It is a common misconception that most millionaires are trust fund babies who didn’t work for their money and contributed nothing to society to obtain their wealth. It’s why politicians find it easy to come up with tax-the-rich schemes to pay for their profligate spending programs.

In reality, the wealthy are among the most productive people in society. They create the businesses that provide jobs, make the goods, or offer the services we use everyday. Taxing them to the hilt destroys productivity and jobs, and is a detriment to society and the economy as a whole.

Moreover, most millionaires got to their station by dint of effort. Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey published his Ramsey Solutions National Study of Millionaires that sought to understand the behaviors and attitudes of these well-off individuals behaviors that allowed them to achieve their success. 

After speaking with over 10,000 U.S. millionaires, the study’s results were markedly different from what the politics of envy would have you believe.

24/7 Wall St. Insights:

• Despite what the media portrays, the rich are very much like you and me, hailing from middle-class backgrounds, working 9-5 jobs, and living regular lives.
• Yet millionaires have a different mindset than most others because they try to live within their means and are focused on avoiding the pitfalls so many people become trapped by.
• Dave Ramsey’s National Study of Millionaires shows that the actions millionaires take are within reach of virtually everyone reading this.

Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps

The first finding is that when it comes to becoming a millionaire, it doesn’t take money to make money. The millionaires overwhelmingly didn’t come from a position of wealth and privilege. In fact, most didn’t even make six-figure salaries. That alone should tell you that becoming wealthy is possible and within reach of almost everyone. 

According to the study, only 21% of all millionaires received an inheritance, meaning 79% did not. Most also came from middle-class or lower backgrounds, so they weren’t growing up around money. Only 2% said they came from upper income families and only 3% received an inheritance of $1 million or more. 

That means most millionaires were just hard-working shlubs like you and me. But since we are all doing the 9-5 grind, what set these wealthy individuals apart?  What did they do to achieve their status? It is something you will see us preach here everyday at 24/7 Wall St. They invested in the stock market.

One up on Wall Street

The National Study of Millionaires found eight out of 10 millionaires took advantage of their company’s 401(k) plans. Another 75% also invested outside of their workplace retirement plans.

Key is something 24/7 Wall St. also harps on: making regular, consistent contributions over long periods of time. By using the powerful, twin combination of time and compounding, you supercharge your portfolio’s returns. And just as important, not a single millionaire swung for the fences by trying to hit a home run with a single stock.

It is why doing something as simple as buying an S&P 500 index fund is all most investors need to do. You get instant diversification over hundreds of the biggest, most successful companies that have generated on average 10.5% returns for decades. 

Climbing the corporate ladder is not essential

The next surprising finding is that millionaires were decidedly not C-suite executives. Instead, 93% of them were regular workers. Moreover, less than one out of every three of these self-made millionaires made more than $100,000 a year.

The top five jobs for millionaires were engineers, accountants, teachers, managers, or attorneys. That means they went to college, though the career choices show that the type of degree received didn’t matter all that much.

And it also indicates you didn’t need to go to some Ivy League school either. In fact, almost two-thirds (62%) went to public state schools, though 8% did go to some prestigious university. However, the fact remains most did get their sheepskin. But by attending public colleges, they kept their student loans to a minimum.

Living within your means

And that brings up what is probably the most important finding of all. Millionaires didn’t get into debt. They avoided it at all costs. They didn’t eat out a lot — most spent less than $200 a month at restaurants — they watched their expenses, and they plowed that money saved into their brokerage accounts.

None of this is rocket science. Don’t fall into the trap of victimization, envy, and jealousy over what other people have. Becoming a millionaire is within the grasp of every person reading this. Just commit to living within your means, staying out of debt, and investing in the stock market. 

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