspect of their lives. For five years, I got to be that fly on the wall and learned just about everything anyone would need to know about what the wealthy do to build their wealth empire.

The insight I gained into their lives completely was profound. After I completed my Rich Habits research, my previous disdain for the rich morphed into admiration.

All of the indoctrination about the rich I had received growing up without money, melted away under the hot coals of reality.

Who are the wealthy?

• We’re Self Made – 76% of us were self-made, meaning we came from poor households (41%) or the middle-class (59%). Only 24% of us inherited our wealth from our parents or grandparents.
• We’re Worth At Least $3.2 million – 16% of us are worth more than $5 million. We make $160,000 or more a year. Half of us make close to $500,000 a year.
• We’re Not Young – 80% of us are 50 years of age or older.
• It Took A Lot of Time To Build Our Wealth – It took us a long time to accumulate our wealth, depending on the path we took: #1 Path Saver-Investor, #2 Path Big Company Climbers, #3 Path Virtuosos (Experts in our field or industry) and lastly #4 Path Dreamer-Entrepreneurs.
  • Saver-Investor Path Took Us 32 Years – 30% of us were Saver-Investors. It took us an average of 32 years to accumulate an average of $3,260,000. We made most of our money saving 20% or more of our middle-class net pay. We then prudently and consistently invested our savings over 32 years. Most of our savings were invested in stocks, mutual funds, annuities or real estate. As we got closer to retirement, we became more conservative and, to protect the wealth we had accumulated, we shifted our investments into less aggressive investments, such as bonds or annuities.
  • Big Company Climber Path Took Us 21 Years – 9% of us were Big Company executives. Most of us worked for large publicly-help companies. The rest of us worked for large partnerships or LLCs. It took us an average of 21 years to accumulate an average wealth of $3,375,000. Many of us were also Saver-Investors, which helped to further grow our wealth. We made most of our income in the following ways:
    • Stock Compensation – We received significant amounts of qualified and/or non-qualified stock options, stock grants or stock equivalent compensation in the form of stock appreciation rights.
    • Profits Distributions – Those of us who were partners or shareholders in large privately-help companies received profits distributions that were often significant.
    • Base Compensation – Our base compensation grew over many years, as we rose up the ladder within our organizations. For some of us, this compensation was as high as $500,000.
    • Incentive Bonus Plans – About 40% of our annual earned income came from incentive bonuses.
  • Virtuoso Path Took Us 20 Years – 21% of us were Virtuoso’s. We were considered among the most expert within our field or industry. It took us an average of 20 years to accumulate an average wealth of $3,980,000. Some of us were Knowledge-based Virtuoso’s and some of us were Skill-Based Virtuoso’s. Due to our unique expertise, we were among the highest paid within our respective field or industry. Because we were in such high demand, we were able to make additional income as paid speakers, speaking at national and international industry events. This speaker income was significant – some of us made as much as $250,000 per year as paid speakers. Many of us were also Saver-Investors, which helped to further grow our wealth.
  • Dreamer-Entrepreneur Path Took Us 12 Years – 46% of us were Entrepreneurs. We pursued some dream. It took us an average of 12 years to accumulate an average wealth of $7,450,000. 27% of us failed at least once in business. But that didn’t stop us from trying again. Most of us eventually became Saver-Investors. This happened when cash flow grew, allowing us to set aside 30 – 50% of our income as savings, which we prudently invested. Growing our wealth was very stressful on us and on our families. We worked long hours and many of us struggled financially in the early part of our journey, unable to pay ourselves or save any money until cash flow improved.
• We Like or Love What We Do – 86% of us liked what we did for a living. 7% of us loved what we did for a living and 7% of us did not like what we did for a living.
• We Had Success Mentors In Life – The richest among us had success mentors who taught us what to do and what not to do. For some of us, our mentors were our parents. For others, our mentors were work-related.
• We Are Voracious Readers – We read every day to learn. 88% of us read every day to increase our knowledge for our job. 85% of us read a minimum of two books a month. 63% of us listened to audio books or podcasts while we’re commuting to work, exercising or working in our backyards. We didn’t read for entertainment. We consider entertainment reading a complete waste of time.
• We Have Good Habits – 31% of us learned our Rich Habits from our parents.
• We’re Competitive – 63% of us played competitive sports in high school and continued playing competitive sports as we got older.
• We’re in Good Health – We exercise almost every day. 76% of us exercised at least 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week. We like to jog, run, bike, hike or play sports. We watch what we eat every day. We don’t eat much junk food. We don’t go to fast food restaurants. We don’t eat candy. We don’t get drunk. We don’t do drugs. We floss every day. We sleep at least 7 hours a night. We don’t smoke.
• We Mentor Others – We get joy out of helping others succeed in life.
• We’re Charitable – 72% of us volunteered 5 hours or more a month at local, community-based non-profits. We also give money to these same charities.
• Almost Have Financial Advisors – We bounce almost everything off our CPA. We also have attorneys, financial advisors, certified financial planners and sometimes estate planners. Some of us like to pick our own investments but then we almost always bounce investment ideas off our financial advisors.
• We’re Happy
• Same House, Same Spouse, Same Car – 64% of us own modest homes. We’ve owned our home at least 20 years. Very few of us get divorced. We drive old cars. Most of the time we buy high quality used cars. We hardly ever lease a car.
• We Plan Our Day – 81% of us keep a To-Do List or Priority List, which helps us prioritize what we would like to accomplish during our very busy days. Many of these To-Do’s are activities we engage in that are tied to some goals or goals we are pursuing. We also maintain a To-Don’t List, which is a list of things we refuse to do or waste our time on.
• We Vote – 83% of us vote at every election.
• We Don’t Take Expensive Vacations – 96% of us spend less than $6,000 a year on vacations. 41% of us spend less than $3,000 a year.
• We Wake Up Early – 41% of us wake up at least 3 hours before our work day actually begins. During those three hours we read to learn, some of us write, others study facts about their industry, some of us used that time to pursue degrees, advanced degrees or certifications. We also use some of that time to exercise.
• We Are Decision-Makers – Many of us were decision makers where we worked. We’re one of these: small business owner, CEO, senior executive, CPA, attorney, doctor, financial advisor or salesman. Some of us are teacher – both spouses wee teachers.
• We’re Frugal, Not Cheap – We seek to spend the least amount of money on the highest quality products or services.
• No All of Us We Went to College – 68% of us went to college. 56% of us had to work our way through college. 21% of us went to graduate school.
• We Have a High-Risk Tolerance – We’re not afraid to take risks. 63% of us took a risk in order to become rich. 27% of us failed at least once in business.
• We Work Hard – 73% of us work an average of 58 hours a week.
• We Pursue Goals – 80% of us are focused on one major goal at any given time.
• We Control Our Emotions – We do get mad or angry but we don’t express those emotions – we control them.
• Out Inner Circle Includes Other Successful People – We hang out with other successful people or people who are upbeat, optimistic and have something on the ball. We don’t hang out with negative people or people who complain all the time. We avoid them like the plague.
• We Don’t Gamble – 84% of us never gamble.
• We Believe in the American Dream – Our parents instilled that in us and our parents were right. We are living the American Dream.
• We obey the laws – 99% of us have never been arrested.
• We Built Teams To Help Us Succeed – 84% of us have a team of individuals we rely on every day.
• We Are Savers – 94% of us, even the Dreamer-Entrepreneurs, eventually became Saver-Investors, saving 20% of our income. All of us have retirement savings.
• We Have Multiple Streams of Income – 65% of us have 3 streams of income. 45% of us have 4 streams. 29% of us have 5 streams.
• We Don’t Watch TV – 67% of us watch less than an hour of TV each day.
• We’re Optimists – We have a positive mental outlook. We avoid associating with or doing business with anyone who has a negative outlook on life.
• We Don’t Lie – Many of us were were able to build our wealth because we were honest and that helped us forge valuable relationships with people who trusted us.
• We Were Not Great Students – 77% of us were either C students or B students in school. But we got smart after school. We self-educated. We never stopped learning our entire adult lives.

Tom Corley is an accountant, financial planner and author of “Rich Kids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life”, “Effort-Less Wealth”, “Change Your Habits Change Your Life”, “Rich Habits Poor Habits”, “Rich Habits: The Routines Millionaires Use Daily to Build Wealth” and “Rich Habits Wealth Academy.”