How did you become wealthy?

Steal

Inherit it

Jobs that make huge amounts of money can be a crapshoot to get. You could go the wall street route but they work you like a dog in the early years. Most burn out. If you can stand it for 10 years at least, you can make gobs of money. SIlicon valley is another such place of similar opportunities--but it will chew you out too.

The main way to get rich is to own a successful business--but, again, you have to work your ass off and pray it takes off.

Becoming a professional like a doctor or lawyer usually only gets you to the upper middle class.

OP I bet you could get most of the stuff on that list if you really wanted it, except for the beach house. Fly to Europe during the off season, lease a Mercedes or buy one that's five years old, save 7k and buy a Rolex, save 5k and buy some LV luggage, spend a few grand on fillers and other skin treatments.

I inherited money from my great aunt (white welfare) and opened a business. I'm not wealthy, but I can afford the trappings. I have more money saved/invested than any of my friends with bigger houses and better cars, etc. There's a reason they call them trappings

Actually, you can get all those things without being crazy wealthy. I would say a $300k salary would do it--which means become a professional or an executive.

[quote] buy a Rolex, save 5k

Or just get a good counterfeit for $50

Options trading. Made enough to retire early but not enough to spend lavishly.

Blowjob

When I turned 55, my mother died and I inherited 8 million dollars.

OP the things you list are nouveau riche. Most truly wealthy people don’t flaunt labels.

I started in video...

Inheritance and inherited stocks. Also remember that money talks and wealth whispers.

Inheritance. Continued to work and invested the money. Was able to stop working at 52.

Marriage, my husband inherited a massive trust fund. When we met he was just another regular guy with a good job. As we got serious, and I met his family it dawned on me the type of wealth he came from. His family set up generational trusts, so he didn't get access until his mother died. She was an amazingly loving, and wonderful person. I didn't have a good relationship with my mother, and his treated me like I was her long lost child. I would rather give the money back, and have more years with her.

I have found that for many people who are wealthy, without the benefit of inherited wealth, they are wealthy because they took a chance on something or got in on the ground floor of something and, again, took a chance.

^ Excuse the poorly constructed sentence.

R16 poor people take chances too, when they can afford to.

Their "chances" just don't pay off.

R15 MARY. Darling money can buy you happiness.

R18 not for long, though....

Beware that once you've had nothing, money never changes that feeling. My father was incapable if holding a job when I was a kid and we went without most of the time. Inheriting lots of money from my mother (he inherited it too) hasn't changed that feeling, and it's a horrible feeling.

[quote][R16] poor people take chances too, when they can afford to.

That's who I was talking about. A lot of people with new wealth started off poor or middle class and took a chance. A college friend was there on scholarships and student loans, he moved to LA after college, slept in his car, took a chance on something and now he's a billionaire.

R21 and how many people took a chance, moved across country, slept in their car and did not end up rich?

Quite a few R22, but the thread was about wealthy people, not about people who ended up not succeeding. It's right there in the title.

Easy to say now, but I don't think I would want some of the things listed.

Climbed the corporate latter. Cousin's husband graduated from college and got a job as an assistant manager at a well-known auto store. Then became manager, district manager, regional manager, etc. Today, he is Vice President of the company with 650 locations and makes over $1 million/yr.

I've been creatively visualizing myself as wealthy since I was a teen. I didn't come from money but went to schools with people who did. I learned all about old money, nouveau-riche money, and how to tell the difference.

I continue now to visualize myself as an heir to a vast fortune.

So far, it hasn't paid off, though.

But is has, no doubt, made you a stellar contributor to all the many "Things Only Truly Upper Class People Do" threads on Datalounge, R26 ;)

I love that these are the things OP aspires to/thinks that very wealthy people have.

[Quote] OP I bet you could get most of the stuff on that list if you really wanted it, except for the beach house. Fly to Europe during the off season, lease a Mercedes or buy one that's five years old, save 7k and buy a Rolex, save 5k and buy some LV luggage, spend a few grand on fillers and other skin treatments.

That's technically true, but the reality is that saving several thousand would require much greater sacrifice, and then you would have the Rolex, but still be living in a dumpy studio with nowhere to wear it, nobody to see it, no clothes to match it, etc. These need to be the icing on top of an already comfortable lifestyle to be truly enjoyable. Even travel. Sure you can see some sights, but you're not going in true style with the 4 star hotel and the restaurants and shopping. You'd be in a hostel or something.

I know it's all about making the right choices and making wise investments instead of spending hard earned money on frivolous things, don't tell me.

Oh, this thread has potential to be top-drawer!

Rully nifty!

[quote] you would have the Rolex, but still be living in a dumpy studio

And what shop bottom would do that?

Wealthy does not equal posh; at least not where I come from. We don't even say 'posh' - 'smart' would be more appropriate.

I come from a pretty upper crust family, but I'm an Early Years teacher, which is poorly paid. Go figure. I haven't inherited much yet, as my parents are only in their 60s. My brother and I did get trust funds from our grandparents, but they're tied-up with conditions we haven't met.

Luck, combined with a modest inheritance. In my life, it's been several smaller things that have added up.

Property investment and some much later inheritance.

The nicest thing is to wake up and know the day, and every day, is your own, and you don't have to obey anyone. Everything else is icing on the cake. What I find fascinating are those people like me with no employment, who you see in the middle of the day. Including trust fund trash, and bored fraus whose cunts bought them freedom, and spend their days picking over designer towels and nicknacks, etc.

I laundered Russian blood money through real estate.

[Quote] Luck, combined with a modest inheritance. In my life, it's been several smaller things that have added up.

OK, but let's talk what you got lucky on, what small things, jobs, etc. These posts are too vague.

Even anecdotally, most of you answering are noting that inheritance was a factor. This squares with research that says that wealth is in large part intergenerational and passed on rather than accumulated by people who don’t have any.

It’s easier to build a business when family money backs you, etc. Trump wouldn’t have gotten where he is without his parents investing millions in his business endeavors (well, and then not paying his contractors, screwing people and fudging numbers for taxes and loans).

We sold racism, homophobia, erectile dysfunction drugs and lies. All our on-air talent are whores I personally molested on a regular basis.

My husband works in money management (with clients who have billions in assets) and regales me with stories of how many tools the extremely wealthy have to keep money in the family, generation after generation--a huge assortment of trusts, especially. Even the founders of the money management firms use that firm to invest their money so all the fee they pay go right back to them.

The middle class has absolutely no idea how wealthy some people are and how they assure they keep wealth.

Thankfully, Suze Orman informed the middle class about the use of living trusts, but that's just one of numerous tools.

All great wealth involves theft at some level

I'm comfortable, not immensely wealthy. It's taken a while, but I've learned to not be seduced by hoping that I can get wealthier and enjoy apparently finer things.

A car is a car to me--to take me from point A to point B. Whether it's a Toyota or a BMW makes absolutely no difference. It's the same with a watch, a plane ride, clothes.

The expensive brand names are to show off wealthy. I don't care about showing off--because I know no one really cares.

Once you understand and enjoy living within your means, so much stress over trying to keep up with the Joneses melts away.

So what pleasures *do* you spend on, r41?

R42, I take great vacations and live in a moderate house in a safe, sought-after neighborhood.

Again, I don't need anything particularly extravagant--because I know what my means are.

I sell poosey for Jeffree an Ghizlaine for mani yer an they sell me to wealty Amerikan bissnessman. I live in whites house for de for yers!

What R14 said. Inheritance + Good job worked till retirement. As for your wish list, OP, it seems the older I get the less I want, or the less I need to make me happy. I was able to retire early. It make's such a difference to know I get to really live my life now without having to think of work.

First of all I don't consider myself wealthy. Well off maybe, or very comfortable. I got here by working hard & rising high in the same company for over 30 years and making smart financial decisions that I learned from the masters, and eventually inheriting a sizable amount in money and property after my parents died. But first and foremost I attribute it to always living below my means. I live very well, but I don't throw money away like so many I know. I watch every dollar like a hawk.

I was raised right.

Picked a very educated, outgoing, business-savvy geek-type partner and gave up most of my career aspirations to support his advancements (changing jobs/moving every 3 years to climb the corporate ladder). I’m realistically never going to go very far in my career anyway, so it’s fine. And I’m really good at advising him with career stuff, which is funny because I’m personally very risk averse.

We travel, own several houses, nice cars, etc. And the current company he works at will probably sell next year, netting us several million bucks. And then he’ll work somewhere else that will get sold in a few years. More money. Lather, rinse, repeat. Eventually he’ll just be on the boards of a few companies, but that in itself is a nice chunk of income.

That’s where the stable, steady, ever-increasing money will always be found: educated, mentally stable geeks who understand business and people.

Though I earned a good living and had retirement savings, I became wealthy upon the inheritance of property and cash after our father died. Just my brother and me. Our mother passed away many years ago. I retired at 62 and immediately left for Europe where I stayed for nearly four years. I now drive a new Mercedes and live in a deluxe apartment in the sky. Thanks Dad! (Our father retired at 57 after he received the inheritance from his dad.)

Wrote a bestselling book -- after many tries. The royalties are like having an annuity that just goes on and on.

R32, maybe you should just bite the bullet and spend that night in a haunted house!

Selling my body

R49: Tell us the name of your book. Some of us semi-literate DL’ers may buy a copy. More royalties for you!

I took the decent education my parents gave me and worked like a dog in my chosen field while many of my friends had fun, got married etc.. I've also always lived below my means. (Its doesn't matter how much you make- its how much you save!).

I'm now in my late 50s with a lifetime of hard work and careful investing. I never really made that much ($80 to $150 thousand a year) but I was careful with my expenses and grew my estate from day one. My parents practiced what they preached and so my sister and I inherited a nice amount tripling our net worths.

I still don't consider myself to be wealthy as a safely valve to avoid living like I am and loosing it all in the end.

Outlived all my greedy relatives. Now it's all mine, I tell you, MINE!

R6, it may be my circle of friends but they all seem to be a bad BMW wreck or shitty divorce away from total collapse. They spend as fast as they make it and I feel like their retirement plan could only be some xanax, a grill and a poorly ventilated room.

^ It's not easy scoring Xanax these days. I admire your friend's resourcefulness

You want to be POOR act RICH 🤑

[quote] (Its doesn't matter how much you make- its how much you save!).

[quote]I'm now in my late 50s with a lifetime of hard work and careful investing. I never really made that much ($80 to $150 thousand a year)

So am I, and I've never made as much as your minimum there. I am a highly experienced professional, but not in a lucrative profession.

It IS "how much you make." I and millions like me could have saved a lot more if we had more to begin with. I understand that by today's standards, eighty to one-fifty is not "fuck off" wealth by any stretch of the imagination, but I want to insert a little perspective here. It's similar to those who say, "All it takes is hard work; that's why I'm a multimillionaire." Nobody works THAT hard, proportionally. The reality for most people is different, and a lot of people who are not even rich but are secure and comfortable don't realize the advantages they've had.

Widowed rich.

As I've said to many people, making it is the easy part. Keeping it is the hard part.

The more you have, or the more you're perceived as having, the more people will do whatever they can to get as much of your money as possible.

Bottomed out at upper middle professional class, comfortable but not stinking rich.

For those pooh-poohing the "take a chance" responses, it's pretty much the only way to go from poor to rich without inheritance. Yes, most will fail, but what's the alternative?

^ Although I've had well paying jobs my whole life the real money came from stocks and real estate

You didn’t bottom you silly cow R61, you PLATEAUD!

I don't know how some of you can walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone get rich.

R25? I can't believe I have to "Oh, dear!" someone for saying "Climbed the corporate LATTER." And R34, while you're mocking people for picking out "nicknacks," perhaps you should pick up a dictionary, since you can't figure out how spell check works.

And last but not least, I sure as hell hope R64 is kidding by spelling it "PLATEAUD," or we have plateaued (or shall we say "descended" to a whole different level.

If only spelling mistakes could be monetized you'd be as rich as Rockefeller.

My poosie

As if we didn’t already know it, these responses definitely confirm it. It is nearly impossible to be born into poverty and then become wealthy, unless you’re an elite athlete or performer. Poor families remain poor and wealthy families just keep growing their wealth and passing it on. Most of that wealth does nothing to provide jobs or help the community. It’s money made from having money. No work involved.

@ r65, you'll never get rich with that attitude...

@r68, " Most of that wealth does nothing to provide jobs or help the community"

The flip side of that is most of the people responding here aren't super-rich, so they're paying a good hunk in taxes, but are rich enough not to be a financial burden on the system

Most people get wealthy due to inheritances.

Here’s an idea. Massive wealth should not be allowed to be passed to children or younger generations of the same family. Set a limit of $20M per child. Everything else goes into a trust fund for every child in the country that they can collect at 21. And before you say “ they earned that money. You can’t take it away from them.” No….they didn’t.

I was lucky enough to inherit a pittance that helped as a down payment toward my home. Everyone should have that bit of help starting out. And it would be great for the economy.

Uh, R72 I think that would be called socialism. Ain't gonna happen.

MAGAT at R73.

Hardly fool. I'm just a realist who knows that something like that or true socialism will never happen in America.

A big penis and a seedy boulevard. The desperation of the city. The desperate longing of the lonely hart. The Noir night The Noir Alley. The Hard boiled phraseology,

Talent, darlings. One great book, play, song, idea or invention and you're scooping residual checks out of the mailbox for the rest of your days.

The lonely...hart, R76?

Be born into the 1%, OP.

You can't even marry your way into the 1% any more, not unless you're planning to spend your life knuckling under to some asshole who will dump you with nothing but pocket change if you fail to please, because they'd never marry down without an kevlar-lined prenup,

Inherited my condo when I was younger so I don't have a house payment, just the monthly maintenance fee so was able to save money. Then inherited from my wealthy parents. A mixed blessing because I wish they were still around.

Combine this thread with the one where people are relaying the nightmares that went on around family inheritance and get a very ugly picture of most of these upper classes.

[quote]Set a limit of $20M per child.

Strike the zero from that, and that's the maximum I think anyone should be allowed to inherit. A more equitable, happy, and vibrant society would be the result.

R68, do fuck off.

Generational wealth can be built even by working class people. My inheritance was the combined wealth of a nurse, two secretaries, a technical writer, and one truly fucking lucky lucky stock pick in 1980. That includes real estate (their own personal residences), and they aren't making more land. Also, the wealth they inherited from their parents, who also owned their own homes.

They didn't waste money. They were all born during the depression and didn't blow their wealth on keeping up appearances.

I didn't inherit shit until I watched them all die. I worked for 40 years in a job I didn't enjoy but I paid my bills and I bought my own home, which I now rent out, along with their properties.

Stop griping about "generational wealth" as though it's just oligarchs. You build generational wealth slowly, by having children in wedlock, with a clear path to inheritance, and not thinking that ownership of property is a bourgeois concern.

The kindness of strangers.

Oh, but it has r26. If you have the ability to really live out that vivid fantasy then it’s already true. Wealth is a state of mind.

I’m around lots of wealthy people but I’m as poor as a church mouse.

Different types of wealth but lots of it. And 99.999 of it was inherited.

Don’t feel bad if you weren’t the chosen one. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Even in the cases where the wealth was not directly inherited, the advantages were. Or the assests were just on a lot smaller value at the time. People will go to the ends of the earth to appear “self made” but there always, and J mean ALWAYS a rich aunt that gets left out of the story. Or a “small” trust. Or a “cottage” that might have been so in 1960 but now could fetch over 5 million at southerbys so don’t buy this “self made” bull crap and don’t take it as a personal failure that three generations did not grind themselves to the bone so that you could live in careless splendor.

I think r53 is a good role model and commendable but I’m curious did you did up ditches in the hot summer heat? Did you get up at 3 am to work as a cafeteria worker all day standing up on your feet over a hot stove and serve to thankless teenagers. Because that is hard work. As is working in a coal mine or a steel mill.

Working in an office is not exactly hard work so much as it is tedious and stressful but I hear you. A very commendable example of how to move up.

Property investments decades ago, followed by a sizeable inheritance. Then I had to learn how to manage the money and it's as much work as an actual job.

Love you, R21.

For those wondering how people in poverty fare, I grew up in poverty (many children and single parent on a tiny salary) but decent intelligence and got good grades in college and got a doctorate. I have an insane amount of loans though, between BA, masters, and doctorate at state schools. I worked during college even, but had no family safety net ever for emergencies, so broken down car expenses and this and that went to credit cards and student loans. I even spent some student loan money to help my mother file for bankruptcy.

I’m middle class now, only because I’m married to someone with zero debt and who makes about the same that I do financially and spouse’s parents are upper middle class now, otherwise I’d be horribly poor and living a college student lifestyle with my doctorate if I were single.

I have a little savings but my loan balance is increasing due to the high interest. It’s hard to get ahead with years of loans to try to shed. For perspective, my loans have increased 33% due to interest alone. It’s horrifying to watch because I can’t afford to pay more.

R90, it's insane to finance a doctorate through loans. You have "decent intelligence" so you should have known your chances of repaying that debt would be slim. You knew, or should have known, that it would limit your ability to borrow for anything else that's important, like a house, or a business. I don't care what it is you studied, your arrogance brought you to a place of debt. That's why student loans can't be discharged through bankruptcy. Everyone else knows that most people who finance their education for 15 years or so just aren't going to be able to make it.

"I worked during college even"

Oh, my stars and garters, how exceptional.

R92 I knew certain people would assume otherwise if I didn’t clarify that I wasn’t living the high life during school. Sad , but as R91 shows, there’s little empathy for folks who don’t have resources and take out loans for education.

But by all means, let’s celebrate the wealthy who screw the working class regularly to stay on top and criticize those at the bottom who don’t have as many resources to pull from.

Started my first company in my late 20’s with $20,000, half of which I borrowed from my partner at 15% interest. Sold it for millions 8 years later. Paid off the partner and dumped his ‘you’re lucky I’m only charging you 15%’ ugly ass. Started another company that continues to do well. Started a 3rd company, which failed and cost me a few hundred thousand dollars. Now I focus on the second company. Covid was harsh, but consolidated my industry, so post Covid has been extremely good so far. My parents were teachers and we lived in crappy apartments until I was 10. They still think they are superior to me in some ways because they got summers off. My business pays me a decent salary, but also buys my cars (luxury, but never brand new) pays for all of my first class travel, etc. I invested the money I made from the first company, have bought some income producing real estate etc. No one would have guessed, including me, that I would turn out to be so entrepreneurial.

Being gay helps, of course. No family to support.

Life's good!

100 hour weeks and ruthlessly amoral corporate politicking (got multiple bosses fired to take their jobs, fucked gay clients to get ahead) got me from a white trash family on welfare to upper middle class. Now retiring early as I’m unhireable and holding onto my nest egg until the pensions kick in. It wasn’t a fun career.

I’m the last man standing in a tontine I bought into when I was young.

Companies don’t typically buy used cars so I’m guessing the salary buys the car or car allowance.

I always let anal be a “surprise” from wealthy gentlemen callers. They never even notice that I’ve stolen their credit card in the process.

🎶 Experience has made me rich. 🎶

R50, now that is something I could do! 😄 The trust is simpler than that; it's tied to marriage - luckily it doesn't stipulate between a man and a woman.

My Dad thinks he can break it, but won't try until I'm at least in a long term relationship. My brother's too young to worry about it, really.

@r95, "Being gay helps, of course. No family to support. "

Please don't tell my two kids who I raised and put through college. They think their two dads went to a lot of expense and trouble to make sure they got a good start 😠

[quote] People will go to the ends of the earth to appear “self made” but there always, and J mean ALWAYS a rich aunt that gets left out of the story.

Bullshit, there are plenty of people who worked at Microsoft, Tesla, Google, etc., who retired at an early age with millions.

The people from Microsoft and Google started solidly middle class and went to school when it was affordable.

They didn't start from zero.

😶

I $old my baby to Beyonce. 🤑

[quote]The people from Microsoft and Google started solidly middle class and went to school when it was affordable. They didn't start from zero.

Did you read the quote I was responding to?

R88 Sorry to be slow in responding. I was working! I did not do manuel labor as that wasn't my chosen field. I knew what I wanted to do and started in the field the moment I left college. I didn't need to find myself or take a brake. Anything else would have been a waste of time and a delay of my plan for financial security.

Real estate. I bought my first house when I was thirty. My parents gave me 5K towards a down payment and I got the rest from my boyfriend's credit card.

I was really poor, but had a college education and a steady job. I remember eating popcorn for dinner for three days in a row because it was cheap (29 cents for a bag of popcorn seed) and filling.

Now I'm retired, and although Quicken tells me that we're worth $5M + assets, I don't feel wealthy.

Financial deregulation under Reagan, Clinton, etc. made already wealthy people even wealthier and more or less invincible. They hardly pay taxes, and they control the stock market with abstruse financial instruments and algorithms created by élite math whizzkids. They need a large underclass of serfs to cater to them and their friends and family, the only people in this world they more-or-less care about.

There are only three ways to do it:

1. Inherit it. 2. Marry it. 3. Work for it.

If you have to go for option 3 be prepared to be on the old side when it happens. You can't be young, beautiful and rich unless you have access to option 1 or 2.

I married a mentally ill former pop star.

R112 It’s not a done deal yet mr Asgari! You still have to get a baby from her. No baby, no future divorce and “child support.”

R47, what kinds of businesses are these?

R49, what is the subject area of the book?

R94, what sort of company did you sell?

[quote] Becoming a professional like a doctor or lawyer usually only gets you to the upper middle class.

Maybe the median salary but I know lawyers my age who've retired after 5-10 years of seven figure compensation.

My husband and I have been together for 29 years. We always have lived way below our means but weren't cheap. We would pay off our mortgages enough so rental income was higher than our monthly mortgage payment so we were able to keep properties and rent them when we bought a new home. We've done that 3 times and now have a good real estate portfolio and we're mortgage-free. We refinanced when rates dropped. We started contributing to retirement accounts heavily about 20 years ago. When we buy a car, we drive it until it's no longer reliable, usually about 8 to 10 years (my current car is 6 years old and husband's is 9). We've never really deprived ourselves of anything important and still live modestly even though we don't have to. We're generous with our friends and family and usually pick up the check when we go out.

[quote] I'm comfortable, not immensely wealthy. It's taken a while, but I've learned to not be seduced by hoping that I can get wealthier and enjoy apparently finer things.

Me too. I used to have ambition to amass great wealth. Now I realize that my health and sanity are more important than the money. The stress accelerating my professional trajectory would cause would probably kill me. I don't come from wealth so I've nothing to prove, I am already leaps ahead of my parents and they were solidly middle class.

Generou$ Gentlemen.....stock market.....real estate!

worked my ass off. Never turned down an offer to advance. I now own my company and am close to retirement. My father gave me $2,000 when I graduated from college. I now have several million and no debt.

I got on the property ladder at a young age, buying a very basic place in what turned out to be an up and coming area. At the time it was still possible to do this on a modest salary. I also married well.

TLDR; I turned .com stocks options into properties in the 90s and invested in properties in the twenty teens. I also saved all the money I could since my mid 20s.

(The long version) I worked for a (former) Internet Search provider back when it first started in the early 90s, in my mid 20s, after moving to San Francisco, after college.

i took the stock grants, options and bonuses given by my employer and exercised some of them out to buy a house in the in Silicon Valley in 1999 and used the remaining stock as collateral for a large loan. My company went bankrupt and I walked away from the loan owing nothing since the original loan terms did not specify what would happen to the loan if the company providing the stock I used for collateral went bankrupt. No one expected ".com" companies to ever go bankrupt during the 90s.

Took that money and bought a penthouse condo in a renovated church in Boston, lived there from 2001 - 2003, sold it near the height of the market.

Ended up moving around a lot and renting instead of owning a home between 2003 and 2010. Bought a model penthouse in downtown San Francisco for a relative steal in 2010, lived there for 5 years. Sold it for a large profit in 2015, bought a larger condo in 2015 outside the city; sold it in 2017 for another large 6 figure profit. All the homes were primary residences so there were no taxes paid on the profits upon their sales.

Then I moved back to southeastern Massachusetts in 2017 to take care of my aging parents and I bought several rental properties.

Basically I was mostly incredibly lucky and intentionally diversified in my assets and saved enough money to retire at 50, in 2019, right before the pandemic. I also saved as much money as I could in retirement accounts since my mid 20s.

It doesn't hurt that I'm a cheap bastard, too.

It's interesting that the OP asked how did you 'become' wealthy and specifically what smart financial moves people made, and still 97% of posts begin with inheritance from a family member. Even the posts that begin with having a good job, a good education (which by the way usually isn't available to those in the lower classes) - once you reach the second paragraph it's revealed that the poster either inherited wealth or married into wealth.

I come from a poor-but-not-dirt-poor immigrant family (boo hoo, I know lol), so perhaps my perspective is a little skewed as well - i'm just reaching towards the bottom of the middle class now and am doing okay, not looking for sympathy. But I was quite surprised to see $80-150k described as a pretty low salary. That's certainly much, much higher than the minimum wage and what most in the country (or world) are making. And at the risk of sounding like the woke brigade, a lot of the other posts on here reek of privilege and a certain out-of-touch quality (they really aren't TOO different from "my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars....").

This isn't meant to criticise any posters on here, but rather the systems in place. I don't mean to shit on anyone's parade, really good for you if you were lucky to have that kind of familial help and we would all do the same in that position. Just thought I would offer a different perspective to the discussion. It's not hard to see why the cycle of wealth and poverty, and the class divide, is so prevalent today and so difficult to get out of. May we all have a healthy, happy life, regardless of circumstances.

We have had to struggle against nearly insurmountable odds.

Three rules-

1. Money attracts more money.

2. Take a job or situation that absolutely no one wants. Do it so extremely well, or efficiently that you corner the market, a prestigious brand of, or become the authority to do so.

3.Build your wealth inside of what you ALREADY know, have ALREADY practiced, and have ALREADY made a habit of executing and are very familiar with. Your preparedness ALWAYS comes BEFORE an opportunity arises. There is a waiting period… This is where people make the biggest mistake, especially with broadening their career expertise or investing in real estate.

R114, it was an industrial supply company. I had plenty of competition, and the easier way would have been to focus on price. My company was competitive price wise, but my company focused on service, making it easy for busy buyers to give us their business knowing we would make them look good and freeing up time to focus on other things. Figuring out what people really need is the key to many businesses. I forgot that when I started the business that failed.

Someone up thread mentioned that I must have been buying my used cars through my salary, and that is not correct. I was the sole shareholder, so could buy at my discretion with company funds.

I learned a lot of good life skills from my dad. He grew up in the depression and lived in the streets. He jumped box cars to travel around different cities looking for work. Eventually he got a job in sales, was good at it, and continued as a commissioned salesman his whole life. (No salary or benefits - just straight commission.) He never had a lot of money but he made more than the guys with cushy desk jobs. Thanks to the depression he learned to distrust credit cards and avoided all unnecessary debt. Some of that rubbed off on me.

In the mid 70's when I got my first job, he taught me about the importance of putting money aside each month. He instructed me about mutual funds, specifically index funds, and opened a Vanguard account for me with $25. He told me to take a part of every paycheck every month - even if I didn't think I could afford it - and send it in. (The lesson here - I did. Every month for 30+ years. And left it alone.)

I had a degree and job in a creative field which I loved but soon learned there was no real money in it. The guys making the money were on the sales side of the business. (Just as my dad had learned.) So I volunteered for every assignment I could find that would teach me about sales. When they had a one-off, less than glamorous project in some overseas backwater which no one else wanted to work on, they asked me to do it even though I had no experience in either sales or international markets. After that project was successful, the company would tap me for other assignments in unusual places. Within a few years I worked my way into a management position with a focus on international sales. (Lesson here - be proactive in your career and ensure you're recognized as a contributor, not some nameless faceless desk jockey.)

Thanks to lessons learned from my dad, I retired early with no debt, two homes, a nice car, and a sufficient retirement fund I'm unlikely to blow through before I kick the bucket.

Inheritance. But I had to sweat blood to get it, a horrendous legal battle with my greedy relatives.

A better thread is "Why didn't you become wealthy"?

There's excessive humble bragging in this thread.

When I started my School For Exceptionally Unfortunate Looking Children, it was just me getting baked when friends asked me to watch their kids because of any casino/monster truck rally emergency. The kids were cool,but, damn!

Anyway, word spread that i created a safe environment for ugly kids and now I get paid big money and I still get funion breaks.

This thread just clarifies how horrible capitalism is. Primarily, wealth is inherited. It’s the reality - despite the exceptions.

I’m an immigrant child who was indoctrinated with the need to succeed financially as the sole purpose of life. I did because I was smart, parents ensured we moved to the right area despite being poor and ended up in good schools. Went to Wall Street to a job I hated for 30 years. Made enough money to be considered wealthy by my original standard. But in the meantime the increasing concentration of wealth in the 0.1% made that wealth less valuable.

Despite being able to succeed and working on Wall St for decades, I’m a socialist/communist. The capitalist system is evil. The world hasn’t figured out how to share the financial benefits of technological advancement since the Industrial Revolution among the masses - capitalism concentrates wealth.

R119 2k was probably more like 20k now but I commend you on the hard work otherwise.

I know hundreds of very wealthy people and I know exactly one that was really “self made” in every sense and that has had zero advantages and zero help in any form whatsoever.

No relatives, no help, no partner, no “guardian angel” and had it very tough.

That generally just does not happen, sadly.

There are a lot of people on this thread who said they inherited wealth.

But where are the people who made that wealth?? They are not surfing the web, THEY ARE WORKING.

R132, they’re shitting dust right now.

The few self-made men I’ve known marketed to the poor.

One is/was a jeweler who specialized in 14k plate chain by the inch. He now has a second store in a nicer suburb.

The other started with a convenience kiosk in a mall. He Jumped into REITs. I’m hoping he shits millions.

Partnered for 35 years to someone who is frugal. We relocated to what was an inexpensive city (Portland, OR) and paid off a mortgage in 12 years. We maxed out our retirement accounts and opened a regular Vanguard account and socked away 50% of our gross once the mortgage was paid off. We both inherited for a total of 1.7 million. We both have small pensions and been retired for nine years.

We could be happy living on a lot less money. I think the key is to live in an area that you love and doing things that are inexpensive. We like to hike, backpack, car camp, swim, play tennis, ride bikes and have friends over for bbqs. The extra money allows us to travel.

Quit smoking and eating meat.

I worked my faggot ass off on Wall Street to make my fortune.

Before I forget, I did marry it too (and we had 5 children). However, my divorce settlement was wonderful, plus child support. My ex-wife was a "daughter of Sappho" and wanted to work again. My ex's Aunt Esther decided that I needed her large home in La Jolla, plus half her fortune when she died( it was a nice large fortune) She was a "Spanish Land Grant Family"(had to look that the fuck up) Great area to raise a family.

OnlyFans.

[quote] It's interesting that the OP asked how did you 'become' wealthy and specifically what smart financial moves people made, and still 97% of posts begin with inheritance from a family member.

That's life in the capitalist republic of America. The rich very often stay rich and/or get richer. The poor believe they can get rich but the overwhelming majority of them will remain poor.

I was an investment banker, and invested in art and real estate.

The only way I'd even remotely consider buying LV luggage is if I traveled by way of my own private jet or yacht. You do realize what all the handlers do to luggage, yes?

I have the Mercedes. There are other exciting cars, you do realize?

I rarely wear expensive trinkets or watches. I prefer not to get bashed over the head and robbed.

I've been to Europe many, many times. I'm looking for the more unique these days. Traveling a lot doesn't interest me as much these days.

I have a home on the beach. I do enjoy falling asleep to the sounds of the surf.

I mainly made my money in the stock market. I inherited some.

I went without until I was comfortable with my situation.

People don't seem to save anymore. That is a problem.

[quote]Poor families remain poor and wealthy families just keep growing their wealth and passing it on.

Not necessarily. My dad's family made a lot of money owning hotels in Manhattan but he died broke. My BF's family were dirt poor farmers from Georgia. The most successful member worked at Sears for years, bought stocks and utilities starting in the 50s, never touched them, and passed down a fortune when he died earlier this year.

[quote] Not necessarily. My dad's family made a lot of money owning hotels in Manhattan but he died broke. My BF's family were dirt poor farmers from Georgia. The most successful member worked at Sears for years, bought stocks and utilities starting in the 50s, never touched them, and passed down a fortune when he died earlier this year.

You're talking about 70 years ago. There was some class mobility for poor or average folk after WWII. But Reagan put an end to that.

Hosting parties for Boston's elite. I have sold loin of cod with prunes and tomato sauce to scores of wealthy Bostonians.

If you are able to invest in real estate and make educated moves to capitalize on your asset/assets you can gain surprisingly high advancements. One big leap, then some baby steps, it can reward.

I spent years being an assistant to various high powered sales execs who made the big bucks (via commissioned sales) while I made peanuts. I set my sights on moving into their role. I studied what they did, how they put deals together, how they interacted with their clients and fellow associates. I volunteered for every conceivable assignment just to gain the experience, plus increasing my exposure within the organization. I made sure I was seen as a contributor. I got lucky when a sales role suddenly opened up and the company needed to fill it rapidly. Since management already knew me, it was an easy choice for them to make. Was my career path "calculated"? Absolutely. Did it pay off financially? Yep.

Shotgun weddings with cunty elder DataLoungers who mysteriously dropped dead on our honeymoons.

Squish Squish

Grew up middle class but a business venture my dad started failed and the family lost whatever they had accumulated. It was a dark time. So I started with less the zero, since I had student loans and worked my ass off for a number of years, particularly my first year out of college. I will say that I had a direction I wanted to go in career wise, and that helped push me in the right direction.

But there is some upward mobility still if you’re smart and hard working. I’m a millionaire now, which I know isn’t that much these days, but it’s something, and it’s something I earned myself, by myself.

I've no idea. You'd have to ask my grandfather who set up the trust fund for us.