Recently, Kiplinger published a Rags to Riches Millionaires story highlighting 5 people who turned their misfortunes in into millions.  You can read the article yourself, but let me just point out some of the advice from these folks who have lived through great turn-arounds in their lives:

Catherine Hughes, Founder and chairperson, Radio One:  “Sometimes the ones who love you the most will give you the worst business advice.”

Bert Jacobs, Co-Founder and CEO, Life is Good: “Try to shoot for a timeless business.”

Ali Brown, Entrepreneur, business consultant and publisher: “It’s important you seek out other business owners for information, advice, support and resources.”

Jill Blashack Strahan, Founder and CEO, Tastefully Simple: “Having goals is absolutely critical.”

Farrah Gray, Founder and CEO, Farrah Gray Publishing: “Keep your business small . . . niche yourself.”

Jesse Conners, CEO and Founder, PerppermintPark.com: “There is constantly some fire that you have to put out . . . Don’t let it discourage you.”

These are all great advice from real entrepreneurs who were once at the bottom.  But notice how many of them are giving back to the community.  That is important because the people who are struggling need help from those who have made it.  I understand the frustrations of the people that are struggling and their need to express their anger in a public way.  I just don’t think blaming it on successful people will get them very far.  Instead they should try to emulate all the right things that successful people do or have done to get where they are.  Listening carefully to the folks listed here is a great start.

Meet the Rags to Riches Millionaires is a post from: Worldwide Success

What is the key to being a top millionaire state?  According to Dave Thompson, managing director of Phoenix Marketing, “small states with large concentrations of highly educated professionals and business owners are key ingredients to growing wealth.”

So without further ado, here are the top 10 states with the highest percentage of millionaire households:

Maryland

Percentage of millionaire households: 7.22%
Total millionaire households: 157,779

Hawaii

Percentage of millionaire households: 7.21%
Total millionaire households: 33,461

New Jersey

Percentage of millionaire households: 7.19%
Total millionaire households: 231,456

Connecticut

Percentage of millionaire households: 7.13%
Total millionaire households: 98,392

Massachusetts

Percentage of millionaire households: 6.42%
Total millionaire households: 162,619

Alaska

Percentage of millionaire households: 6.39%
Total millionaire households: 16,239

Virginia

Percentage of millionaire households: 6.26%
Total millionaire households: 195,006

New Hampshire

Percentage of millionaire households: 6.06%
Total millionaire households: 31,159

California

Percentage of millionaire households: 6.01%
Total millionaire households: 750,686

District of Columbia

Percentage of millionaire households: 5.88%
Total millionaire households: 157,603

US States with Highest Percentage of Millionaire Households is a post from: Worldwide Success

Here is what I have found in my search for the one percenters:

According to The Washington Post’s Wonkblog

-          They have a minimum income of $516,633 per year

-          Their average income is $1,530,773

-          Their average wealth was almost $14 million in 2009

According to CNN Money:

-          In 2009 it took $343,927 in AGI to join the 1 percenters based on data from the IRS

-          On average they made $960,000 per year

-          Many of them are financial professionals, executives, doctors and lawyers

But it is Dave Gilson from Mother Jones that gives us the best perspective on the 1 percenters with these awesome charts:

Their Occupations:

What They Make:

What They Own:

Regardless of who they really are, the one percenters have been getting a lot of heat lately.  But the truth is most people would like to be just like them.  As Issac Bailey of the Myrtle Beach Sun confessed: “ like the majority of those in the 99 percent, I’d love to become a member of the 1 percent.”

If like most 99 percenters you also want to become a one percenter you have come to the right place. We have a ton of  material on this site with great tips on how to get there.

Searching for the One Percenters is a post from: Worldwide Success

Singapore, on the other hand, has the highest concentration of millionaire households with an eye popping density of 15.5%.  Yes, for every 100 households in Singapore, 15 are millionaires!  Many of these Singaporean millionaires made their money through entrepreneurship.    Among well known billionaires in this country are banker Wee Cho Yaw, real estate mogul Ng Teng Fong and hotelier Kho Teck Phuat.  One of the drivers for the high density of millionaires in Singapore is the fact that influent investors can “buy” their way into Singapore permanent residency by investing a minimum amount to start or expand businesses in the country.

But all this wealth comes at a high cost of living.  According to a survey by the Mercer consulting firm, Singapore is the 11^th most expensive city in the world for expatriates, beating even New York City. 

So to answer the question of the title of the article, we will provide you with two perspectives: absolute and relative numbers.

Here are the rankings of the countries with the most absolute number of millionaires:

1. United States
2. Japan
3. China
4. United Kingdom
5. Germany
6. Italy
7. Switzerland
8. France
9. Taiwan
10. Hong Kong

And here are the rankings of the countries with the highest percentage of the population that are millionaires:

1. Singapore
2. Switzerland
3. Qatar
4. Hong Kong
5. Kuwait
6. United Arab Emirates
7. United States
8. Taiwan
9. Israel
10. Belgium

Interestingly, only 4 countries made both lists: United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Switzerland.  So, if you are looking to find a country to live in where you will have the most chances of becoming a millionaire, you now know where to start.

What Countries Have the Most Millionaires? is a post from: Worldwide Success

As a matter of fact, you can.  Read this great article from the NY Times, The Class That Builds Apps and Fortunes.  Obviously this requires that you be at the right place at the right time.  And that is why sometimes going to an Ivy League school can make such a big difference in someone’s life.  It is not so much that the teaching is that much better.  It is about being around the right people, the right ideas, and leveraging those contacts, those moments and even the prestige that comes with those associations for rest of your life.

Sometimes you may even leverage the ideas developed in an academic environment and turn them into real business opportunities.  It is well known that Google started as a graduate school project at Stanford, and that Facebook was developed at a college dorm at Harvard.  And just like Google and Facebook, many other less known entrepreneurial ideas were born in these rich environments of technology, ideas, mentorship, business, investments, and lots of smart people.   Those entrepreneurial ideas have turned several regular people just like you into millionaires or even billionaires.

The article in the NY Times is about turning Apps into successful businesses.  But it could be about many other business ideas, from servers, to search engines, to biomedical innovations.  Whatever your passion may be, you will have a greater chance of success by surrounding yourself with the right people.  Getting yourself in the midst of a flourishing laboratory of new business ideas like Stanford University is a good way to increase your chances of being at the right place at the right time.

If you are serious about being financially successful, make a college education a priority.  Go to the best college you can get accepted at and enjoy the immense opportunities that comes from being a member of the privileged group of people that call themselves college grads.

Can You Get Rich Going to Class? is a post from: Worldwide Success

This week I ran across an interesting article by Erin Joyce that talks about 5 Easy Steps to Becoming a Millionaire.   These steps are based on studies that have been conducted about millionaires and their habits and lifestyles as described in the book The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy (See all Motivational Management & Leadership Books) by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko.  The premise is that if you do the same things that millionaires do, you can become one yourself.   Does the theory hold?  Obviously there are no guarantees, but there is some truth to the fact that to become the person you aspire to be, a good start is to behave like that person.

Some of the steps or advices in the article are better than others… and they are not all necessarily “easy” as the article implies.   Let’s look at the first one: “Only Marry Once”.  Will that in and of itself make you a millionaire?  Obviously not.  If that were the case about 50% of all married people would be millionaires, and we all know that that is not the case.  But the point is that a divorce will cost you a lot of money, so if you want to become a millionaire, staying married will increase your chances.

I think step number 3, “Choose the Right Career” is very important.  If you become a doctor or a lawyer, you will have a much better chance of becoming a millionaire than if you chose, for instance, to become an insurance agent.  But just because you make a good amount of money does not mean you will accumulate enough money to become a millionaire.  The spending side of the equation is just as important as the income, and that is where advice number 5 comes in handy: “Don’t Live the Millionaire Lifestyle!”

I could come up with all kinds of advice based on statistics about millionaires.   For instance, I could tell you that if you are serious about becoming a millionaire you should live in Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland or Hawaii, because those are the US states with the most millionaires.  But instinctively we all know that just because you live somewhere, that does not make you millionaire material.  So if you are not comfortable with the idea that just behaving like millionaires will actually turn you into one, there are some specific steps that you can take that will mathematically make you a millionaire.  The details were explained in the article How to Become a Millionaire.

The good news is that just the fact that you are reading this article is a positive indicator that you may actually someday become a member of this exclusive club that holds roughly 10 million people worldwide.  What additional advice can I give you?  Learn as much as you can about the subject.  A good start would be to read the many articles in our “Millionaire” category:

http://ww-success.com/blog/index.php/category/millionaires/

Best of luck on your millionaire journey!

On Becoming a Millionaire is a post from: Worldwide Success

Well, I have good news and bad news for you.  So let’s start with the good news first:

Becoming a Millionaire is not That Difficult

As we discussed in the article How to Become a Millionaire, with enough time, the right investment, and a bit of savings, even someone with an average income in the US can become a millionaire.  If you can save as little as $106 per week and invest that money in a 401K plan with company match, earning an average 7% return, you can accumulate 1 million dollars in 30 years. 

And now the bad news:

Being a Millionaire is not What It is Cut Out to Be

The word millionaire gets thrown around a lot to represent a great amount of wealth.  But the reality of it is that even a million dollars may not be enough to retire comfortably.  A recent article by US News entitled The Million-Dollar Retirement Plan discusses how a million dollars may fund about $40,000 per year in retirement for 30 years.  The problem is that $40,000per year is hardly enough to live a middle class lifestyle, much less being wealthy.  The reality of owning $1 million is that you will still need social security and potentially some additional income from other sources to live a comfortable middle class lifestyle in retirement.

This leads to the question: If being a millionaire is not enough to fund a good retirement, much less to make someone feel rich, how much do you need?   For an interesting perspective on this subject, read the article How Much Money do you Need to Feel Rich?   

To learn more about how to be a millionaire, and to learn from many successful people who have already achieved millionaire status, review the many great articles on the subject in our Millionaires archives.

How to Be a Millionaire is a post from: Worldwide Success

According to the report, in 2009 there were 5,139,383 millionaire households in the United States, or the equivalent of 4.46% of all the households in the country.  The article also provided the number of millionaires and the median household income by state.   If you are curious to know the top five richest states in the US are in terms of the percentage of millionaire households, here you have it:

5. Virginia

Total number of millionaire households: 166,596

Percent of population that are millionaires: 5.51%

Median household income: $61,210

4. Connecticut

Total number of millionaire households: 82,837

Percent of population that are millionaires: 6.15%

Median household income: $68,294

3. New Jersey

Total number of millionaire households: 197,694

Percent of population that are millionaires: 6.22%

Median household income: $70,347

2. Maryland

Total number of millionaire households: 133,299

Percent of population that are millionaires: 6.26%

Median household income: $70,482

1. And the Richest State in the USA: Hawaii

Total number of millionaire households: 28,363

Percent of population that are millionaires: 6.41%

Median household income: $66,701

But if you want to know where the most millionaires live, the data shows that it is in California.  California has a total of 662,735 millionaires, which represents 5.28% of all households in the state.  Between Hollywood and Silicon Valley, California has plenty to offer to those who are seeking the upper crust in America’s society.

The US States with the Most Millionaires is a post from: Worldwide Success

What is a bloggonaire?  A bloggonaire is someone who becomes a millionaire through blogging.  In the article Millionaire Bloggers we introduced to you some well known bloggers whose blogs were estimated at the time to be worth at least a million dollars.  Granted, the method for estimating the blog’s worth was not very scientific, but it was worth a try.  We even created a dedicated page called Millionaire Bloggers Hall of Fame, featuring those that have already achieved the million dollar mark as well as bloggers that are on their way to becoming a millionaire.

Ironically, the only comment from the blogger who we chose to feature in this article about his inclusion in what was meant to be a compliment was that the method for determining the value of the blogs belonging to the Millionaire Bloggers Hall of Fame was “flawed”.  Maybe it was.  But we weren’t trying to make it into a FASB or GAAP approved estimating method for valuating blogs.  The point was to have some fun with the concept. Perhaps he was just being modest and didn’t think it was fair to consider his blog a millionaire generator at that point in time.

But as it turns out, this blogger now generates so much income from his blog that he can hardly deny that it has made him into a millionaire, or better yet, a bloggonaire.  But what is most remarkable about this blogger is where he started from.  This is another great rags to riches story.

So without further ado, we would like to link to two of this blogger’s posts in order to add some color to this great rags to riches story.  The first post is called Visiting the House I Grew Up In.  Watch the video and you will get a great appreciation for his humble beginnings – Btw, the part about the outhouse is simply amazing…

From there, I’d like to take you to the second post called How I Make $40,000 a Month from a Blog.  Yes, the blog currently makes around half a million dollars a year.  I think he now would agree to be called a bloggonaire, don’t you?  It is now obvious that the blogger we have been talking about is the now famous (at least in the bloggosphere) John Chow.

To wrap it up, pay close attention to one thing John says in the video where he graciously introduces us to his humble beginnings.  He says “I am very grateful for what I have.”  That, dear readers, I believe is one of the many secrets of his success. If you have reached success like John has, never forget where you came from.  And always be thankful for what you have.

Rags to Riches Bloggonaire is a post from: Worldwide Success

Besides heading up the INNERCITY magazine, Farrah is the author of the book Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out, in which he shares his story of how he used his desire to help his family to build his success.  In the book he describes how his resilience and willingness to try different things when faced with rejection made him who his is today – a millionaire, successful entrepreneur and philanthropist.

The video below will get you introduced to Farrah, but if you really want to know his story and get some pointers on how to become a reallionaire yourself, I suggest you read the book.

Without further ado, here is the reallionaire Farrah Gray:

Rags to Riches Reallionaire is a post from: Worldwide Success