Because Roth accounts aren't taxed on the growth, and the growth is unbounded. 1. Put in $6000/yr into your Roth. 2. Invest in low-cost, high-risk high-reward

Because Roth accounts aren't taxed on the growth, and the growth is unbounded. 1. Put in $6000/yr into your Roth. 2. Invest in low-cost, high-risk high-reward stocks. 3. Get lucky. 4. Boom your Roth is worth millions. For more seed money look at the list of the accounts you're still allowed to roll-over into Roth IRAs, pump money into there, and roll them over. The only "rich person" thing is some people have access to non-publicly traded stocks but I have those and I'm certainly not rich.