If I was a rich guy handing out money and I asked a person if they wanted a million dollars, do you think they would say yes or no? My guess is that they would say yes. I mean, who doesn’t want a million dollars? Just think of everything that you could do with a million dollars. Or, consider this for a second, the average annual return on the S&P 500 since its inception has been more than 10%, so a 7% return shouldn’t be that unreasonable. This would mean if you had a million dollars and you were able to get a return of 7% per year, you would essentially be making $70,000 per year. And what is it that you would be doing to make $70,000? Nothing, except letting your money set in a mutual fund. In other words, your money would be working for you so you don’t have to work for money. Well, you might say “That would be great if I had a million dollars, but I don’t. So, what use is that information to me?” Well in this post, I’m going to share with you steps to save a million dollars. I’m going to tell you the things that you need to do in order to be a long-term wealth builder. By sharing these steps with you my hope is first that you realize that even though a million dollars is a lot of money, you can save a million dollars. My second hope is that you actually start saving. Most Americans these days are living paycheck to paycheck and have very little if anything saved.

So, you might be wondering to yourself “Who are you to give advice about saving a million dollars? Have you saved a million dollars?” And the answer to that question is no. I haven’t saved a million dollars, yet. But, I am using these steps to work towards my financial goals. And guess what, they’re working for me! So, that’s how I know they work, because I’m putting them into practice right now. I not only have experience with these steps to save but I have also seen others use these steps to save as well. As someone who works in the finance industry, I’ve had the opportunity to look deep into successful people’s finances. I’ve worked with numerous folks who had a net worth over a million dollars and I’ve been able to see how they’ve grown such a large chunk of wealth. And you know what, if I had to sum up how they did it, I would say they did it slow and steady. They did it by having a plan. None of these people accidentally found a million dollars in their bank account. They were intentional about saving and they were diligent over a long period of time about putting money away. Alright, lets look at the steps to save a million dollars.

Step one: The first thing that you need to do is to create a budget also known as a spending plan. There are lots of free budgets that you can download off the internet. Find one that works the best for you. If you’re an Excel nerd like me then you can just make your own which is what I’ve done. The biggest reason to create a budget is so you know where your money is going. A ton of people live paycheck to paycheck and I think this is because they don’t manage their money well. A budget helps us to manage our money so that we can be intentional about where our money is going. See, there’s that word intentional again. Hmmmm sounds like we’re on the right track. The second biggest reason to start living on a budget is to give yourself a pay raise. That’s right, you’re going to give yourself a raise by living on a budget. When people start living on a budget, they realized they’re spending money on things that they don’t really need. They are able to avoid spending money on these things in the future and this leaves the person with more money at ...