Get Rich Quick Isn’t Always A Scam
The term “Eventual Millionaire”? is simple. It states that eventually,?I will have a million dollar net worth because I’m doing the things it takes to become a millionaire.
When I was 21 my strategy had been to put about $300 per month in our retirement account and it would be worth over $1.7 million when I am 62. In this example,?I’m disregarding inflation, since I would still be called a millionaire even if the money isn’t worth as much as today. Here is a calculator that does the calculations for you too.
That seemed to be a good plan. Having $1.7 million meant that I would achieve my goal to be a millionaire and, based on my calculations, my husband and I would be able to live on $3,000 per month until I was 91.
But is that it? I would hit my goal of becoming a millionaire and have enough money to live out my general life expectancy. Not amazingly great but not eating cat food at 90 years old.
But is that it? Since we do only have one life, why not shoot for the best? If we don’t shoot for it, we’ll never get it.
I’m reading a great book called Millionaire Fastlane. It’s by MJ DeMarco who runs the Fastlane Forum. I’ll be doing a full book review soon, but I wanted to highlight one piece.
The Fastlane vs the Slowlane
The back of the book says that MJ Demarco is the “Get Rich Slow”? anti-guru. Usually,?I’m skeptical of any get rich quick advice, but I love this book.
He differentiates between “Get Rich Quick”? and “Get Rich Easy?. “I tend to equate “Get Rich Quick”? with scammers who sell to people that just want to make an easy buck. However, in reality, there are companies that grow very fast. It might not be easy, but it’s quick.
MJ put my new theory into reality with his story. My previous plan was what he calls the Slowlane. You are frugal. You save and save and save and eventually you can become a millionaire. Even people without huge incomes can become a millionaire.
Then there is the Fastlane, where you become a producer and create a business that brings value to millions. You create the business with the intention of growth and the sale of the business.
My backup plan is the Slowlane. I’m staying frugal and putting money away. Not as much as I would if the Slowlane was my number one priority, but enough to achieve the goal.
Instead, I am making the Fastlane my first priority and putting the extra money into my business.
Who knows if I can ride the Fastlane and only work 20-30 hours per week? I’m not sure yet, but I’m going to give it my best.
Thanks for riding with me! (Can you tell I love his analogy?)
What is your plan? How big are your goals, and what stops you from making them bigger?
Tags: business strategy, Goals, Wealth Building
Categories: All, Business, Entrepreneurship, Goals
Hi I’m Jaime. Each and every week I bring you the top business advice from the people who know best.
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17 responses
I’ll be riding with you all the way Jaime. Thanks for sharing. And you’ve really got me thinking about goals 🙂
Excellent Blessing!
I tell you what.. becoming a millionaire just sneaks up on you. One day, you’ll add up all the calculations and say “WOW! Here I am!”
And then, the fun is kinda over b/c what’s after $1 million? $5 million? The fun is the journey, which is something you should joy, and something I miss.
That’s a very good point Financial Samurai! I grew up with a friend that came from a very wealthy family, and was thinking to myself one day that the fact that I have to MAKE my own money (i.e the journey of making money) is truly the exciting part. I don’t think it would be nearly as interesting to just be given it all. Seeing it grow is the fun part!
I agree too Jacob. I don’t want to win the lottery. But I think it can all be counted as a journey! Even after you make a million.
Does that mean you are? Because I’ll need to interview you on my series. 😉
But isn’t is all a journey anyway? Whether it’s to a million or to 10 million? They are just numbers and goals.
@ Jaime! – haha…no not that weatlhy! But, I am working on it! Maybe with the tips I learn from the Yakezie PF blogs, I’ll be able to achieve that some day!
I totally agree with the shoot high approach. What’s that saying – “shoot for the moon, at least you’ll end up among the stars” something like that anyway!
The bottom line is choices, you want to have the ability to do things like buy the awesome car you have in the pic there. You may not actually do it, but man it’s so nice to have that choice be yours isn’t it.
I’m also a big believer in investing in yourself and in your business. It’s not my style to sit around being frugal and saving. This year, I’m supplementing my income by living off savings (yikes, something I don’t typically advise!). But I made the decision that I need this year to invest in myself and my growth. I know that will pay off in the long run – even in the short run.
It’s a little stressful, true. I’ve read enough of your posts to know you like the security of having money in the bank and seeing your net worth grow. But your true net worth is more than numbers on a page at the end of this month, and to focus only on that is short sighted.
Good for you Jaime, I’m glad to see you making this shift. I think it’s an empowering move for you, good luck!
Thanks Chris! I’m really impressed too. That’s a huge leap and I bet you’ll grow by leaps and bounds this year. 2011 will be your year! 🙂
Jaime, I’m with you. Become a producer, create a great business and hopefully do what you love while raking in the benjamins. But it’s not bad to be a little frugal on the way there.
My goal is to get to a point where I don’t have to worry about money and can run an interesting business without completly breaking my back doing it. Don’t know what dollar amount that is yet, but my wife and I don’t need too much to make us happy. A few extra bucks for some cool vacations would be nice.
I’m with you too! I think you need to be frugal or at least have your goal of accumulating wealth higher than the need to spend. 🙂
Interesting idea–thank you for sharing. I never thought about the difference between get rich quick and get rich easy.
I’ll take the get rich quick, and I’ll work for it, too!
Jaime, thanks for the nice write up — glad you enjoyed the book!! Yes, Get Rich Quick exists and we see it all the time … how did Mark Zuckerburg become one of the youngest billionaires ever? The conduit to creating exponential income/wealth is to leverage your efforts into controllable, leveraged, business assets. (Leverage doesn’t mean debt or risky real estate loans!) The real misconception is believing in “Get Rich Easy” and thinking that you can make millions working a few hours a week using outsourced assistants in India. =) Talk to ya in Januray Jaime!
Thanks for the message. It’s amazing to have the author himself stop by and comment!
We should not only be impressed by your story, but by the fact that you want to be on the ground floor helping others. Thanks again.
Most people still think the old way. I’ve had someone tell me (after reading the free chapters on amazon) that they are 50 and too old to do the fastlane. I responded with examples like facebook and youtube and told him that he could be a multi-millionaire at 55.
Love it – “If we don’t shoot for it, we won’t get it!” Lol.. the analogy.