Answer: You’re already on your way. If you bump up your retirement contributions by at least the rate of inflation each year and earn an 8% average annual return over time, you should hit $3 million in about 35 years.

If you want to accumulate your fortune faster, you should save more, achieve a better-than-average investment return, or both.

If you’re serious about accumulating wealth, get a copy of “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. The authors outline how people really get rich in the U.S.: by living well below their means and making saving and investing a priority. Many of them also have their own businesses. The risk of failure for small businesses is high, but those who succeed keep more of the upside than those who work for someone else.

Stanley and Danko repeatedly make the point that the millionaires they studied were more interested in building wealth than in displaying high-status trappings. They tend not to drive fancy cars, wear expensive watches or spend a fortune on clothes. In his most recent book, “Stop Acting Rich,” Stanley makes the point that millionaires also tend to spend modestly on homes: Few have more than one, and most choose houses and neighborhoods that are easily affordable, rather than a strain on their finances.

These books can provide you a road map for your own path to wealth and provide inspiration for the journey.

Forty-six percent of the 1,012 participants in the study (conducted in February) said they “do not feel wealthy and are taking action to reassess and rebuild their wealth.”

Last year only 19% said they didn’t feel rich.

Fidelity says the latest worries match a drop in the respondents’ overall wealth: an average 19% decline in household income and investments, and a 28% drop in real estate holdings.

Fidelity, a Boston-based financial services company, said the average respondent had $3.5 million in assets and $306,000 in annual household income.

The average age of a millionaire is 59, Fidelity said. That means most of them are old enough to have survived the last four recessions, beginning with the first oil crisis of the 1970s. About 77% of the millionaires said they’ve never seen it as bad as it is now.

The top three pieces of advice from these millionaires?

• Stay the course
• Remain calm and be optimistic
• Cut back on spending and save more. downturns.

Here’s how these millionaires are making other adjustments?

INVESTMENTS: Since many of these millionaires have survived other rough economic times, they know they need to make some tough decisions to get their finances back on track. Some are putting more money into fixed-income securities. However, others are buying more stocks, Fidelity reports.

ECONOMIC EXPECTATIONS: Millionaires rated the economy as “very weak,” but expect to see the economy improve in 2010, led by a stock market rebound.

TAXES: Most expect taxes to go up in the next five years, with 72% expecting higher capital gains taxes, 67% expecting a higher dividend tax rate, and 62% expecting a higher federal income tax rate.

PREPARING FOR HIGHER TAXES: 50% plan to sell poorly performing investments in the next 12 months to offset capital gains on other, better performing investments. They also plan to increase their pre-tax income deductions to avoid higher federal income taxes, while almost a third (29%) will invest more in tax-advantaged mutual funds to avoid higher dividend taxes.

Looking to revamp your financial life? Check out my latest columns on how to do it!

• 5 life lessons from the recession

• Delaying financial fixes? That’s dangerous

• Streamline your finances in 8 steps