Those who don’t manage their money will always work for those who do – Dave Ramsey

Hi, my name is Joe.  I am a millionaire.  More precisely, I am a multi-millionaire. 

And although I didn’t accumulate my wealth overnight, I did do it relatively quickly.  I accumulated my first million before I was age 35. And I am worth several million today (I am in my early 40’s). 

Having a million dollars or more is actually not that unique.  There are many millionaires in the US.  According to a recent census, there are between 5 and 10 million millionaires in the US.  So a relatively big number (although those millionaires only represented about 4% of the population (and my guess is only a relatively small percent of these millionaires are 40 years old or younger)). 

But on the surface, just based on the absolute number of millionaires, being a millionaire is not that exciting.  Perhaps the more interesting part of my story is how I got wealthy. 

So how did I do it?

You might guess that I am a doctor or lawyer.  Or some profession that pays me a lot of money. 

You would be wrong. 

I am accountant (a bean counter if you will), and have earned a slightly above average salary during my working career.  So that far from explains my significant net worth.

Interestingly, my wealth also was not the result of my IQ.  Although I am not an idiot, no one would accuse me of being a genius either (my wife would vouch for that). 

Special talents?  Nope.  None of those. 

I do not come from a family with great wealth.  Nor am I lucky.  So I did not inherit, or win the lottery or luck my way into my net worth.  I was worth less than $10k when I started full time work in 2000. 

Also, I did not become rich by making perfect decisions along the way.  In fact, I made a lot of mistakes on my way to building my wealth.  If I had known at the start, the things I know now, I could have done it in less time or accumulated much more by now.

So I think it’s fair to conclude that I am pretty ordinary in just about every way.  An “average Joe” .

So how did I accumulate such a significant sum then?  Is there a secret? 

What I did is very simple, and the vast majority of Americans can accomplish a similar amount of wealth (or more).  They just need to know the right strategies to get there.

That is the reason I am writing this blog.  I enjoy discussing money and accumulating wealth.  And I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned (and hopefully learning more myself along the way).  On a personal note, I have two young daughters.  My goal for them would be financial independence.  Free to use money as a tool instead of source of stress.  And hopefully they can attain it at an early age.  So perhaps by documenting how I got here myself, it will help others including them.

 The first thing to understanding my story is to appreciate that becoming wealthy, is not the same as making a lot of money. 

There are many people who make a lot of money, that do not end up rich.  Perhaps the most glaring example is many of today’s pro athletes.  There are many that make millions of dollars during the course of their careers, only to finish with next to nothing.  Some even make hundreds of millions, but still end up broke (see Mike Tyson, Allen Iverson or Antoine Walker just to name a few).  They lived their financial lives with no plan, and no concern that their huge salaries would ever end. 

So huge paychecks do not necessarily guarantee huge wealth.  On the flip side, you do not need to earn millions of dollars to accumulate millions of dollars either.  I am living proof.

So how can an “average Joe” like me be wealthy, while those making so much more than me, end up broke (or at least they have not accumulated a significant net worth)?

The answer lies in our focus.  The average person focuses on the wrong things.  Even simple things like how to save and invest is not understood by the average American.  And it is not surprising why.  The average person goes to school for a minimum of 12 years, yet we are taught very little about money.  Instead, we are required to study subjects like trigonometry, foreign language, and biology.  But for some inexplicable reason, we are not required to learn about investing, savings accounts, or borrowing strategies.  To this day, I have never used the Pythagorean Theorum in my everyday life (and happen to work with numbers as my profession).  But I have needed to evaluate interest rates many times like when taking out a mortgage, or deciding where to invest my cash.  Becoming efficient with money is one of the most important skills a young person needs to learn as they enter the “real world”.  But yet we spend very little time studying money.

It is especially surprising that our educational system does not push financial literacy given how managing money is such a critical part of our lives, even our happiness.    

Now, don’t misunderstand.  I am not suggesting that money is important because it allows us to buy a bunch of fancy shit (that is quite the opposite of what I believe).  Instead I believe money is important because we need it for the necessities in life like food, shelter, clothes, health insurance, and most important…. freedom from needing to work.  And when we don’t have enough of it, it creates significant stress in our lives, even our relationships.  Several studies have shown that disagreement over finances is consistently in the top few reasons people cite for divorce.

So perhaps by writing, and discussing the topic of money here, I can educate people about it.  So that it ultimately becomes less a source of stress, and more of its true purpose; a tool that frees us from the shackles of needing more of it  That is my goal. 

For me, having money buys me the most important thing in life, freedom.  Freedom to do what I want, when I want.  And not have to be a slave to a job or a paycheck.   

Becoming wealthy is really just another way to say that someone has become financially free.  Free to have the time and resources to enjoy the things we really want. 

After all, if an average Joe like me can become wealthy, than anyone can do.

So if hearing my story, including some lessons I’ve learned along the way is of interest, please read on.