By the Numbers: How Everyone Can Become a Millionaire

Guideposts

So, you want to become a millionaire? Well, hitting seven digit figures is a lot simpler when you break it down.

To become a millionaire, do the following:

Save – calculate and put aside the set amount each month that will get you to $1,000,000 within your timeline

Invest – allow your money to compound and make more money for you by investing your savings early and often

Repeat – continue this pattern or automate your plan until you reach your goal

It’s important to clearly define your goal and create a plan that will help you become a millionaire. Consistently applying these financial strategies towards your savings and investing goals will help ensure that you reach $1,000,000.

When you break it down, becoming a millionaire can and should be for everyone. Two paths you can follow to earn that $1,000,000 are saving each dollar or investing each dollar. Below, you’ll see the difference between the two and learn how you can get there too.

How to Become a Millionaire

While becoming a millionaire might take time and dedicated effort, figuring out how to get there is much simpler. Clearly defining your goal ($1,000,000) allows you to begin making a plan for reaching it. It’s not likely you’ll end up with $1,000,000 overnight, and winning the lottery is a long shot (so don’t spend your money on any tickets). Instead, break down your million dollar goal into smaller subsets – yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily savings targets – based on how long your projected timeline to $1,000,000 is. Do you want to have a million dollars in one year? Five years? Twenty years? By the time you retire? We’ll break it down for you later in the article.

After you understand how much you realistically need to be saving each day, week, month, and year, all you need is the money. One way to decrease the amount of time it’ll take you to become a millionaire is to invest your savings. Instead of keeping them in a bank, put them to work by investing them in something that can provide you a consistent and steady return on your investment. Making your money work for you can help you make sure it’ll outpace the average rate of inflation each year as well.

Then, simply rinse and repeat. Track your savings, and seek to regularly increase your savings amount. If you’re farther from your savings goal than you’d like to be, strive for incremental improvements. Save 1% more. Then 5% more, then 10%, and so on until you’re reaching your savings targets. Automate your investments so that your accounts automatically invest when you have money available in the bank. It’ll help keep you from spending more than you need to, and will ensure your investments continue driving you towards millionaire status.

The more money you make, the quicker you’ll reach $1,000,000. There’s no limit to the amount of money you can make, and as you identify how much you need to save each day, week, month, or year, you’ll find ways to make more money. Keep working towards your goal, and soon you’ll reach the peak of the $1,000,000 financial mountain.

$1,000,000 By the Numbers

As an example, let’s imagine your timeline to becoming a millionaire is 15 years. Simply divide $1,000,000 by 15 to get how much you’d need to save annually. Then, divide that number by 12 (12 months in the year) to get your monthly savings target. Divide your annual savings target by 52 (52 weeks in the year) to determine your weekly savings target. Lastly, divide your annual savings target by 365 (365 days in the year) to determine your daily savings target.

YearAnnual SavingsMonthly SavingsWeekly SavingsDaily SavingsTotal Savings
1$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$66,667.00
2$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$133,334.00
3$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$200,001.00
4$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$266,668.00
5$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$333,335.00
6$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$400,002.00
7$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$466,669.00
8$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$533,336.00
9$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$600,003.00
10$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$666,670.00
11$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$733,337.00
12$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$800,004.00
13$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$866,671.00
14$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$933,338.00
15$66,667.00$5,555.58$1,282.06$182.65$1,000,005.00

And if you’re interested in becoming a millionaire in less than 15 years while continuing to save at the same rate, read on to discover the magic of compounding.

Saving $1,000,000 – Breaking Down the Numbers

How to Become a Millionaire in 5 Years

If you want to become a millionaire in five years, repeat the steps above and calculate the your annual savings target by dividing $1,000,000 by 5. Then divide your annual savings by 12, 52, and 365 to determine your monthly, weekly, and daily savings targets respectively.

YearAnnual SavingsMonthly SavingsWeekly SavingsDaily SavingsTotal Savings
1$200,000.00$16,666.67$3,846.15$547.95$200,000.00
2$200,000.00$16,666.67$3,846.15$547.95$400,000.00
3$200,000.00$16,666.67$3,846.15$547.95$600,000.00
4$200,000.00$16,666.67$3,846.15$547.95$800,000.00
5$200,000.00$16,666.67$3,846.15$547.95$1,000,000.00

How to Become a Millionaire in 10 Years

If your timeline to millionaire status is ten years, your savings target breakdown would look like this.

YearAnnual SavingsMonthly SavingsWeekly SavingsDaily SavingsTotal Savings
1$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$100,000.00
2$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$200,000.00
3$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$300,000.00
4$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$400,000.00
5$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$500,000.00
6$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$600,000.00
7$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$700,000.00
8$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$800,000.00
9$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$900,000.00
10$100,000.00$8,333.33$1,923.08$273.97$1,000,000.00

How to Become a Millionaire by Age 30

Now, if your goal is to become a millionaire by a certain age, apply the same principles as above. For example, let’s say you’re 22 years old, and want to have $1,000,000 by age 30. Your $1,000,000 breakdown would look like this.

AgeAnnual SavingsMonthly SavingsWeekly SavingsDaily SavingsTotal Savings
22$111,111.11$9,259.26$2,136.75$304.41$111,111.11
23$111,111.11$9,259.26$2,136.75$304.41$222,222.22
24$111,111.11$9,259.26$2,136.75$304.41$333,333.33
25$111,111.11$9,259.26$2,136.75$304.41$444,444.44
26$111,111.11$9,259.26$2,136.75$304.41$555,555.55
27$111,111.11$9,259.26$2,136.75$304.41$666,666.66
28$111,111.11$9,259.26$2,136.75$304.41$777,777.77
29$111,111.11$9,259.26$2,136.75$304.41$888,888.88
30$111,111.11$9,259.26$2,136.75$304.41$999,999.99

If breaking down the numbers to achieving your goal by a certain age seems unrealistic, you can always extend your horizon. Let’s say you now want to be a millionaire by age 35 instead, your timeline would look more like the below.

AgeAnnual SavingsMonthly SavingsWeekly SavingsDaily SavingsTotal Savings
22$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$71,428.57
23$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$142,857.14
24$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$214,285.71
25$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$285,714.29
26$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$357,142.86
27$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$428,571.43
28$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$500,000.00
29$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$571,428.57
30$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$642,857.14
31$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$714,285.71
32$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$785,714.29
33$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$857,142.86
34$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$928,571.43
35$71,428.57$5,952.38$1,373.63$195.69$1,000,000.00

How to Have $1,000,000+ by Retirement

If your timeline is a bit longer or you don’t have one, you may want to see how your savings plan would look in order to have $1,000,000 by the time you retire.

AgeAnnual SavingsMonthly SavingsWeekly SavingsDaily SavingsTotal Savings
22$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$22,727.27
23$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$45,454.55
24$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$68,181.82
25$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$90,909.09
26$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$113,636.36
27$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$136,363.64
28$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$159,090.91
29$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$181,818.18
30$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$204,545.45
31$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$227,272.73
32$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$250,000.00
33$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$272,727.27
34$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$295,454.55
35$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$318,181.82
36$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$340,909.09
37$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$363,636.36
38$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$386,363.64
39$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$409,090.91
40$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$431,818.18
41$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$454,545.45
42$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$477,272.73
43$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$500,000.00
44$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$522,727.27
45$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$545,454.55
46$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$568,181.82
47$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$590,909.09
48$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$613,636.36
49$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$636,363.64
50$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$659,090.91
51$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$681,818.18
52$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$704,545.45
53$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$727,272.73
54$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$750,000.00
55$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$772,727.27
56$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$795,454.55
57$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$818,181.82
58$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$840,909.09
59$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$863,636.36
60$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$886,363.64
61$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$909,090.91
62$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$931,818.18
63$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$954,545.45
64$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$977,272.73
65$22,727.27$1,893.94$437.06$62.27$1,000,000.00

If you’re starting late with your retirement savings, your breakdown might look something more like the below.

AgeAnnual SavingsMonthly SavingsWeekly SavingsDaily SavingsTotal Savings
35$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$32,258.06
36$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$64,516.13
37$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$96,774.19
38$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$129,032.26
39$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$161,290.32
40$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$193,548.39
41$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$225,806.45
42$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$258,064.52
43$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$290,322.58
44$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$322,580.65
45$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$354,838.71
46$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$387,096.77
47$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$419,354.84
48$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$451,612.90
49$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$483,870.97
50$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$516,129.03
51$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$548,387.10
52$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$580,645.16
53$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$612,903.23
54$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$645,161.29
55$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$677,419.35
56$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$709,677.42
57$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$741,935.48
58$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$774,193.55
59$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$806,451.61
60$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$838,709.68
61$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$870,967.74
62$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$903,225.81
63$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$935,483.87
64$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$967,741.94
65$32,258.06$2,688.17$620.35$88.38$1,000,000.00

Note that because of inflation, $1,000,000 today won’t be worth the same amount in the future – it’ll be worth less. Also, having an arbitrary number as a retirement goal may not help ensure you’ll have enough money to retire with. To understand how much you’d really need to retire, calculate your FI number.

Investing and Compounding Your Way to $1,000,000

Once you’ve begun saving your way to $1,000,000, the next step is to begin investing your money. Investing means making your money work for you, through the magic of compounding. For example, if you invested $100 and received a 10% return on your investment, you’d have $110 (10% of $100 = $10; and $100 + $10 = $110). If you received a 10% return the following year as well, you wouldn’t have $120, you’d now have $121 (since 10% of $110 = $11; and $110 + $11 = $121). That process then repeats – where interest continues to compound on more interest.

You can utilize the magic of compounding to help you reach $1,000,000 more quickly. If you started with $100 and invested your annual savings similar to the first example in the article in an investment with an expected annual return of 7%, your path to becoming a millionaire would look more like this.

YearAnnual SavingsReturnPrincipleInterestTotal Savings
1$66,6677%$66,767$4,674$71,441
2$66,6677%$133,434$14,342$147,776
3$66,6677%$200,101$29,353$229,454
4$66,6677%$266,768$50,081$316,849
5$66,6677%$333,435$76,927$410,362
6$66,6677%$400,102$110,319$510,421
7$66,6677%$466,769$150,751$617,520
8$66,6677%$533,436$198,606$732,042
9$66,6677%$600,103$254,515$854,618
10$66,6677%$666,770$319,005$985,775
11$66,6677%$733,437$392,676$1,126,113

Your savings wouldn’t need to increase, and yet you’ll reach your $1,000,000 goal in 11 years instead of 15! That’s the magic of compound interest.

Let’s revisit that goal to have $1,000,000 by age 35 again. If you were to invest your annual savings with an expected annual return of 7%, you’d be able to reach your goal by year 31 instead of year 35.

AgeAnnual SavingsReturnPrincipleInterestTotal Savings
22$71,4297%$71,529$5,007$76,536
23$71,4297%$142,957$15,365$158,322
24$71,4297%$214,386$31,447$245,833
25$71,4297%$285,814$53,665$339,479
26$71,4297%$357,243$82,419$439,662
27$71,4297%$428,671$118,196$546,867
28$71,4297%$500,100$161,477$661,577
29$71,4297%$571,529$212,787$784,316
30$71,4297%$642,957$272,689$915,646
31$71,4297%$714,386$341,785$1,056,171

Compound interest can help shave years off your goal to becoming a millionaire.

Budgeting Your Way to Becoming a Millionaire

If you’re willing to stick things out for the long haul, work your millionaire plans into your budget. Saving a percentage of your monthly income each month – and investing it to take advantage of compound interest – can turn your regular monthly savings into $1,000,000.

If your monthly after-tax income was $3,000, and you saved 20% of your income every month, you’d be saving $7,200 each year.

Monthly after-tax income: $3,000

Monthly savings: $600 ($3,000 x 0.20 (20%) = $600)

Annual savings: $7,200 ($600 x 12 = $7,200)

If you were to invest that amount each year for 5 years in something with a 7% estimated annual rate of return, you’d have contributed $36,100 with an additional $8,344 in interest.

In 10 years, you’d have $106,639 saved.

In 20 years, you’d have $316,217 saved.

In 30 years, you’d have $728,488 saved.

And 35 years, you’d have $1,066,045!

As you increase your savings rate over time, you’ll grow your savings exponentially due to the magic of compound interest. If you stay disciplined and contribute each month, you can begin setting yourself up for future financial success and millionaire status.

Helpful Tips to Becoming a Millionaire Faster

Whether you’re looking to become a millionaire in a few years or many years, there are a some things you can do to achieve your goal faster.

Pay Off Debt 

There’s no point to becoming a millionaire if the money you have actually belongs to someone else. Pay down debt and avoid it (in cases except your mortgage). Ensure you have savings for an emergency fund and 3-6 months worth of living expenses for emergencies. Whatever debt you have, make a plan to pay it down. Let’s say you have $15,000 in debt. Each month is an opportunity to begin paying that down. Contributing $900 a month could help you squash that debt in less than a year and a half. Doing so will get you closer to your financial goals, and can help you escape the slavery of debt.

Increase Your Income

There are many things that will help you on your journey to millionaire status. However, there’s one thing you can do – more than anything else – to help you get there faster. Make more money.  Simply increasing the rate at which you can make and invest money is the one thing you can do to become a millionaire faster. Increased earnings will quickly outpace your efforts to cut back on expenses. While it’s important to understand your costs and avoid frivolous spending, you’ll eventually reach a point where it’s increasingly difficult to save more. It is not possible to spend less than $0. Conversely, there isn’t a limit to how much money you can make. Ask for a raise, earn a promotion, start a side hustle or business, or make money online. The opportunities are limitless.

Invest Early

Let’s imagine that two friends graduated college and entered the workforce at the same time. Friend 1 decided that she would save and invest $500 every month until she was 35, then stop saving. Friend 2 decided that she would spend all her money during her twenties, and start saving once she turned 30. Friend 2 saved and invested $500 every month for the next 35 years. At age 65, who do you think will have more money? The answer might surprise you.

Friend 1

Amount Contributed: $90,000

Years: 15

Total investments at age 65: $1,150,524

Friend 2

Amount Contributed: $210,000

Years: 35

Total investments at age 65: $830,839

Note: assumed 7% annual rate of return on investments

Friend 1 contributed $120,00 less and spent 20 years less doing it, but still ended up with more money! 

The earlier you can invest, the better. The magic of compound interest is the key strategy behind making your money work for you. Instead of having you work for your money. It’s not always about working harder, but working smarter. Front-load your investments as much as you can to make your journey to financial independence as quick as possible.

Automate

Many find it difficult to find money at the end of the month to put into savings or investments. A simple strategy to avoid having nothing leftover at the end of the month is to automate your plan. Set up automatic deposits into your investment accounts through your employer and/or other tax-advantaged or brokerage accounts. When the money comes into your account, automatically withdraw your targeted amount and invest it. This will remove the emotional and psychological toll on saving up $1,000,000. You have a goal, and automate your plan so that becoming a millionaire is set and assured.

Stay Disciplined

Now that you know how to create your plan to becoming a millionaire, staying disciplined should be the easiest part of your financial climb. You have a goal, you have a plan, and all that’s needed is to execute. Automating your plan will make it easier to stay on track, and monitoring your progress will keep you motivated as you see your savings continue to grow. Don’t get discouraged. You can recalibrate at any point along your climb. Maybe it’ll take a little longer to reach your $1,000,000 goal than initially planned, and that’s okay. Just stick with it, budget your way to $1,000,000, and increase your income and savings as you can over time. You’ll be there in no time.

Climb on, Finbase.

J

John

John

John is a personal finance writer, editor, and a fellow FinBase climber. Tech worker by day, design owl by night, he is the co-founder and creator behind The Financial Basecamp.
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