Under the Wing of a Millionaire

When you learned to read you were taught by someone who already knew how to read. When you learned to ride a bike you were taught by someone who knew how to ride a bike. So who do you think can best help you learn how to reach your financial goals? Learn why speaking with a millionaire can help you and get some tips on the right questions to ask.

The world is full of opportunities.  One opportunity specifically is overlooked every day by the large majority of those seeking wealth.  This opportunity requires little or no investment, has no risk, and the benefits can be significant.  The opportunity to which I am referring is meeting with a millionaire.

How can meeting with a millionaire help you to reach your financial goals?  When you learned to read you were taught by someone who already knew how to read.  When you learned to ride a bike you were taught by someone who knew how to ride a bike. So who do you think can best help you learn how to reach your financial goals?  Unlike great books or amazing on-line courses on success (ahem), real-time, face-to-face interaction provides a level of learning and reinforcement unavailable anywhere else.  Other great reasons follow:

• Introductions.  A millionaire most likely has an impressive list of key contacts.  Once you make this millionaire a contact of yours, you have what I call secondary access, or availability through referral, to all of his or her key contacts.  If the millionaire likes you, he or she will most likely introduce you to others.  This open door can lead to many great opportunities.
• Opportunities.  Besides possible opportunities through key contacts, the millionaire may have some immediate opportunities for you.  Even if none immediately come to mind, the millionaire mind is constantly seeking opportunity.  Very often, millionaires cannot act on every opportunity themselves, but they can and do share them with those they know are looking for such opportunities.
• Confidence.  You can read all about success and successful individuals but there is something about meeting and interacting with one who reinforces your belief that you can be financially successful.  Those who are wealthy almost always interact with other wealthy individuals.  As a soon-to-be wealthy individual yourself, you too will need to be comfortable interacting with people of wealth.  After all, people are people no matter how big their pockets are.
• Advice.  For the most part, people who have succeeded where you are working to succeed are a good source of advice.  However, be cautious of the advice you are given, especially when it comes to financial success, and be sure to question the advice based on your own common sense.

Why would a millionaire want to help you?  What's in it for them?  You will be surprised how much cooperation you will get in this area.  It is a basic fact of human behavior -- people love to talk about themselves, especially their own success.  If given the chance to feed their ego and be made to feel important, most people will act on this opportunity.  In addition, most wealthy people are sharing individuals who get a warm feeling by helping others.

Millionaires are all around us.  According to the 2002 World Wealth Report published by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch, there are 2,100,000 high net worth individuals, or millionaires, in the United States alone.  Based on the 2003 World Population Data Sheet, there are just over 291 million people in the United States.  This means that in the United States, about one in every 150 people you come across is a millionaire.  These are mostly made up of real estate investors, business people, investors in the financial markets, and entrepreneurs.  Now that we have profiled the average millionaire, and have some ideas on where to find them, it is time to contact them.

The Internet is a great tool for doing your own investigation to find out contact information of a millionaire in your local community. Whether using the telephone or e-mail, be sure to show sincere appreciation for their accomplishments, then let them know that you feel they can offer you some wisdom and advice in your pursuit of financial success.  In exchange for this advice, offer to buy them lunch at the place of their choice.  Spending an hour at your favorite restaurant, talking about yourself while someone else is paying is a hard offer for anyone to refuse!  If by some chance your offer does get rejected, the rejection will be no worse than a friendly response expressing gratitude.

OK, so you are now set to meet this millionaire for lunch.  What now?  You will want to think about, or even write down, some questions that you would like to ask.  When you have time to prepare, this is usually the best way to go so you can get the most out of the meeting.  Make sure your questions are positive, non-personal, and non-offensive.  You want the responses to make the other person feel good, not feel uncomfortable and not bring up bad memories.  If you cannot think of any good questions, or have no time to prepare questions, as in the case of a spontaneous meeting, think "S-U-C-C-E-S-S":

S - How did you get started?
U - Do you have any unusual success stories?
C - How important do you feel communication is in success?
C - How important are the contacts you have made?
E - Did you always expect to be this successful?
S - You must have had some setbacks.  How do you deal with failure?
S - Do you have any suggestions or advice for me?

Be attentive to any verbal or visual hints that may be given to end the meeting.  If you start detecting shuffling in the seat, looking at the watch, or increasingly short answers, thank your guest for his or her time and pay for the lunch.  Now is a good time to once again express your admiration for their accomplishments and end the meeting with a positive impression.

We use the word "millionaire" loosely here.  In general, any individual that has accomplished a goal that you are striving to accomplish would do just fine.  Why not make this a weekly goal?  Just imagine the kind of contacts you can have after just a few weeks of making these kinds of connections.  Take a millionaire to lunch this week and have a good meal with a side of success!

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