5 Steps You Must Take To Be in the Top 1% in Your 50s

By the time you reach the age of 50, you should have already made a multitude of financial decisions (along with years of planning) to ensure your economic comfort and freedom in the decade leading up to your retirement and golden years.

What if you want more than just comfort and freedom, though? What if you want extravagance and luxury? What if you want to achieve a level of wealth placing you in the top 1% of net worth in America before you turn 60? There is certainly a path to that level of extreme wealth, albeit not an easy one.

First, it’s important to know what that top 1% means. As GOBankingRates has previously reported, to be in the top 1% between the ages of 50 and 54 requires a net worth (i.e., everything you own minus all debts owed) of approximately $13.2 million. To be in that same top income percentile between the ages of 55 to 59, though? That requires roughly $15.4 million.

Either amount is extraordinarily difficult to achieve, but there are ways to get there, especially if you start soon. GOBankingRates recently spoke to financial experts to find out just how you can make it happen.

“It is better to invest at an early age, particularly in things such as real estate, stocks or business,” Anthony Bowers, mortgage consultant and founder of LMI Waiver, told GOBankingRates. “The only important thing is to grow compound (interest) and have time on your side. Even small investments at an early age can end up growing into huge wealth before you even get to retire.”

Starting early to amass a great deal of wealth is crucial — the earlier you begin, the sooner your net worth will compound and grow.

Something else to start early? Living below your means.

As Bowers suggested, live below your standards, even when the money starts rolling in: “Don’t spend more, save 20% to 30% of your income and watch your income grow without lifestyle inflation. The trick is not to allow increased income to determine your spending patterns but to invest the increased income in wealth creation.”

Melanie Musson, insurance and finance expert with Quote.com, concurs.

“Living like you’re poor is one of the most effective strategies for building wealth,” she said. “If you can live on half your income and invest the other half, you will give yourself an excellent chance to make it into the top 1% by your 50s, even if you’re earning an average salary.”

Musson added that, “It’s hard to live below your means, but it’s essential to building wealth. If you live paycheck to paycheck, you’ll never build the wealth you desire.”

Not only is investing your money integral to seeing it grow, but diversifying your investment portfolio is almost as important as investing at all. Having a diverse array of investments can help diffuse risk and create multiple profit streams, per Bowers.

“The combination of property, stocks and business dealings diversifies the risk and provides entry into profitable opportunities,” he said. “Never use any one asset category to accumulate wealth because diversification is the best way to mitigate volatility and ensure the highest growth potential.”

Musson added, “Focus on a building a diversified portfolio. If you’re going to invest in risky stocks, make sure it’s with a small percentage of your portfolio.”

Speaking of investments, Musson highly recommended investing in retirement-specific accounts — such as Roth IRAs and 401(k) accounts — to grow your wealth as well.

“Start by maximizing retirement investments,” she suggested, “as they offer tax advantages. Once you’re contributing the maximum allowed, you can start investing in other assets.”

This may be somewhat obvious, but it bears stating: Perhaps the most important part of your journey to the 1% is remaining absolutely committed to that journey, because it won’t be an easy one. It’s one that requires a high degree of focus, sacrifice and hard work to achieve the goal of earning $13 million by the age of 60.

“Building wealth is simple, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy,” Musson said. “It’s hard to give up immediate reward for future returns.”

Bowers furthered that ethos, specifying that “it is a long-term and disciplined process of wealth building. Be attentive, receive mentoring and continue learning. Nothing can be successful in the first step, but by making a decision that is well informed and being consistent over time, then you will be in the 1% by the age of 50.”