Five Habits of Millionaires

by Barbara Reinhold

Monster Contributing Writer

According to a study of college students at the Ernst & Young International Intern Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, 59 percent of these young leaders expect to be millionaires within their lifetime. What's more, 5 percent of them expect to hit the million-dollar mark while in their 20s.
And the super-rich are a growing group. The top 0.1 percent of the population's average income was $3 million in 2002, up two and a half times the $1.2 million, adjusted for inflation, that group reported in 1980.

Earned Money vs. Easy Money

Easy money usually comes from inheritance or luck, such as winning the lottery. The track record of people who get their money through the lottery or other windfalls is usually very different from those who created their wealth themselves or who planned for an expected inheritance. Lottery winners are often a sorry lot; more than 90 percent use up their winnings within 10 years -- some go through their money in weeks or months.

But there are some consistent patterns among those people who earn or plan to inherit their money, and these five strategies may be worth emulating.

1. Avoid the Earn-to-Spend Mentality

Michael LeBoeuf, author of The Millionaire in You, points out that to increase wealth, it's essential to emulate millionaires who view money as something to save and invest, rather than income to spend. Many wealthy people live quite simply, he points out, choosing less pretentious homes than they could theoretically afford and opting for financial independence over material showmanship.

2. Focus

LeBoeuf also counsels resisting the impulse to be scattered in your efforts and interests: "Winners focus; losers spray." And goals that are clearly written down are easier to keep in focus.

3. Do Whatever Is Necessary to Meet Your Goal

People who earn their millions are able not only to focus but persevere in the pursuit of their goals. One single mom entrepreneur, Melissa Clark-Reynolds, started her first business, a health and safety consultancy, when she had a young son. En route to her goal of being a millionaire by age 35, Clarke-Reynolds and her son ate lots of pizza, did homework late at night and often slept at the office. She is now a chief executive mentor for Empower New Zealand, a global business consulting firm headquartered in London.

4. Take Calculated Risks

You have to take strategic risks to earn and grow money. And a little rebelliousness seems to help too. One interesting study found a majority of male millionaire entrepreneurs had been in trouble with school authorities or the police during their adolescence.

5. Be Generous

And why doesn't it surprise us that millionaires are often very generous? Sometimes it's for the tax breaks, obviously, but often it's not. One Jewish Swiss millionaire, for instance, flew to Israel to give $5,000 in cash to a waiter at a Jerusalem café who foiled a Palestinian suicide bombing. Among the most generous of millionaires are those from North America, who are, according to a Merrill Lynch Cap-Gemini report, two to five times more likely to give to causes they value than their European counterparts.

These five habits are a pretty good prescription for living happily even if you're not a millionaire.
But LeBoeuf insists it's not so unusual to be a millionaire. As of 2004, there were 8.2 million households with a net worth of more than $1 million. And are the folks in those households happy? Yes, says professor Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in the UK. After studying more than 9,000 people over eight years, Oswald concluded that people who come into money are happier. The happiest among them, he says, seem to be "highly educated, well-paid women who have jobs."

And how much money does the professor say it takes to be happy? "About $1 million, give or take a little."

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Reggie Waller is president of RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, which provides business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit http://www.rwjconsultinggroup.com

Quote of the Week #7

"Twenty years from now you will be more dissapointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor .... Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

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Reggie Waller is president of RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, which provides business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit http://www.rwjconsultinggroup.com

Quote of the week #6

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.

- John Wooden

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Reggie Waller is president of RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, which provides business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit http://www.rwjconsultinggroup.com

Quote of the Week #5

If you want what you never had, you have to do what you have never done!!!

- unknown

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Reggie Waller is president of RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, which provides business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit http://www.rwjconsultinggroup.com

Thank you! Part II … Recognizing Your Employees

“Recognizing employees is not simply a nice thing to do. It is an effective way to communicate your appreciation for the efforts and successes of others, while also reinforcing those actions and behaviors that make a difference in your organization” a point made by Mallary Tytel – President and Founder of Healthy Workplaces.

Let’s face it, we all like to be recognized for our efforts. Some like a “BIG to do” and others like a simple “Thank you”. Whatever the case, employees like to be acknowledged and shown they are appreciated.

Here are some ideas for you to incorporate into your recognition plan:

Employee pictures in printed advertising materials and television commercials: In 2007, federal court employees were recognized for leadership, excellence in court operations, and extraordinary actions. Each employees picture and a descriptive paragraph of their efforts appeared in “The Third Branch” newsletter of the federal courts.

Putting employee pictures in your print materials allows them to share it with family and friends.

Appreciation lunch: Instead of having a normal catered lunch or going to your cafeteria, why not have the management team serve lunch to the employees to show their appreciation. This can also be done serving ice cream sundaes to employees in the afternoon as a nice stress reliever.

Years of Service Recognition: When an employee reaches a milestone year of service with the company (5yr, 10yr, etc.) recognize them for their efforts. Have peers or other leaders that worked with the employee attend the event and provide comments. Have a cake, invite their family in and when you acknowledge them, personalize your message:

• What were the company revenues when they first joined?
• What was the first role they occupied?
• How has the employee progressed throughout the company?
• Any key initiatives that the employee was involved with?
• What was going on in the world when the employee first began with your company?

If you’re going to roast them during the years of service recognition, make sure that they are okay and all stories are appropriate for the occasion.

Team outing: Recognize the team for their accomplishments and take them out for a team outing. Bowling and lunch is a cheap outing. Everyone thrives on a little competition and bowling is an activity that everyone can enjoy (even if you have to put up the bumpers in the lane).

No meeting Fridays: Some employees spend enough time meeting about the meeting and what we plan to do in the next meeting. Give time back to your employees on Fridays and have a rule of no meetings.

Early close/ early leave in the summer: If your company can do so, why not let employees leave one hour early every Friday during the summer (May - Labor Day).

Do their job for a day: You recognized that they have done something above and beyond, but what better way to understand what they do than by doing their job for a day.

“Employee recognition is not just a nice thing to do for people. Employee recognition is a communication tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes people create for your business” – Susan M. Heathfield of About.com

Employers, what are your peers doing in your industry to recognize their employees?

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Reggie Waller is president of RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, which provides business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit http://www.rwjconsultinggroup.com

Quote of the Week #4

Living in the past is a dull and lonely business; looking back strains the neck muscles, and causes you to bump into people not going your way.

- Ferber

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Reggie Waller is president of RWJ Consulting Group, LLC, which provides business and personal coaching, consulting and training services to individuals and businesses. For additional information call 267-254-6800 or visit http://www.rwjconsultinggroup.com