How to save $1 million, according to the experts

While self-made millionaires are often assumed to be self-starters, it is possible to get rich on someone else's clock.

Jeff Lestz is now the CEO of his own company Genistar, but he made his first $1 milion when he was 31, six years after he started working for a large financial services firm.

He said to save up that much money, he followed what he called the 10-10-10-70 rule of spending.

For every paycheck he earned during those years, he gave 10% to charity, saved 10% in a short-term easy-access fund, invested 10% in a long-term plan that was locked in until he was 60, and learned to live on the remaining 70%, including all mortgage payments, taxes and insurance.

"It's not what you make — it's what you keep," he told Business Insider.

In addition, every time Lestz got a pay raise, he maintained exactly the same level of expenditure as he did before, and put away the difference.

"It's human nature to increase your outgoings as soon as your income goes up," he told Business Insider. "But it's actually much easier than you realize not to, because you don't have to make any changes or sacrifices to your lifestyle. It's simply a question of habit."

Apart from rock stars and pro athletes, self-made millionaires are often those who have spotted opportunities others have missed and getting in early.

"These endeavors are usually risky and many fail, so you have to be prepared to take these risks, carry the losses and bounce back with new ideas," Felix Eaton, an entrepreneur-turned-inventor, told Business Insider.

"Also, believe in the product or service you're offering. Believe to a ridiculous degree, particularly if you'll need to persuade others to back your ideas."

Eaton said it's all about your mindset.

"If you believe your product is viable, you're prepared to risk losing your investment, the financial loss is something you can recover from, what have you to lose?" he said.

For Eaton, it doesn't stop with that initial leap of faith.

"Repeated new investment in new ideas and products will grow your abilities and wealth," he said.

"Of course, your good decisions have to outweigh the failures, at least in financial terms. That is where the constant need to gamble on your hunches will separate the millionaires from the billionaires — and also the bankrupt."

"There is a lot of luck involved, but luck favors those trying to break the mold."