You’ve Already Started Saving Like Your Future Depends On It
Stop right there and take a long hard look at your savings account. If you’ve been consistently putting away money since you were young, you’re already on the fast track to financial success. 37% of Americans who consider themselves wealthy said that saving from a young age was an essential part of achieving wealth. The numbers don’t lie – early savers create a snowball effect that grows bigger every year.
Here’s what separates you from everyone else: while your friends are spending their entire paycheck on the latest gadgets, you’re building a foundation that’ll carry you through life. They’re personally committed to saving a significant portion of their income and have therefore trained themselves to live on less. Regardless of enjoyment, they tend to view their careers as fluid resources for generating income, wealth, and financial autonomy. Most people wait until they’re thirty or forty to get serious about money, but you’ve already been playing the long game.
Your Brain Shows Exceptional Self-Control in Financial Decisions
Think back to those moments when everyone around you was making impulsive purchases, but something inside you said “wait.” That inner voice might be worth more than you realize. A groundbreaking thirty-year study followed children from age four into their thirties and discovered something remarkable. What they found was that in their 30s, the strongest predictor of financial success was cognitive control, stronger than IQ and stronger than the wealth of the family they grew up in.
This isn’t about being a penny-pincher or living like a monk. It’s about having the mental strength to delay gratification when it matters. So how well you do in your life depends on your levels of cognitive control. If you’re the type who can walk past a sale without buying something you don’t need, or resist upgrading your phone every year, your brain is wired for wealth accumulation in ways that will compound over decades.
You Think About Money as Security, Not Status
Here’s where things get really interesting. Researchers analyzed data from over ninety thousand adults and found something that might surprise you about how different people view money. Those who regarded money as a way of providing security, accumulated more wealth than those who considered money to be a way to gain freedom, or power or to demonstrate love. If money represents safety and stability to you rather than flashy purchases, you’re already thinking like a future millionaire.
This mindset shift changes everything about how you handle your finances. Although associating money with security led to higher savings and investments, it also led to lower property wealth and fewer valuable items. This is likely to be because people who see money as security are more cautious when it comes to taking risks such as taking out a hard-to-afford loan to buy property and less likely to impulse buy expensive items. You might have fewer designer bags or expensive cars than your peers, but your investment portfolio is quietly growing stronger every month.
You’re Already Planning Your Financial Future
Most people live paycheck to paycheck without any real plan for tomorrow. But if you’re someone who thinks ahead, maps out financial goals, and actually takes steps toward them, you’ve got a massive advantage. Being financially capable, specifically planning for the future, was also found to have a direct impact. This isn’t just about having a budget – it’s about seeing money as a tool to build the life you want.
People who consider themselves wealthy report that habits like early planning, consistent saving, and strategic investing helped them build their financial confidence. Having a plan that takes into account your personal circumstances, goals, and risk tolerance may help you develop these important wealth habits and stick to them. You’re not just hoping things work out; you’re making calculated moves based on where you want to be in five, ten, or twenty years. That forward-thinking approach is exactly what separates those who build lasting wealth from those who always wonder where their money went.
Your Generation is About to Inherit the Largest Wealth Transfer in History
The timing couldn’t be better for anyone showing these signs. Over the next 20–25 years, more than USD 83 trillion is expected to be transferred, with USD 9 trillion moving horizontally, between spouses, and USD 74 trillion moving between generations. This massive shift means opportunities are everywhere for people who know how to recognize and seize them.
During 2024, growth in global high-net-worth individual (HNWI) wealth and population was robust – increasing by 4.2% and 2.6%, respectively. But the wealth management landscape is facing a fundamental transformation, with the defining dynamic being an unprecedented “great wealth transfer” to Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z individuals – or “Next-gen HNWIs.” In fact, a staggering USD 83.5 trillion in wealth is set to be passed on to these younger individuals by 2048. If you’re already showing these wealth-building behaviors, you’re positioning yourself perfectly to benefit from this historic moment.
The Investment Climate is Finally Working in Your Favor
The global financial landscape has shifted dramatically, and smart money is flowing in predictable directions. In 2024, global wealth grew 4.6% after a 4.2% increase in 2023, continuing a consistent upward trend. The speed of growth was far from uniform, largely tilted towards North America, with the Americas overall accounting for the majority of the increase, with more than 11%. A stable US dollar and buoyant financial markets were key contributors to this growth.
What makes this particularly exciting is how new categories of investors are emerging. Our analysis shows the number of EMILLIs in the world has more than quadrupled to around 55 million since 2000. At the end of 2024, they accounted for around USD 107 trillion of total wealth – more than four times the amount seen at the end of 2000. EMILLIs – Everyday Millionaires with one to five million dollars in assets – represent a growing segment that proves wealth building is more accessible than ever for those with the right approach.
Technology is Creating Unprecedented Investment Opportunities
The artificial intelligence revolution isn’t just changing how we work – it’s creating entirely new wealth-building opportunities for those who recognize them early. The International Data Corporation forecasts AI-related spending on hardware, software, and services to rise from $232 billion in 2023 to over $500 billion by 2027. This has boosted profits and the share prices of those that design and make AI chips, servers and related equipment.
In 2025 and thereafter, we see AI adoption spreading. We highlight six areas in tech and beyond where AI may create investment potential. The key isn’t trying to pick the next big AI stock – it’s having the financial discipline and planning skills to position yourself for these broader technological shifts. If you’ve been building your financial foundation, you’re ready to take advantage of opportunities that didn’t exist even five years ago.
The financial signs are all pointing in the same direction. If you recognize yourself in these behaviors – consistent saving, strong self-control, viewing money as security, and planning ahead – you’re not just hoping for financial success. You’re systematically building it, one decision at a time. The question isn’t whether you’ll achieve financial gains. It’s how fast they’ll come.
