My friend at ESI Money runs a millionaire interview series that I love. This week he published his Millionaire Interview 27 article and while I can’t identify with this millionaire’s net worth ($9.049M) and lifestyle ($2M home, +$400K art & coin collection, angel investments, etc.) his interview just might be my favorite – no offense to the others! Why? Because of his tangible summary of his families path to success.

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” ~ Karen Lamb

It’s not that you or I haven’t heard these things before. Hell most of them you and I are preaching and practicing even. But I wanted to bring them to attention since they’re coming directly out of the mouth of a multi-millionaire, who also shares a few mistakes made along the way. Please check out the article if you haven’t yet, including the comments as he shares more there. If you’re short on time check out the list below and visit the article later.

The Path To Success

In response to ESI’s question – What have you learned in the process of becoming wealthy that others can learn from (what can others apply to become wealthy themselves)? – Millionaire 27 shares a detailed response and then summarizes their path to success. Below is that summary taken directly from ESI’s article. My thoughts are italicized below each point. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Summarizing our path to success:

• Marry and stay married to your best friend. Invest time with your spouse/family just like you invest time in yourself and your investments
  • With a couple of failed marriages between my husband and me, we can attest to the value of this statement. Failing to spend time nurturing your relationships with your spouse and family can negatively impact your financial and physical health.
• Make a conscious plan on how to increase your odds of landing better, higher paying jobs. Investing in yourself to become more attractive for higher paying roles is important
  • The more knowledge and skills you possess the higher salary you can command. My increasing income results from my hard work and the continuous investments I make in myself to learn and grow.
• Start as early as possible with investing, be consistent and stick with it
  • What he said. I wish I’d started sooner.
• Try to save and invest as much as you can before 50. Careers get very tricky after you turn 50 if you work for someone else. The risk of losing your job increases and the opportunities of finding another job gets harder the older you get
  • Time will tell on this one. While some reports show your 50’s can be your highest earning years, others tell alarming stories of age discrimination and lean earning years.
• Take calculated risks with your career and some of your investments. Be smart and do your homework
  • I’m typically a risk taker, but I’ve not always been smart about it. So yes, do your homework first before you go for it.
• Be nice to everyone you meet. You never know who is ultimately going to be successful and who can help you down the road. You will be amazed by who wins and who loses in the game of life and corporate politics
  • Be kind to everyone you meet period. It’s great for your own soul. If that benefits you later, I’d consider it a bonus.
• Forgo instant gratification for future gratification. Push yourself to “invest regularly” until it hurts a bit
  • THIS!!! And it goes for things besides money. Forgo that last beer so you’ll perform better tomorrow. Forgo those 30 minutes on social media so you can publish your article on time. And forgo those multiple servings of donuts and cookies in the office so you can enjoy a healthier you tomorrow.
• Invest consistently to take advantage of dollar cost averaging and compounding interest. Both are your best friends!
  • You can’t time the market, but you can take advantage of time in the market.
• Good index funds really are hard to beat, especially in the long run. 85% of active investors will not beat the long-term market returns and as they try, their turnover and fees will be higher which costs you more than you need to be paying in taxes and expenses on your investments
  • Vanguard for the win!
• Take care of yourself. Eat right, exercise regularly, find time to enjoy life. What a shame to do all of this hard work and drop dead of a heart attack before you get to enjoy it
  • I just might love you Millionaire 27! A happy and secure life includes our favorite F-words – Finance, Fitness, Food, and Fun!
    • Seeking Financial Independence
    • Get Active
    • Eat Real Food
    • Fun at FinCon17
• God and Family always come first. Everything else is never as important as those two. Take care of those and they will take care of you!
  • Amen!

“The best lesson I learned was to just do it.”- Richard Branson

What would you add to this list? Have you discovered anything different on your own path to success? Please share in the comments so we can learn from each other.

What’s on your path to success?