A lot of millionaires have very specific habits and traits that make them successful.Beyond the inspirational, here are main fundamental habits that most millionaires have but they probably won’t tell you:
1. “You may think I’m rich, but I don’t.”
A recent survey found just 8 percent of millionaires think they’re “very” or “extremely” wealthy, while 19 percent don’t feel rich at all. They’re worried about health care, retirement and how they’ll sustain their lifestyle.
Indeed, many millionaires still don’t have enough for exclusive luxuries, like membership at an elite golf club, which can top $300,000 a year. While $1 million was a tidy sum three decades ago, you’d need $3.6 million for the same purchasing power today. And half of all millionaires have a net worth of $2.5 million or less. So what does it take to feel truly rich? The magic number is $23 million.
2. “I shop at Wal-Mart…”
They may not buy the 99-cent paper towels, but millionaires know what it is to be frugal. About 80 percent say they spend with a middle-class mind-set, according to a 2007 survey of high-net-worth individuals. That means buying luxury items on sale, hunting for bargains — even clipping coupons.
Most millionaires come from middle-class households, and roughly 70 percent have been wealthy for less than 15 years. That said, there are plenty of millionaires who never check a price tag. “I’ve always wanted to live above my means because it inspired me to work harder,” says Robert Kiyosaki, author of the 1997 best seller Rich Dad, Poor Dad. An entrepreneur worth millions, Kiyosaki says he doesn’t even know what his house would go for today.
3. “…but I didn’t get rich by skimping on lattes.”
So how do you join the millionaires’ club? You could buy stocks or real estate, play the slots in Vegas — or take the most common path: running your own business. That’s how half of all millionaires made their money, according to the AmEx/Harrison survey. About a third had a professional practice or worked in the corporate world; only 3 percent inherited their wealth.
Regardless of how they built their nest egg, virtually all millionaires make judicious use of debt. They’ll take out loans to build their business, avoid high-interest credit card debt and leverage their home equity to finance purchases if their cash flow doesn’t cut it. Nor is their wealth tied up in their homes. Home equity represents just 11 percent of millionaires’ total assets.
4. “I have a concierge for everything.”
That hot restaurant may be booked for months — at least when Joe Nobody calls to make reservations. But many top eateries set aside tables for celebrities and A-list clientele, and that’s where the personal concierge comes in. Working for retainers that range anywhere from $25 an hour to six figures a year, these modern-day butlers have the inside track on chic restaurants, spa reservations, even an early tee time at the golf club. And good concierges will scour the planet for whatever their clients want — whether it’s holy water blessed personally by the Pope.
5. “You don’t get rich by being nice.”
John D. Rockefeller threatened rivals with bankruptcy if they didn’t sell out to his company, Standard Oil. Bill Gates was ruthless in building Microsoft into the world’s largest software firm (remember Netscape?). Indeed, many millionaires privately admit they’re ‘bastards’ in business. They aren’t nice guys. Most millionaires share the values of their moderate-income parents. Spending time with family really matters to them. Just 12 percent say that what they want most to be remembered for is their legacy in business.Millionaires are also seemingly undaunted by failure.
7. “I was a B student.”
Mom was right when she said good grades were the key to success — just not necessarily a big bank account. A good number of millionaires went to public schools and colleges, and most of them scored average grades.
When asked to list the keys to their success, 90% of millionaires rank hard work first, followed by education, determination and treating others with respect.They also say that what they absorbed in class was less important than learning how to study and stay disciplined. But for every Ph.D. millionaire, there are many more who squeaked through school. Kiyosaki, for one, says the only way he survived college calculus was by “sitting near” the smart kids in class — “we cheated like crazy,” he says.
8. “Like my Ferrari? It’s a rental.”
Why spend $3,000 on a Versace bag that’ll be out of style as soon as next season when you can rent it for $175 a month? For that matter, why blow $250,000 on a Ferrari when for $25,000 it can be yours for a few weekends a year? Clubs that offer “fractional ownership” of jets have been popular for some time, and now the concept has extended to other high-end luxuries like exotic cars and fine art. How hot is the trend? More than 50 percent of millionaires say they plan to rent luxury goods within the next 12 months. Handbags topped the list, followed by cars, jewelry, watches and art. Online companies cater to customers who always want new designer accessories and jewelry, for prices starting at $15 a week.
For Suzanne Garner, a millionaire software engineer in Santa Clara, Calif., owning a $100,000 car didn’t make financial sense (she drives a Mazda Miata). Instead, Garner pays up to $30,000 in annual membership fees to Club Sportiva, a fractional-ownership car club in San Francisco that lets her take out Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other exotic vehicles on weekends. “I’m all about the car,” she says. And so are other people, it seems. While stopped at a light in a Ferrari recently, Garner received a marriage proposal from a guy in a pickup truck. (She declined the offer.)
9. “Turns out money can buy happiness.”
It may not be comforting to folks who aren’t minting cash, but the rich really are different. “ Roughly 70 percent of millionaires say that money ‘created’ more happiness for them. Higher income also correlates with higher ratings in life satisfaction. But it’s not necessarily the Bentley or a Ferrari that lead to bliss. It’s the freedom that money buys.
Concomitantly, rates of depression are lower among the wealthy, according to the Wharton study, and the rich tend to have better health than the rest of the population, says James Smith, senior labor economist at the Rand Corporation. (In fact, health and happiness are as closely correlated as wealth and happiness, Smith says.) The wealthy even seem to smile and laugh more often, according to the Wharton study, to say nothing of getting treated with more respect and eating better food. “People experience their day very differently when they have a lot of money,” Stevenson says.
10. “You worry about the Joneses — I worry about keeping up with the Trumps.”
Wealth may go a long way toward creating happiness, but the middle-class rich still can’t afford the life of the billionaire next door — the guy who writes charity checks for $100,000 and retreats to his own private island. “What makes people happy isn’t how much they’re making,” says Glenn Firebaugh, a sociologist at Pennsylvania State University. “It’s how much they’re making relative to their peers.”
Indeed, for all their riches, some 40 percent of millionaires fear that their standard of living will decline in retirement and that their money will run out before they die, according to Fidelity. Of course, it may not help if their lifestyle is so lavish that they’re barely squeaking by on $400,000 a year. “You can always be happier with more money,” says Stevenson. “There’s no satiation point.” But that’s the trouble with keeping up with the Trumps. “Millionaires are always looking up, “and think it’s better up there.”
