Increase Your Odds of Becoming a Millionare

Increase Your Odds of Becoming a Millionaire
Ron Dicker[pic]
Dec 2nd 2010 at 2:00PM
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Filed under: Wealth
[pic][pic][pic]Given that you stand a 1-in-175,711,536 chance of winning the Mega Millions lottery, you might try becoming a millionaire with a more practical strategy. Your odds aren't so bad as it is. One-in-106 Americans is a millionaire, according to a recent article in Investopedia. And 31% of the world's "high net worth individuals" with a million bucks in assets beyond their home live on this continent.

So how do you increase your odds of joining the prosperous without waiting for your numbers to come up? Financial adviser Mitch Slater, a senior vice president - investments at UBS Financial Services in Westfield, N.J., offers six tips to reach seven-digit status. The advice isn't sexy -- but are you gonna care when you're counting your first million?

1. Be patient. To quote Pericles, "Wait for that wisest of all counselors: time." What I'm saying is that building wealth doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. Investing for the long run has built wealth for centuries. One caveat: The last 10 years didn't work that way, reinforcing the whole notion of time and patience. Investing 101 author Kathy Kristof backs up Slater, pointing out that average stock returns since 1926 were 9.6% for big company stocks and 11.7% for small companies.

2. Pay yourself first. Before paying any bills, you need to set money aside every month to build your wealth. It's simple math, but you'd be surprised how many people ignore it.
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3. Don't be afraid to look into foreign investments. Our global outlook for 2011 emerging market prospects with consumer exposure is positive. Companies in countries like India, China and Brazil, whether in household goods or food and beverage, have the potential of very strong growth. Emerging markets outperformed the world by 8% in 2010...