How To Become a Millionaire by 25

What do these people all have in common:

• Catherine Cook
• Matt Mickiewicz
• Juliette Brindak
• Jermaine Griggs
• Sean Belnick

Ok, so maybe you haven’t heard of these 6 people before?  Well, what if I added the names Mark Zuckerberg and Michael Dell to that same list?  Would it make more sense?

These are all individuals who’ve become millionaires before age 25!

• Catherine Cook – My Yearbook
• Matt Mickiewicz  – 99 Designs and Flippa
• Juliette Brindak – Miss O and Friends
• Jermaine Griggs – Hear and Play Music Group
• Sean Belnick – BizChair
• Mark Zuckerburg – Facebook
• Michael Dell – Dell Computers

They all share some common traits: they started a business in high school or college.  They have drive, desire, and entrepreneurial spirit.  They manage to get it all done.  And I’m sure there is a bit of luck thrown in.

Let’s break down what it really takes to become a millionaire by 25.

It All Depends on When You Start

Being a millionaire by 25 all depends on when you start making money and how fast it grows.  Let’s say you had nothing to start with.

If you start making money at 16 years old, you would need to earn $305 per day to make it to $1 million by 25.

Starting at 18, when you graduate high school, means you would need to earn $391 per day to make it to $1 million by age 25.

What about if you don’t start until you graduate college?  Then you need to earn $685 per day, assuming you graduate at 22 years old, to become a millionaire by 25.

All of these numbers are also net earnings, so you would need to earn more if you take into consideration taxes and other expenses.

Do you think you could earn $305 per day?

How To Make $305 per Day

Let’s just say you start at 16 years old, and are shooting to be a millionaire by 25.  Since it only takes $305 per day net, could you do it?

For reference, $305 per day is only $111,325 per year or $9,150 per month – something that’s completely doable, just more challenging when you’re younger.  And as long as nothing is holding you back from earning more, you can make this much per day!

Let’s break down how you could earn $305 per day online and offline:

Online

• Write 6 articles per day at $50 each
• Complete 6 design jobs on Fiverr (make sure you have add-ons to get you to $50 net)
• Help small businesses on Elance or oDesk for $300 per day
• Use Amazon’s Mechanical Turk for odd jobs to make up the difference and get to $305 per day
• Look at our list of online side hustles to build more income

Offline

• Start driving or riding your bike for Uber – $20 per hour is possible
• Get an after-school job – $12 per hour for 4 hours per day is $48
• Mow your 10 of your neighbors lawn’s for $50 a month – $16 per day average
• Provide tech services for your friends, family, and neighbors – $200 per month for 1 neighbor a month

Now, you also don’t have to go all-in on any of these.  You can mix and match.

Let’s say you get an after-school job, and make about $50 per day.  You then can get home from work and write 5 articles online for a total of $250.  Even better if work work at a place where you could write articles while getting paid – double jackpot.

Entrepreneurship Can Lead to a Big Payday

Working and turning hours into dollars is nice, but it doesn’t always give you a big payday.  All of the individuals we highlighted at the beginning of the article made it to $1 million by 25 by starting their own companies – and you can do that too.

The big thing to remember when starting your own business is to make sure that you’re providing value and solving a problem.  There’s a lot of money to be made if you can solve a problem for people.  You can also do it on nights and weekends, when you’re not in school.

But entrepreneurship is about working towards the big payday.  It can be daunting not getting any money while you’re building your business.  But, if you’re living at home or going to school, it may not matter that your business makes no money up front.  If you want the big payday, you should focus on starting your own company, just like most of the young millionaires we’ve profiled have done.

Focusing On The Plan Will Help You Become A Millionaire

The truth is, the only one that can decide what to do is you.  You have to make the choice to earn more.  Making a million dollars by 25 may not be important to you.  Instead, you’d rather focus on traveling and adventures.   That’s okay.  But if you do want to be a young millionaire – that’s possible too!

What are your thoughts on the possibility of becoming a millionaire by 25?  Possible or not?

Robert Farrington

Robert Farrington is America’s Millennial Money Expert® and America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™, and the founder of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to helping millennials escape student loan debt to start investing and building wealth for the future. You can learn more about him here and here.

He regularly writes about investing, student loan debt, and general personal finance topics geared towards anyone wanting to earn more, get out of debt, and start building wealth for the future.

He has been quoted in major publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Fox, ABC, NBC, and more. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.