For many Americans, the American dream involves having enough saved for retirement that they'll never need to work or worry about money ever again.

Of course, that task is easier said than done. Practically everyone wants to become a millionaire and live the American dream, but the process of how to become a millionaire eludes most people.

Why Americans are off track

To begin with, while time is the greatest ally of the investor, a shorter-term mentality has been instilled among investors over the past two decades. Easier access to information via the Internet has made it so anyone, of any skill level, can invest in the stock market. This has led to increased periods of market volatility and a precipitous decline in the length of time investors are holding their stocks. According to data from the NYSE, the average holding period on a stock ranged from roughly four to eight years between 1940 and 1960, but by 2007, the average holding period had fallen to a meager seven months.

The other half of the coin is that far too many Americans are in the dark when it comes to understanding basic financial principles that will help them meet their retirement goals.

According to a five-question financial literacy quiz offered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, just one out of four millennials were able to correctly answer four or five out of five questions correctly. These questions touched on basic principles such as interest, mortgages, and stock market-based risk.

A similar survey that came out earlier this year from the National Foundation for Credit Counselling found that only 59% of Americans would grade themselves at an "A" or "B" in terms of their financial knowledge. Three-quarters of those surveyed noted that they could benefit from additional advice on everyday financial questions from a professional.

How to become a millionaire using three simple strategies

By now, you're probably wondering what you can do to become a millionaire and retire comfortably. As I see it, the solution could be as simple as employing three strategies that require nothing more than discipline and a commitment to learn some basic financial principles.

Strategy No. 1: Creating a budget

© Bloomberg

The first step toward becoming a millionaire begins with the ability to save money. As the old saying goes, you need money to make money -- but it's incredibly difficult to save money if you don't understand your cash flow.

Arguably the biggest setback most consumers face when trying to establish a budget is a lack of discipline. Either their spending isn't properly tracked, or the defined goals are simply too loose. The secret to a great budget is in setting defined lines in the sand on spending categories, such as discretionary spending or groceries, which can help you track your progress on a month-to-month basis and allow you to make adjustments on an as-needed basis.

For those of you who are classic over-spenders, or who have difficulty sticking to a budget, one possible trick is to think of each budget category (such as entertainment) as having its own bank account, or even setting up separate jars with cash inside for each budgeted category. Even though you may have plenty of money in your checking account, if the money for your entertainment account runs out two days before the end of the month, then you're out of money. Period! This little trick can help you learn to live within your means so you can start saving for retirement early and often.

Just how important is a budget? Utilizing Bankrate's return on investment calculator, if an individual began saving just $142.25 each month to put toward their investment account at age 18 and did so through their full retirement age of 67 years (so for a total of 49 years), and the stock market returned an average of 8% annually (which is its historic average), our fictitous investor should have $1 million in their investment account upon retirement. Without a budget it can be tough for some of us to scrape that $142.25 together, and it could be causing us to miss out on lucrative potential profits.