A good way to get wealthy is to save 10 percent of your earnings, says Sandy Botkin, a CPA and former IRS attorney.

People think you need to earn a lot of money or invest in a sophisticated way to become a millionaire, Botkin says.

"That isn't true. Eighty-five percent of all multi-millionaires in this country were average folks that you wouldn't think so: teachers, policemen," he said. "But what they did is they put away a certain amount of money every single year."

He's co-author of the book "Achieve Financial Freedom Big Time!: Wealth-Building Secrets from Everyday Millionaires."

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The millionaires Botkin interviewed for his book "basically put away a minimum of 10 percent of what they make and learn to live on the other 90 percent," he told Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview.

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You can often save in a 401k account through your employer. "Almost 40 to 45 percent of people who have 401ks where the company has some kind of matching contribution don't contribute anything," Botkin said.

"That's free money, and they don't contribute anything. That is just shocking."

There are various ways to lower your tax burden, Botkin says. And he gave an example of his own technique. His daughter majored in digital design, and he needed a new web site for his business Taxbot. His daughter designed it.

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He paid her the equivalent of two years of college plus room and board. "I got a full deduction for it, and she got that money for two years of college, because she was able to design my website," Botkin said. There are many jobs parents can hire their kids for, he says.

On the issue of student debt, Botkin came up with a formula for what should be the maximum level of debt a student incurs. You can deduct up to $2,500 of student loan interest payments on your taxes each year, he says.

With student loan rates now about 8 percent, that means you should limit yourself to about $33,000 in loans, because 8 percent of $33,000 is about $2,500 ($2,640 to be exact), Botkin says. So you'd be able to deduct almost all the interest payments if you borrowed $33,000.

"My suggestion is if you're going for an undergraduate education, you should not incur student debt above $33,000," Botkin said. "That's the magic number."

Going far above that level simply doesn't pay, Botkin says. "I can't think of one person who has $60,000, $100,000, $150,000 of debt that thinks it was worth it."

Half of college graduates today are either unemployed or underemployed, Botkin says. "How can they afford to pay that kind of debt?"

Taking on that much debt eliminates the possibility of going into a field that has low-paying entry positions, he says. "It's a disaster."

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