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Millionaires chalk success up to hard work and family values
by Jackie Wattles @jackiewattles May 24, 2016: 6:10 PM ET
How to be a millionaire. Most high net worth Americans say they worked their way up from a lower class.
That's according to a report released by U.S. Trust on Monday, based on a survey that asked 684 adults in the U.S. with $3 million or more of "investible assets" hundreds of questions.
About 77% of those surveyed said they grew up in the middle class or lower, including 19% who say they were poor. And they credit their success to three somewhat surprising factors: Hard work, ambition and family upbringing. Respondents even went so far as to say that these influences were much more important than "connections" or "innate talent."
"The points seem to be so traditional in nature," said Chris Heilmann, the chief fiduciary executive at U.S. Trust, Bank of America's private wealth management firm. "It's [about] deeply held family values rather than an inheritance or existing wealth,"
The survey was also a shout-out to strict parents. About 80% of respondents said their parents were firm disciplinarians. They also named "academic achievement," "financial discipline" and "work participation" as the family values that were most emphasized in their homes.
"It indicates the American Dream seems to be alive and well," Heilmann said.
Considering that some people might doubt that, Heilmann said that the results were "refreshing, encouraging and a bit surprising."
CNNMoney (New York) First published May 23, 2016: 7:42 PM ET
"They also named "academic achievement," "financial discipline" and "work participation" as the family values that were most emphasized in their homes."
When I was growing up, I never lived in a house and moved from one apt to another. Both parents worked 10-12hrs to get us into college, I worked my butt off in college while most of my college buds partied. I moved out of my parent's house shortly after college at 24yrs old and now have my own home and let's say I make enough that my wife doesn't have to work. I put my money to work, I also invest and spend towards my job as an IT consultant. Today I pretty much dictate where I want to work unlike many in the forums that are sending out resumes. I only polish my resume whenever I'm asked to provide one.
I agree that most people that are well to do even those that are privileged has to have an understanding of financial discipline or investment ways.
Most guys that are self-made millionaires are usually self-taught and never received some high end education. You really need to think outside the box in order to get ahead of the competition.
So, I guess we can make some arithmetic estimates of "working hard". A millionaire works 20 times as hard as a 50k grunt, a billionaire is 20,000 times as hard working. You are not laughing yet? I dont really know why people use this oxymoron rationalization. A society/economy is a parasitic coercive pyramid extracting labor and resources from many to reward few with disproportioned share of the collective output. You can use whatever rationale, from "hard work" to the will of the Universe, to justify why some should fleece 200,000 times more than the others, but sad truth is that free, independent people would never allow 20,000 ratios of "hard work" to happen. It is not about you or hard work, it is all about "the coercive system" that allows parasitic relationships of 200,000 kind.
So? And? Everytime I hear this it is used to justify keeping tax rates low for the wealthy. It's a losing proposition that just burdens the middle-class. History has proven trickle-down as complete BS many times.
And it also obscures all the people who have gone from lower to middle-class due to hard work or from middle to upper-middle. There are hard-working people in every class. You are not getting me to lick the a$$ of the wealthy because they are the highest priority of the GOP and Donald Trump. BTW, I'm not far from wealthy myself but refuse to be... selfish.
So, I guess we can make some arithmetic estimates of "working hard". A millionaire works 20 times as hard as a 50k grunt, a billionaire is 20,000 times as hard working. You are not laughing yet? I dont really know why people use this oxymoron rationalization. A society/economy is a parasitic coercive pyramid extracting labor and resources from many to reward few with disproportioned share of the collective output. You can use whatever rationale, from "hard work" to the will of the Universe, to justify why some should fleece 200,000 times more than the others, but sad truth is that free, independent people would never allow 20,000 ratios of "hard work" to happen. It is not about you or hard work, it is all about "the coercive system" that allows parasitic relationships of 200,000 kind.
Working hard does not mean just physical labor. It is also making good use of mental resources.
You seem to have a cynical and disgruntled attitude. Thankfully others have a more positive attitude and can rise to the top.
So, I guess we can make some arithmetic estimates of "working hard". A millionaire works 20 times as hard as a 50k grunt, a billionaire is 20,000 times as hard working. You are not laughing yet? I dont really know why people use this oxymoron rationalization. A society/economy is a parasitic coercive pyramid extracting labor and resources from many to reward few with disproportioned share of the collective output. You can use whatever rationale, from "hard work" to the will of the Universe, to justify why some should fleece 200,000 times more than the others, but sad truth is that free, independent people would never allow 20,000 ratios of "hard work" to happen. It is not about you or hard work, it is all about "the coercive system" that allows parasitic relationships of 200,000 kind.
So, I guess we can make some arithmetic estimates of "working hard". A millionaire works 20 times as hard as a 50k grunt, a billionaire is 20,000 times as hard working.
Working hard does not mean just physical labor. It is also making good use of mental resources.
You seem to have a cynical and disgruntled attitude. Thankfully others have a more positive attitude and can rise to the top.
No, it is all about genetics, the will of Gods, eugenics, or whatever else. Still, how does that refute what I said? One could be 20,000 times more smart, genetically superior, whatever, but unless you in a fleecing spot forget about 20,000 reward ratio.
I wonder about your upside down definitions of "positive attitude". I do realize that the pyramid is alive and well not because of the "evil" people who fleece the rest of us right NOW, it is alive and well because average people hope that one of these days they will occupy fleecing spots to exchange 1 unit of their efforts and time for 200,000 units of efforts and time of others. That's what you call "positive attitude", and I call that slave attitude.
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How to be a millionaire. 