“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”
— Unknown

Similarly, everybody wants to be wealthy, but many don’t want to do what it takes.

Unless you are lucky enough to receive a big inheritance, win the next lottery or become the next Taylor Swift, you’re going to have to do it the old-fashioned way.

And that means discipline and action over a long period of time. Darn. No simple formulas here.

Over the many years I worked as a financial adviser, I handed out many copies of a book titled, The Millionaire Next Door, written in 1996 by Thomas J. Stanley.

Many copies were given to the children and grandchildren of our clients as next generations moved into adulthood, hopefully helping them get a good start in their financial lives.

But occasionally, copies were given to “spendthrifts” who could clearly benefit from some important advice.

Evidently, I wasn’t the only fan of this book, as it sold more than 4 million copies.

Stanley spent most of his professional career examining how Americans achieved financial success on their own. He studied all kinds of people — teachers, engineers, doctors, executives, business owners and many others from a wide variety of backgrounds — learning why some individuals are better at turning income into wealth.

He revealed that wealth could be achieved though our own behaviors, regardless of ethnicity or privileged birth. That in that middle-class neighborhood you might live in, most households were living paycheck to paycheck, while one had built a net worth of $1 million or more. Note: That’s equal to more than $2 million in today’s dollars based on inflation.

In my mind, and according to Stanley, the cornerstone of wealth-building is living BENEATH your means — spending less than you earn.

Please understand that this doesn’t mean living a deprived life; it’s about being smart about your spending, looking for value and avoiding unnecessary expenses.

Living beneath your means allows you to allocate more of your hard-earned income toward savings and investments.

It seems clear that self-made millionaires prioritize setting aside a substantial portion of their income to save and invest for the future.

It sounds pretty simple, but it’s not. Much of our culture is based on consumption, and there’s an entire advertising industry to help you spend, spend, spend.

Heck, you can spend what you earn and borrow to spend even more. And of course, “keep up with the Joneses” as they say.

But all of this comes at a big price, eventually catching up with you. As Warren Buffet once said, “only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”

A job loss or illness can quickly show who hasn’t been building a sizable safety net.

Living beneath your means should become a habit, and watching your net worth grow can be incredibly satisfying.

Achieving financial independence creates something rare: peace of mind. Knowing that one day you will be able to work because you want to, not because you have to — or not even work at all to pursue lifelong dreams.

The reality is that discipline and patience are required; there is no magic formula or instant success.

Systematically setting aside a sizable portion of your income every month, year after year, for decades, will generate real magic: the magic of compound interest.

Albert Einstein famously said “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t, pays it.”

Did you know that setting aside $1,000 per month for 40 years at 6% interest will grow to $1,991,480. Earning an 8% return would increase the balance to $3,491,007.

Time can work for or against you. If you had a 30-year time horizon, those ending balances would be $1,004,515 at 6%, or $1,490,359 at 8% — almost half as much by just delaying a decade.

For years, I advised clients to save first, then spend what’s left. Spending first and saving “what’s left” just doesn’t work … because there’s rarely anything left.

What if you simply decided to save 10% of your income now and for the rest of your life. Sure, you’d feel the initial budget pinch, but with each raise, you could spend 90% and keep saving the 10%, so getting started and sticking with this simple plan is the key.

Increasing the percent saved will obviously improve the future, but it seems clear that most Americans don’t even hit the 10% mark.

The Millionaire Next Door also stressed the importance of prioritizing value over luxury as a fundamental principle in wealth building.

Buy durable, high-quality items built to last. I leaned this the hard way as a young newlywed. We bought cheap furniture for our home, which turned out to be pretty expensive in reality when the poorly built furniture had to be replaced in just a few years.

Understand the key difference between necessities and desires. It turns out that genuine happiness stems from experiences and relationships rather than mere material possessions.

Creating a simple/well-diversified investment strategy — and sticking with it — has long shown its power in wealth building.

My previous Noozhawk columns have talked at length about this. Avoiding “get-rich” schemes or impulsive investment decisions can be so important.

Try to avoid financial market “noise.” The stock market will see many ups and downs over your investing career. Avoiding knee-jerk tendencies to sell when markets are scary and not buying when they are frothy can really pay off.

Ben Franklin said, “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest,” which could mean a college education, training for a high-income industry or learning skills to start your own business.

More income can provide a nicer lifestyle AND allow for more savings/investment. But Stanley’s book spoke of professionals who felt they had to show how successful they were with a big house, fancy cars, boats, etc., often resulting in big debt and little savings.

I found that many of our most successful clients drove older cars and had nice, but not ostentatious, homes — but very large balance sheets.

Many retired to enjoy remarkable lives full of family and friends, travel, and without having to worry about running out of money. I’m pretty sure they are very pleased to have made wise choices over the many previous years.

Finally, there’s debt to think about. Debt can be a good or bad thing depending on how it’s used.

I put $5,000 down on our first home right out of college, and took out a $39,000 mortgage. Our monthly payments were $400 — nearly one-third more than we had been paying for rent.

That may not sound like anything today, but it was a big commitment back then.

But within two years house prices had jumped by more than 30% — and just a couple more years later that house was worth double what we paid.

Our income had not doubled, and we could not have afforded that home if we had waited. As with most folks, that first home provided a base for future home purchases as our family and income grew.

On the other hand, borrowing to buy “stuff” that depreciates (think almost everything in your house and driveway) leaves you with money owed and, in many cases, stuff that’s worth little or nothing.

Credit cards can be a great convenience — and even give you rewards — but are incredibly expensive if you don’t pay off the full balance owed each month.

And don’t ever — EVER — just make minimum payments on credit cards. You can wind up paying for years and years on a purchase that you don’t even remember. Bottom line: If you can’t afford it, just don’t buy it.

Many of you reading this column may have already followed this advice so, in that case, I’m preaching to the choir.

But some of you may truly need to take an honest look at your finances and see if these simple, but ever so important lessons should be followed.

And you may want to pass the column along to a young person just about the start their career — and even buy them a copy of The Millionaire Next Door — to help them make good choices that can make a lifetime of difference.