6 millionaire myths debunked: More Yahoo.com 1%er Propaganda.

[HughBeaumont]

Many people believe that — while it’d certainly be nice — they’ll never become millionaires. That it’s an utterly unattainable dream.

The truth is: Hitting the $1 million mark is more attainable today than ever — and more important. That’s because, in order to live comfortably in retirement through your eighties, many people will need a nest egg of at least $1 million. “A general rule of thumb is that you need to save $1 million for every $40,000 of annual income you need to replace at retirement, not including Social Security, pension income or any other retirement income,” says David Fernandez, CFP, of Wealth Engineering in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"More attainable today than ever". REALLY? Tell all of the shuttered small businesspeople by the thousands that. Tell the single moms of America that. Tell the indebted college students that. Tell the long-term unemployed that. Tell laid off blue collar workers who had to start all over in their 50s that. Tell laid-off Master's Degree and PhD holders that. Tell the STEM graduates who invested their money and did everything they were told only to come out to the worst job market in two decades that. Tell seniors that. Tell the average worker, whose average wage hasn't risen in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1979, that hitting the $1 million mark is realistic. What sort of bubble does this woman LIVE in?

The Myth: Millionaires Are Just Luckier

Millionaires are the luckiest among us, right? They won the lottery, struck gold with their very first attempt at launching a business or haphazardly landed their dream jobs with massive salaries. Not so: Pure luck is not a factor in achieving success. Rather, truly successful people make their own luck. After all, a million-dollar idea is worth nothing without execution.

. . . and she goes on to list an anecdotal situation where someone came from no money to become wealthy. THAT SETTLES IT! Conclusion reached, YOU'RE JUST LAZY, slackers!

The Myth: Most Millionaires Were Born Into Money

Another common myth is that millionaires were born into money or inherited it. But that's not often the case. In a recent survey, Fidelity Investments found 86 percent of millionaires are self-made. And among the more than 100 millionaires I interviewed for my book, each was self-made and only 26 percent of them said they even had connections to important people beforehand.

. . . and again . . . another anecdotal passes for supporting proof.

The assertion that 86% of millionaires are "self made" is horseshit, by the way.

The Myth: Millionaires Have to Be Fearless

Though it may seem like the only way to become a millionaire is to forge full-steam ahead and assume a lot of risk, fears are totally normal — even for the ultra-successful. Fifty-seven percent of the millionaires I surveyed said they were scared before starting their own business — scared of failure, disappointing their spouses or their families, scared of losing everything.

And yet, they still made it. Here's the thing. If I somehow miraculously made it to the million-dollar mark, I'm not going to sit there and tell someone that I made this money entirely by my hard work and good ol' fashioned gumption and yew can TOO! I'm no idiot. Economies can be just as favorable to a certain sector at any given time just as they can be unfavorable to others. No one has to like what I sell. Studies show that tech giants were all born in the same time period. It's very possible that their initial crucial first years were met with no landmines, personal or business. To discount luck in a person's success is being silly and borderline facetious.

Articles like this . . . it's almost as if they're making fun of us for not believing in this "American Dream" fairy tale. That rags to riches CAN happen ("can" being the operative word) if only we just all WORKED HARDER. It belittles middle/working/poor class struggle and reduces realities, hardships and bad breaks as "excuses".

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/6-millionaire-myths-debunked-000000873.html

[jsr]

1. Same ol' line - "You too could have been a millionaire if you hadn't been lazy"

[MillennialDem]

2. It assumes someone with a $300,000 house and $700,000 in their 401k is a millionaire

In that sense, they are technically right in that most millionaires weren't born into money / self made / etc.

Of course I'd contend that most of those "millionaires" at least came from the middle class so weren't truly self made and were born somewhat lucky.

Moreover

There are A LOT more people with $1 million in total assets than there are those with $2 million. And there are a lot more with $2 million than $5 million and so on.

Someone who is drawing down or will be able to draw down a $40,000 a year "salary" while in retirement is certainly enjoying the fruits of a developed first world economy, they saved hard, and yes... were LUCKY to not have to change jobs or get fired (and were able to get a good career in the first place) they aren't "millionaires" in the sense that people typically think of the word. In the strict technical sense of the word they are, but they aren't Mitt Romney (who was born very lucky).

[One_Life_To_Give]

3. When Median home is $400,000+

For all the people working in High Tech in Silicon Valley, Boston etc. a home puts you half way their.

A couple of Professionals working with Accounting, Engineering or other in demand degrees will get there. A Plumber, Electrician or other Skilled Tradesperson could also get there. So it's probably over 20% of the population that is there or will get there and that is new.

[badtoworse]

4. There is nothing wrong with the article

Accumulating that much wealth is absolutely an achievable goal, but you don't get there by starting with the premise that it can't be done.

[MillennialDem]

5. Millionaire in most people's minds is multi multi millionaire - I'd say

$5 million absolute minimum (and towards the lower end, probably someone still working and accumulating money).

That is not the same as someone with a $300,000 home and a $700,000 401k account.

The article is technically correct, but there is a big difference between someone who can pay off a median home and retire relatively comfortably and someone in the 1%.

[badtoworse]

6. I'll agree with that assessment.

[JHB]

7. Unsurprisingly, the writer is an "entrepreneurial coach", and this is a covert ad

If you want to learn from millionaires themselves, you are in the right place.

I want to show you that millionaires are just people. They have had different experiences in their lives and business, but they are like you.

They fail. They experience fear. But they move past it and do things anyway.

Each week I bring to you a new millionaire to learn from, providing you with their best tactics and advice for growing your business.

Get started today by downloading the Eventual Millionaire Starter Pack, plus get a new millionaire interview every Monday!

http://eventualmillionaire.com/jaimetardy/

Never says how many of her clients became millionaires. Probably because the answer is "none".

[HughBeaumont]

8. Then again, she really wouldn't have much of a career if she didn't "brightside".

This article positively reeks of the Wanting it Bad Enough snarl; when you're surrounded by nothing but millionaires as a reference, your starting point comes from another planet from those listed above. We'll never hear from the persons who didn't acheive financial independence despite every favorable circumstance. We'll never hear from those who tried multiple times and failed and lost their shirt doing so (and try to get a business loan in 2014 if you fail even once).

In REALITY, this is how 2014 Business learning will go:

“Hey, I want to start a business!”

“Super. Your competition is WalMart and Amazon. Also, you’ll paying double FICO, benefits and taxes and the corporations have every distribution and cost advantage over you. There’ll be more months where you make nothing than there will be weeks where you make something. Modern businesses are about finding particular niches and needs that are dwindling every year. That’s not a problem, is it?”

"But . . . but . . . how were YOU able to be a success??"

"Oh, I . . . 'worked harder than you' and I 'wanted it bad enough'. As for the rest, that's for me to know and you to never find out."

- or -

“I need to get a degree so I can get a great start in life!” “Awesome. That’ll be $25,000-$150,000, depending on your career path.”

To say that "anybody can be a millionaire" without luck, patronage, privilege or money is just cruelty.