Everyday Millionaires

165
By Chris Hogan
Reviewed by Judith Zimmerman

About the Author

Chris Hogan is a #1 national best-selling author, dynamic speaker, and financial expert. For
over 10 years, Chris has served at Ramsey Solutions, spreading a message of hope to
audiences across the country as a financial coach and Ramsey Personality.

Chris was born in 1987 and attended Georgetown College and later was an All-American
football player for the Carolina Panthers of the NFL.

Chris is married and has three sons, one of which has a rare disease, Hunter Syndrome. He
and his family live in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

About the Book

The American Dream is NOT dead and the Little Man CAN get ahead!! This book destroys the millionaire myths
that are keeping everyday people from achieving financial independence. Over 10,000 U.S. millionaires were
surveyed and discovered how high net worth people reached their financial status. The formula is quite simple!

Millionaire status doesn’t require inheriting a bunch of money or having a high-paying job. No. The path to
becoming a millionaire is paved with more ordinary tools – tools that you either already have or that you can
learn.

Chris came from a banking background and began working as a financial coach specializing in high net worth
clients. Most of his coaching clients had a net worth of $1 million or more. He worked with professional athletes,
celebrities, and of course, plenty of hardworking, middle class families who had built wealth slowly and steadily.
This book shares the stories of these families and HOW they did it!

The Book’s ONE THING

If you think you could never become a millionaire, THINK AGAIN!

BLUE SKY LEADERSHIP CONSULTING | 210-219-9934 | PETER@BLUESKYLEADERSHIP.COM

Blue Sky Leadership Consulting works with organizations to leverage Strategic Thinking and Execution Planning and we encompass
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Need to grow top line revenue? Improve bottom-line profits? Build accountable and trusting teams? Improve cash flow? Develop
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Copyright 2019 |Blue Sky Leadership Consulting | All rights reserved
Copyright 2016 by Blue Sky Leadership Consulting. All rights reserved.
The American Dream is Alive and Available
What would you do with One Million Dollars?

Spend it?
Save it?
Share it?

Is it possible for ‘the average Joe’ to become a millionaire in America today?

Things we hear: “The little man can’t get ahead”; “The American Dream is Dead”; The key to building wealth is to
chase after a higher and higher income”.

“I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, or what hand you’ve been dealt. Anyone in this country can become
a millionaire.”

What does Millionaire mean to you?

Emotional: Financial Independence – A day you can retire and bills can still be paid.
Mathematical: NOT people who earn a million a year! It is someone whose net worth is at or above the $1
million mark!
Net worth: Everything you OWN minus everything you OWE!

The Dave Ramsey research team studied over 10,000 net-worth millionaires. They aren’t ‘flashy’ or ‘highbrow’;
they are regular people with normal jobs and often humble backgrounds.

‘Farmer Rob’ – “If you spend more than you make, you will never get rich. I never excused my spending by saying,
‘I’m only young once’. Instead I said, ‘I’m only going to be old once and I want to enjoy it’”!

“Throw hard work, education, financial discipline, sacrifice, and patience into a Crock-Pot and enjoy the rewards
that cook up slowly and ste4adily over time” – pg. 7

Henry Ford – “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right!”

74% of millennials and 52% of baby boomers believe millionaires inherited all their wealth!

Not ONE person the research team interviewed apologized for WINNING with wealth! They aren’t ashamed of
their success – in fact, they are proud of themselves!

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 MYTHS about Millionaires

MYTH #1: Wealthy People Inherited all their money!

FACT: 79% received ZERO inheritance

21% received some inheritance

“Most millionaires are first-generation rich. That means they worked hard, made sacrifices, and lived on a plan”! –
pg. 21

The secret for 1st generation millionaires is the opposite of a silver-spoon, family-handout mentality. It’s the can-
do work ethic they learned from their parents. 8 out of 10 millionaires come from families at or below the middle-
class income level.
48% described their parents’ household as middle class
27% described their parents’ household as lower-middle class
4.25% described their parents’ household as lower-class
It seems that real millionaires aren’t waiting around for someone else to hand them a fortune!

MYTH #2: Wealthy People are just Lucky!

FACT: Millionaires are self-made! Are professional athletes lucky? Michael Phelps put in the work to earn his wins.
Phelps practiced up to 6 hours a day, sox days a week during peak training. He swam nearly 50 miles a week. He
had a rigorous weight lifting routine. He consumed 12,000 calories a day!

“People view wealth like lightning strikes, as though they have no control over when and where the million-dollar
lightning bolt will strike next.” – pg. 28

Millionaires are self-made. That is, they started with nothing, worked hard and built wealth over time.

Scarcity vs. Abundance Thinking

Scarcity Thinking: Focusing on your limitations. When you think there are limited numbers of opportunities and
you didn’t get your chance.
Abundance Thinking: When you are thinking there’s enough opportunity to go around. “A rising tide raises all
ships” is abundance thinking.
Millionaires report the top two contributing factors to becoming wealthy are discipline and consistency.

MYTH #3: Wealthy people make risky investments.

FACT: 79% of Millionaires reached millionaire status through their employer-sponsored retirement plan.
“Almost ALL investments come with some element of risk – and that’s not a bad thing. Millionaires understand
that risk is something to be managed, not avoided.” – pg. 41

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 DO NOT PUT ALL YOUR MONEY IN 1 BASKET!!

MYTH #4: Wealthy people take stupid risks to get rich quick.

FACT: The average millionaire hits the $1 million mark at 49 years old! This is after years – decades, in fact – of
hard work. Only 5% get there in 10 years or less.

Getting Rich vs. Building Wealth

“Building wealth is a long-term play. That’s the difference between the words wealth and rich, at least from my
perspective. ‘Getting rich’ just means falling into a pile of money. All the focus is on the cash, not the person.
‘Building wealth’, however, is about a patient, hardworking person’s journey to millions. It’s about the character
they develop over many years of dedication and persistence.” – pg 54

MYTH #5: The wealthy have a leg up in education and careers.

FACT: 79% of millionaires did NOT attend prestigious, private schools

62% graduated from public state schools
8% attended community college
9% never graduated college at all

The school you received your degree from doesn’t define you, but rather what you do with your life does!

“Getting out of college with a $200,000 student loan debt will negatively impact your ability to build wealth
throughout your life. Because of the power of compound interest, your 1st decade out of school will be critical to
your long-term investing.” – pg 67

The average monthly student loan payment is $351 for someone in their early 20’s. If that amount of money were
invested instead, they would have almost $3 million by the age of 65!!!
(Age 22-65 w/ a 10% return)

MYTH #6: Wealthy people have high-paying jobs.

FACT: 1/3 (69%) of millionaires never had a 6-figure household income in a single working year. Only 31%
averaged $100,000 household income and only 7% averaged over $200,000.

Top 3 careers: Engineer, Accountant, TEACHER!!!!

Teachers know how to work hard but also know how to plan ahead with a long-term view! Millionaires know that
how much you make isn’t nearly as important as what you do with it!

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Let’s say you have a $35,000 job straight out of college at age 22, and you stay in that job – never even getting a
raise – until you are 65. If you stay out of debt and live below your means, you should be able to invest 15% of
your income ($437 / month). From age 22 to 65 will leave you with nearly $3.5 million at retirement!! (based on a
10% rate of return).

More doesn’t equal better!!

Start Where You ARE!

Do you believe you have what it takes, that you CAN and SHOULD become a millionaire?!

“Belief is key. If you believe you can do it, you eventually will. If you believe you can’t then you definitely won’t” –
Stew, $2.8 million net worth

“We are not all starting at the same spot. There are people who DO have advantages. That’s just life. Someone will
always have more advantages than you see to have, no matter who you are or what you’ve got. The point isn’t
where you are starting from, though; it’s where you are going.” – pg 90

5 attributes that are consistent across all types of millionaires:

1. Take personal responsibility for their money decisions
2. Practice intentionality with their finances: live on less than you make
3. Goal-oriented
4. Hard Work
5. Wealth building takes consistency

Earl Nightingale in 1956 produced a spoken-word record that sold over 1 million copies. The name of that
recording is “The Strangest Secret”. What is it that makes some succeed where others fail? For Nightingale, it all
comes down to one simple truth: we become what we think about. He compares it to planting a seed, saying ‘The
ground will always return what is planted’. If you plant a seed of fear and doubt, you’ll get a crop of that. If you
plant a seed of success in your mind, you’ll get success.

Know where you are with your finances! That means facing your ‘stuff’ head-on with no fear, guilt, shame, denial
or excuses. You’ve got to OWN it 100%!

“We all need to build a network of encouraging, like-minded and challenging people to support us on our
millionaire journey.” Pg 111

Dave’s 7 Baby Steps:

1. Save $1,000 for a starter emergency fund
2. Pay off all debt (except the house) using the debt snowball
3. Save 3-6 months of expenses in a fully funded emergency fund.
4. Invest 15% of your household income in retirement
5. Save for your children’s college fund
6. Pay off your home early
7. Build wealth and GIVE!

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Millionaires are hard workers. These men and women work with intensity!

“It seems like every other millionaire we’ve featured grew up on a farm. I don’t think that’s an accident. There’s no
such thing as a lazy farmer. A farm background develops the solid, life-long work ethic that’s required to build
wealth”. – pg 165

“Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison

“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty”. – Proverbs 14:23

“No matter who you are or how much you have, giving always feels good. I’ve never know a millionaire
to lie on his deathbed and say, ‘I wish I hadn’t given so much to other people.’ Instead, they’re more
likely to look back on a life of giving and wish they could have done even more.”

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 Our Faculty and Our Sponsors

Actions
What thought, or idea had the biggest impact on you today?

What is your ONE THING? What one specific action you will take
TODAY from what was discussed?

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Copyright 2019 |Blue Sky Leadership Consulting | All rights reserved