Things You Must Realize in Order to Make Your First Million Before 30 Years Old

Being a millionaire by 30 is something almost every young person has dreamed of. After all, money is way more fun when you're young enough to enjoy it in its entirety. Thousands of people reach their first million dollar net worth every day—and there's really nothing that says that you can't be one of them eventually.

However, making that much money in that short a time isn't always easy. Moreover, you might be surprised to find out some of the more unsettling truths about being wealthy so young. Here are some things you'll need to realize in order to make your first million by 30.

If you have ever read any of the best books on investing, you'll soon see that it's actually really hard to make your first million by 30 or younger. Ramit Sethi, who wrote I Will Teach You to be Rich, pointed out that most people who don't get rich hope that they'll get an inheritance or win the lottery.

Winning the lottery is not a good plan, as it may never actually happen to over 99 percent of people who "plan" on it. Needless to say, you better have a good, actionable plan if you want to make it rich.

Moreover, you're going to need to stick to it—and that's often easier said than done. That's often the most difficult part of actually making it to the million dollar mark.

You also (probably) won't get there from hard work at a minimum wage job.

If you want to make your first million young, climbing the corporate ladder is not probably not the route you're going to want to go. Sure, having a good paycheck is great, but the truth is that hard work is only part of the route.

Most millionaires, especially younger ones, got there by starting their own business and saving their money. Investing, too, played a very large role in their wealth.

Drop the french fries if you want to be rich. Start working on a million-dollar idea, and start figuring out how to investing in real estate or other similar venues. Investing is the very clear way to go.

A lot of millionaires, especially older ones, made their fortunes from investing in the best mutual funds, the best Roth IRAs, or good ETFs. Time plus investing equals profit—even if it takes a while.

School and grades aren't everything.

Remember the class valedictorian? Remember how everyone and their grandparents said that they'd be the wealthiest person in school? Well, one of the things you'll soon realize after you make your first million dollars is how untrue that statement is.

School is great, sure, but it's not everything. A lot of valedictorians actually don't make much money after school is done. Some are up to their eyeballs in college debt. Others just burn out. More often than not, hard work, a good personality, and a lot of common sense are better indicators of what to expect in terms of paycheck.

We want to point out that debt from attending college can actually have a huge negative impact on your investment bottom line. Even if you go through the full list of college loan forgiveness programs, there's a good chance you will end up heavily in debt.

The payments you make on college degrees will eat up money that could be put in investments. It also can make it hard to figure out whether you should invest or pay off debt. Undue pressure could make anyone feel worried that they'll never make a million bucks—and truth be told, it could be the primary thing that prevents them from doing so.

Risk is good—assuming it's calculated.

Whether you choose to make your first million bucks by investing or starting a business, you're going to soon find that risks will enter the equation. This is fine. In fact, it can be great. However, this is only true if the risks are calculated and you reduce the chances of loss.

You should never be afraid to take risk. You should, however, be afraid to do it needlessly and foolishly.

A person who invests in a random company they know nothing about need not be shocked if they end up losing everything. Even great investors like Warren Buffett will tell you that doing your homework is crucial if you want to make any cash.

The difference between making your first million and being like everyone else is action.

One thing you'll quickly realize about being a young millionaire is how many people wish that they were in your shoes. That's all most people do, though—wish. They will wish, come up with great ideas, and then promise themselves that they'll do it tomorrow.

Ineffectual? Absolutely. That's why most people never actually become wealthy. They will say that being wealthy can start "tomorrow." An ounce of action will be worth more than a pound of wishing, trust us on that.

Even a little action, like opening up an account with one of the top micro-investment apps, can potentially lead you to millions later on. So, what's holding you back?

You may find that money won't make you happy, but it might make you comfortable.

Studies have shown that money only makes you happy up to a certain point. After some time, money stops mattering as much as you'd expect it to matter. One thing most millionaires will tell you that money stops being that much of a mission after you make your first million dollars.

Money can only do so much, and after a while, it can and will get old. The trope about the miserable man with a lot of money is very, very real for some people.

The problem with having a lot of money is that it's hard to tell who likes you for you. This can end up causing serious emotional issues in certain people. That's why they actually have therapists that specialize in wealth-related issues these days.

You probably will not have the same group of friends when you were broke as you will once you make your first million dollars.

Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking things that you may realize about making lots of money is that the people you expected to be beside you probably will not be. It's sad, but it's true. Money does get in the way of friendships, and sadly, a lot of people don't tend to react well to seeing friends succeed.

Some may get jealous and try to drag you down intentionally. Other well-meaning friends might do it by accident. Learning to distance yourself from the wrong crowd is one of the things you will have to learn—ideally before you make your first million.

There's a reason why people who invest tend to stick together. The reason for this is a mentality that trading on Wall Street or owning a business gives you. They tend to talk the same talk, walk the same walk, and also prioritize the same things.

A lot of people also will distance themselves from former friends after the friends tend to start hitting them up for money once cash starts flowing in. Sadly, investing in yourself often means cutting out people who are bad for you.

Learning will be crucial to your success—even if school didn't matter.

If there's one thing that self-made millionaires are fans of, it's learning. They love to learn how to do their jobs better, how to make more money, what kind of cool apps for managing money are available to them, and similar facts.

They're hungry about learning—and even hungrier when it comes to finding new ways to apply that knowledge to better themselves. That's what makes them so much wealthier in the long run.

This is why you see major stock traders looking towards mentorships from people like Ray Dalio and others. They want to learn from the best, because they know it'll get them success.

To a point, you can't really make your first million without that thirst for success and knowledge. You wouldn't be able to get the right tools to do it without learning the ropes first.

You will hit an insane amount of speed bumps before you make your first million.

Making millions of dollars is never a "straight shot" type of deal. This is true even when you first hit that seven-figure benchmark. There will be people who denied you, people who made fun of you, and times where everything just goes belly-up because tragedy struck at the wrong moment.

Many people who became millionaires were dirt poor to begin with. One of the things that the wealthy do differently is that they tend to persevere when bad things hit them in the face.

The first million is the hardest.

This is actually a pretty common saying among millionaires. When you finally make your first million, you've overcome a huge threshold. Doing it younger means that you will likely have more skills, more opportunities, and less problems than someone who did it when they got older.

If you make your first million before 30, you will have ample time to make that money grow, and grow, and grow. Compounding interest makes it possible to see that money grow faster as time progresses. If you can keep it in investments, you will see a lot more wealth flow.

Most people assume that if you make your first million before 30, or even 35, you'll go crazy with the money. You'll get a flashy car, get designer gear, and maybe also go traveling around the world. Could you do that? Sure, but you'll probably end up broke again.

If you leaf through the book The Millionaire Next Door, you'll see that most millionaires really aren't that different from the average person. Statistically, most millionaires really don't show their money—and why would they want to? It might attract attention from people who want their cash.

At the end of the day, making a million dollars isn't that bad a goal. It's possible to do that long term by investing. By the time you're 30, if you really work hard, it could be doable. However, you'd be surprised at how modest it can really be once you actually reach that line.