Dec 8, 2024
It’s easy to assume that the most common careers for millionaires are doctors, music stars or startup founders. But Dave Ramsey’s comprehensive study of American millionaires revealed that none of these glamorous professions made it to the top of the list.
The National Study of Millionaires was conducted by Ramsey Solutions with 10,000 participants that were fielded from 2017 to 2018. Earlier this year, Ramsey sat down for an interview with stand-up comedian and podcaster Theo Von to discuss some of the most fascinating insights that came from the survey data.
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According to the study, the top five professions that produce millionaires are engineers, accountants, teachers, business managers and attorneys.
“Medical doctor didn’t even make the top five,” Ramsey told Von.
Here’s why these unexpected professions beat out those in the medical field for millionaire-status.
Top 5 millionaire professions
A persistent shortage of engineering talent could be one of the reasons why engineers are well-compensated and made it to the top of Ramsey’s millionaire study. According to the Boston Consulting Group, the U.S. needs 400,000 new engineers every year, but because of a shortage of engineering graduates, 133,000 jobs go unfilled. This gap is expected to narrow by 2030.
There’s a similar gap emerging in the other professions on Ramsey’s list. There are 340,000 fewer accountants today compared to five years ago, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Meanwhile, high turnover is causing a talent shortage in the legal industry too, according to the Thomson Reuters Institute.
Potentially, one lesson is clear: to become wealthy, acquire skills that are in short supply and high demand.
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Where did doctors rank?
This notion also applies to those in the medical field, though. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) projects that the U.S. will be short up to 86,000 physicians by 2036, which means medical skills are also in short supply. This shortage is reflected in their salaries, as the average doctor can make $350,000 a year, according to The Washington Post.
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In fact, doctors were close to cracking Ramsey’s list too. He revealed that doctors were a close sixth on the ranking table in his study. Though they’re high earners, he believes their underperformance is because doctors are “notoriously bad with money.”
However, there could be another reason why many medical professionals failed to reach the top five: student debt. The average medical graduate has $243,483 in student debt, according to the Education Data Initiative. Coupled with the fact that it takes several years to go through medical school and training to become a doctor, you can see why many medical professionals may struggle to build wealth.
Perhaps the most unexpected finding in Ramsey’s study was that teachers were the third most likely to be millionaires. There is certainly a skills shortage for teachers, given that 64% of public schools said they struggle to hire qualified educators, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ monthly survey of public schools.
However, even seasoned teachers are arguably underpaid at an average salary of $69,597 according to the National Education Association, which makes their wealth surprising.
But Ramsey offers a theory as to why teachers — with modest incomes — seem to be outperforming high earners when it comes to wealth accumulation.
Focus on the process
Ramsey told Von that his team figured out that what the top five millionaire professions had in common was a process-based mindset. Engineers, accountants, teachers, managers and attorneys are all focused on standardized workflows, which makes it easier for them to follow the wealth-building process with their own finances.
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“They do process and that’s the secret sauce,” Ramsey said. “Because of the way their brains work that led them into these careers, they discovered the process of living on less than they make, living on a budget, starting to invest, paying off their house, that kind of stuff, and they followed that process and that’s what got them there.”
This argument could be true, but the same could be argued for those in the medical field, as there’s certainly a process to follow for proper diagnoses, prescriptions and healthcare in general. The opposite could also be said for engineers, as they’re often known for innovation and creating new solutions, rather than sticking to one process.
Regardless of the rationale, the findings of Ramsey’s study offer good news for those who earn under $100,000 a year. It’s more about how you invest, budget and save your money than how much you bring in.
Ramsey’s study noted that eight out of 10 millionaires said they invested in their company’s 401(k) plan, while 79% built their millions without the help of an inheritance. So for most, it was a steady build toward wealth — rooted in consistency.
Following your own financial process and sticking to it could help you break into the seven-figure club too, regardless of your career.
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Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
