They studied 10,000 millionaires – the results will shock you

This Torah class is brought to [music] you by tora anytime.com. >> A Torah Anytime original series. When most people think of millionaires, they immediately think of someone who made some major investment that brilliantly saw or foresaw some major business opportunity or someone who bought and flipped [music] houses incredibly efficiently and then started buying commercial buildings. Or they think of people that invented an app and then sold it to Google for millions of dollars. Or perhaps [music] people think millionaires got lucky or they were financial geniuses or they inherited tons of money so of course they became millionaires. That's the picture that many people have [music] when thinking of millionaires. People who are dramatic and glamorous, larger than life, where wealth only belongs to the brilliant or the lucky or the people born into it. But did you know that all of that is wrong? Did you know that the truth is [music] very different and quite frankly a lot more empowering? So, let's talk numbers, not just mythology. Not long ago, there was a study done called the Ramsay National Study of Millionaires. [music] One of the largest realworld studies ever done on how people actually become wealthy. What they found in that study shocked the [music] world. After studying and talking to tens of thousands of millionaires, the study discovered several fascinating things. [music] Number one, 79% of all millionaires in the world received zero inheritance. They inherited nothing, which means the overwhelming majority of millionaires made their money on their own. They didn't inherit their wealth. They built it themselves. Number two, the most common path to becoming a millionaire was not brilliance or luck or bold moves, but something far quieter and far more powerful. [music] Consistency, steady investing, small amounts placed in mutual funds and the stock market again and again, month after month, year after year for decades. The vast majority [music] did not day trade. They did not try to get time the market, then chase hype, run after the next big thing. They certainly didn't get rich overnight. There were no dramatic breakthroughs, [music] no sudden windfalls, just discipline and consistency and time. Their advantage was not genius. [music] It was patience. Number three, and this surprises many people. If you had to guess the professions that produced the most millionaires, you would probably imagine real estate mogul, big investors, [music] international bankers, high-powered deal makers. But the data says otherwise. [music] The top five professions among millionaires are accountants, engineers, [music] managers, attorneys, and teachers. Steady, ordinary careers. Many of them not even considered highpaying. No glamorous shortcuts. There's no get-rich quick industries, no dramatic windfalls. Their wealth did not come from massive salaries. It came from something far more reliable. Consistent saving, disciplined investing, long-term commitment. Number four, when researchers looked for the single most common trait shared by millionaires, [music] it was not intelligence or luck or high income. It was discipline in how they lived. They consistency consistently lived below their means. As their income rose, their lifestyle did not explode with it. They avoided the trap of lifestyle inflation. They didn't chase status. They didn't feel the need to impress the world. They drove used cars. They lived modestly. They followed clear budgets year after year. They understood a powerful truth that wealth is not built from what you earn. It's built from what you keep. Number five, by far the most important, [music] the real secret to their wealth was time. They didn't strike it rich overnight. They didn't hit a jackpot or ride some [music] crazy trend. They became millionaires because they consistent consistently put small amounts of money into the stock market over and over and over and over again, year after year for decades. The average millionaire took 28 [music] years to get there. They were consistent. They were patient. They were disciplined. They were long-term [music] thinkers. They understood the raw power of compounded interest. What Albert Einstein called the eighth wonder [music] of the world. They knew the truth. You invest $5,000 in your 20s and you add $500 a month and by the time you're 50, you have $2 million. And by the time you're 60, you have $6.5 million. That's the magic. Slow, relentless, unstoppable growth. They didn't do anything flashy. They did nothing dramatic. Pure discipline and consistency year after year. Some years the market soared. Some years it crashed. Some years it felt like it did nothing. They didn't panic. They didn't quit. They didn't flinch. They stayed firm. They stayed steady like a rock. [music] And before they even realized it, patience and consistency turned them into [music] millionaires. The same rules that create millionaires apply just as powerfully in the world of [music] spiritual millionaires. We tend to think that great rabbis and renown Torah scholars and rash yeshiva inherited to their greatness that they were born into it that their father was the rashiva that holiness somehow flowed directly to them na naturally or we imagine somehow they transformed overnight locked themselves in a in an attic somewhere in Abra or BMG for years [music] and emerged fully formed this hush var with superhuman abilities that the rest of us could never touch just came out like that But the truth [music] is nothing like that. The overwhelming majority of Rabanim and Rashi Shiva inherited nothing. Their parents were ordinary people. Sure, I'm sure prayers were said. Yes, they were blessed by loving families. But greatness was not handed to them. [music] They became who they became because they chose it, because they wanted it, because they chased it relentlessly. It didn't happen overnight. They didn't become giants in a week or a month or a year. They became who they be who they became because they worked on it day after day and year after [music] year and decade after decade. They missed parties. They gave up trips. They declined distractions. They consistently [music] refused to indulge in everything the world offered. They molded their personality traits and refined their midas slowly, deliberately, intentionally, little by little, step by step. They woke up a little earlier. They stayed a little later. They learned a little more, dived a little more, pushed themselves a little harder in high school. In base manageers, they invested their spiritual growth like one invest in a long-term stock. Small, steady, consistent. [music] Even when others were quitting or selling out, they chiseled away at greatness quietly and persistently. And over time, those small investments compounded into towering spiritual [music] strength. Here's the lesson. Don't be intimidated by millionaires and don't give up hope when you look at sadikum. Often, way too often, we see the [music] end result, the white beard, the aura of holiness, the reputation, and we think there is just no way that I could reach that. But you can. You can become a spiritual millionaire. The formula is the same. Start [music] small. Start consistent. Start now. Roll up your sleeves. Make the investment. Refuse to quit. And over time, patience and persistence will do what miracles cannot. They will make you great. It's tried. It's [music] tested. It works. And one day, decades from now, you'll look in the mirror and you'll realize that you have become a spiritual millionaire. 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