Long-time personal finance columnist Scott Burns writes that by working for four summers starting at age 16, putting the money in a Roth IRA, investing it wisely and waiting until age 67, it's simple to become a millionaire. That's the 51-year plan. But what if you're not that patient - or that young? Lucky for you, there are many ways to hit the million-dollar mark, but the faster you try to get there, the harder it becomes.

$1 Million the Hard Way

Let's say you want to become a millionaire in five years. If you're starting from scratch, online millionaire calculators (which return a variety of results given the same inputs) estimate that you'll need to save anywhere from $13,000 to $15,500 a month and invest it wisely enough to earn an average of 10% a year. That means taking calculated risks, diversifying and avoiding investment fees like loads and broker commissions.

Obviously, in order to regularly save this much money each month, you'll need to have a fantastic income. At the low end, to meet the $13,000 a month savings goal, you'd probably need to make around $265,000 annually. The specific number will vary considerably depending on your income tax situation, but the point is, it's high.

According to the salary calculator at PaycheckCity.com, if you make $265,000 a year, are single, claim two exemptions on your federal tax return and live in one of the nine states with no state income tax, you'd take home around $185,000 a year, or about $15,400 a month. Saving $13,000 would leave you