America minted 1,200 new millionaires every day last year. Here are the 4 disciplined habits legendary investors say actually work

And while median wealth declined in many countries, gains were concentrated among households that already owned substantial investments. Worth noting, wage growth was not the primary reason for the jump in millionaires; rather, the 79% of gross household wealth tied up in rising markets had an outsized impact on the net worths of nearly half a million Americans.

The report’s findings woouldn’t surprise two of the biggest names in personal finance.

Warren Buffett has spent decades encouraging investors to stay patient and let compounding work its magic, while Dave Ramsey has long argued that ordinary Americans can build extraordinary wealth through consistent investing and disciplined financial habits.

Though they approach money from different perspectives, both have built their reputations on the same core idea: Lasting wealth is usually created over years, not overnight. Here are four principles investors can take away from America’s latest millionaire boom.

1. Be consistent

Warren Buffett has famously said that “the stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.”

The UBS report reinforces that idea.

Many of the Americans who crossed the seven-figure threshold in 2025 likely didn’t become millionaires because of one extraordinary investment. Instead, years of consistently investing in retirement accounts and diversified portfolios received a boost by another strong year for financial markets.

Predicting every market swing can be difficult, even for professionals. Instead, many investors choose to automate contributions and stay invested through both bull and bear markets.

If you’re looking to build consistent investing habits, Acorns can automatically invest your spare change and recurring contributions, helping you put Buffett’s long-term philosophy into practice.

With Acorns, you can automatically invest spare change from your everyday purchases into a diversified portfolio of ETFs managed by experts at leading investment firms like Vanguard and BlackRock.

For instance, if you buy a donut for $3.25, Acorns will round up the purchase to $4 and invest the difference — your spare change — in a smart investment portfolio. So a $3.25 purchase automatically becomes a 75-cent investment in your future.

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2. Never stop learning before you invest

Buffett is known for spending much of his day reading annual reports, company filings and financial news before making investment decisions.

Most investors don’t have that kind of time, but understanding what you’re buying can still make a meaningful difference. Researching companies, industries and broader market trends may help investors avoid emotional decisions driven by headlines or social media.

Platforms like Moby provide research, market insights and investment ideas designed to help everyday investors make more informed decisions.

In four years and across almost 400 stock picks, their recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Moby’s team spends hundreds of hours sifting through financial news and data to provide you with stock and crypto reports delivered straight to you. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts and can help you reduce the guesswork behind choosing stocks and ETFs.

Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.

3. Own assets with the potential to appreciate over time

Dave Ramsey often points to long-term investing as one of the biggest common threads among everyday millionaires. In his Everyday Millionaires research, Ramsey found that most millionaires didn’t inherit their wealth but instead built it gradually through consistent investing and disciplined financial habits.

While stocks have historically played a major role in wealth creation, they’re not the only assets that can appreciate over time. Real estate has long been another avenue investors have used to build wealth through both property values and rental income.

Arrived allows investors to buy fractional shares of rental properties, providing exposure to residential real estate without purchasing an entire home.

If you’re more interested in the long-term earning potential of short-term stays, you can get into this market for a mere $100 minimum and get immediate access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals.

Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level. Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allow accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work on your part. That means more money stays in your pocket when the markets are turbulent.

You can view their full list of vetted properties, selected for their income-generating and appreciation potential and start investing today.

Another big-pocket option

Residential properties aren’t the only way to gain exposure to real estate. Commercial properties — including apartment communities, industrial buildings and mixed-use developments — can provide a different mix of income potential and diversification.

Lightstone DIRECT’s direct-to-investor model ensures a high degree of alignment between individual investors and a vertically integrated, institutional owner-operator — a sophisticated and streamlined option for individual investors looking to diversify into private-market real estate.

With Lightstone DIRECT, accredited individuals can access the same multifamily and industrial assets Lightstone pursues with its own capital, with minimum investments starting at $100,000.