Finance and investments remains the surest way to get ultra-rich. It's the industry with the highest number of billionaires, 372, including hedge fund and private equity tycoons, bankers, venture capitalists and fintech founders.
The top 1% of earners, then, make almost nine times the median income in the U.S. The people who earn enough to meet this threshold work in a range of industries and include doctors, lawyers, business owners and executives—but this also varies regionally.
It takes a $650,000-a-year income to reach America's top 1%—but in some states you need to earn much, much more. It's easier in southern states to reach the threshold of the top 1% of earners than it is in others, new research from SmartAsset has shown.
Top 5% income
Salaries start to jump significantly the closer you get to the top 1%. You'll start to see dramatic shifts in the top 5%, where the EPI found the average earners significantly increased to $343,000 in 2020, up from $324,000 the year before.
Have multiple streams of income. Many self-made millionaires have money coming in from several places, including their salaries, dividends from investments, income from rental properties, and investments they have made in other business enterprises, to name a few examples.
Even if you think it sounds like a stretch, it is possible to become a millionaire at a young age. I became a millionaire by age 21. My second millionaire student who followed my program became a millionaire by the age of 23.
Becoming rich takes skill, patience, and a little bit of luck. You'll need to set yourself on a path that leads to a monetarily enriching career, then handle the money you earn wisely by investing it, saving it, and reducing your living expenses.
A trillion is such a huge number, followed by twelve zeros. That is one thousand times a billion (nine zeros followed by 1). Do you know that only 6 trillionaires ever lived on the face of earth? As of today, there are no trillionaires who live on earth.
The most likely way to make a billion-dollar fortune: go into finance and investments. That sector has minted the most billionaires in the world, with 371 people, or about 13% of the entire list. It was the top industry for billionaires in 2020—the last time we tabulated the number of billionaires per industry—as well.
A trillionaire is an individual with a net worth equal to at least one trillion in U.S. dollars or a similarly valued currency, such as the euro or the British pound. Currently, no one has yet claimed trillionaire status, although some of the world's richest individuals may only be a few years away from this milestone.
Still commonly used is multimillionaire, which refers to individuals with net assets of 2 million or more of a currency.
Based on the median costs of living in most parts of America, $5 million is more than enough for a very comfortable retirement. Based on average market returns, $5 million can support many households indefinitely.
The good news is even if you don't invest your money and generate returns, $5 million is still enough that you could live on $100,000 a year for 50 years. That'll last you until the age of 95, far beyond the average lifespan.
Retiring at 65 seems like a typical target, but it takes careful planning and a sufficient nest egg to pull off. If you accrue $2 million during your career, you can pay yourself $80,000 annually without touching your principal, which translates to a healthy monthly budget.
Americans need at least $2.2 million in assets to be considered rich, according to Charles Schwab's 2023 Modern Wealth Survey. The investment platform surveyed 1,000 Americans to determine the average net worth required to be considered wealthy in America.
According to Credit Suisse, individuals with more than $1 million in wealth sit in the top 1 percent bracket. The billionaire class is $2.6 trillion richer than before the pandemic, even if billionaire fortunes slightly fell in 2022 after their record-smashing peak in 2021.