It's possible to become a millionaire by: • Working a 9-5 • Investing into a 401(k) It's just not very likely. Here are 4 reasons why (and what you should do instead):

Recent data from Fidelity, which oversees trillions of dollars in millions of retirement accounts, paints a bleak picture. Out of 21.5 million workplace retirement plan accounts, only around 280K had balances greater than $1M. That's a little more than 1%. Not good odds. Why?

• Earnings upside is capped When you trade your time for money, there's a limit on how much you can earn. Even if you have an above-average salary, there's only so much time in a day. You can't create more hours to work. This caps your total earnings (& savings) potential.

• Mediocre stock market returns The long-term average return of the stock market is ~7%. It's possible to outperform but takes significant work to pick stocks. Compared to the returns available elsewhere (like in real estate syndications), the stock market's return is paltry.

• Unrealistic assumptions Individual stock market returns are HIGHLY dependent on when: • You start investing • You retire A few down years at the wrong time can be ruinous. Not to mention life events that require you to dip into savings, breaking the compounding effect.

• "Millionaire" paints the wrong picture Let's say, throughout working 40 years, your nest egg grows to $1M. The 4% rule says you get to live on $40K annually. Or, you'll have to worry about running out of money. Does $40K/yr. & constant fear sound like the millionaire life?

So what's the better path? 1. Leverage your time 2. Invest outside the stock market

• Leverage your time Instead of trading time for money, start building income streams that are disconnected from the time you spend on them. You want 1 unit of time to bring in 5 units of pay.

• Invest outside the stock market Your money works harder on Main Street than Wall Street. Real estate syndications are a 100% passive investment that have higher returns with lower risk than the stock market. Learn about syndications & seek out deal sponsors to invest with.

TL;DR: It's hard to become a millionaire working a 9-5 because: • Unrealistic assumptions • Mediocre stock market returns • "Millionaire" isn't what you think • 9-5 earnings potential is capped What you should do instead: • Leverage your time • Think outside Wall Street

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