- Joined
- Sep 30, 2005
- Messages
- 18,264
- Reaction score
- 6,649
- Location
- Utah
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Moderate
Delusional.
As a member of the top 10%, I can see why so many people never make it. The wife and I educated ourselves, sought out jobs that paid well, spent conservatively, and in only 50 years became "rich". We have a bit over $1M in assets, and about $150K in retirement income.
One of my siblings has about half that, which figures because she ran off 3 husbands and now remains single. The other 3 combined have next to nothing accumulated and just enough income to survive. How is it that in the same family, 2 are well situated, and 3 are very poor?
Part of the answer is their inability to make good choices in life. You can't spend more than you earn and get ahead. You can't blow your paycheck on beer and smokes and expect to have a savings account. You can't quit school, or decide that 12 years of school is enough. It isn't likely you can visit the "beauty" parlor and nail salon every week and have money to properly raise and educate your children.
The MAIN problem most of us have with getting "rich" is the person we see in the mirror.
That describes most of my siblings, and their adult children. Only a few are doing well, the rest are poor and subsidized by our taxes.
On my wife's side, out of 36, all but one are tax payers, some are already worth over a million, many more will be there in time.
My parents were poor, I started out poor. My wife's parents were poor, she started out poor.
The poverty cycle can be broken, if you really want it and are willing to work for it.
Or you can wait til the government gives it to you. What are the odds of that happening?