The 7-step “Millionaire Success Formula” is based on the universal wealth principles one must follow in order to eliminate financial obstacles, and achieve substantial, long-lasting riches.

Make a personal prosperity plan.

• Develop a millionaire’s budget; written goals; and a financial policy statement
• Realize that financial success doesn’t happen by luck

Invest first, last and always in your reputation.

• Build perfect credit
• Understand how having a stellar name is often better than cash in the bank

Live like a lender, not a borrower.

• Achieve Zero Debt
• Decide to collect interest, not pay it, for the rest of your life

Leverage the power of property.

• Ramp up with real estate
• Use hard assets and other people’s money to build riches

Increase your fortune with proven methods not shortcuts.

• Buy stocks, bonds, and alternative investments when prudent
• Avoid fads, scams and Wall Street long-shots

Overcome setbacks and minimize risks to your financial health.

• Make insurance a top asset
• Protect yourself against the Dreaded D’s: downsizing, divorce, disability, disease, and death in the family

Never forget the next generation.

• Create wills, trusts, personal and business succession plans
• Establish a wealth legacy

Why do I call these “universal” wealth principles? Well, for starters, I’ve interviewed many millionaires throughout the U.S. and found that, at one point or another, they all followed the steps described above in order to help amass their riches.

Additionally, I worked for nearly a decade as a reporter for Dow Jones & Co., parent company of The Wall Street Journal. As a financial journalist for Dow Jones, and as an ex CNBC business news reporter, I also interviewed thousands of money management experts – everyone from certified financial planners, to stockbrokers, to CEOs.

What these experts told me, without exception, is that their most successful clients were also the ones who practiced the wealth principles listed above.

Simply put, the people who created their own financial blueprints – including budgets, goals for the future, and spending plans of action – were better off financially than those who did not. Those individuals who had hard assets, like real estate, were more economically stable than those who did not own property. Families that protected themselves and mitigated risks with insurance were more fiscally sound than the uninsured, and so forth.

Finally, as a Money Coach, I’ve had direct contact with tens of thousands of consumers across the United States. Based on those dealings, I’ve discovered another universal aspect about these wealth principles: They can be used by anyone – no matter what your age, income, race, marital status, or job standing.

When you apply one or two of the wealth principles, such as learning to successfully manage your debt or investing correctly in the stock market, you can certainly improve your financial standing considerably. But it’s the potent combination of implementing all seven principles simultaneously that turns you into a financial powerhouse.

If you will commit to all seven principles – and the strategies that make them work – you will find that you’ve created your very own “millionaire success formula.” In other words, you will develop and stick to a concrete, personal plan of action that you can follow to create and maintain long-term wealth. And by following this formula, you dramatically improve your odds of becoming a millionaire.

In fact, you can go from a 1 in 13 chance of becoming a millionaire, to virtually guaranteeing yourself of such success. Want even better news? The “millionaire success formula” applies to everyone; from average wage earners to corporate executives to entrepreneurs, and even those who have inherited money.

And nothing you have to do is too complicated. Therefore, readers with little, average or advanced personal finance knowledge can utilize the individual principles one step at a time. Ultimately, my hope is that you will combine all seven universal wealth principles and find yourself becoming a millionaire in training.  Excerpt from The Money Coach’s Guide To Your First Million, now in paperback.