5 Secrets to Wealth According to My Millionaire Clients

Hidden in plain sight for anyone to steal

Building wealth has little to do with your job title. Some of the wealthiest people I know are college dropouts, teachers, and unassuming professionals who lead modest lives. But one look at their bank accounts, and it’s clear they’re doing something right.

Here’s a confusing plot twist: many of the people you assume to be rich (doctors, lawyers, and CEOs) often spend their money and go into debt playing the comparison game with peers.

So, what is the secret to building wealth?

From what I can tell working with these successful investors every day — it’s your habits that make the difference.

Here are the five most common habits I’ve noticed as a financial planner.

1. They Set Clear Financial Goals

Your mind is a powerful tool. When you get clear about what you want, when you want it, and have a strong “why” behind your goal — your brain can’t resist. You’ve given it a clear target to point your actions at.

For my wealthiest clients, their goals are just a starting point. After deciding what they want, they set up repeatable systems that align their actions with their goals. This is what drives real progress.

So, next time you set a financial goal — like saving $50,000 for a home down payment, for example — don’t stop at setting it. Outline the weekly or monthly actions it will take to reach your goal. In this case, it could be a monthly transfer of $1,000 into a high-yield savings account you’ve labeled “Future Home Purchase.”

2. They Invest Each Month Without Fail

You can’t build wealth without investing. Rich people know this, which is why they use their income to buy appreciating assets like stocks, real estate, and cryptocurrency.

They also know investing isn’t a game of timing the market. That’s proven to be a fool’s errand for long-term investors with a horizon of a decade or more, which happens to be the majority of us who want to reach financial independence someday.

Instead, my richest clients know investing is a game of spending a lot of time in the market. Rather than catch the market’s random highs and lows at the perfect moment, they simply invest the same dollar amount on a set schedule. Just like clockwork.

By turning investing into a habit (with the help of automatic transfers each month), my clients avoid costly mistakes, like missing the best-performing days in the stock market and losing out on years of compounded returns. This savvy move is called dollar-cost-averaging, and it’s something anyone can do.

3. They Plan for Good and Bad Times

Building wealth is one thing. Keeping it is another ball game. My richest clients never leave the latter up to chance. Instead, they proactively plan for and expect bad stuff to happen.

Whether it’s a medical emergency, market crash, taking fluffy to the vet, or replacing some ungodly expensive piece of your home — there are ways to protect yourself from financial ruin.

Here are some disaster-proof strategies my clients use:

Having a cash emergency fund equal to six months of income
Researching and choosing the right health insurance plan
Protecting their income with disability insurance
Protecting their family with life insurance
Protecting their legacy with an estate plan
Without the “protection” part of your plan, it’s all too easy to blow up your financial goals when an inevitable surprise comes along.

4. They Diversify Their Income

Speaking of protection: my wealthiest clients understand the power of diversification. Yes, with their investments, but also with their income.

Think about it: if you only have one source of income, which is a salary for most of us, then your entire financial future rests on your ability to maintain that income. The second you lose your paycheck, you’ve gone from boom to bust.

This isn’t a fear for rich people. If they lose one income stream due to a black swan event, like a recession, they have four or five other income streams to help them pay the bills, continue saving for retirement, and avoid falling off track with their goals.

Common income streams among my clients include:

Owning income-producing assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate
Turning their expertise into a consulting or coaching business
Building a scalable side hustle through writing, e-books, and courses
Leveraging their network to find great businesses to invest in

5. They Invest in Professional Help

The last habit my wealthiest clients share will not be a surprise to you. When they need help, or simply lack the time to do something themselves, they invest in professional advice. This rings especially true for their investments and financial plan.

Instead of DIY-ing things like investing, taxes, insurance, and major financial decisions, they understand the value of partnering with a financial advisor to put all the pieces in place.

Recap For Memory

You don’t have to be a genius or earn a massive paycheck to build wealth. But you do need the right habits. Here the ones I consistently see in my role as a financial planner to $1 million+ Net Worth clients.

Set clear goals
Invest on a set schedule
Plan for financial ups & downs
Diversify your income
Invest in professional help

CONTRIBUTED BY Anthony Carlton

Read More: Money Comes From Mindset — How to “Think and Grow Rich”

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