Define millionaire. The fact that you make a million dollars or more per year means nothing. It’s your net worth that really matters. You can also look at it in terms of assets to expenses. In other words, if you sold all your assets, how many years could you live off of the sale of your assets? For a lot of "millionaires" it’s not very long. Many of them have high debt and low income to expense ratios. Every year that goes by creates added pressure to keep large amounts of income coming in to pay the high costs of living. In some cases, the need to appear wealthy causes them to take on more debt to finance expenses and maintain this appearance. Achieving financial independence means that the real goal is to have enough money so you don’t have to worry about your future. This calculation varies for individuals based on their lifestyle and expenses. Creating cash flow investments can greatly assist everyone in reaching this milestone. If you subscribe to this site, you’ll find a personal financial tracking document inside the subscriber’s area where you can plug in your financial info and the form will automatically calculate some ratios for you including the asset/expense ratio mentioned in this article. In general, if you have a 10 year or more asset/expense ratio, you’re moving in the right direction.