Actionable Steps to Building 7 Income Streams Like a Millionaire

Tackle your misconceptions about millionaire money and start growing your wealth today

Photo: Lucas Favre/Unsplash

Have you ever wondered what the income streams of millionaires are? I recently watched Graham Stephan’s video on the topic (a Millennial and a millionaire). He referenced a study, published by the IRS, which studied the tax returns of a sample of 6,053 wealthy individuals who died between 1996 and 2002, as well as the work of Tom Corley, author of ‘Rich Habits,’ who studied the habits of millionaires during a five-year study.

His research intrigued me, but I wanted to further it through making it more practical.

My article is aimed at three things:

• providing a concise summary of the two studies
• highlighting glaring misconceptions we still have about millionaires
• demonstrating how anyone can start building income streams today, which will place them on a promising path to becoming a millionaire

Let’s dive in.

What research tells us about millionaires and their income

To summarise, the IRS’ study shows that wealthy people build up to 7 income streams:

• Investment income — Dividend income from stocks owned.
• Earned income — Paycheck income from contracted employment.
• Rental income — Rents from real estate they own.
• Royalty income — Payments for royalties from selling rights to use something they’ve written or invented.
• Capital gains from selling appreciated assets.
• Profits — Income after expenses from businesses they own.
• Interest income — Money from savings, CDs, bonds, or other lending activities.

Corley’s research shows that self-made millionaires have multiple income streams:

• 65% of self-made millionaires had three streams of income.
• 45% of self-made millionaires had four streams of income.
• 29% of self-made millionaires had five or more streams of income