Stumbled across this listicle and wondered if we’re all on the right trajectory or not ;)
19 Things Future Multimillionaires Do in Their 20s via Inc.
How many of these can you confidently check off??
- They develop multiple income sources
- They take action (and sometimes, they fail)
- They make sure that they own their time
- They network, a lot. (And they do it both ways)
- They think strategically
- They shoot higher than seems reasonable
- They learn to sell
- They try to be good friends and colleagues
- They invest
- They watch their spending
- They learn to negotiate
- They find mentors
- They invest in education
- They refuse to become slaves
- They volunteer to do more
- They work their butts off
- They embrace entrepreneurship
- They have fun and adventures
- They believe they can do this
I didn’t turn on the FIRE until I hit my 30s, but I did at least get started around 27…
Here are the ones I can say I def. did, as well as those I most def. did NOT ;)
Time to go down memory lane!
Stuff I did in my 20s:
- They develop multiple income sources (Yup! blogs, hustles, 9-5)
- They take action (and sometimes, they fail) (I think trying 37 different jobs should qualify ;))
- They network, a lot. (And they do it both ways) (Not sure what “both ways” is, but I def. made it a point to chat with as many awesome people in the community as I could. And still do to this day, really. Technology allows for even the most shy of people to connect easily these days!)
- They think strategically (more so in the *financial* aspect than the business one, but yes.)
- They try to be good friends and colleagues (ALWAYS. Biz/life/money no fun if you don’t have anyone to share it with!)
- They invest (100%. It’s honestly the foundation of our entire wealth! Got in the habit of maxing out 401(k)s/IRAs in our 20s and it’s been one of the best things we ever did for our money (and much harder to TAKE OUT AND SPEND too! Haha… Probably the reason it stuck! :)))
- They watch their spending (Down to every penny there in the beginning! You have to know what you’re dealing with before you can strategize!)
- They learn to negotiate (only at yard sales ;))
- They find mentors (Never “official” ones, but I def. found those I wished to be more like and built relationships with them so I can ask them millions of questions :) Which they were gracious enough to answer – thank you, everyone!!)
- They invest in education (You have to!! Not necessarily “traditional” education, but always smart to keep yourself abreast of your industry/interests/skills you want to one day have)
- They volunteer to do more (Most blogs are all volunteer work 😂😂😂)
- They work their butts off (Totes)
- They embrace entrepreneurship (Double totes. (TWOtes?))
- They have fun and adventures (If you’re not enjoying your life the money/career doesn’t matter)
- They believe they can do this (Or at least can *pretend* enough until you pull it off! :))
So what’s that? 15 out of the 19?! That’s not bad!
Here were the ones I DIDN’T learn to do in my 20s, and only half of which I’ve since fixed:
- They make sure that they own their time (Back in the day the Work and Money owned me!! Even if you’re “successful” with stuff, you’re still a slave to it if it’s all you think about.)
- They shoot higher than seems reasonable (I’ve never been really good at “shooting for the moon” though I see the power in it. I tend to just do what seems *fun* at the moment and then see how far I can take it…)
- They learn to sell (Oh hell no, haha.. much to the demise of both my wallet and my projects! :))
- They refuse to become slaves (see bullet point #1 up there)
Of course, things like how you were raised, where you were raised, and a myriad of other factors not in our control also play a large part here, but still a fun list to go down and see how you fare…
And even more so – how you’re faring NOW if you’re well past your 20s!! All these points are still very valid whether you’re 27 or 67! The important part is that you’re aware and *working towards it* today. It’s not a race to see who can reach financial freedom first…
So what did you future multimillionaires score?! :)
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Coming from the family I did, where there were some good things but lots of not very good things, my 20’s were mostly about getting un-lost. Things only slowly started clicking in my 30’s, some real life setbacks in my 40’s, now coming back together in my 50’s. Just want to say you can still get to FI even if you started more behind the 8 ball than others. I am close to retirement and a big goal of mine is volunteer work to help younger folks who might be similarly lost in life. So I would check off much of above, even though I look at it from perhaps a different angle than was intended. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad there was a happy ending to this :) So many lost people out there that need your help! Just sharing your story on its own would probably inspire others and let them know they’re not alone in this…
I feel like ‘both ways’ of networking might mean you should network with people who are where you want to be (the obvious way), and also people who want to be where you are (helping others is a good look, and also you never know when the tables might turn and the person you helped might be in a position to help you).
I do more of those than I thought as first glance, now that I’ve actually gone through them. The obvious ones I’m missing are the networking, entrepreneurship, and selling. Especially the selling. I’m not good at convincing people. (I assume they mean selling like ‘sell yourself’.) The obvious ones I have down are the money ones, volunteering to do more, and trying to be good to other people.
I’d say you got the more important ones down first ;)
Heh… 8, 9, 10, 18, 19. That’s it. I must be the laziest future millionaire out there: as long as my personal relationships are good and our financial situation continues to modestly improve, the rest isn’t worth worrying about. :D
Haha….
Or just a millionaire who makes his money/happiness outside of starting businesses :)
I started on this journey earlier than most by investing my babysitting money starting at age 14, but I also took a rather circuitous route to a stable income. It wasn’t until my 30s that I really started funneling a substantial amount of money into my retirement accounts. Before that, I put away much smaller amounts, but I always contributed. Until recently, I never considered entrepreneurship, but that’s starting to change too.
Nice list! I still think the most important points are spending less than you make, paying yourself first, and continuing to increase your income while simultaneously limiting lifestyle inflation.
Investing at 14!!
All I wanted was baseball cards and air jordans then!! ;)
#4 both ways: Maybe they mean using the network for themselves and also working it by connecting people within your network? I try to be a connector of people in my network more than I use it myself. Then if I have to use it, I’m usually happily surprised when I ask for help. Or maybe they mean giving back to the network as much as you get. Either way!
Ahhhh yeah, probably the “giving back” part there… Very smart – and nice – thing to do :)
While I always saved and lived below my means, I thought I would work forever. At age 50, I took a hard turn and reconsidered that mentality. I started investing regularly and intelligently for the past 5 years, and it has handsomely paid off. It’s never too late to change money habits.
yayy!!
so do you plan on retiring a lot earlier now, or just wanted the *freedom* to?
I tried #1 (They develop multiple income sources) multiple times in my 20’s, but I was never successful. Even lost money a few times. I’m in my 30s now, and do have more than one income source, although my day job is still my #1 money maker.
I don’t know how to tell if someone “thinks strategically” though. Maybe I did?
Here’s what the original author says about “thinking strategically”:
“This is really just a fancy way of saying that wealthy people have usually learned to decide what their goals are, then work backward to figure out what they have to do each year, each week—and even each day—to make it happen. Then they track their progress.”
After Reading the Sim Card Mogul I would definitely say you’ve got selling mastered
Haha…. that was my friend Brent who wrote that one up :)
Super smart and talented guy!
https://budgetsaresexy.com/how-i-ran-business-out-of-shoebox-made-10000/
Here are a couple of thoughts:
1) Networking up and down. Talking to people who can help you. Talking to people you can help. = Talking and engaging with everyone.
2) Strategic Planning: I found there are two steps to “getting what you want” or “accomplishing a goal.” First step is crucial: THINKING & PLANNING (how to reach goal). Second step is: DOING. The “doing” is actually easier than the “Thinking and Planning” which takes much more deliberate effort. Therefore, “Strategic Planning.”
*Doing Something Is Better Than Doing Nothing.*
*If you want results, you must take action.*
*Everything is negotiable. Always ask: “Is there any way I can get a better price on this?”*
Hell yes on that last one!! I ask that all the time when at antique stores or yard sales :)
Very true about *action* too… All the reading and thinking and strategizing is nice, but if you never do anything about it it doesn’t matter.