I’m a Financial Planner: 4 Things You Must Do To Retire a Millionaire
Written by
Nicole Spector
Edited by
Rebekah Evans
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Who wants to be a millionaire? The better question is: “Who doesn’t want to be a millionaire?” The only person who would answer “me” to this latter question is probably a billionaire.
And who doesn’t want to retire a millionaire? After decades of devoting most of our waking hours to a job or two, we want to hang up our working hats and relax in our golden years. So how do we do it? Find out how you can retire as a millionaire.
Build Wealth Inside Protected Accounts
We all know we have to invest — but in what exactly? And how. This is a crucial question to understand the answer to if you want to retire prosperously.
“Not all investment dollars are created equal,” said Blake Harris, founder at Blake Harris Law. “Retirement accounts like 401(k) [plan]s and certain ERISA-qualified plans have strong federal protections from creditors. That means you’re not just growing money; you’re growing it inside a legally protected structure. If you want to retire a millionaire, prioritize protected buckets first.”
Separate Risks From Assets
Risk is part of investing, but it should not be taken on unnecessarily, which is what you’re potentially doing if you don’t protect your assets legally.
“If you own rental property, a side business or investment real estate, don’t hold it casually in your personal name,” Harris said. “Use proper legal structures like LLCs to separate personal wealth from business risk. Millionaires don’t just invest well, they compartmentalize risk.”
Lean Into Your Earning Power While You Can
Even if you retire a multimillionaire, you may decide to do some consulting or some other professional work as a sort of side hustle. You can certainly earn money this way, but retirement is not the time to be focused on earning money. You need to double down on earning money now, while you’re still officially in the workforce.
“Early on, your biggest asset is your earning power,” said Jake Falcon, chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC), CEO at Falcon Wealth Advisors. “Lean into it. Grow it. I can’t stress this enough. Working on increasing your earnings can be a big time game changer to your financial plan.”
Control Lifestyle Creep
“The fastest way to never retire a millionaire?” Falcon said. “Upgrade your lifestyle every time your income increases.”
We see this all too often: people in our circle of peers display their achievements: putting a huge downpayment down on a house, sending their kids to college fully paid, buying a new car every few years and the list goes on. You may feel that as your income increases you too should be having what others in your status stratosphere have. So as your salary goes up, so does your spending — perhaps too much. Ditch this mentality. Put extra money to work strategically.
“The wealthy middle class caps lifestyle growth and invests the raises,” Falcon said. “The gap between income and spending is investable capital.”
Editor’s note: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Always consider your individual circumstances and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.
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