do most wealthy ppl get their money by working for it? or is it IMPOSSIBLE to earn more than 2X the average?

Question

imo

that most wealthy ppl work hard, and that they get their money by working, are 2 very very different things - the difference is all our vast unnecessary suffering - the HARDEST WORKING PERSON can not work more than TWICE as hard as the av person - [i hav seen figures for american homemakers as over 90 hrs/wk - for british, as over 70 hrs/wk - and underpaid ppl HAVE to work harder than avg] - but income-increase of fortune/workhr ranges from 1c to $10,000,000 - so there is clearly no way a person gets wealthy by working - overpaid ppl dont make money, they rake money, by the many wideopen legal thefts - the extractive economy is 20 times the working economy

the fact [assumption] that they work hard is no proof they earn their money

[& all the excuses for higher than av hrly pay [risk, responsibility, skill, brains, talent, experience, gifts] are full of holes, no reasons - see other q & a of mine]

so, is it true that wealthy ppl get their money by working for it?

Answer 1

The great majority of millionaires in America, about 75 %, are self made. They earned the money themselves; it was NOT inherited. On average, only about 2 % of inherited money is ever saved or invested. Most of those who receive it, blow it in a short time.

The key to building wealth is financial discipline. Start with a tax deferred IRA when you are young, and put aside $2 per day/$15 per week. Allowed to grow for 40+ years, the account will likely be worth somewhere around $1,000,000.

My grandparents grew up dirt poor during the Depression. My grandfather put himself through college long before the Federal Government started handing out money. He worked summers in the oil fields in Texas, and at one point had to leave school to earn more money.

Besides their first house and their first car, my grandparents paid cash for EVERYTHING or they didn't buy it. They didn't run up balances on credit cards. They shopped at stores like Sears and Walmart. Today they are millionaires. It's not how much a person has to earn, but how much they can save.

ANYONE in this country can save $2 per day.

ANYONE that wants it bad enough can get a college education and a good paying job.

NO ONE has to buy the latest and the greatest fad merchandise, financed at 21 % interest or higher.

Get a copy of "The Millionaire Next Door" and learn it. The average millionaire in this country drives a used car that is paid for. They look for sales, clip coupons, pay cash, and don't waste their money of frivolous items.

THESE are the "secrets" to obtaining wealth, and ANYONE with the discipline can do it OVER TIME if they are willing.

Answer 2

If everyone was equally gifted you may have a point, but some people are simple more efficient with there time.

If I had a programmer who program faster and more efficently, and a guy who tried really hard but was slow and sub-par, should I be forced to offer similar wages? If I had to hire an economist for an economics department, would I be wrong to pay twice as much to an established economist than a hard working kid out of grad school? If someone has proven the ability to do high level work, they're time is worth significantly more to the person hiring.

Is this fair? Absolutely. Everything above a fair living wage should be allowable in a competitive labor market. No poor person is losing their job when a top economist is hired. Hiring two mediocre economists isn't going to be as productive even in the costs arer the same. Sadly, anyone is capable of washing dishes but not many are capable of doing advanced mathematics. Not all top mathematicians would necessarily choose to do math if wage wasn't a factor (some would do mediocre philosophy or literature). A varity oof wages is designe to motivate people to do work that people most demand and what they are most efficient at doing.

Even with a central government as in the USSR, you won't perfectly assign people to their tasks. There is an information problem which is since there isn't any motivation for people to tell where they will best help society.

These aren't excuses. Your questions are consistantly fundamently flawed on points of economics and data. I would suggest that you study economics trying to understand the system before you criticize it. Once and a while you make a good point, but you are really weak on theory and data support. You also consistantly fail to make arguments other than appealing to emotion. I really think you're heart is in the right place, but you won't achieve your goals unless you first educate yourself.

Answer 3

My husband has worked since he was 7yrs old. He was born in 1921. He saved and did without and put his money into investments such as buying land building malls etc. He's worth 2 million easy and he's the most honest person u will ever meet. Son, u need to do some more homework on this subject, someone is teaching u manure.

Answer 4

there are a few ways a person can "get rich".
winning the lottery, intelligently investing their money, inheritance, selling drugs & commiting other crimes. etc.
but you're right in one way. a person cannot get rich by working for an average wage!!!!! D'OH!!

Answer 5

No, except for someone like Bill Gates, wealth is often a legacy.