I was reading an article on Monster.com concerning the five habits of Millionaires. The section that caught my eye was ( Earned Money vs Easy money )

Easy money usually comes from inheritance or luck, such as winning the lottery. The article mentions that  the people who win their riches as aposed to earning it have a very different track record and that those who win their money via the lottery are recorded as ' a very sorry lot'. It mentions that more than 90% of the winners use up their won money within 10 years, sometimes within weeks or months.

The five steps includes:

Avoid the Earn-to-Spend Mentality: Think of the money as something to save or invest rather than income to spend or blow thru, (Michael Leboeuf-The Millionaire in You). He stresses that millionaires that earn their riches usually live quite simple.

Focus: Develope goals, write them down and focus on those goals. try not to stray away from those goals.

Do Whatever Is Necessary to Meet Your Goal: Persevere in the pursuit of your goal. (I think this point means, do whatever you have to do to meet those goals as long as it is within legal means, eat peanut butter sandwiches 3 times a day if it means saving money to invest in your successful financial future)

Take Calculated Risks:

Be Generous: Give to good causes not just for the Tax breaks.

Leboeuf believes that it's not so unusual to be a millionaire any more. Stats mentioned- 2004 there were 8.2 million households with net worth of more than $1 million.

Prof. Andrew Oswalt of the University of Warwick in the UK states that the happiest people in this money group are "highly educated, well-paid women who have jobs"

The article concludes that it takes about $1 million to make a person happy, give or take a little.