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You Absolutely Can Become Wealthy as a 9-5 Employee

December 9, 2023 by Tom Corley

becoming wealthy as a 9 to 5 employee

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TOM@RICHHABITS.NET

Not everyone has the personality it takes to be an Entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs, for the most part, are born, not made.

So, game over right?

Wrong. Very wrong.

If you were to look at all of the self-made multi-millionaires in the world as a pizza pie with eight slices, about four of those slices would be Saver-Investor Employees – 49% of the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study were Saver-Investor Employees.

The other four slices would be Entrepreneurs, Big Company Climbers and Virtuosos.

What I’m saying is that most of the self-made millionaires in the world are employees, who worked 9-5 jobs.

How did they do it?

  • They got into the habit of saving 10% or more of their Net Pay with each paycheck. The ones who accumulated the most wealth, saved more than 20% of their Net Pay each paycheck.
  • They Consistently and Prudently Invested those savings. Some were Do It Yourself-types, but most relied on financial professionals for help and guidance.
  • They maintained a modest standard of living. They followed this rule: “Same House, Same Spouse, Same Car,” for all of their lives.
  • They purchased High Quality Products – they spent good money on high-quality products that would last a lifetime: furniture, clothing, cars, etc.
  • They paid the least amount possible for the highest quality services: Affordable CPAs, Tax Preparers, Financial Advisors, HVAC experts, etc.
  • They frequently consulted with their financial CPAs, Tax Preparers and Financial Advisors.
  • They were Frugal with their Spending. If they went to restaurants, and many did, those restaurants were BYOBs with good, affordable food.
  • They filled their Inner Circle with like-minded Saver-Investor friends.
  • They Stayed Married.
  • They bought new cars and rode them for 250,000 miles or more. Or, they purchased used cars coming off two to three-year leases – they sought used cars that had accumulated modest mileage, say 15,000 – 25,000 miles and drove those cars for 250,000 miles or more. Most had car loans that they paid off within 3-5 years.
  • They sent their kids to public schools, community colleges/state colleges.
  • They paid off their mortgages early.
  • If they did use credit cards, and many did, they made a habit of paying off the balance every month.
  • They learned how to fix things that broke in the house or borrowed a handyman friend to help them fix what broke.
  • They mowed their own lawns.
  • They painted their own homes.
  • They stained their own decks.
  • They cut down their own trees.
  • They did their own landscaping.

They did many more things but this covers most of it.

You absolutely can become wealthy working 9-5. No doubt about it. You won’t become uber-rich, but you can accumulate over $3 million as a Saver-investor, which puts you in the top 1% of the wealthy around the world.

Tom Corley Headshot
Tom Corley

Tom Corley is an accountant, financial planner, public speaker, and author of the books “Effort-Less Wealth: Smart Money Habits At Every Stage of Your Life” and “RichKids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life“.  Corley’s work has appeared on CNN, USA Today, The Huffington Post, SUCCESS Magazine, and many other media outlets and podcasts in the U.S. and 27 other countries. Tom is a frequent contributor to Business Insider and CNBC.

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