What it's ACTUALLY like to be a Millionaire in your 20's

It becomes a lot easier to tap into that part of the mind that was always there but just lays dormant because everything else supersedes that in the form of stress, in the form of working a job you really don't like, in the form of worrying about what bills are gonna be paid. Once you take that element away, it really opens up your mind to pursue some really amazing and fulfilling work.

What's up you guys, it's Graham here. I think there's a very false preconceived notion out there of what it's actually like to become a millionaire in your 20s, especially online. It's very easy to flex with designer clothing, exotic cars, and private jets, and all that sort of great stuff. But is this actually what it's like to become a millionaire, or is this just a falsified image of wealth?

I know for me, when I used to think of millionaire growing up as a kid, I would think of these infomercials where you had this dude out in front of a mansion with a red Corvette convertible out in front. He was just playing golf all day, and it seemed like no one gave a damn about money. They would just throw the term financial independence around all the time, and this is what I thought it was actually like to become a millionaire.

But how close is this to reality? Now, I will give you my honest real-world example of what it was like to become a self-made millionaire by the time I was 26, and I will share both the good and the bad. I'm not gonna try to make it seem better than it actually is or worse than it actually is. I will give you my honest perspective of what it was actually like.

So first, let's talk about some of the positives of it all. Now, I'm not gonna lie, this is probably not the healthiest thing to say, but it was a bit of an ego boost for me. I mean, hitting a million dollars at the age of 26 was really such a huge accomplishment, and I felt good about it. Growing up, I wanted to one day become a millionaire, and to actually hit that milestone was really huge for me, and I felt good about it.

Now, it's also really hard to wrap your head around just how much and how little a million dollars is at the same time. A million dollars is equivalent to saving $50 a day for nearly 55 years. It's also how much someone with an associate's degree on average earns in a lifetime. It's also enough to buy you 3 Subway sandwiches a day for 152 years. It's also how much Justin Bieber makes for a 90-minute set. I'm in the wrong business!

But at the same time, a million dollars isn't even enough to buy a 600 square foot home near Venice Beach. It's probably not enough to retire, especially in Los Angeles, and Jay-Z spends one-fourth of this as his bar tab in one night. A million dollars is really such a number where people can spend a lifetime to earn it, but other people can spend it in the blink of an eye.

So in terms of achieving a goal, it felt really good, and it felt like I had finally made it to the point that I could say, "Yes, I am a 26-year-old self-made millionaire." But no one around me really knew. I mean, now they might if they see my channel, but other than that, you would have no idea. Like, I don't buy designer clothes, I don't go on expensive trips, I don't fly first-class, I don't go and eat at expensive restaurants.

I buy my clothes online on, like, Cyber Monday deals or Black Friday deals. I eat out, I eat eggs for dinner most of my nights. I can save money; I don't buy anything I don't need. I keep my expenses really low, and that's the way I like it. It was these financial habits that made me a millionaire in the first place.

But on a much deeper level, I think the biggest aspect of hitting a million dollars was really the sense of freedom that came along with that. It was a freedom to know that I would never have to work a job I didn't like or do anything I really didn't want to do, as long as I had this money invested.

This is a term often known as "you money," and this is a number that was big enough to provide a cushion no matter what happened, and this was really liberating. Thank you! A fortress of solitude that puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of... you like, just knowing you had the option to pursue anything is really just as enjoyable as pursuing anything.

Once you have the freedom or choice to walk away from something, it really leaves you in the position of being a decision maker. And just as a byproduct of that, you end up enjoying things more, doing better at them, and then you just coincidentally end up making more money because of that.

Now, this part might be a little out there for some people, might be a little hippy woo-woo, all that sort of stuff, but I really believe that once a person's basic needs are met in the terms of just like, you know, food, shelter, and a bit of security, I think it really opens a person up to pursue more creative and rewarding and fulfilling work.

Everything really just becomes a hobby at that point, and it just becomes really fun. I would say this is the biggest aspect of hitting such a milestone; it was really just the freedom that it brought. And it didn't mean that I could go out and, like, party every night or do whatever I wanted or eat out wherever I wanted or not look at price tags when I buy something.

But it did mean that I might be able to sleep in a little later, or if I really didn't want to do something, I wouldn't have to do it. Now, besides that, I would say that's really the biggest aspect of it. I would say sure, I get all these other little weird perks here and there, especially with banks, like you get top-tier service, you get a lot of free services with the banks and wires and all that sort of stuff.

You know, all free where you get like a dedicated person to call if you ever have a question, but like you never use any of that stuff. You might call like once a year if you have a question, but you never end up using that. I would say the biggest thing with this is really just the sense of freedom.

So now, let's talk about some of the downsides with all of this—top. Just kidding! There are downsides. But in all seriousness, it did take me a while to think of some of the negatives or some of the bad that came around this, and I really couldn't think of much. And I'm really trying to stretch this out, so I don't want you to think that I'm complaining with any of this.

But it really took me a lot of thought just to come up with something, so there's a bit of a balanced perspective between positives and negatives. The first thing that comes to mind is that because I'm used to a larger-than-normal income, it doesn't really seem like a lot to me anymore.

Like, what I consider a bad month of income can really be someone else's best month ever. And it's hard to put this in perspective when you're used to earning a certain amount of money every single month, and everyone else around you is earning that amount, if not way more, and you just begin to lose touch with what's normal.

Now, this isn't to say that you should ever settle for normal just because it's normal, but somehow making a hundred-thousand dollar check is just... it's a decent month, but it's become normalized at this point for me just because my threshold for what's a lot is just really high.

On the other hand, because I never really spend my money, my threshold for what I consider a lot in terms of spending is really, really low. Even though my income is high, so even the idea of me going out and spending thirty-five dollars on dinner just seems absurd to me. Or even spending $20 at the gas tank—it's not rational, but that just seems like a waste to me.

And this is because even though my income would go up, I would get used to these higher and higher and higher numbers to the point where it became normal. But my spending never really went up. I spend pretty much the same amount of money as I did between the ages of like 18 and 21, so there becomes a big disconnect in what I consider a lot in income and what I consider a lot in spending.

But if I didn't have those frugal spending habits, I wouldn't have invested so much; I wouldn't be in this position today. So from that perspective, it was a bit of a necessity. That brings me to my second point, and this comes up every now and then, and it's super annoying, and that is that frugality is now frowned upon.

Just because you can somehow afford something—like sometimes when I would go out, I would only get one drink and I'd get, like, the cheapest drink on the menu so I can save the extra money, and I would get the "oh dude, don't worry about it, get the more expensive drink. Get a second one, you can afford it!"

But the thing is, I wouldn't be where I am today if I wasn't super hyper-focused on my finances and how I spent my money. Like now, if I ever resist spending money on something, I feel cheap, but this is the exact same reason why most lotto winners end up going broke after a few years.

The spending habits to create a millionaire are the exact same as those to stay a millionaire. And lastly, some other people might say that one other negative to this is the delayed gratification of not enjoying your money when you're young. But this has never been an issue for me.

I've never seen it like that, and I've never once felt like I've missed out because I don't spend money. Honestly, that stuff really does nothing for me, and I end up getting way more enjoyment from saving and investing than I ever do with spending. You know, to each their own on that one—some people might feel totally different than that, that's totally cool, but that's not me.

But besides those few small things that I mentioned, and it really took a lot of mental stretching just to come up with something as a negative, just so I can give like some sort of balanced perspective, the honest reality is that I really haven't seen many downsides.

I'm sure something at some point will eventually crop up that I haven't experienced or that I haven't thought of, but at this point, it's been nothing but really a positive experience. Overall, it's pretty neutral.

But I think overall my initial reaction to all of this was that just nothing really changed. I wish I had a better answer to all of this, but that was really the truth. I mean, nothing really happened from like $999,999 to a million where all of a sudden I just became like this magical different person.

Everyone treated me differently. The honest answer is that really nothing changed. Like, no one treats me differently. My spending habits don't change at all, and it was overall pretty quite uneventful.

Like my friends don't treat me any differently because they all know I'm still a cheap bastard. You guys know this! My family doesn't treat me any differently, and everything overall is pretty status quo. In fact, I think it would actually be rather disappointing for someone to hit a million dollars, expecting there to be something magical that happens or amazing that happens because it doesn't.

The reality is once you hit a milestone like that, you figure you're doing something right, so you just continue doing exactly that, and you continue building up your nest egg. So I think I'll sum this video up in one sentence: Becoming a self-made millionaire in your 20s isn't always Gucci and Lambos; oftentimes, it's... hmm... and Lotuses.

So as always, you guys, I really hope you appreciate a video like this. I tried to be as honest as I could and tried to give a balanced perspective of both the positive and the negative. So I don't ever want to make it seem like I'm complaining about anything because none of this is really a complaint.

I mean, I'm really stretching stuff, really coming up with something just to try to give a balanced perspective. I really hope I was able to do that. So if you guys enjoy this video, if you watched it all the way through, let me know down below you watched all the way through. It means a lot to me!

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