How Long Would It Take to Become a Millionaire? ~ Budget to Wealth

The median post-tax take-home pay in the U.S. is around $41,600 per year. If you were somehow able to save every single dollar, it would take you just over 24 years to hit millionaire status. That sounds daunting—almost unachievable.

But what if you didn’t just save, but invested that money? With an average 8% annual return, you’d reach $1,000,000 in under 14 years. Just by adding investing to saving, you knock off a full decade.

Now let’s add another modern reality: most households today have two working parents. That means, together, you could reach millionaire status in under 9 years—if you both saved and invested every penny.

How Long Would It Take to Become a Millionaire?

Why It Doesn’t Scale Perfectly in Half

You might wonder: shouldn’t two incomes cut the timeline exactly in half? Not quite. That’s because of compound growth.

In the early years, most of your progress comes from your contributions. But over time, the money you’ve already invested starts generating the majority of the growth. That’s why time is the most powerful factor. You can’t shortcut compounding as it needs time to work its magic.

The Realistic Caveats

Of course, this thought experiment has some big flaws:

Not everyone earns the median income.
Raises, promotions, layoffs, and life changes affect earnings.
And the biggest issue: people need to eat, pay rent, and live life.

Living is expensive. Housing, food, childcare, and inflation all eat into what we can actually save.

But the point isn’t that you can save every penny—it’s to show how close wealth really is when saving and investing are prioritized.

What If You Saved Half Instead?

Even if you only saved half of your take-home pay ($20,800 per year):

Solo: You’d reach millionaire status in about 20 years. Start in your early 20s, and you’re a millionaire by 40.
With a spouse: You’d hit it in just 13 years.

This is much closer than most people realize.

The Power of Compounding After You “Make It”

Here’s where it gets really interesting. Once you reach millionaire status, your money doesn’t stop working.

At 8% growth, money doubles roughly every 9 years. So if you became a millionaire at 40 and never saved another dime, by 65 you’d have:

$6.8 million.

That’s the power of front-loading your savings and letting time do the heavy lifting.

Early Sacrifices = Massive Gains

Getting ahead often means making sacrifices early on. For example:

Delaying living on your own can eliminate huge housing and food costs.
Living with roommates—even if it’s uncomfortable—cuts rent dramatically.
Renting small, cheap spaces frees up cash for investing.

I’ve done this myself. In college, I rented a room for just $150/month—it barely fit a bed and desk and didn’t even have a door. Later, I lived in a three-bedroom townhome with four other roommates (illegal, technically—we hid beds during inspections). Rent was only $400, and we had some of the best house parties ever. Those sacrifices helped me save money that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Final Thought

Becoming a millionaire isn’t some far-off dream reserved for the lucky few. With discipline, early saving, and investing, it becomes much more achievable than people think.

You don’t have to save every dollar, but the more you save early, the more compound growth rewards you later. Do the math for your own situation—you might be surprised at how possible millionaire status really is.

Budget to Wealth