Or how easy and abundant opportunities come to us. The rich are afforded way more which does not equate to smarts or hustle. I’d say rich kids ON AVERAGE have less hustle if ya ask me.
rich kids less hustle, probably true with a broad stroke. I assumed we are talking about self made rich, not inherited or lottery rich... among the self-made multimillionaires within my personal circle - probably all have above average intelligence IQ 120 minimum... but again.. - 1 guy is about 120, but former pro athlete, great determination, in the right field at the right time, opened consulting shop, made many millions; - 2nd guy similar, great determination, in the right field, not mega multi but certainly made enough to make family comfortable; - 3rd guy is a 24 yo kid, got really good at basket ball handicapping and have been pulling 7 figures for the last couple years.. of course this is talent and a lot of work; - 4th guy I know very well, 140 IQ, great logical thinking skills.. came up with own method for the market... plus working in the right field for a few years... not the kind of work ethic like the guys above, but good at finding low hanging fruits. only a small sample, but I think there are many many stories similar. when you are in the process it's hard to tell, but looking back you be like wow it didn't really take much... find a positive sum game you enjoy and making money at the same time, don't spend stupid, and catch a super cycle... stocks have at least a double in it in the next few years... the AI revolution is only in the 2nd inning... any of the above is completely repeatable.. maybe with the exception of #3.
I don't like to equate smart with rich because I am not smart by any stretch of the imagination. So I am doomed? Great advice dozu.
I think hunger is probably a much bigger factor. How bad you want it. Eg starting with the positive sum game. Say you look up the top 10 high paying professions. Which one you want to do? What education and training do you need to do it? Then just work your ass off towards that goal. Then the question goes back to how bad you want it. It will be hard study hard work lots of sacrifices. The hunger makes the difference between you keep going or give up.
Luck is the biggest factor. Hard work (based on hunger or work ethic) is important, but is far outweighed by luck.
It could be a combination of many factors, luck being a big one. The point I am trying to make that being rich does not equal being smart as it is measured by IQ or that there is very little correlation. Are you more travelled, bigger vocabulary, know the difference between wines, what side of the table the fork goes, connections yes. And that can and does make one sound and look smarter. I push my son to grow his vocabulary because in and of itself makes one sound smarter lol .
Let’s forget multimillionaire for a minute. Can you live with 1 million. Pull up a simple savings calculator. $1000 to start. $1000 monthly deposit. 12% annual return. That’s what NDX has done since its birth. Guess how long it takes to get to 1m 20 years. You can do it working as a plumber or electrician. No luck needed... 20 years after trade school, you can retire in early 40's This is truely the land of opportunities with such a dynamic economy. One only has himself to blame for not succeeding Sure 1m in 20 years ain’t the same as 1m today. But we are also assuming you never get a raise for 20 years. No excuses. Average plumber level intelligence. Good work ethic. Common sense investing. That’s all it takes.
The millionaire next door much easier during the golden age of America which is behind us. When one parent worked and fed an entire family. Now we have debt and credit expansion where once we had real industry growth. One of our biggest calculations in GDP is moving money around and less manufacturing real growth.