i'm guessing the $250k is for a drilling consultant which usually requires experience and a degree in petroleum engineering, although i've heard of people getting it without the degree (but still had prior experience). relevant reddit AMA for anyone curious about that stuff: https://www.reddit.com/r/findapath/c..._oilfield_and/

why not the salary + gamble option? i'm assuming the odds of someone in essentially life-or-death mode of landing a relatively high-paying hard labor job is 90%+. even after federal taxes i think ending up with $300k near the 5 year mark is completely possible.

i don't have experience making large sports bets but i assume they'd just have to find a +350 or so wager with high limits and max out on as many books as needed, so they'd have like ~20% of making it (factoring in other unlikely failures like not finding a well-paying job)? assuming they could use offshore books to avoid taxes being immediately withheld on winnings, then after the ransom payoff scrounge up a few grand and flee to some other country to start a new life before the IRS comes.

you think someone of average intelligence and no special skills/experience has better than 20% chance of making a business worth $1 million in 5 years?

Surprised noone has mentioned poker. ~16.7k/month on average should be quite achievable if willing to sacrifice 5 years for it. Of course, everything depends on the qualities of the person.

Join Date: May 2011

So you just became a millionaire?

What percentage of poker players (who give it their best shot over several years) become millionaires? I'd say less than 1 in 100.

Clearly at least 70% of NVG posters as they have such skills they can regularly berate top players for the way they played a hand.

Seriously not many, and a lot lower % than those who played 2003-2011. There is a huge difference between cashing for $1m in tournaments and overall profit of $1m. There is also a huge difference between having overall profited $1m from online poker and having that net worth afterwards.

It's a terrible option in 2016 but if you go back to 2005ish and give that ultimatum I think an average person would have a decent shot. It comes down to what you think an average/normal person is. I think what made poker so lucrative is that average people were rightfully skeptical of gambling online, and to the early adopting non-tards went the spoils.

Millionnaire in 5 years... I would be happy to know what to do/study for 5 years with no money that you could start making regularly 100k per year in Europe after 5 years of commitment. Poker is declining so it won't guarantee you 100k yearly income in the future. Is business the best bet?

Depends what currency your talking about.

You could get an engineering degree whilst working and it depends how good you are. getting 100k may take closer to 10 years though.

100k eur or 100k $. It doesn't matter that much.

Well my experience is in UK and like I said if someone asked me here the easiest job to earn that sort of money more like £50-75k, i'd recommend Engineering, too many graduates taking up leisure and tourism rather than studying something useful.

man so many thoughts here....

1) taxes will crush a salary-based plan to get there (unless you're already the CEO of a major company.)
2) Entrepreneurship - yes, it is possible but the payback period for ventures that can generate that type of return for the largest shareholder/founder requires constant reinvestment of profits, which inhibits your ability to draw down towards the $1M cashout
3) stock market - the most options/opportunities, but the average investor doesnt have the skill set or requisite knowledge needed to navigate this and not be just more or less stabbing randomly at picks all the while avoiding taking hits from major macro-economic events
4) gambling/casino/sports betting - same as stock market; only a few players that could even get a whiff of a chance at doing $1M over that period
5) illegal activity - this in reality is the "best" option, as long as you go after the big paydays for the more white-collar or softer crimes (insider trading, blackmail etc).

My choice? All things being equal (and assuming I didnt already own my own business that I could sell) I'd go #5, setting up some sort of long-con opportunity (maybe selling fake real estate papers or blackmailing well-to-do individuals etc.) Avoid taxes and avoid capital outlay so that what you make ends up being pure profit down to your bottom line.

If I was a salesman & a scumbag, I'd start an MLM targeting baby boomers.

I'd blackmail the guy holding my mother. He is guilty of kidnapping, threatening rape and murder, and extortion. You can't tell me that guy wouldn't cough up a million to avoid the jail time if you snitch on him. Plus he knows you are just giving him the million back.

Illegal is obviously your best choice but hardly interesting imo. How to do this straight up is what I take the question to be.

100k net is virtually unheard of in Western Europe, 40k/year takehome is a really good job (at age 30 at least). Taxes are higher, and you're compensated in other ways (eg my friend who is a chemical engineer has 48 paid vacation days a year)

48 vacation days? And people wonder why the US economy is knows as the dog and the rest of the world's economies are know as the tail.

No, I decided to focus on university instead. At least I make the same amount without any variance now.

If you replace "become millionaires" with "make one million" (regardless of how much they spend), the number is a lot higher than 1 in 100. Of course, there is some sampling bias, but almost everyone I know who fully committed to poker five years ago (including not going out on Friday to grind on Saturday, etc.) made at least 500k in those five years.

Again, everything depends on the qualities of the person. If the person is terrible at math/numbers/game theory, there are obviously better options (e.g. business development at a promising startup for shares). For some people robbing a bank might be the only option.

Start a consulting company consulting on something. Reap small returns. Sell how you reaped the small returns to other consultants and you have a million in like twelve months.

Force some bitcoin millionaire to transfer me everything at gunpoint

Ez game

Hah. I think this is pretty much the strategy for every "How to make passive income from the internet" website ever.

Do a coding bootcamp, get a good paying job in Silicon Valley, do freelance work at night.

Not in order.

1. Go to a country where they do not know very much and start a ponzi scheme where I just take in money from people and pay them fairly high interest. Take off with the money when I reach a million.

2. If we are talking illegal activities in ones country, the list is endless. Do a job robbing a jewelers or place with high value art work. Kidnap rich individuals and torture/threaten to murder them unless they sign over deeds to property. Engage in people trafficking/running prostitution/drug dealing (try and gain contacts with Colombian drug cartels and contacts with corrupt Police Officers). If one has qualifications like being an accountant, network like crazy with high ranking criminals and make myself the best and most knowledgeable money launderer in the country. Use heavies to intimidate those working in private equity so I can know info about a company before it becomes public.

3. See if I can build up contacts abroad in high places and start up an arms dealing business.

How about yacht sales? A guy called me about doing that. Seems pretty baddass selling yachts. I'm not by the ocean though, but a big bay is nearby.

Doesn't everyone want to achieve this anyway?

Seems like a lot of people taking the 'job' route are pretty deluded.

If it was that easy to become a millionaire in 5 years just by getting a job then everyone would have already done that. Unless your in the top few % of people intelligence wise, at the correct age with perfect qualifications from the top % of universities and know contacts and networking to have access to the high tier jobs then you're drawing dead on this route.

Only real solution would be the illegal stuff.

1.) Kidnapping/Torturing/Extorting some high net worth people or their families.
2.) Drug stuff - wouldn't go down the route of trying to sell to all the degenerates at 20-100 bucks per time though. GTO line is obv to move to a new town and take the 'Chopper Read' route. Source out a lot of local small time drug dealers and rob them. Lots of them will have decent amounts of cash/drugs on them. Keep moving towns and rinse and repeat.



Edit: In this exact scenario there is one solution that is actually by far the best.

Crowdfunding: Make a campaign on xxx site explaining your situation. Follow that up by contacting every celebrity/charity/rich person/random people with over 50k followers on facebook/twitter/other forms of social media. Gain awareness and get donations to your cause by millions of people.