All it takes is desire, persistence, a bit of luck, and lots of time.

Desire

In order to get to a million, you have to be willing to prioritize your life’s goals to get there. You can’t spend more than you earn. You must control your debt. You need to be willing to invest in yourself. You have to be willing to take a few calculated risks.  You have to be willing to work hard towards your goal.

Persistence

If you want to be worth a million dollars (without winning the lottery, inheriting a fortune or robbing a bank), you need to keep at it, for a really long time.

You have to persist in saving year over year.  You have to persist in working day in, day out.  You have to persist in pursuing your goal, no matter what life brings.  You must persist in living below your means to stay out of debt and save.

You may be building your own business. Eventually you may sell it for significant sums. Meanwhile you are putting in long hours, continuing education, research and etc to grow it to a sell-able entity.

You may be investing in real estate. Each new property adds both debt and income as well as future equity. Eventually you may have enough to generate millions in income, or you may sell properties to achieve a million. In the meantime, you are beating the pavement looking for good value real estate, breaking your back to ensure the property is well kept, scouring the world for exceptional renters and dealing with all of the day to day and periodic operational issues of owning property.

You may be working for someone else and saving part or all of your paycheck. Persistence in saving, payday after payday is critical to building a million dollar estate.

Persistence not only involves repeating a positive action over and over, it also involves making the right decision more often than not and very hard work over a long period of time.

A Bit Of Luck

You need to be ready to take advantage of opportunities that come along (“Chance favors the prepared mind” as Louis Pasteur is quoted as saying). That means you need to be observant, focus on understanding what people need and want and train yourself to be able to provide it.

You also need to escape most of life’s challenges, such as ill health and accidents and you need to prepare to cover risky situations –  such as with adequate insurance for your house and car.

Lots And Lots Of Time

Start saving early, you can save smaller amounts over a long period of time to get to a million. If you are older, you will have to put aside more and may need to find ways to cut costs AND increase income to do so.

From Money.cnn – How to be a Millionaire in Three Easy Steps – here’s what they say about how long it can take :

“But even if you’re only a tenth of the way there — like the typical worker who’s been investing in a 401(k) for 10 to 20 years, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute — you can make it in two decades or less, if you save a good chunk of income or earn a decent return.”

They also say (and I totally agree):

“The single most important thing you need to know about building wealth: You’re far better off being a dogged saver who’s a mediocre investor than being a below-average saver who can knock the socks off the S&P 500.”

See how long it will take you to get to a million – use this calculator from CNN – When Will You Be a Millionaire? 

Are you willing to take these four steps?  Is having a million dollar net worth an important life goal for you and your family?