Millionaires are more common than you think. Some 23.8 million Americans are millionaires , according to Swiss bank UBS’s 2025 Global Wealth Report , accounting for just under 9 percent of the U.S. adult population. But with many Americans struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living , generating seven-figure wealth may seem impossible. Yet becoming a millionaire isn’t always a complicated process, said certified public accountant Eleanor Victorioso, founder of fractional CFO firm The DoubleLine. “What separates the millionaires from everyone else [is] the people who are grounded in their strategy and can follow a boring plan when their nervous system is screaming at them to do something dramatic and quick,” Victorioso told The Independent in an email. Smart spending beats big salaries Through working with her clients, Victorioso found that a high salary isn’t a good predictor of becoming a millionaire.…