It Should Take a Long Time to Build a Foundation

It takes about six months to build the average house. The average builder will spend about three weeks building the foundation. In the average home, basements often leak, the foundations often crack, which can sometimes be catastrophic to the frame and roof. Average homes often require major repairs to fix the problems caused by weak foundations.

For the above-Average builder, it takes about nine months to build a house. The above-average builder will spend about six weeks building the foundation. The foundations of homes built by above average builders are very strong, they do not leak and they do not crack. Their homes do not require the types of major repairs average built homes require.

Those who succeed and become wealthy devote many years to building their foundation. They forge relationships with influencers. They hone their knowledge and/or skills. They devote hours a day in an effort to become experts within their industry.

Very few realize overnight success. Those that do are a needle in a haystack.

In my Rich Habits Study the self-made millionaires took many years to build their foundation and become wealthy:

• Entrepreneur-Dreamers – 12 Years to build an average of $7,450,000 in Wealth
• Big Company Climbers – 20 Years to build an average of $3,350,000 in Wealth
• Virtuosos – 21 Years to build an average of $3,678,000 in Wealth
• Saver-Investors – 32 Years to build an average of $3,260,000 in Wealth
• 93% of the Self-Made Millionaires were over 50 years old

The longer it takes to build your foundation, the stronger it will be. When the winds of economic change blow, those with the strongest foundations survive.

Focus on building a strong foundation and not on becoming wealthy.

In the process, you will become wealthy.

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.