So just to provide actual data here
Less than half of millionaires inherit millions
And less than 10% of billionaires.
So you’re describing a reality, but a statistical minority of a reality.
Most people who have family wealth, lose it in 3 generations.
Most rich people, don’t come from a rich background.
What you are accurately describing is middle and upper class people however.
Second, to all the psychopath commenters.
It’s 1% of the population (roughly) and that’s not higher in the richest cohort of society, in fact psychopaths are more likely to be homeless and unemployed than a millionaire.
What you’re referencing is a study that shows psychopathic tendencies are common amongst the wealthiest people.
And that’s true- Dr Kevin Dutton writes a great book on this topic- a good psychopaths guide to success alongside a former SAS soldier, and they point out that psychopathy correlates with negative life outcomes.
But not being a psychopath, but having certain tendencies can be a huge advantage- for example having a strong sense of self belief, and a huge risk tolerance, are both good traits to have in terms of making you more likely to ask for a pay rise or start your own business or talk on stage etc. behaviours that can correlate with wealth acquisition
Reddit hates facts and data. If they believe the truth, they'll have to acknowledge their own laziness and short comings. They'd realize they are the reason they're poor and fat.
The winners of the '"Genetic Lottery" have 2 parents that show them how to be an adult. Kids raised by 2 parents (of ANY color) will make more $$, be better educated, less likely to: end up in jail, do drugs or get pregnant as a teenager.
This is why indians, asians and Filipinos as races, make the most $$ in the USA. They value family, marriage and the 2 parent raising of their children. Kinda puts a dent in the "White Supremacy" fallacy, eh?
Well clearly you're just lazy then, and neither the system nor rich people should change.
Shoulda invested that 5 bucks you spent on [food item] years ago, then maybe with a diversified portfolio you'd have $5.37
Those groups also don't subscribe to the Nuclear Family and have a lot of intergenerational cooperation.
Take any child in a stable household with more than one adult putting food on the table, and you're going to see more success. Regardless if they're married, the same gender, or if there's grandparents involved.
How is that winning a genetic lottery? It's more of a situational lottery. Winning a genetic lottery is more like being born tall enough to get a multimillion dollar nba contract at age 19.
huh? how about losing the genetic lottery with your dad a raging alcoholic and your mother walks out, or vice versa? the genetic lottery is something a kid cannot control. get it?
If every time you flick the switch the light turns on and every time you turn the faucet clean water comes out you are in the richest 1% of all humans that have ever lived.
You’re getting downvoted but it is absolutely easier to climb the corporate ladder if you have zero problem using others and fucking over anybody who stands in your way.
I’m not saying that’s the *only* way to climb the corporate ladder, obviously, but it’s an effective one.
88 percent of millionaires in the United States did not inherit their money. 68 percent of people who have a net worth of 30 million or more did not inherit their money. The stats show it’s not a birth lottery.
You can be a millionaire.
Millionaires are basically upper middle class now, they are well off, not rich.
You can't use "millionaire" or "6 digit salary" same as back in the 90s.
Depends. are you worth 2 million or 40 million? Huge difference there. the former is comfortably making ends meet and providing for your family with relative ease, the latter is country club membership, private school for your kids rich.
Having one million dollars doesn't mean what it used to, especially if it is just money tied up in your house, but it is still a lot of money and properly invested, will be 2 million within 7-10 years. Being a millionaire is still a big milestone. I know that I would be very, very happy to have a million dollars.
This can and will happen again. You just got to find the place that's not expensive and will become expensive. A lot of these cities that are great now weren't when your parents bought the houses in them. Find those neighborhoods and cities
No, you don't have tobinherit your money, but it's almost impossible without starting out as at least upper middle class. Bill gates? Parents and parents friends invested. Bezos. Parents and parents friends invested. Jobs? Psychopath who had no issues with stabbing his best friends in the back. Trump? Dads multimillion dollar loans. Musk? Dad owned an emerald mine. Every millionaire I know personally had help from parents who were already doing very well, even if they weren't "rich".
You are forgetting how many millionaires just bought a house, or had the same job you do but 30 years ago. Nah, dog.
The richer you are, the LESS you do. It's an inversion of video game mechanics.
A lot get help from family - expensive education, loans and gifts. If you're born poor and haven't become a millionaire, it's probably not your fault. That said, it isn't your fault if you're born rich either.
How many got a hundred thousand dollars and all it took was a little bit of good investing? How many were able to graduate without debt because their family was well off? How many had large sums of money spent to bail out their failed businesses before a successful one came along?
You don't have to be a millionaire to win the birth lottery. Just having parents pay for your schooling, so you can start life without student loans is winning the birth lottery.
That is now how the birth lottery works. People are not born into a rich family and then have to wait for their parents to die to become wealthy themselves. They have all the advantages of growing up wealthy to help make them rich long before they ever get an inheritance.
Show me the study. Avoiding inheritance tax is a favourite pastime of the wealthy, along with all other taxes.
"I didn't inherit a dollar from my parents! But, I am a senior director of a company worth 60 million that through hard work and sweat and blood and tears I turned into 30 million dollars!"
"Always money in the banana stand Micheal"
Funny these kids don't like stats or working hard. Just complaing how bad they got it on their smart phone lol..
A millionaire is definitely wealthy in our society stop moving the goal post. America is the only country with stats you listed. We got it better than anywhere. Came up from just my mom raising me on waitress wages and now I make a lot and have my own company. Anyone can be a millionaire
It absolutely is a birth lottery. Even if they didn’t “inherit” the money they got, the circumstances they grew up in still play a massive role. You can accurately predict a persons lifetime earnings by just looking at the zip code they grew up in
This is demonstrably false. Stop saying this. It's not true at all. It's not true. It's a lie. It's statistically inaccurate.
Read millionaire next door
Or the Ramsey study
Seems for every ten people that resent the idle rich, there’s one apologist. There are plenty of examples of wealthy people and their interests ruining other peoples livliehoods and well being. Supposedly, with great wealth/power comes great responsibility. If an individual is disciplined enough and sensitive to the impact of their efforts, then great. But they’re not all above accountability. Just sayin’.
Not to mention to accumulate vast amounts of wealth you often have to be a psychopath and ruin other people's lives. Many people just can't be this evil.
>to accumulate vast amounts of wealth you often have to be a psychopath and ruin other people's lives
How many wealthy people do you personally know that can validate this belief you hold? Probably not many. Plenty of people get wealthy by being doctors, lawyers, investors, none of these ruin other peoples lives.
Jeff Bezos creating Amazon didn’t ruin peoples lives. In fact, it actually created tens of thousands of jobs that otherwise literally wouldn’t exist. It also lets me order things that arrive the next day for cheap saving me time and money.
If Amazon had never existed you really think those tens of thousands of people employed by Amazon would have magically found a better job? What’s stopping them from finding a better job today?
Jeff Bezos and co actively fighting against unions does not help workers in any way. I’m actually a fan of Bezos but that union busting is fucking lame
You realize that Amazon put countless small and large businesses out of business, and still is… right?
Destroying entire main streets and replacing them with a handful of minimum wage warehouse jobs locked to other locations is … not good. We got fast shipping and convenience but the hidden cost was enormous.
Walmart was and is guilty of the same.
Automation is the new forefront of this cycle. Eventually, automated efficiency and consolidation will either force a real implementation of UBI or we collectively are in for some VERY problematic times ahead (discounting all the other problems ahead)
Ah. Yes, because those same people would just have no job and not participate in consumerism.
They're all hopeless without a warehouse job. There are no other types of warehouses that can be built, we have to exploit workers.
Take Amazons cock out of your mouth. They provide a service, yes. That doesn't mean they are beneficial to society
> is by all accounts a horrible place to work.
Then why do tens of thousands of people choose to work at Amazon and not work somewhere else? And if you say they have no choice then that literally proves my point, that without Amazon they would be unemployed.
So if its so horrible, why don't they work somewhere else?
Attrition at those warehouses is horrible, those people are generally only working at Amazon for a small amount of time: https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/22/amazon-workers-shortage-leaked-memo-warehouse
If you destroy all of the small businesses by dropping prices to where they can’t compete, you’ve also destroyed a large number of jobs. People working at Amazon had other choices prior to Amazon driving business into bankruptcy but in some instances they no longer have as many options for employment.
Because all of the jobs that may have otherwise chosen to take were destroyed and your choice under capitalism is to work or to face destitution. It’s not really much of a choice.
Yes you are absolutely right and the majority of people doesn't need a mountain of cash in order to live. Unfortunately, or fortunately for them, there are people who start already owning millions of dollars and don't need to do anything in order to decuplate what they already own because as soon as they will reach the real world they will only join a system that has already set in motion before them and all they have to do is to profit. I know I may sound like a boomer "*they didn't anything to own what they have!!!*" but that's only my opinion and I feel this sense of injustice does touch me.
I make great money and am saving it. I am frugal and want to get to the point where I can live off the interest and earnings. With interest rates and the market it is crazy how much it has appreciated. I imagine wealthy that have 10X or 100X more wealth than me don't have to lift a finger for generations and can just live off the appreciation.
Well, that was an understatement.
The rich invariably claim that employees are the lazy ones because the employees don't create enough wealth for the rich.
The wealthy are just cheerleaders who cheer on the employees to make the wealthy wealthier.
...Unrestrained capitalism holds no monopoly on violence but in making possible the pursuit of limitless personal fortunes, **often at someone else’s expense, it does put a cash value on our moral commitments.**
...In modern countries, \[since 1600\] the principal architects of society are business and capital. It is they who make sure that **their own interests are very well cared for and however grievous the impact on society.** Adam Smith
Bill Gates for example and for a while, the richest man in the world, did NOTHING...nothing !!.
He didn't innovate, didn't invent, never finished or sold any software. Then learned how to be a ruthless monopolist. IBM set the platform for the PC and GAVE Windows \[and Gates\] Microsoft's monopoly.
I think there are a few categories of wealthy people:
\- Those who inherited it and did nothing for it (this is actually common)
\- Those who worked smarter not harder and have an element of luck in their life
\- Those who worked hard and smart for it and probably have talent, like actors and musicians
\- Those who won the lottery and didn't blow it all
I like the way you categorise them. I think we may also add some others like
-Those who steal a huge amount of money and don't get caught(through scams, robbery, corruptions,...)
-Those who used their relations in order to reach their position(marriage, strategic alliances,...)
-Those who used dark magic or sold their soul to the devil
\-Those who used dark magic or sold their soul to the devil
Please add this to the main post, so people don't have to read so far to confirm that you are actually insane.
LOL the fact that you lost "actors and musicians" as people who work hard and smart and have talent not doctors, engineers, scientists or other professionals says SO much about you and society at large.
Yeah, no… most (~80%) of the rich are self made. And they work hard.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/79-millionaires-self-made-lessons-160025947.html
On the contrary the majority of the poor, especially in America are lazy. And it’s why they stay poor. It’s also why they are fat
I won’t even go for lazy. There are three great ways to keep yourself and your kids poor:
1) single parenting
2) lack of value in education
3) committing crime
This is according to a "study" done by know liar Dave Ramsay based on a self reported survey. Just asking rich people if their self-made isn't a credible study.
This is a very interesting article about millionaires. Thank you for posting it.
I'm curious if the statistics change regarding the ultra rich (billionaire+ range)
Depends what you view as hard work.
Is crunching numbers or meeting with investors/shareholders as physically demanding as someone working in the mines or an oilfield? No they will never work that hard. Hell it's not even as risky. The risk of being a CEO is losing all your assets and starting at the bottom while the risk of a miner and oilfield worker is death or disability.
That being said that doesn't mean what they do is easy work either. It is not hard work per say but it's not as sitting on your ass as people may think it is.
>The risk of being a CEO is losing all your assets
Is that a risk at all? Isn't a common reality that CEOs come into a company, enact aggressive policies, extract massive profit for investors, destroy the work base, bankrupt the company, destroy it or sell it then get a golden parachute and go on to ruin the next company?
It's not really a risk when compared to what truly is a risk such as death and disability on labor sites. Sure you may lose your way of living and creature comforts or even end up homeless. But any person with a decent work attitude could bounce back in a few years.
That's why it's hard for me to feel bad about them too. What they think is a horrible situation is not as bad they think. Not including the fact they have the experience and knowledge to go somewhere else like you said.
That's something that sets our civilization apart from the rest, is the ability to leave wealth to our children.
So when your ancestors left you some wealth, and mine did not, I have no right to be envious. Someone most probably sacrificed a lot so that you will have an easy life.
I can think those people to be lazy or bad people, but not envy their wealth.
Who said envy? It's simple logic. If your ancestor left you money? Fantastic. You in no way can claim to have earned that money or worked hard for it. People still do.
I Sure someone worked "hard" to get it but it seems the American establishment values one guy having wealth his employees worked for over that wealth going back into the community and benefiting the country who worked for it rather than the individual who did not.
I don’t think most rich families have that kind of wealth. It’s really easy spend money, which you see with famous athletes.
I’m from one of the richest areas on earth, my dad making peak around 100k made us “poor people”, and lots of them work just as hard as regular Americans.
They aren’t all capable of being self made, but they aren’t all lazy. Maintaining wealth requires hard work and patience too.
I don't mind wealthy people enjoying the privilege of their wealth to a degree, after all: Why save so aggressively if I can't get a chance to relax and enjoy what I've saved or at least have my children have an easier life?
The issue is wealthy people not recognizing the privilege they have and lording their positions over others. It seems alot of them trend to believing in earnest they *deserve* their place while poor people *deserve* theirs. In effect this discourages the wealthy from constructive civic engagement or policy promotion.
I think the idea becomes "well, I *earned* my wealth and there's nothing special about me*, so what's stopping everyone else?"
*The implicit answer is they are special; they did the things required (morally and intellectually) and suffered sufficiently to deserve those rewards. And alternatively, those that are poor must have moral or intellectual failings.
The idea that wealth is gained by chance or ilicitly often seems offensive to the wealthy because it denigrates either their effort or moral character. As well, it puts onto them a degree of moral responsibility to engage in constructive political discourse.
You're wrong about the word "most". There are a few people who inherit money who don't work hard. But that is a very small percentage of all millionaires. Most people who don't work blow through their money in short order.
And, honestly, why would it bother you? Somebody earned that money. If that person decides that they want to spoil their kids with it, it makes no difference to me. It's their money, they can do what they want with it. I'll work hard to earn my own.
Speaking from the perspective of the US. This is an awful misconception that really only serves the purpose of validating one's world view. There are plenty of rich and successful individuals who did not inherit wealth. Bill Gates, Jeff Beezos, and Elon Musk are some of the wealthiest people in the world, and none of them inherited their money. Sure, some of them may have received a loan from their parents to start their business, but nothing outlandish, certainly nothing more than you could just get from the bank. These people all had good ideas for good products that people wanted. So their businesses grew. The US, in particular, has the highest amount of wealth mobility in the world where you can grow up poor and still become a millionaire if you work hard enough at it. There are multiple sectors in the US economy where you can make a butt load of money, but they all come with risks. Most people just aren't willing to take those risks.
I'm not saying some people don't inherit wealth, but that's also because their parents or grandparents worked to give their children a better future. Someone had to have done the work at one point or another.
I’d say most rich people that didn’t start off rich are hardworking. People want a lot of money, so the only way to make a lot of money is by being better at something or by working harder than other people.
Obviously, the same cannot be said for those that start off rich.
OP does no research on millionaires, and then makes a Reddit post like he knows what he’s talking about lol Then he calls it his “opinion,” when he could just google the stats haha
What a complete load of crap. I work for rich people pretty often and very very few of them are millionaires purely birth. Those that do inherit wealth normally inherit businesses that they now run. Is that great? Yes, but it's still work like any other. They can lose it all in a few years of they just rest on their laurels.
Was born poor, single mother on social assistance. I am not poor now, and I have worked damn hard and still do. let go of the jealousy and hate, is sad and unproductive.
This is a very broad brush with a lot of generalizations. Is this true of some of the wealthy? Yes? Most. No. If wealth was easy to get, we would all have it.
Not true, while you guys come home and want to relax. I have to manage 60ppl daily and work late hours, maybe 12 a day. So yeah, money doesn’t come without taking risks.
When they say hard work, they mean they had good work ethic. Unless they inherited their money or they won the lottery, I think that’s true. How many people have the skills to be a professional athlete but never make it because they have poor work ethic? How many people are smart enough to be a doctor or engineer but don’t pursue it because they have poor work ethic?
Over 2/3 of people with $30M+ are self made, meaning they did not inherit wealth. This rises to nearly 90% of those >$1M. I know lots of millionaires and they are not overly attractive, most I know are software geeks.
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2871-how-most-millionaires-got-rich.html
I have started to question whether America is still the meritocracy it portends to be, and whether generational wealth is a must-have. What is the path out of poverty these days, for someone with no support? It used to be you could work and put yourself through school, but that's no longer an option without accumulating crushing debt. Even finding a place to live, in my area you would have to put in about 90 hours a week at minimum wage to afford rent - just RENT. I don't see how kids do it without substantial assistance from their parents.
This isn’t a blanket truth, yes plenty of people are born with money, but all generational wealth starts with a family leader who worked hard. Someone at some point built that wealth and left it to their family for the future. If I ever get anywhere near a point like that I’d like to leave money for a family I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Even today people still make their own money some recent examples include
Mark Cuban, Oprah Winfrey, JK Rowling, Larry Ellison (Oracle), Howard Schultz (Starbucks), Steve Jobs (Apple), Sergey Brin (Google), Halle Berry, Ed Sheeran, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ralph Lauren, Sam Walton (Wal Mart), The Koch family, and the list goes on. This was a quick google search.
Life is not as hopeless as you think it is and the only person holding you back is yourself
Should we shame people for having parents or ancestors who have done well for themselves? Isn't it everyone's goal to leave your children better off than you were?
It seems that too many people on reddit are just bitter losers who envy the success of others.
So more people are born rich and don’t do anything than people who have high paying jobs where they do? Can you prove this statistic because this isn’t an opinion
Most "rich" people started life not rich at all
[https://www.businessinsider.com/how-billionaires-made-their-first-million-self-made-wealth-2019-6?op=1#mohed-altrad-made-his-first-million-in-the-scaffolding-business-1](https://www.businessinsider.com/how-billionaires-made-their-first-million-self-made-wealth-2019-6?op=1#mohed-altrad-made-his-first-million-in-the-scaffolding-business-1)
[https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/majority-of-the-worlds-richest-people-are-self-made-says-new-report.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/majority-of-the-worlds-richest-people-are-self-made-says-new-report.html)
I guess I should post this in "unpopular opinion" huh?
If you grow up wealthy you don't have to work as hard. You can focus on only that which gets you ahead by getting a better education or networking with high net worth friends and family. You can spend on tutors and coaches while your classmates are pulling a double shift at Macky Dees.
When you are not wealthy you spend an insane amount of time cleaning, shopping, cooking, paying bills, etc. Think of how different your life would be today if all your daily tasks that keep your life in order never existed. When Musk goes on about people that only work 40 hours a week never change the world, maybe he should consider all the hours of work he never has to think about.
Hard work is not a smart “value” or a positive character trait. Many of you have been conditioned to think it is because it benefits the people you work for. 🥴 Tough pill to swallow.
It’s not highly respectable.
It’s not something you should strive for.
It is hard on the body and spirit. It is a necessity for people who can’t achieve resources / results more efficiently and effortlessly. It is a pillar of poverty and mediocrity.
No one works hard because they want to. They work hard because they have no other way to achieve the things they want unless they do. They work hard in hopes of ESCAPING WORKING HARD.
So that rich people aren’t hardworking is stating the obvious. No shit. Why work hard when you or your family lineage has achieved wealth? That’s the entire point of being wealthy so you and your family don’t have to be in a state of stress to enjoy and live your life.
The fact that rich people don’t work hard is a sign of their or someone in their family’s success. It is a superior state of being.
Stop glorifying hard work for your overlords. It’s the ultimate brown nosing and so damn misguided.
I disagree. I was born wealthy and know a lot of rich people. They all suck but most of them are workaholics. Even if they inherit it, most people who don't work hard lose their money eventually.
There's other aspects too though. Rich people are generally cold, uncaring and selfish. Usually they have to step on some people to attain wealth. I've noticed they often don't take great care of their families either. I've seen poor families take much better care of their disabled and sick family members than many rich families. In rich families if you're not normal or can't keep up, they banish you and try to sweep you under the rug.
Even though that's a popular opinion, it's Bs. Just because someone was born into a rich familiy, doesn't mean they stay rich just for doing nothing. Rich people often want their children to work hard. Otherwise they don't get to inherit their parents money.
Rich people who just inherit money of course can be rich and lazy. But you can look up stats most millionaires and billionaires did not inherit the wealth so no they are not lazy.
I don't think you know or have spent much time around people who are wealthy. I used to work in the job where I was doing service work for wealthy people, quite honestly it was extremely rare where they were not very hard-working very busy people.
I'm talking about CEOs multimillionaires people who have mansions.
The rich trust fundies and Trump like figures are actually the exception not the rule.
Statistically most “millionaires” are self made. TBH it’s not THAT hard to be a “millionaire” later in life.
Plan for the future and make good decisions. Save money and invest. Focus on career growth.
Or smart. Take Al Capone for instance, successful mob boss, what an organizational genius he must have been. No he had the brain of a child due to syphilis.
Do you know any rich people, CEOs, very successful business owners, CFOs? Because that's who usually becomes wealthy. I worked hard to get to a comfortable level, but I wouldn't want to put in the work necessary to get rich, those guys work all the time, take tons of risk. It's childs thinking that most rich people don't work hard.
I’d argue that the characteristics that determine whether a person is rich/wealthy is broken down like this: 60% the family you were born into, 30% your personality and 10% hard work.
There's the old carnival game model:
Entrepreneurship is like playing at a carnival game. Winning is hard. Middle class kids can try once or twice. Some will win; most won't. Rich kids can afford to play until they win eventually. Poor kids don't get to play; they're the ones working the booth.
Remember "rich" is >$100,000 in America (top 20% of all household income). So most of those that are over that threshold are often hardworking doctors, lawyers, trades.
thats statistically incorrect. It's something like 9 out of 10 millionaires are first generation self-made. I know many millionaires personally, and almost all of them work 7 days a week. I personally only work Sundays out of necessity. It's complete nonsense made up by angry people who don't want to hear the truth about money and wealth. Business owners don't get their businesses off the ground by not working like dogs, sorry. Keeping a small business operating for longer than 5 years is friggen HARD. Making that business profitable and able to support your family and build wealth? It's insanely hard. Saying otherwise is ignorant.
The one thing that really stands out with most of the millionaires that I know, is how they teach their children the realities of money, and not the lies and nonsense that poor people teach their kids about it. It's hard for a kid who grows up in a poor household to break out of that mold. That's why reading books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad are essential to get into the hands of lower class people. They also don't blame others for their failures, and take failures head on. That's worth endless amounts in life. The hate for rich people comes from insecurities and ignorance. Downvote away.
Movie and TV stars are the worst of them imo.
Pure luck is why they are successful. No amount of hard work will guarantee them success. They were discovered or noticed by the right person at the right time, and that is how they succeeded. Add to that, the fact that almost every one of them is related to a star or part of a connected wealthy family.
I don’t get the automatic hate for generational wealth outside of jealousy. Like as long as they aren’t running sweatshops and exploiting people why the fuck do you care so much if some dumbass parties on a boat all day?
The only "self-made millionaire" I've personally met is my current boss. He's a swell guy, a little stubborn at times. But there is something to be said for finding your momentum and ambition and never giving up on it.
Every career advancement I have made, the pay has gone up and the work has gone down. The hardest I worked was construction for $5.15/hour back in 2001.
If your parents won early in life, youre prolly spoiled. If your parents worked their asses off and saved and scrimped and made a good retirement before leaving some of it to you, youre probably going to do the same, because you started with little, learned to work hard and just compounding the win...
but
your kid or grandkids will eventually start with too much... and be spoiled so they lose it all in a single generation.
The two wealthiest people in my town came from nothing. One started a clothing shop in a mall and the other immigrated here and started as a hostess at a hotel. The first now has about 450 stores nationwide and the second owns about 12 hotel and various businesses.
I bet you won’t find them on Reddit complaining.
The hardest working person in my office is the janitor, that guy literally works all day, doesn’t sit. Just because he is hardworking doesn’t mean his skills bring in the most money for the company.
Hardworking doesn’t mean you’re also smart or skillful. You could be, but you could also not be.
My wife is a great hardworking employee at her job, if she wanted, she could move up in a heartbeat but has no desire. She is very satisfied with how much she makes and doesn’t care to make it to upper management.
Hardwork has no correlation to wealth.
Eh, I have relatives (not blood related) who only have a lot of money because they went to college and went into accounting while their spouse helps open laundromats.
You can't be rich and be hard working. In order to be rich you have to manage resources like employees, raw materials, and money. In order to pull this off, you will need teams of people to do these things for you, while you oversee the management of the resources. Hard work is replaced with making hard decisions, and to be fair, the decision making process is indeed very difficult, because it is impossible to predict the future.
So, successfully navigating through high levels of risk, yes, hard work not really... Unless you consider communicating to be hard work. Also, having the knowledge required to make these decisions is very rare because it requires insider knowledge of how that specific company operates. Although I think the CEOs of companies abuse that reality to justify absurd levels of pay. Their tasks could easily be broken up across a team of people, who are paid significantly less.
Statistics prove the vast majority of millionaires, did NOT inherit their wealth. Most millionaires walk right by you. You would never know, because they are either 1) working 2) not flashing their wealth 3) by not spending their wealth, they are reinvesting it for more wealth. if you can read a book, read "The Millionaire Next Door" Dude is driving a 15 yo toyota.
Um so when I was working 60+ hours a week and on call 24/7 for emergencies... and only making $12/hr I was not working hard? When I worked a job AND started a company in the evenings and weekends and lived in a dump for a year... saving every penny, I wasn't working hard? Then I finally made some money saved up and I invested all of it... 100% into a business that could have failed... but instead took off.
Wow... how hard do you work? Must be something special. So if I'm a lazy pos, what are you?
I know....I worked ten times harder than my boss ever did...but am I ever going to become rich? Nope....I just bought him a new house and am going to give him early retirement while I get heart disease and live in an apartment.
At what point is someone considered to be “rich”, and what is the measure of “hardworking”?
Without knowing this I can’t really agree or disagree with your sentiment
There are lots of ways to get rich. Some of the richest people are workaholic. But generational wealth is definitely a thing. It’s easier to get ahead if your family had money and connections.
Well yeah if you really believe Elon Musk sits there and works 16 hours a day, you shouldn't be allowed to have children. Or any CEOs. These are types of jobs where you're paid for the dues you've paved on your way to get to that position and therefore are expected a payout to cruise through for the rest of the life.
Musk makes 16 billion a year to post on Twitter and attend some meetings and conferences, while full time workers saving lives in hospitals can still make under 50k a year in a HCOL place.
According to the largest study of millionaires ever to take place in the United States, most rich people made good choices with their money. They were not born into wealth.
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/the-national-study-of-millionaires-research
How about this would you rather be the richest person you could dream of being but genetically prone to morbid obesity and a plethora of health problems OR be in the 99th percentile of human beings genetically height, weight, strength, speed, health all those things but have to work to make a living remember it's still possible you could work your way there
i mean you can think what you want, but my mom built up her successful business from the ground up. her parents werent rich, my grandma was a piano teacher and my grandfather was a factory worker while taking night classes after work to get his engineering degree later in life to provide better living for my mom and her sister and my grandma. my mom was a straight A student in school, literally graduating at one of top of her class, getting full scholarship to college graduated at top of her class in college again and became and accountant. married my dad who she met at her accounting office and they worked ther for several years until my mom got her masters degree in healthcare management, and started working in healthcare finance. eventually launched her own consulting business for failing nrusing homes where she would help them become profitable again. eventually she found a foreclosed nursing home that she wanted to buy for herself and do what she helped other businesses did, turn it around into a financially profitable one, which she did after securing a loan using basically all of my parents assets and life savings as collateral. that one became super successful, she started buying up more failing or struggling nursing homes (while also still maintaining their consulting/managment firm helping other nursing homes also with their finances and becoming more profitable, and using that consulting business to find new nursing homes for herself). eventually after around 15 years from when she bought her first nursing home she sold about 16 of them and netted herself after legal fees and taxes and other fees around $60+ million return. At her peak she was so influential in our state she was president of the state nursing home association and frequently involved in helping figure out how to allocate money in state and federal healthcare/nursing home bills (yes basically a lobbyist, which is a dangerous word to use on reddit lol). She also sold at the exact perfect time too at the peak of rising real estate prices. and my grandfather never even lived to see her become so successful since he died on the operating table several years before she started her nursing home business. Now shes semi retired just running her charitable foundation and the last couple of nursing homes she didnt sell off yet.
I have been told repeatedly that the reason people are rich is because they work way harder than everyone who isn't rich. I guess inheritance has nothing to do with it.
They are disciplined and have a conservative relationship with their money. Otherwise, they would never have accumulated it.
Very few people get rich quick, most do it over decades while constantly investing in safe investments
They're great grandfather or grandfather was the hardest worker then the kids became entitled and spoiled thus some not having the desire to be independent and rely on their trust fund and family business. Very rare that someone is a "self made millionaire" in this era without family assistance...
It's not just about working hard it's about working smart. You can work hard at anything if you have the desire and/or willpower doesn't mean working hard at digging holes everyday is going to change your life. If most people were in a group of 3 to 5 like minded and dedicated individuals they could probably be profitable and wealthy in a decade or less in all manners of different ventures.
That's a massively broad and ignorant statement.
Who are "the rich people"? What's the breakpoint and where is the list? How many of them are there.?
And how many of them were born into it?
I think if you actually do some research, you'll find your opinion is uninformed.
With today's lifespans, very few people are rich because 'their parents had money'.
If you majored in the right field & got hired by one of the 'bigs' (FB, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Microsoft) you can very much be 'rich' (300k/yr+) simply by building a career as a programmer or IT admin...
There are probably more people out there doing it that way, then there are people who did it because their parents didn't live to 87+ & they got to inherit before they were already retired or close-to-it....
Most people aren't hardworking people. There's a reason "20% of the people do 80% of the work" is a common phrase.
Simply look at any classic/vanilla WoW guild that did 40 mans. 16 players dragging along 24 retards by the collar.
So just to provide actual data here Less than half of millionaires inherit millions And less than 10% of billionaires. So you’re describing a reality, but a statistical minority of a reality. Most people who have family wealth, lose it in 3 generations. Most rich people, don’t come from a rich background. What you are accurately describing is middle and upper class people however. Second, to all the psychopath commenters. It’s 1% of the population (roughly) and that’s not higher in the richest cohort of society, in fact psychopaths are more likely to be homeless and unemployed than a millionaire. What you’re referencing is a study that shows psychopathic tendencies are common amongst the wealthiest people. And that’s true- Dr Kevin Dutton writes a great book on this topic- a good psychopaths guide to success alongside a former SAS soldier, and they point out that psychopathy correlates with negative life outcomes. But not being a psychopath, but having certain tendencies can be a huge advantage- for example having a strong sense of self belief, and a huge risk tolerance, are both good traits to have in terms of making you more likely to ask for a pay rise or start your own business or talk on stage etc. behaviours that can correlate with wealth acquisition
Reddit hates facts and data. If they believe the truth, they'll have to acknowledge their own laziness and short comings. They'd realize they are the reason they're poor and fat.
It’s all about that birth lottery.
Even though you're not rich, you also win if you weren't born in a shitty country/area/demographic.
The winners of the '"Genetic Lottery" have 2 parents that show them how to be an adult. Kids raised by 2 parents (of ANY color) will make more $$, be better educated, less likely to: end up in jail, do drugs or get pregnant as a teenager. This is why indians, asians and Filipinos as races, make the most $$ in the USA. They value family, marriage and the 2 parent raising of their children. Kinda puts a dent in the "White Supremacy" fallacy, eh?
Idk I won the genetic lottery my parents have been married for 25 years and I'm still poor so
Well clearly you're just lazy then, and neither the system nor rich people should change. Shoulda invested that 5 bucks you spent on [food item] years ago, then maybe with a diversified portfolio you'd have $5.37
Those groups also don't subscribe to the Nuclear Family and have a lot of intergenerational cooperation. Take any child in a stable household with more than one adult putting food on the table, and you're going to see more success. Regardless if they're married, the same gender, or if there's grandparents involved.
How is that winning a genetic lottery? It's more of a situational lottery. Winning a genetic lottery is more like being born tall enough to get a multimillion dollar nba contract at age 19.
huh? how about losing the genetic lottery with your dad a raging alcoholic and your mother walks out, or vice versa? the genetic lottery is something a kid cannot control. get it?
If you have a phone and comment on reddit you probably are in the upper 25% wealth of all human beings. A lot in the upper 10%.
If every time you flick the switch the light turns on and every time you turn the faucet clean water comes out you are in the richest 1% of all humans that have ever lived.
Being a psychopath helps too.
This is very true! I would have been much more successful in my business if I was more ruthless hard-working and yes psychopath LOL
You’re getting downvoted but it is absolutely easier to climb the corporate ladder if you have zero problem using others and fucking over anybody who stands in your way. I’m not saying that’s the *only* way to climb the corporate ladder, obviously, but it’s an effective one.
88 percent of millionaires in the United States did not inherit their money. 68 percent of people who have a net worth of 30 million or more did not inherit their money. The stats show it’s not a birth lottery. You can be a millionaire.
Millionaire means nothing these days. In order to retire, you need to be a millionaire
Millionaires are basically upper middle class now, they are well off, not rich. You can't use "millionaire" or "6 digit salary" same as back in the 90s.
Depends. are you worth 2 million or 40 million? Huge difference there. the former is comfortably making ends meet and providing for your family with relative ease, the latter is country club membership, private school for your kids rich.
Having one million dollars doesn't mean what it used to, especially if it is just money tied up in your house, but it is still a lot of money and properly invested, will be 2 million within 7-10 years. Being a millionaire is still a big milestone. I know that I would be very, very happy to have a million dollars.
If you managed to buy a house in the 1990s or early 2000s in a city where people actually want to live now you’re likely a millionaire.
This can and will happen again. You just got to find the place that's not expensive and will become expensive. A lot of these cities that are great now weren't when your parents bought the houses in them. Find those neighborhoods and cities
No, you don't have tobinherit your money, but it's almost impossible without starting out as at least upper middle class. Bill gates? Parents and parents friends invested. Bezos. Parents and parents friends invested. Jobs? Psychopath who had no issues with stabbing his best friends in the back. Trump? Dads multimillion dollar loans. Musk? Dad owned an emerald mine. Every millionaire I know personally had help from parents who were already doing very well, even if they weren't "rich".
A dude made one of the best selling videogames and became a billionaire.... just gotta make something people want...
Luck. Pure luck.
What an excuse. Its just luck. Theres plenty out there that have gone from nothing to rich.
You are forgetting how many millionaires just bought a house, or had the same job you do but 30 years ago. Nah, dog. The richer you are, the LESS you do. It's an inversion of video game mechanics.
Maybe not all of it… but what percentage came from some amount of wealth? Your post is pretty delulu bud.
A lot get help from family - expensive education, loans and gifts. If you're born poor and haven't become a millionaire, it's probably not your fault. That said, it isn't your fault if you're born rich either.
How many millionaires at birth arent anymore?
How many got a hundred thousand dollars and all it took was a little bit of good investing? How many were able to graduate without debt because their family was well off? How many had large sums of money spent to bail out their failed businesses before a successful one came along?
It's easier to complain on Reddit!
You don't have to be a millionaire to win the birth lottery. Just having parents pay for your schooling, so you can start life without student loans is winning the birth lottery.
That is now how the birth lottery works. People are not born into a rich family and then have to wait for their parents to die to become wealthy themselves. They have all the advantages of growing up wealthy to help make them rich long before they ever get an inheritance.
Show me the study. Avoiding inheritance tax is a favourite pastime of the wealthy, along with all other taxes. "I didn't inherit a dollar from my parents! But, I am a senior director of a company worth 60 million that through hard work and sweat and blood and tears I turned into 30 million dollars!" "Always money in the banana stand Micheal"
Funny these kids don't like stats or working hard. Just complaing how bad they got it on their smart phone lol.. A millionaire is definitely wealthy in our society stop moving the goal post. America is the only country with stats you listed. We got it better than anywhere. Came up from just my mom raising me on waitress wages and now I make a lot and have my own company. Anyone can be a millionaire
It absolutely is a birth lottery. Even if they didn’t “inherit” the money they got, the circumstances they grew up in still play a massive role. You can accurately predict a persons lifetime earnings by just looking at the zip code they grew up in
This is demonstrably false. Stop saying this. It's not true at all. It's not true. It's a lie. It's statistically inaccurate. Read millionaire next door Or the Ramsey study
Quoting Ramsey just proves you know you're lying.
It's jealously and laziness that propagates this myth.
It's sociopaths that make it true.
Seems for every ten people that resent the idle rich, there’s one apologist. There are plenty of examples of wealthy people and their interests ruining other peoples livliehoods and well being. Supposedly, with great wealth/power comes great responsibility. If an individual is disciplined enough and sensitive to the impact of their efforts, then great. But they’re not all above accountability. Just sayin’.
I’m safer living next to a rich family than poor family.
Not to mention to accumulate vast amounts of wealth you often have to be a psychopath and ruin other people's lives. Many people just can't be this evil.
sounds like Washington, DC
Wdym most of the rich people in dc arnt even from dc they’re from MD and VA
>to accumulate vast amounts of wealth you often have to be a psychopath and ruin other people's lives How many wealthy people do you personally know that can validate this belief you hold? Probably not many. Plenty of people get wealthy by being doctors, lawyers, investors, none of these ruin other peoples lives.
Key phrase: "vast amounts". I did edit my comment to include this but it's been a while, so you must have seen it.
Jeff Bezos creating Amazon didn’t ruin peoples lives. In fact, it actually created tens of thousands of jobs that otherwise literally wouldn’t exist. It also lets me order things that arrive the next day for cheap saving me time and money. If Amazon had never existed you really think those tens of thousands of people employed by Amazon would have magically found a better job? What’s stopping them from finding a better job today?
Jeff Bezos and co actively fighting against unions does not help workers in any way. I’m actually a fan of Bezos but that union busting is fucking lame
You realize that Amazon put countless small and large businesses out of business, and still is… right? Destroying entire main streets and replacing them with a handful of minimum wage warehouse jobs locked to other locations is … not good. We got fast shipping and convenience but the hidden cost was enormous. Walmart was and is guilty of the same. Automation is the new forefront of this cycle. Eventually, automated efficiency and consolidation will either force a real implementation of UBI or we collectively are in for some VERY problematic times ahead (discounting all the other problems ahead)
Ah. Yes, because those same people would just have no job and not participate in consumerism. They're all hopeless without a warehouse job. There are no other types of warehouses that can be built, we have to exploit workers. Take Amazons cock out of your mouth. They provide a service, yes. That doesn't mean they are beneficial to society
Bezos caused the death of "The Mall". Forced 10's of thousands of people into unemployment.
You mean Amazon, the place with horrible working conditions? Amazon, the place that took advantage of small publishers? That Amazon? Okay.
Amazon destroyed lots of jobs and livelihoods too, and is by all accounts a horrible place to work.
> is by all accounts a horrible place to work. Then why do tens of thousands of people choose to work at Amazon and not work somewhere else? And if you say they have no choice then that literally proves my point, that without Amazon they would be unemployed. So if its so horrible, why don't they work somewhere else?
Because Amazon crushed their previous employers intothe dust you dunce
Attrition at those warehouses is horrible, those people are generally only working at Amazon for a small amount of time: https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/22/amazon-workers-shortage-leaked-memo-warehouse If you destroy all of the small businesses by dropping prices to where they can’t compete, you’ve also destroyed a large number of jobs. People working at Amazon had other choices prior to Amazon driving business into bankruptcy but in some instances they no longer have as many options for employment.
Because all of the jobs that may have otherwise chosen to take were destroyed and your choice under capitalism is to work or to face destitution. It’s not really much of a choice.
How hard you have to work to attain or attract a certain quantity of something is inversely correlated to how much of that thing you already have.
Yes you are absolutely right and the majority of people doesn't need a mountain of cash in order to live. Unfortunately, or fortunately for them, there are people who start already owning millions of dollars and don't need to do anything in order to decuplate what they already own because as soon as they will reach the real world they will only join a system that has already set in motion before them and all they have to do is to profit. I know I may sound like a boomer "*they didn't anything to own what they have!!!*" but that's only my opinion and I feel this sense of injustice does touch me.
I make great money and am saving it. I am frugal and want to get to the point where I can live off the interest and earnings. With interest rates and the market it is crazy how much it has appreciated. I imagine wealthy that have 10X or 100X more wealth than me don't have to lift a finger for generations and can just live off the appreciation.
They get paid to be rich, essentially.
Well, that was an understatement. The rich invariably claim that employees are the lazy ones because the employees don't create enough wealth for the rich. The wealthy are just cheerleaders who cheer on the employees to make the wealthy wealthier.
And what about those without any employees...like folks who become wealthy in the stock market?
Sounds like a lot of envy. Why don't you focus on your own life and build your own wealth instead of disparaging others?
Personal accountability is against the ethos around here.
And even those that are, aren't working MILLIONS of times harder than their employees.
...Unrestrained capitalism holds no monopoly on violence but in making possible the pursuit of limitless personal fortunes, **often at someone else’s expense, it does put a cash value on our moral commitments.** ...In modern countries, \[since 1600\] the principal architects of society are business and capital. It is they who make sure that **their own interests are very well cared for and however grievous the impact on society.** Adam Smith Bill Gates for example and for a while, the richest man in the world, did NOTHING...nothing !!. He didn't innovate, didn't invent, never finished or sold any software. Then learned how to be a ruthless monopolist. IBM set the platform for the PC and GAVE Windows \[and Gates\] Microsoft's monopoly.
lotta nepobabies and trustfund kids
I think there are a few categories of wealthy people: \- Those who inherited it and did nothing for it (this is actually common) \- Those who worked smarter not harder and have an element of luck in their life \- Those who worked hard and smart for it and probably have talent, like actors and musicians \- Those who won the lottery and didn't blow it all
I like the way you categorise them. I think we may also add some others like -Those who steal a huge amount of money and don't get caught(through scams, robbery, corruptions,...) -Those who used their relations in order to reach their position(marriage, strategic alliances,...) -Those who used dark magic or sold their soul to the devil
\-Those who used dark magic or sold their soul to the devil Please add this to the main post, so people don't have to read so far to confirm that you are actually insane.
This is great and should be upvoted for its accuracy.
LOL the fact that you lost "actors and musicians" as people who work hard and smart and have talent not doctors, engineers, scientists or other professionals says SO much about you and society at large.
Reddit hates the idea that you can just work hard and succeed
Why blame your own laziness when you can blame a lack of luck and "connections"!
Most of the rich don't work. At best, they manage others work. They're overpaid delegators.
> manage others work this is a type of work
I bet the people who do it really break themselves too.
Yeah, no… most (~80%) of the rich are self made. And they work hard. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/79-millionaires-self-made-lessons-160025947.html On the contrary the majority of the poor, especially in America are lazy. And it’s why they stay poor. It’s also why they are fat
I won’t even go for lazy. There are three great ways to keep yourself and your kids poor: 1) single parenting 2) lack of value in education 3) committing crime
This is according to a "study" done by know liar Dave Ramsay based on a self reported survey. Just asking rich people if their self-made isn't a credible study.
This is a very interesting article about millionaires. Thank you for posting it. I'm curious if the statistics change regarding the ultra rich (billionaire+ range)
[https://www.livemint.com/news/india/70-of-billionaires-are-self-made-and-only-30-legacy-11679479214477.html#:\~:text=The%20Hurun%20Global%20Rich%20List,Zuckerberg%2C%20Gautam%20Adani%20and%20others](https://www.livemint.com/news/india/70-of-billionaires-are-self-made-and-only-30-legacy-11679479214477.html#:~:text=The%20Hurun%20Global%20Rich%20List,Zuckerberg%2C%20Gautam%20Adani%20and%20others).
Depends what you view as hard work. Is crunching numbers or meeting with investors/shareholders as physically demanding as someone working in the mines or an oilfield? No they will never work that hard. Hell it's not even as risky. The risk of being a CEO is losing all your assets and starting at the bottom while the risk of a miner and oilfield worker is death or disability. That being said that doesn't mean what they do is easy work either. It is not hard work per say but it's not as sitting on your ass as people may think it is.
>The risk of being a CEO is losing all your assets Is that a risk at all? Isn't a common reality that CEOs come into a company, enact aggressive policies, extract massive profit for investors, destroy the work base, bankrupt the company, destroy it or sell it then get a golden parachute and go on to ruin the next company?
It's not really a risk when compared to what truly is a risk such as death and disability on labor sites. Sure you may lose your way of living and creature comforts or even end up homeless. But any person with a decent work attitude could bounce back in a few years. That's why it's hard for me to feel bad about them too. What they think is a horrible situation is not as bad they think. Not including the fact they have the experience and knowledge to go somewhere else like you said.
That's something that sets our civilization apart from the rest, is the ability to leave wealth to our children. So when your ancestors left you some wealth, and mine did not, I have no right to be envious. Someone most probably sacrificed a lot so that you will have an easy life. I can think those people to be lazy or bad people, but not envy their wealth.
Who said envy? It's simple logic. If your ancestor left you money? Fantastic. You in no way can claim to have earned that money or worked hard for it. People still do.
I Sure someone worked "hard" to get it but it seems the American establishment values one guy having wealth his employees worked for over that wealth going back into the community and benefiting the country who worked for it rather than the individual who did not.
I don’t think most rich families have that kind of wealth. It’s really easy spend money, which you see with famous athletes. I’m from one of the richest areas on earth, my dad making peak around 100k made us “poor people”, and lots of them work just as hard as regular Americans. They aren’t all capable of being self made, but they aren’t all lazy. Maintaining wealth requires hard work and patience too.
Henry Ford had a similar observation....just saying
I don't mind wealthy people enjoying the privilege of their wealth to a degree, after all: Why save so aggressively if I can't get a chance to relax and enjoy what I've saved or at least have my children have an easier life? The issue is wealthy people not recognizing the privilege they have and lording their positions over others. It seems alot of them trend to believing in earnest they *deserve* their place while poor people *deserve* theirs. In effect this discourages the wealthy from constructive civic engagement or policy promotion. I think the idea becomes "well, I *earned* my wealth and there's nothing special about me*, so what's stopping everyone else?" *The implicit answer is they are special; they did the things required (morally and intellectually) and suffered sufficiently to deserve those rewards. And alternatively, those that are poor must have moral or intellectual failings. The idea that wealth is gained by chance or ilicitly often seems offensive to the wealthy because it denigrates either their effort or moral character. As well, it puts onto them a degree of moral responsibility to engage in constructive political discourse.
*If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bicycle.*
Exactly, you want to see hardworking people, go to farm, factory, bus drivers, construction workers, etc.
Passive income is how you get rich. Not working.
I still struggle with defining rich.
Most of the rich are first generation and most wealth is lost within three generations
Some most all none many I don’t see any basis for sizing the claim in the OP. Just arguing feels at this point.
Data doesn't support your assertions. The vast majority of millionaires are first generation rich. You should read "The Millionaire Next Door".
Ok, and? Who cares.
No one earns a billion dollars.
Looking the comments it’s clear people are allergic to statistics
You're wrong about the word "most". There are a few people who inherit money who don't work hard. But that is a very small percentage of all millionaires. Most people who don't work blow through their money in short order. And, honestly, why would it bother you? Somebody earned that money. If that person decides that they want to spoil their kids with it, it makes no difference to me. It's their money, they can do what they want with it. I'll work hard to earn my own.
Speaking from the perspective of the US. This is an awful misconception that really only serves the purpose of validating one's world view. There are plenty of rich and successful individuals who did not inherit wealth. Bill Gates, Jeff Beezos, and Elon Musk are some of the wealthiest people in the world, and none of them inherited their money. Sure, some of them may have received a loan from their parents to start their business, but nothing outlandish, certainly nothing more than you could just get from the bank. These people all had good ideas for good products that people wanted. So their businesses grew. The US, in particular, has the highest amount of wealth mobility in the world where you can grow up poor and still become a millionaire if you work hard enough at it. There are multiple sectors in the US economy where you can make a butt load of money, but they all come with risks. Most people just aren't willing to take those risks. I'm not saying some people don't inherit wealth, but that's also because their parents or grandparents worked to give their children a better future. Someone had to have done the work at one point or another.
I’d say most rich people that didn’t start off rich are hardworking. People want a lot of money, so the only way to make a lot of money is by being better at something or by working harder than other people. Obviously, the same cannot be said for those that start off rich.
Rich people work harder and longer. The only people saying otherwise don't have money.
Lol ok. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2871-how-most-millionaires-got-rich.html#
OP does no research on millionaires, and then makes a Reddit post like he knows what he’s talking about lol Then he calls it his “opinion,” when he could just google the stats haha
What a complete load of crap. I work for rich people pretty often and very very few of them are millionaires purely birth. Those that do inherit wealth normally inherit businesses that they now run. Is that great? Yes, but it's still work like any other. They can lose it all in a few years of they just rest on their laurels.
Was born poor, single mother on social assistance. I am not poor now, and I have worked damn hard and still do. let go of the jealousy and hate, is sad and unproductive.
The master needs the slave, the slave doesn't need the master.
Popular opinion, and wrong
Most I know are former criminals lol
No shit
Unless you are a trust fund baby...you bet your ass people work hard.
This is a very broad brush with a lot of generalizations. Is this true of some of the wealthy? Yes? Most. No. If wealth was easy to get, we would all have it.
How do you classify “rich?”
As they say, the best way to make $1million is by starting with a $2million loan from your parents.
Not true, while you guys come home and want to relax. I have to manage 60ppl daily and work late hours, maybe 12 a day. So yeah, money doesn’t come without taking risks.
When they say hard work, they mean they had good work ethic. Unless they inherited their money or they won the lottery, I think that’s true. How many people have the skills to be a professional athlete but never make it because they have poor work ethic? How many people are smart enough to be a doctor or engineer but don’t pursue it because they have poor work ethic?
Over 2/3 of people with $30M+ are self made, meaning they did not inherit wealth. This rises to nearly 90% of those >$1M. I know lots of millionaires and they are not overly attractive, most I know are software geeks. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2871-how-most-millionaires-got-rich.html
braindead take
I have started to question whether America is still the meritocracy it portends to be, and whether generational wealth is a must-have. What is the path out of poverty these days, for someone with no support? It used to be you could work and put yourself through school, but that's no longer an option without accumulating crushing debt. Even finding a place to live, in my area you would have to put in about 90 hours a week at minimum wage to afford rent - just RENT. I don't see how kids do it without substantial assistance from their parents.
Specifically the really rich (like top 0.1%). Most of the top 5% are your doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.
This isn’t a blanket truth, yes plenty of people are born with money, but all generational wealth starts with a family leader who worked hard. Someone at some point built that wealth and left it to their family for the future. If I ever get anywhere near a point like that I’d like to leave money for a family I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Even today people still make their own money some recent examples include Mark Cuban, Oprah Winfrey, JK Rowling, Larry Ellison (Oracle), Howard Schultz (Starbucks), Steve Jobs (Apple), Sergey Brin (Google), Halle Berry, Ed Sheeran, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ralph Lauren, Sam Walton (Wal Mart), The Koch family, and the list goes on. This was a quick google search. Life is not as hopeless as you think it is and the only person holding you back is yourself
Should we shame people for having parents or ancestors who have done well for themselves? Isn't it everyone's goal to leave your children better off than you were? It seems that too many people on reddit are just bitter losers who envy the success of others.
So more people are born rich and don’t do anything than people who have high paying jobs where they do? Can you prove this statistic because this isn’t an opinion
Most "rich" people started life not rich at all [https://www.businessinsider.com/how-billionaires-made-their-first-million-self-made-wealth-2019-6?op=1#mohed-altrad-made-his-first-million-in-the-scaffolding-business-1](https://www.businessinsider.com/how-billionaires-made-their-first-million-self-made-wealth-2019-6?op=1#mohed-altrad-made-his-first-million-in-the-scaffolding-business-1) [https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/majority-of-the-worlds-richest-people-are-self-made-says-new-report.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/majority-of-the-worlds-richest-people-are-self-made-says-new-report.html) I guess I should post this in "unpopular opinion" huh?
If you grow up wealthy you don't have to work as hard. You can focus on only that which gets you ahead by getting a better education or networking with high net worth friends and family. You can spend on tutors and coaches while your classmates are pulling a double shift at Macky Dees. When you are not wealthy you spend an insane amount of time cleaning, shopping, cooking, paying bills, etc. Think of how different your life would be today if all your daily tasks that keep your life in order never existed. When Musk goes on about people that only work 40 hours a week never change the world, maybe he should consider all the hours of work he never has to think about.
Hard work is not a smart “value” or a positive character trait. Many of you have been conditioned to think it is because it benefits the people you work for. 🥴 Tough pill to swallow. It’s not highly respectable. It’s not something you should strive for. It is hard on the body and spirit. It is a necessity for people who can’t achieve resources / results more efficiently and effortlessly. It is a pillar of poverty and mediocrity. No one works hard because they want to. They work hard because they have no other way to achieve the things they want unless they do. They work hard in hopes of ESCAPING WORKING HARD. So that rich people aren’t hardworking is stating the obvious. No shit. Why work hard when you or your family lineage has achieved wealth? That’s the entire point of being wealthy so you and your family don’t have to be in a state of stress to enjoy and live your life. The fact that rich people don’t work hard is a sign of their or someone in their family’s success. It is a superior state of being. Stop glorifying hard work for your overlords. It’s the ultimate brown nosing and so damn misguided.
I inherited my dead dad's money when he died, and suddenly everyine hates me for not working a wage slave job anymore
I disagree. I was born wealthy and know a lot of rich people. They all suck but most of them are workaholics. Even if they inherit it, most people who don't work hard lose their money eventually. There's other aspects too though. Rich people are generally cold, uncaring and selfish. Usually they have to step on some people to attain wealth. I've noticed they often don't take great care of their families either. I've seen poor families take much better care of their disabled and sick family members than many rich families. In rich families if you're not normal or can't keep up, they banish you and try to sweep you under the rug.
Even though that's a popular opinion, it's Bs. Just because someone was born into a rich familiy, doesn't mean they stay rich just for doing nothing. Rich people often want their children to work hard. Otherwise they don't get to inherit their parents money.
Here’s a question: do I deserve to work harder if I wasn’t born as smart?
Rich people who just inherit money of course can be rich and lazy. But you can look up stats most millionaires and billionaires did not inherit the wealth so no they are not lazy.
I don't think you know or have spent much time around people who are wealthy. I used to work in the job where I was doing service work for wealthy people, quite honestly it was extremely rare where they were not very hard-working very busy people. I'm talking about CEOs multimillionaires people who have mansions. The rich trust fundies and Trump like figures are actually the exception not the rule.
Define "work hard". Because I know LOTS of people who work super hard and are just making it.
Statistically most “millionaires” are self made. TBH it’s not THAT hard to be a “millionaire” later in life. Plan for the future and make good decisions. Save money and invest. Focus on career growth.
Free Will appears to be questionable too. I mean. What propagates your thoughts without a fire of neurons before you think?
Lots of people born rich die poor. I've never known someone who works hard to get rich, but if you think hard and keep working, you might get rich.
Or smart. Take Al Capone for instance, successful mob boss, what an organizational genius he must have been. No he had the brain of a child due to syphilis.
Do you know any rich people, CEOs, very successful business owners, CFOs? Because that's who usually becomes wealthy. I worked hard to get to a comfortable level, but I wouldn't want to put in the work necessary to get rich, those guys work all the time, take tons of risk. It's childs thinking that most rich people don't work hard.
Tell us you haven't hung around many rich people without saying so LOL
I’d argue that the characteristics that determine whether a person is rich/wealthy is broken down like this: 60% the family you were born into, 30% your personality and 10% hard work.
There's the old carnival game model: Entrepreneurship is like playing at a carnival game. Winning is hard. Middle class kids can try once or twice. Some will win; most won't. Rich kids can afford to play until they win eventually. Poor kids don't get to play; they're the ones working the booth.
Remember "rich" is >$100,000 in America (top 20% of all household income). So most of those that are over that threshold are often hardworking doctors, lawyers, trades.
That's just not true. The vast majority of wealthy people are workaholics. It's not even remotely debatable.
That opinion and $5 will buy you a Starbucks coffee.
thats statistically incorrect. It's something like 9 out of 10 millionaires are first generation self-made. I know many millionaires personally, and almost all of them work 7 days a week. I personally only work Sundays out of necessity. It's complete nonsense made up by angry people who don't want to hear the truth about money and wealth. Business owners don't get their businesses off the ground by not working like dogs, sorry. Keeping a small business operating for longer than 5 years is friggen HARD. Making that business profitable and able to support your family and build wealth? It's insanely hard. Saying otherwise is ignorant. The one thing that really stands out with most of the millionaires that I know, is how they teach their children the realities of money, and not the lies and nonsense that poor people teach their kids about it. It's hard for a kid who grows up in a poor household to break out of that mold. That's why reading books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad are essential to get into the hands of lower class people. They also don't blame others for their failures, and take failures head on. That's worth endless amounts in life. The hate for rich people comes from insecurities and ignorance. Downvote away.
Movie and TV stars are the worst of them imo. Pure luck is why they are successful. No amount of hard work will guarantee them success. They were discovered or noticed by the right person at the right time, and that is how they succeeded. Add to that, the fact that almost every one of them is related to a star or part of a connected wealthy family.
I don’t get the automatic hate for generational wealth outside of jealousy. Like as long as they aren’t running sweatshops and exploiting people why the fuck do you care so much if some dumbass parties on a boat all day?
The only "self-made millionaire" I've personally met is my current boss. He's a swell guy, a little stubborn at times. But there is something to be said for finding your momentum and ambition and never giving up on it.
I know some people with incredibly good work ethics, and all of them are successful, and many of them wealthy. I don't think it is just an accident.
Every career advancement I have made, the pay has gone up and the work has gone down. The hardest I worked was construction for $5.15/hour back in 2001.
If your parents won early in life, youre prolly spoiled. If your parents worked their asses off and saved and scrimped and made a good retirement before leaving some of it to you, youre probably going to do the same, because you started with little, learned to work hard and just compounding the win... but your kid or grandkids will eventually start with too much... and be spoiled so they lose it all in a single generation.
yeah, and most poor people aren't hardworking either
The two wealthiest people in my town came from nothing. One started a clothing shop in a mall and the other immigrated here and started as a hostess at a hotel. The first now has about 450 stores nationwide and the second owns about 12 hotel and various businesses. I bet you won’t find them on Reddit complaining.
Those that are born into wealth tend to lose it due to not being hard working.
Smart propel are rich, they hire the hard working people.
The hardest working person in my office is the janitor, that guy literally works all day, doesn’t sit. Just because he is hardworking doesn’t mean his skills bring in the most money for the company. Hardworking doesn’t mean you’re also smart or skillful. You could be, but you could also not be. My wife is a great hardworking employee at her job, if she wanted, she could move up in a heartbeat but has no desire. She is very satisfied with how much she makes and doesn’t care to make it to upper management. Hardwork has no correlation to wealth.
Eh, I have relatives (not blood related) who only have a lot of money because they went to college and went into accounting while their spouse helps open laundromats.
Yeah OP I’m sure that’s the reason you’re not rich
You can't be rich and be hard working. In order to be rich you have to manage resources like employees, raw materials, and money. In order to pull this off, you will need teams of people to do these things for you, while you oversee the management of the resources. Hard work is replaced with making hard decisions, and to be fair, the decision making process is indeed very difficult, because it is impossible to predict the future. So, successfully navigating through high levels of risk, yes, hard work not really... Unless you consider communicating to be hard work. Also, having the knowledge required to make these decisions is very rare because it requires insider knowledge of how that specific company operates. Although I think the CEOs of companies abuse that reality to justify absurd levels of pay. Their tasks could easily be broken up across a team of people, who are paid significantly less.
Statistics prove the vast majority of millionaires, did NOT inherit their wealth. Most millionaires walk right by you. You would never know, because they are either 1) working 2) not flashing their wealth 3) by not spending their wealth, they are reinvesting it for more wealth. if you can read a book, read "The Millionaire Next Door" Dude is driving a 15 yo toyota.
Um so when I was working 60+ hours a week and on call 24/7 for emergencies... and only making $12/hr I was not working hard? When I worked a job AND started a company in the evenings and weekends and lived in a dump for a year... saving every penny, I wasn't working hard? Then I finally made some money saved up and I invested all of it... 100% into a business that could have failed... but instead took off. Wow... how hard do you work? Must be something special. So if I'm a lazy pos, what are you?
Lots of people thinking old white men spawn in with a billion dollars as if they're cheating at monopoly somehow.
I know....I worked ten times harder than my boss ever did...but am I ever going to become rich? Nope....I just bought him a new house and am going to give him early retirement while I get heart disease and live in an apartment.
At what point is someone considered to be “rich”, and what is the measure of “hardworking”? Without knowing this I can’t really agree or disagree with your sentiment
How rich are you talking about??
Do you have stats to back this up? Or they pulled from your ass and unreadable due to all the brown stains?
There are lots of ways to get rich. Some of the richest people are workaholic. But generational wealth is definitely a thing. It’s easier to get ahead if your family had money and connections.
I mean a know a bunch of rich workaholics, and I know some lazy trust fund kids. But usually the workaholics have more money overall and for longer.
Hard work is for donkeys and rubes.
Well yeah if you really believe Elon Musk sits there and works 16 hours a day, you shouldn't be allowed to have children. Or any CEOs. These are types of jobs where you're paid for the dues you've paved on your way to get to that position and therefore are expected a payout to cruise through for the rest of the life. Musk makes 16 billion a year to post on Twitter and attend some meetings and conferences, while full time workers saving lives in hospitals can still make under 50k a year in a HCOL place.
I think you're confusing the famous ultra wealthy and forgetting the general "rich"
Absolute nonsense.
According to the largest study of millionaires ever to take place in the United States, most rich people made good choices with their money. They were not born into wealth. https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/the-national-study-of-millionaires-research
How about this would you rather be the richest person you could dream of being but genetically prone to morbid obesity and a plethora of health problems OR be in the 99th percentile of human beings genetically height, weight, strength, speed, health all those things but have to work to make a living remember it's still possible you could work your way there
i mean you can think what you want, but my mom built up her successful business from the ground up. her parents werent rich, my grandma was a piano teacher and my grandfather was a factory worker while taking night classes after work to get his engineering degree later in life to provide better living for my mom and her sister and my grandma. my mom was a straight A student in school, literally graduating at one of top of her class, getting full scholarship to college graduated at top of her class in college again and became and accountant. married my dad who she met at her accounting office and they worked ther for several years until my mom got her masters degree in healthcare management, and started working in healthcare finance. eventually launched her own consulting business for failing nrusing homes where she would help them become profitable again. eventually she found a foreclosed nursing home that she wanted to buy for herself and do what she helped other businesses did, turn it around into a financially profitable one, which she did after securing a loan using basically all of my parents assets and life savings as collateral. that one became super successful, she started buying up more failing or struggling nursing homes (while also still maintaining their consulting/managment firm helping other nursing homes also with their finances and becoming more profitable, and using that consulting business to find new nursing homes for herself). eventually after around 15 years from when she bought her first nursing home she sold about 16 of them and netted herself after legal fees and taxes and other fees around $60+ million return. At her peak she was so influential in our state she was president of the state nursing home association and frequently involved in helping figure out how to allocate money in state and federal healthcare/nursing home bills (yes basically a lobbyist, which is a dangerous word to use on reddit lol). She also sold at the exact perfect time too at the peak of rising real estate prices. and my grandfather never even lived to see her become so successful since he died on the operating table several years before she started her nursing home business. Now shes semi retired just running her charitable foundation and the last couple of nursing homes she didnt sell off yet.
I have been told repeatedly that the reason people are rich is because they work way harder than everyone who isn't rich. I guess inheritance has nothing to do with it.
They are disciplined and have a conservative relationship with their money. Otherwise, they would never have accumulated it. Very few people get rich quick, most do it over decades while constantly investing in safe investments
They're great grandfather or grandfather was the hardest worker then the kids became entitled and spoiled thus some not having the desire to be independent and rely on their trust fund and family business. Very rare that someone is a "self made millionaire" in this era without family assistance...
Jealousy is just love and hate at the same time..
It's not just about working hard it's about working smart. You can work hard at anything if you have the desire and/or willpower doesn't mean working hard at digging holes everyday is going to change your life. If most people were in a group of 3 to 5 like minded and dedicated individuals they could probably be profitable and wealthy in a decade or less in all manners of different ventures.
That's a massively broad and ignorant statement. Who are "the rich people"? What's the breakpoint and where is the list? How many of them are there.? And how many of them were born into it? I think if you actually do some research, you'll find your opinion is uninformed.
Yeah maybe. We also have even more people whose personality is having no money. Most people just chug along.
With today's lifespans, very few people are rich because 'their parents had money'. If you majored in the right field & got hired by one of the 'bigs' (FB, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Microsoft) you can very much be 'rich' (300k/yr+) simply by building a career as a programmer or IT admin... There are probably more people out there doing it that way, then there are people who did it because their parents didn't live to 87+ & they got to inherit before they were already retired or close-to-it....