What is the easiest (with the most likely chance of succeeding)and
legal way to become a millionaire (after taxes)

---

Request for Question Clarification by hailstorm-ga on 13 Jul 2003 17:54 PDT

Do you have a timeframe for this request?  If you have none, the
easiest way to become a millionaire is to put some money into a
savings account at a bank and wait for interest to accumulate to a
million dollars (though depending on your initial investment, it could
take hundreds to thousands of years to realize this...)

---

Clarification of Question by jcposner-ga on 14 Jul 2003 07:30 PDT

Within the next 10 years. I don't have $970,000 to put into a savings
account to draw the interest you mentioned in order to become a
millionaire.

---

Request for Question Clarification by hailstorm-ga on 14 Jul 2003 22:20 PDT

What sort of seed money do you have to start this with?  Your optimal
strategy will probably vary depending on whether you have $100,000 to
start, or $10,000, or $0.

---

Clarification of Question by jcposner-ga on 15 Jul 2003 04:51 PDT

$10K is about what i can put at risk at the moment.

It depends on who you are.  Bill Gates couldn't have done it the way
Michael Jackson did and vice versa.

I am looking for ways to become a millionare that don't require genius
or incredible talent..just practical ways to acheive it through
investing. (which may require both talent and genius)

Property based investments.

I believe that more people made their money this way than any other
(outside of showbiz, sport, etc.)

I don't know which is scarier, the thought of Bill Gates dancing and
singing or Michael Jackson designing the next version of Windows.

The easiest, surefire way for someone to become a millionaire without
using their brains or talent? Simple - just marry one.

tutuzdad-ga

Convert your american dollars to Romanian Leu 
at 33,333.34 Leu to the dollar you will become a millionare in next to
no time at all.

Is this sound advice?:
http://goldsea.com/Money/Million/million.html

Wasting two dollars on this question sure doesn't help in your quest
to becoming a millionaire.

Is this sound advice?: 
http://goldsea.com/Money/Million/million.html

Extremely sound.

Is this sound advice?:  

http://goldsea.com/Money/Million/million.html 
 
YES, I agree: Extremely sound.

I started off with nothing but, when I started making money (at
school), I was MEAN. I didn't smoke or drink or squander. I
re-invested.

Also, when I became an accountant, I saw how easily other folk tossed
their money away.

So, I bought property when I had spare cash and if the price was
right.

Of course, I'm not a millionaire because I've since lost it all on GA.
It can become VERY addictive.

I guess I should have become a Researcher but then they're not going
to take on somebody like me. Are they?

(CUE for some kind words from someone, PLEASE)

Buy low and sell high. Repeat as necessary until goal is acheived.
Industry does not matter, but probonopublico has detailed the fasted
choice..

There are too many wild factors involved to give any decisive answer.

Given that you could be ten bucks short of the million when...

- The stock market crashes
- Your wife leaves and takes half
- You die
- Your bank declares bankruptcy
- You get religion, become a monk and take a vow of poverty
- Aliens destroy the planet
- Your country becomes officially Communist and the state confiscates
all your wealth
- Jesus returns and persuades everyone that money isn't everything
- You find that your accountant embezzled all your money and you're
actually broke
- The taxman notices

...it may well be that the best chance you have is to buy a lottery
ticket. The laws of probability may not be with you, but at least it's
quick.

Poe

Don't get married, don't have kids. Children and stay-at-home spouses
cost a fortune.

Don't smoke, don't drink, don't gamble.

Live modestly... a house is a house, a car is a car - not needing to
impress others can save you a lot of money.

Get the highest paying job you can, even if you hate it. Have a mantra
in your head: "I hate this job but one day I'm gonna be rich".

Only invest in property or cash deposits in the bank. Avoid shares.
All property rises with time, and at a higher rate than inflation.

Give yourself 10 years.

Appreciate that being a millionaire is going to be normal before too
long, not special.

Jcposner-ga, interesting question and some great comments above.   My
own thoughts for what they are worth:

1.   Start with an brutally honest self evaluation of what you are
actually good at (not what you want to be good at, or indeed what you
enjoy).  Use family and friends if you are not sure.
2.   Over the next few weeks, look out in the world around you – are
there any niche opportunities in that particular field that don’t
require significant start-up capital?   For example, if you are good
at making your home look really good when guests come round, think
about starting a small business to come in and smarten up a house
before people sell it.
3.   Advertise locally and start offering the service at break-even
prices to establish a track record.  If business is slow to take off,
offer the service free to family and friends first maybe, so you have
references.
4.   Once you have some existing customers and reference stories, do a
really simple website offering the service with your contact details. 
 The site should spell out clearly what your service does do and what
it does not, the local area you can work in, and exactly how much it
will cost someone.
5.   Email or telephone some local business directory sites to have
links to your site (so that eventually Google will pick up your site).
6     Use Google Answers for further advice on growing your business.
7.    Be patient – it may take a long time to get going well.

Whatever, you do, my biggest suggestion is to focus on being really
good at what you have selected, not on the money.   My own experience
is that serious money tends to be a by-product of success, and does
not come at all if you focus too much on the money itself.

Do post a follow-up comment if anyone uses any of the advice anywhere
in these comments.

……Oh and if you are any good at car repair, come up with a way of
safely disabling “black boxes” (Event Data Recorders) in cars and
offer this service locally.   (shameless plug for one of my other
questions to which I am still seeking an answer -
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=226853 )

The most common way to become a millionaire in this country is to buy
or start a a small company and build it for many years.  That may not
be easy, but it is the most likely way to succeed (within a reasonable
life time).

You can read more about it in "Inside the Mind of a Millionaire: Do
You Have What it Takes?" By Steven J. Lathrop.

Here is a review of that book
http://www.reevesjournal.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__Item/0,3815,61764,00.html

Good luck
pba

I agree with several comments here that it all depends on who you are,
what your strengths are and how much money do you have right now. Here
are some additional comments.

One approach for your quest is to study a set of successful people in
the area of your interest that have made it big (millionaires). What did
they do right, how did they do what they did and what lessons can you 
learn from them. This information will provide a quick start to your journey
to become a millionaire.

From one of your replies, I see that you have $10K as risk capital. Please
consider splitting it into two halves and invest the first half in yourself
upgrading your skill sets and becoming a better person.

The quote that I like most is "What you become is more important than what 
you get". Once you focus on becoming better everyday, wealth becomes just a
by product.

Wish you the very best.

real estate, Real estate, Real Estate, REAL ESTATE... by the cheapest
piece of land you can... make it look attractive (mow, put a few
pretty flowers in it) and it WILL sell.

Assume you buy a piece of land for $100 dollars (not bloody likely
going to happen, but will suffice for this "experiment").  Fix it up. 
Sell it for $150 dollars.  150% return is HIGHLY LIKELY.

Take the $150 dollars - use $25 for expenses - and buy a $125 dollar
piece of land.  Fix it up sell it for about $190.  Your expense fee
funds will naturally go UP also.  Eventually, you will be seeing
$20,000... $30,000... or even more
for expenses.  Don't think it won't happen.  Just believe in yourself.

Each time you get your paycheck.  Reinvest MORE than you did before. 
Naturally, the higher the price, the harder it is to find a buyer, BUT
the buyers ARE out there.

There is a limit that each piece of land will sell for.  You will NOT
likely sell a piece of land for $1,000,000.  So you might have to get
more than one piece of land at a time.

Ironically, if you buy land in the crummiest part of town, fix it up -
it will produce the BEST profits.

Get the picture.  You don't necesarilly have to buy real estate, but
that is the one commodity that has historically INCREASED in value
EVERY TIME.

NOW, what do you do if you have nothing to start with.  A lesson I
have learned is "USE OTHER PEOPLES MONEY".  How do you do that?  Issue
your own debentures [BONDS] (YES, YOU CAN LEGALLY DO THAT) AND they
can be rated AAA if done right.  You know the CD's you buy from banks
that you pay $100 now for and when it is cashed in you get $120 in
five years?  Well you can issue something similar.  Except people will
pay YOU for this piece of investment.

Secure the debenture you issue with gfa's (guaranteed funding
arrangements) and ZERO coupons and the real estate you plan to
purchase.  You purchase the gfa's and zero coupons with the proceeds
from the debenture you sell.  Sound complicated, well it is... and
isn't.  It is possible... if you are savvy enough, to start with about
$100 dollars and buy a multi-million dollar business with the issuance
of a debenture - AND walk away with a couple million in your
c-corporation AND own the business. A little bit of research will show
you this.

The reason you don't need much money to do this is because - this is
where your savviness will come in - you can DEFER the necessary
payments (lawyers, fitch ratings for the debenture, trust indenture
fees,... don't come cheap) to the closing day of the debenture.  You
pay EVERYTHING from the proceeds of the sale of the debenture. 
Imagine, a "small promissory" note called a debenture could be so...
nice.

If you know what you are doing.  The issuance of a debenture from
inception of idea to signature on the final line will take about... 3
- 6 months.

By the way... I know what I am talking about.

It may sound like I am tooting my own horn, but I started from nothing
and not a stuck up snob like a lot of people I talk to.

p.s.  keep the two dollars.

we need to hear from tomvu-ga!  ;-)

Hailstorm 

You are a tease ...

There's no such person as tomvu-ga!

How's the Penny Stock doing (#2)?

Bryan

Real estate is correct.
  You have essentially 2 venues of producing revenue.
Rental units.
Property flips.

I have constructed the following road map, based on your 10,000 starting
investment.

The first order of buisness for you is to collect a toolbox.
 Obtain a letter of preapproved credit from your bank.
 Meet a loan officer, and get his oppinions on the market conditions, 
 and particularly what sort of investments the bank is looking to make.
  Then take these oppinions to a realitor.
 I would not suggest getting a buyers broker right off bat. Visit several
 realitors until you find one that knows of a few listings that are not
 on the market yet.  (not posted on mls)
  
You are looking for the WORST PROPERTY in the BEST NEIGHBORHOOD.
And selling for at most 80% of the market value.

 Your initial offer must have the owner finance you 30% of the property.
And the total price of the property is again not to exceed 80% of the market
value.
Durring negotiations you will be better to raise the price than give up that 30%
owner financing.  Lastly use the words "property in AS-IS condition."
Never tie up more than 2 or 3 hundred dollars for earnest money.  
  Have the bank finance 80% of the property, and use the 10% extra to fix it up.

The flip:
Mow, vinyl side, paint interior, pull out carpets- paint floors- dont
put new carpet in-- that is a selling feature.  List the property as a
For sale by owner.  And sell it for a tidy profit.

Continue this procedure until you find a few acres that have city
sewer/water, power, etc  Purchase this property (using as few dollars
down as possible).
Figure out the best positioning for a bunch of mobile homes to fit,
and rope them off.  Buy a trailer for a thousand dollars- get them all
day long at trailer repo places, pay a few hundred dollars to have it
moved.
Get services put in, (water, electric, phone, etc) this will could
cost you another thousand.  Put an add in the paper, "own your own
home 200/mo"
people flock in, you finance them the mobile (which they pay 7,000$
for over the next few years) but keep the lot. you charge a 35$ a
month lot fee for the rest of eternity. (200/mo = 165+lot fee)
 buy your second mobile, connect utilities, and run ad.
"read lonnie scrugg's : Deals on wheels "

At some point you will come across a nice mobile home- a fairly new model with 
very dependable appliances.  This will be a rental.  Install it in
your growing park, and have the local hud agency approve it for
section8 hud housing. Now run an add in the paper. "Nice (2br 1ba)
home for 500/mo."
 Section 8 hud participants are the most dependable renters because
the check comes from the government to you directly.

As for yourself.  Once you are on your feet with a reasonable chunk of
change in the bank, and a strong cash flow. (About 10 units)
 you will want to buy that dream home.  You will find it to be a brand
new house, located in a phase I subdivision.  You will live a life of
comfort, and in 5 or so years, when the subdivision is complete, and
all your neighbors are in debt- you will be able to sell that same
house for twice what you bought it for- (if you want)
  
A good cpa can help explain how to avoid taxes:
 Purchasing a new home within 3 years to avoid capital gains tax.
 Diversifying 'repair bills' to avoid an audit.
 Depreciating a home for 10 years, then sell it.

Millionair.
4 flips = 26,000 + 10,000 initial + normal life wages
setup for 5 acre land + 4 mobile homes ~= 60,000 (pay 25,000 up front)
Yield of 4 mobile homes = 9,600 /yr (assuming no hud tennants)
reinvested 8 mobiles = 26,000/yr + 6,000 = 32,000 ( 11 regular + 1 hud homes)
reinvested 12 nice mobiles = 72,000 + 32,000 = 104,000 (11 regular +13 hud)
purchase phase I home for 70,000.
 Purchase google stock, stash a few hundred thousand dollars in a
compounding interest account, purchase strips of land around cities,
buy a farm, put cows in the farm and wish them luck.  Write off farm
losses.
Lease land to companies who want to build on farm land. after lease
expires seize buildings.  Rent building.  Yes flipping land is all fun
and good.
But to be wealthy, you must become what a friend of mine coined, a rentmaster.

cheers,
Seankubin, (son of mark kubin ;D)

I should note that a friend of mine made his start with a bang.
he bought an 80 unit apartment complex, cleaned a room up, rented it
out, and so on.  But the city stepped in and handed him a check for
like 300,000 dollars to rejuvinate the historic building.  Now it has
marble floors and the works, and rent prices reflect the improvement. 
I dont understand how to exploit that sort of situation, but there
must be away.  perhaps I will ask on GA one day..