Poll: How do rich people become rich in the first place?

[AnarchistFish]

Inherit, get lucky, entrepreneurship or a mix of the three. Bill Gates mixed the latter two for example. The story goes that he started out with a computer that was thrown out, or something like that. But he had to work at it from there.

It varies so much though, I don't really understand the purpose of this question.

 

[SecondPrize]

forget about getting rich with a lottery. most people who win lotteries when checked 12 months later were worse off financially 12 months later

That's because lotteries are a tax on the idiotic and a fine on the desperate. When the former win, well, idiots gonna idiot.

 

[Xanadu84]

1) Get extremely lucky, and get paid for an innovation to a degree grotesquely disproportionate to the work you do, even if you did work hard.

2) Alternatively, inherit wealth and connections from your family.

3) Own things. Work and creating stuff is far less effective at producing cash then finding a way to get money based on the fact that you are legally the possessor of something. In addition, this means that you can spend some of that money to buy more things that make money.

4) Manage risk. The most effective way to make money is manage other peoples risks, and demanding a percentage or fee from managing this. Investment and banking, for example, are all spreading the risk of an investment over a number of people. Its very quick to throw money at a lot of projects, knowing that they will on average pay out more then you put in. Once you are capable of doing this, you can just re-arrange numbers, and skim a little off the top.

 

[Gabanuka]

What do you define as 'rich'?

That could be anything from a particularly successful buisnesstypeperson to Arabic oil-baron.

 

[Ashadowpie]

mostly by luck.

hard work alone doest shit all.

 

[verdant monkai]

A good idea.

These days said idea is usually internet related like Facebook, Ebay or Minecraft. The people who made those things sort of did that then nothing else, because they became filthy rich and had already achieved everything they could.

 

[mgirl]

Depends what you mean by 'rich'.

Obscene sort of rich? Millions - billions? Or just higher than average income?

I'd imagine it could vary a great deal.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

I recommend disaster capitalism.

Easiest way to make money is off of other peoples fears.

 

[JaredXE]

You either inherit it, or commit a crime. And those inherited fortunes are usually made by unsavory means. Hell, Bill Gate's fortune started from defrauding IBM for millions. Steve Jobs stole from Xerox. IBM acquired money from Nazis and so did the Bush family.

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."

 

[CriticalMiss]

Easy. They setup businesses that spend or deal with other peoples' money, give themself a huge salary and buy things as 'business expenses'. If the company fails, or starts failing, offload it on someone else, sell their shares or just move to Mexico until it blows over. Oh and tax evasion is a good way to keep as much of the money you get in your own pockets.

There is a reason why the phrase is 'filthy rich'. Some people are legit and don't screw people over to make money though, but that involves effort and following fair business practices (both shunned in this day and age).

Winning the lottery is a good way to get a lot of money, but a terrible way to keep making money. I imagine most instant millionaires get conned out of the money pretty quickly by people seeking investments or accountants, never mind frivolously spending it on things they'll never be able to keep long term (sports cars and mansions).

The best way to be rich is to consider yourself already rich. You have electricity, clean drinking water, abundant access to delicious food and the internet. Some folks don't have any of that, never have and never will. To them YOU are rich.

 

[Vegosiux]

Well, I will join the "There is no such thing as a self-made rich person" crowd on this one

Inventing something that will make humans a lot more lazier.

Oh, and this. Humans are suckers for convenience and path of least resistance.

 

[Heronblade]

Most people get rich the REAL 'Ye Olde Fashioned Way'...they inherit their money.

Incorrect, while that was true a few centuries ago,the vast majority of millionaires and billionaires these days did not inherit their fortune.

Got to love all the unsubstantiated hate going around this thread. Jealousy is a powerfully blinding emotion. The simple truth of the matter is that no one, even given all of the advantages in the world, can make that kind of fortune without a great deal of personal ability and hard work.

 

[Vegosiux]

Got to love all the unsubstantiated hate going around this thread. Jealousy is a powerfully blinding emotion.

Uhm, I' sorry, but "You're all just jealous" is nothing but a cop-out, you know. You don't even know it to be true, so I'm going to call stones and glass houses on the subject of "blinding emotions".

 

[Brainwreck]

Incredible luck. They're born into it, or they get a break of cosmic proportions.
You can be rich too, if you got out in the street, kill rich people, and take the money they drop.

 

[Heronblade]

Got to love all the unsubstantiated hate going around this thread. Jealousy is a powerfully blinding emotion.

Uhm, I' sorry, but "You're all just jealous" is nothing but a cop-out, you know. You don't even know it to be true, so I'm going to call stones and glass houses on the subject of "blinding emotions".

Out of all the posters I've seen here, only six appear to be willing to admit the possibility that skills or talents even could possibly be a major factor in becoming rich, and one even goes so far as to claim that every single rich person is a criminal.

Yeah, I'm sticking with my initial comment.

 

[Agayek]

Well? Does anyone know? Ive heard that they just got lucky by winning a lottery or being successful in making business and stuff like that. But I dont really know. So.....I was just hoping if you guys can please explain to me? I know its too early to dream about that, but I plan on trying to become rich myself somehow.

Depends on how you define "rich".

If you mean the obscenely rich multi-billionaires, most of them made that money by being in just the right place at just the right time for them to become wildly successful. It's a combination of luck, talent and drive that put them in a position to have an opportunity and to seize it. Then keep being successful until they win at everything forever.

Or they inherited it from a family member who was.


If you mean the more moderately wealthy, most of them are exactly the same as the obscenely rich, but they haven't had that same opportunity. They work and are good at what they do, so they get paid a lot of money to do it.

 

[Something Amyss]

It's not completely cut and dry, as many countries have actual class mobility. People can work hard and get ahead without being lucky in such circumstances.

Incorrect, while that was true a few centuries ago,the vast majority of millionaires and billionaires these days did not inherit their fortune.

Of course, that's false, but why let facts get in the way of a "haters gonna hate" speech?

 

[LetalisK]

Well, either they single-handedly built everything in their lives and everyone is just jealous of how awesome they are or their daddy shoved a trust fund up their ass so hard as a baby that they shit money whenever they need it.