Since releasing my 2015 book "Millennial Millionaire," I have enjoyed speaking alongside icons of the business world and sharing my advice on all things related to money. As fun as this journey has been, I realized there never was a chance to look in the rear-view mirror, a habit this usually forward-thinking millennial happens to frown upon.
Then, during a recent radio interview with Forbes host Gregg Stebben, he put me on the spot by simply asking, "How did you do it?"
So enough of the grandiose wisdom of macroeconomics and high-flying business heroes. Here are the eight steps a twenty-something took to make his first million!
Graduate college fast
I entered college in 2005 at The University of Tampa. Despite attending four different colleges, I met my goal of graduating in four years from The College of New Jersey in 2009 with a BS in Finance and a minor in Economics.
Walking into a career in insurance and investment advising three days after graduation gave me a huge head start on my peers and, of course, it eliminated the need for more student loans.
Be an entrepreneur
The subtitle to my book, "A Guide to Becoming a Millionaire by 30," has provoked the hardest question I've been asked over the past two years: Is there a prerequisite? The honest truth is yes, and the prerequisite is capital. Without an advanced degree, the most common way I've seen to generate a high early income is sales and/or entrepreneurship.
Only three days after graduating from college, I jumped headlong into a position as a financial sales representative. The first two years were a real struggle, long hours and low income based 100 percent on commission. Coming from a family that relied on a steady paycheck (my dad worked for the army and my mom was a paralegal), this volatility caused a lot of friction on the home front. My parents couldn't understand my working crazy hours, studying for so many licenses, and then hardly getting by.
But I believed the hard work would pay off and began building my own practice right out of the gate.