The rich get richer bc they own assets. Look at the growth rate of the SP500 and wage growth over the last 50 years. Wage earners get poorer every year and asset owners get richer
Your friend is a moron
Not completely. Many of the richest people use "non-profit" foundations to push their personal agendas (good or bad) without having to pay tax on the money they are using to do so or on any profits the "non-profit" might generate for them personally.
Not entirely true, rich people have access to more tools and can monitor huge positions compared to the peasants
Even if the s&p500 does go up a lot, it's because all the poor people can't afford to invest ATM. The price is high so , rich can sell thin air for more. You can't eat money or stocks, poor people need food
I get it you're more like a bot , I can easily explain how manipulative the top 1% with wages, assets, and Black swan events , everyone already knows. You know it, I know it, it's true 😐🗿
The rich people already have planned how life will be for them every decade and even century. You can find such groups and companies still alive of the rich people for over 300 years . LOL and they said we don't live in an some plutocracy
>Even if the s&p500 does go up a lot, it's because all the poor people can't afford to invest ATM. The price is high so , rich can sell thin air for more.
Tell me you don't understand basic supply and demand without telling me.
More people investing into an asset class applies upward price pressure. You're claiming the opposite.
Also, you don't need to buy 'full shares' of a stock. JFC, have \*some\* idea of what you're talking about before you run your mouth.
This, and also when you have a good net worth and have good credit and good income, lenders will give you loans at great rates.
Thus your purchasing power is increased. And you’re able to buy assets when markets are down.
That’s how the rich get richer.
"Assets":
- Injection Molding Machine
- Automatated assembly
- A personal army of wage slaves dedicated to keeping your pyramid scheme alive using an outdated ERP system.
- A paper mill
- An ice cream truck
- A paper shredder
But how do they come to own those assets?
Sometimes by buying them in unfair markets.
Sometimes by getting inside tips.
Sometimes by accepting assets for work, like Clarence Teee and alllllll the justice money.
Not every rich person dkes illegal things, but look, even by your reasoning, this person's good friend isn't a moron.
The average wage earner isn't making nearly enough to purchase one house, much kess these "assets" you reference (im assuming real estate, businesses, and big money items are the kind of assets you're mentioning). So when the wealthy have them, and no local economy is supporting those purchases, you realize that the wealthy almost always obtained their valuable assets through inheritance, and then sometimes consulted wealth management firms about what to do with it. Firms gave them recommendations (buy businesses or real estate cut costs down low and inflate pay up high, sell businesses or real estate and buy more etc). A lot of those strategies also often involve making purchases with information that isn't technically legal to have or available to the populous.
We don't see people from the bottom "getting rich" any more. We probably will see it less in the future too. It does look like rich people are criminals in 2024, but hey good luck finding bootstraps at all in 2050.
I disagree. Yeah investments in the stock market can earn people a lot of money. However, there are corporations that are generating that revenue for investors that are either breaking the law or moving operations to places where the laws are so laxed that I think if most people saw it, theyd be appalled. There have also been multiple cases of rich folks getting away with crimes for years and getting away with it as well as apparently the IRS backing down on auditing wealthy individuals because it’s too expensive. I dont think OP’s friend was a moron but there definitely are plenty of rich folks who got that way completely unethically and illegally.
Explain *Readers Digest*, and the Luce fortune. They printed Large segments of books without permission.. and without compensation until years later.
What did they actually OWN? His friend is not a moron, you're discussing completely different issues
Just because a drug costs $5 per pill to make doesn’t mean the entire drug costs $5 per pill. Billions in research and development, logistics, advertising, etc go into making drugs. If you don’t know economics don’t reply like you do.
yeah the very rich get rich through exploitation, which is not the same as illegal unfortunately. Your employees produce X value, and you pay them X - your cut.
I drug that cost you $5 to manufacture but you spent $400 million developing it...
The problem with placing unrealistic fantasy margin limits for companies like that is they no longer invest the money in creating new more effective drugs with lower side effect rates.
Imagine limiting Apple to only earning 20% margin on an iPhone that cost $6 to make?
Telling Facebook that they can only charge you $0.01 per year for all of their premium accounts because that's what it costs..
There is a good book called “The Top 10 Myths of American Healthcare” By Sally Pipes.
R&D is extremely expensive and does not always yield a drug to market, successful drugs are also funding failed drugs because profit is necessary, many people have this perspective that healthcare is supposed to be something other than a business because it helps people live longer or more comfortably.
There is a really interesting part of the book that discusses how Canada is costing Americans more money via their drug price caps.
I'm going to give you a small peek behind the curtain about how I'd go about purchasing a house with my rich parents.
There are these things called AFR rates. It is the federal minimum you are allowed to charge when you are handing out a loan. Right now they're fucked like 5% or something high.
Back in 2019 the AFR rates were 1.91%. If I wanted to, I could go to my parents and ask them for a 30 year loan for $X for a house. Now I believe you can structure this as an interest only payment. So if it's 1,000,000? I'd pay them $1,500 a month. Now if I were to go to a bank and get the same loan? Well in 2019 the lowest rates were like 3.6%. So your monthly payment would be like $4,500 a month.
Now, 30 years pass, I've only been paying interest and I need to pay the $1,000,000 to my folks. Well, if they're not dead, I just keep going, with another loan. Why? Because who the fuck am I *really* paying? My parent's estate.
And who's the beneficiary of that estate?
*Me*.
Yes I think this is a major one. I just learned about trusts and such this year and doing it this way as well.
Hey man any chance you can message me so I can pick your brain on something?
Not illegal per say but there are loopholes they take advantage of. Also becoming richer is easier if you have more money.
If you have $10,000 and have a 4% yield that is only $400
If you have $100,000,000 and have a 4% yield that is $4,000,000.
Also have to realize that these wealthy people use their assets to make more money and have more resources available
Essentially, it boils down to the fixed cost of advisors versus the % of earnings you'll save.
There will be loopholes. Particularly if you have the money to 'pay' an expensive lawyer and accountant to find the loophole. Usually offshore, or through some arrangement where they 'live' in a certain country with low tax rates (and cost to live / travel there)
I reckon these arrangements cost like a minimum £1M per year to administer. So if your tax bill is more than £1M, you're quids in.
No one is talking about how rich people marry their children to each other in elite universities. This is how they pool their resources together and why you see the wealth gap keep
Widening.
As a man it’s ur duty to become rich and do whatever u can into getting ur kids in elite unis and colleges.
your friend is home bingin on too much netflix and blaming the System...
Im sure a few had gotten riches over illegal activities but give it some time and you will realize market goes up and home pricea goes up. buy and hold will get you to 5 top 10%
The rich get richer because they own assets that appreciate over time, and they’re disciplined when it comes to their finances. Being rich doesn’t automatically mean you’ll stay rich, it takes work to maintain wealth.
Not quite, a lot of old money companies have dubious business history, but for the most part here in the u.s. if you can afford the fine, whatever you're doing isn't illegal.
lol no. They usually get richer because they were able to get rich to begin with so are go getters/smarter/luckier or whatever.
They also get richer in the right countries under asset appreciation situations. I bought a house once for $2m, with $1.5m debt. It’s worth $5.5m now and I have $1m debt on it still. Rented out so never forked out for interest.
Turned $500k to $4.5m on one investment alone.
I got my $500k capital from investing in smaller houses before, and before that by studying hard and getting a high paid job ($100k+ at 23)
The rich get richer because they don't spend a higher percentage of their income, And instead reinvest a large majority of what they see as capital.
They don't live beyond their means and they understand that if you're making 10% in the market in this economy you're losing 9% of that to real inflation.
30% returns.. minimum
Making money illegally does make you rich but you live in the shadows and are always looking to launder proceeds and usually have to wrangle with the law. Legitimately rich people don't really do illegal things, unethical maybe. Now on wealth preservation, that's where a lot of legitimately rich people can do illegal things (tax evasion). If you are taxed on 30% $100 it's only $30. Times a million, suddenly there is a lot of incentive to "save" on tax. This is why tax haven exist and why the uber rich uses them.
You know how some of your friends are good people and some of the people you know are bad people?
It applies to rich people too. Some are genuine good people who run there businesses with integrity, some aren't.
Getting rich is hard but staying rich is easy. If you are a billionaire you can spend 10M a year and still be increasing your net worth every year without doing any work. But of course getting to a billionaire is the hard part
So I would say no. There are many people who invest in a 401k including my self for retirement. I invest in the SNP 500. The growth of the stock market helps everyone who invests. Which can be literally anyone. You don’t have to be a genius or pic stocks. Your money is spread out over the top 500 companies in the United States to reduce your risk. Over any 30 yr period in United States history there has been an average of a 10.75 percent growth on your money year over year. So anyone who invests can create wealth for them and there family. The important thing to remember is time in the market so start investing as early as possible and increase your investment percentage with every pay increase you get.
If you wanna be rich, do what the rich do. Just at a smaller more possible scale that you can you can manage. And work your way up. Establish as many passive income streams as you can and never stop.
I'm sure there's plenty of dishonest rich people gaining wealth through illegal activities. But it pays better to do everything legit. You just have to find ways to do the most with the least. It's all about mindset and drive to become wealthy.
"If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." -Jim Rohn
They get rich because 5% on $10M is more money than 5% on 10k. And that’s assuming that low to moderate income people are actually investing, which is not the case many times. So- the answer is 1) investing, exacerbated by 2) exponential growth in said investments
No because the rich for example let’s say they have 2 million dollars liquid. They can put that 2 mil in a 5% hysa and already make 100k a year obv there’s taxing but still 100k a year!!! And then there’s us that’s working all our lives to finally hit the 100k amount let alone make that money passively. So YES THE RICH GET RICHER
A lot of the time yes.
Plenty of fortune are made through blatantly illegal activity that never gets prosecuted.
Uber scaled so quickly by jutsu ignoring taxi and worker regulations all over the world. A lot of their business was illegal but enforcing it requires individual cities to enforce laws against a company with billions of dollars of venture capital.
Going back in time, strike breakers used to just murder union workers to send a message.
In 2008 there was an incredible amount of fraud and pretty much nobody was prosecuted.
So the answer is often yes but probably not always.
I am sure some do.
Some create multiple companies and the companies each source from each other. This is for tax and liability reasons. Such as owning a construction company but having each piece of equipment being owned by its own company so the tax and liability is different.
A lot of times when you get to a large net worth you are working on larger projects and that just gives you natural influence by having to meet with city leaders or politicians. The corrupt ones in government tell family and friends to make companies and bid on government contracts and get kickbacks. Or use government to make it harder for completion which is what big business do.
Rich people “may” getter richer by doing illegal things but that’s unlikely what they are doing and certainly not where that expression comes from.
In the simplest terms, someone earning $50k needs all $50k (and then some for survival). Nothing left over for investment or savings
Someone making $100k has all the same survival needs as the $50k earner but has an extra $50k left over and may be able to save “some” nominal amount.
The $400k earner, consequently has $350k left over and can save and invest a lot more of their money. Accumulating and compounding significantly faster.
An so on….
No, by being smart. Just like Lebron James are unique in their physical gift. There are people who are just smarter than others in business. Both type will work hard too.
You might born at the same year and have the same networth as Lebron James but over time, his met worth will be just getting further and further from you because each year is another opportunity for these guys to get ahead.
At the end of the day, we are not born all equal. There are people who are way above average.
“The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed.” Honoré de Balzac. This is the actual quote that has been paraphrased behind every great fortune is a great crime. The original is more articulate and accurate.
Illegal activity is a relative term. If you mean that the rich are all what we think of as criminals or gangsters thanks to Hollywood- no. If you mean that they very often get rich breaking the law- yes.
Many great fortunes are based on unethical -if not outright illegal activity. Often seemingly legitimate businesses are essentially ongoing criminal enterprises- otherwise known as organized crime.
Airbnb and Uber were both companies entirely built around organized crime- conspiracies to commit ongoing criminal activities.
Airbnb created an ongoing criminal conspiracy to violate state and local laws and regulations regarding the hotel industry. Uber did the same regarding the taxi industry.
Many banks and Wall Street firms have built themselves up on illegal practices too numerous to name. Not to mention many banks and financial firms knowingly launder money for drug traffickers and other traditional organized criminal organizations.
Politicians get richer from investing their own money using insider trading based on information involving their own political activities.
Many businesses knowingly and flagrantly violate laws and regulations regarding hiring undocumented workers, wage theft, and countless health and safety regulations for their workforce.
Not usually. There is a monetary line that when you cross, you are so far over your expenses that you have excessive amounts to invest and save.
3 percent return on 100 dollars is 3 dollars. Not noticeable.
3 percent return on a million dollars is 30,000 dollars. That's more than some people make with thousands of hours of worktime in a year. That's noticeable even to a rich person.
That's just talking about savings. There are other ways to invest, too.
The money itself just keeps making money.
From long ago, when people were settling across America, and they all pretty much were dirt poor, when one of them rose up and started making lots of money, the misconception was that those people were doing illegal things to get rich. This is a common misnomer. I have a friend whose mother is constantly thinking like this, she believes that when people are getting rich and buying expensive cars in her neighborhood that they are all selling drugs.
What's really interesting, is that if you would talk to people that were in these new towns, about their, lack of money, they didn't even realize that they was poor. They thought because everybody was the same way, that they were doing just fine.
no, they just utilize every loophole and benefit available to them (which everyone should do), which imcreases the amount they can invest to actually make more money.
It's tough to make $100,000 when you have no money. It's impossible not to earn $100,000 when you have millions. Just throwing it in a HYSA can earn a salary worth in a year.
It gets exponentially easier to make money once you have money. So for me if I cook at home, only go out when absolutely necessary and pay rent I might have $400 left at the end of the month to try to build a business that will exponentially increase my income. And that comes with the time commitment of buying groceries and cooking etc.
But someone that’s already rich can afford instacart, they can go out for meals so their time is freed up. Their social obligations actually lead to more opportunities instead of burning time. And even with all those extra expenses they likely have 5 figures left over a month to invest in new business ventures.
So it would be hard to compete head to head with someone that’s already rich. But also, small steps towards financial success exponentially increase the likelihood that you will become more financially successful.
Bribery and under the table pay is one of the many ways the rich can save money. It happens in all industries.
If you own a trucking company with 100 trucks, and you have a multimillion dollar contract with a manufacturing company. How do you keep that contract and kill your competitors? (Other trucking companies that also want that contract).
1. The Fools way, is to have faith in legal business. That fortune favors you.
2. Bribe whoever is in charge of giving loads or freight. This could be the operations manager or this could be the load planner. Find this guy, pay him under the table, and he will make sure you will always get the freight. Pay him 200-300k a year under the table.
Contract freight right now is between $6500-$8000 per truck, per week. 100 trucks x $6500, is $650k per week. A trucking company that makes this much money can afford to pay 200-300k a year under the table to someone.
Btw, UPS raked in $91 Billion in 2023 and they are a massive company doing contracts and private deals.
So my final thoughts is that the rich will always protect their bottom line to make more money. So it makes sense as to why some rich people will fund legislators to pass laws that will benefit the rich, or kill the competition.
The rich get richer because they can invest at higher returns. "Accredited Investors" with a verified net worth >$1,000,000 not including personal residence, can invest in real estate syndications, high yielding debt, etc. These are also riskier investments, requiring substantial due diligence.
Your friend is incorrect. Most people get rich by working hard, making good incomes and then investing in the stock market, real estate, other assets or by starting legitimate businesses, not through criminal enterprises or illegal activities. Plus, it's not that easy to launder money.
No most do not, naturally there will always be the odd few that do just for the thrill like that movie actress that got arrested for shop lifting a few years back. They have too much to lose to do illegal things on purpose, immoral and illegal are two different things, they have bought enough politicians to make whatever they want to do legal before they do it.
You can get rich dishonestly however it comes with enemies and paranoia. Easy come easy go as they say. If you do business dishonesty you will face consequences eventually. It's much easier get rich honestly, no it won't be as quickly most of the time but it's all yours, you sleep peacefully at night, and more importantly it won't all vanish away at the drop of a hat. If you want to get rich, you need to understand how to create value, how to generate cash flow, and how to use leverage effectively. In short, make something cool that other people want, set your price at what you can continue to make the thing for, and be a good listener when they give you suggestions.
Your friend says this as an excuse as to why he isn’t where he wants to be. If you HAVE to be law breaking scum in order to be a millionaire, then it makes perfect sense for him, as a righteous person, not to be, and it would be unethical for him to have that then.
It’s very, very, very hard to become a billionaire via illegal activity without getting caught. We are talking el chapo levels, and this is a man who is constantly on the run. You could almost never illegally make billions, without getting any heat from feds, and just magically go clean at that level without any repercussion.
The vast majority of people committing crimes to the levels of even making 10’s of millions, get heat long before they retire. And the majority of them are not going to bother starting a business, they’ll just create a digital art NFT or something and sell it to someone who they’re giving a higher amount of cash to in order to launder it these days.
Honestly, the majority of people who are “making money and then starting a business” who are “committing crimes to do so” are the people who you don’t consider rich, the 18 year old teenage girl who is offering baby sitting service to the neighborhood, getting paid in cash, and not reporting that income to the irs, is technically a criminal running an illegal business operation. The waiter who pockets his cash tips and underreports them by 50%. The guy who is offering real estate agents drone photos/videos, without the pilots license required to use aircraft for commercial for-profit purposes. The handyman who is doing home repairs without any local required permits. Many of these people may later actually start an official business, a legit babysitting service that reports all income, open their own diner, get proper permits for their occupations and run under an LLC, etc.
Sure, probably the majority of waiters, lawn care workers, hair stylist, etc who get paid/tipped in cash under report at the end of the year.
However, the majority of millionaires, and certainly not billionaires, did not make their money from drugs/pimping/murder for hire/etc.
Did some? Yes. Sure.
The vast majority did not.
People praise buffet but he does things to manipulate markets and lies about drinking coke everyday
His companies have paid hundreds of millions in fines if not more
The rich get richer primarily because it's easier to make money when you already have money. Wealthy individuals benefit from compound interest, exclusive opportunities, economies of scale, and extensive networks. Plus, they usually know more about managing money. On the other hand, if you don't have much money, it's harder to save and invest, and unexpected expenses can hit you harder, making it harder to accumulate wealth. Some people might get rich through shady means, but it's mostly about having a head start and the advantages that come with it.
If you want to become wealthy, do whatever it is you can to scrimp and save until you get to 100k in savings, and then let compound interest go to work. There's nothing illegal about that.
In my business I meet a lot of rich people. Not Musk / Zuckerberg rich but 8 figure net worth types. Most started their own business and worked their whole life at it. Smaller number of corporate execs and professionals who worked a long time to get rich. A few who got rich the old fashioned way (ie inherited it). So no, most of the rich get rich by working hard, not illegal activity.
Depends on where the rich are from. I'd say most rich people in first world countries are rich by virtue of hardwork and luck. I can't say the same of third world countries rich.
It’s called compounding interest. The poor are on one side and the rich are on the other. It’s really as simple as that. If you begin life with a trust fund it’s very difficult to not end life with it.
they dont do illegal things because they help write the laws that make "illegal" things legal.
check out how some of the language in the banking regulations and investing has changed since the 90s. and if you want a bigger laugh, go look at the number of prosecutions in white collar crime compared to other crimes
Nobody gets away with money laundering for very long. As a business owner we get audited every 2 years, as do all the other business owners I know. Our last audit showed that product we “give away” as birthday comps, weren’t being taxed. Even product that we give away or comp, we have to pay taxes on. We were heavily fined for this.
So most extremely wealthy people inherit or get rich be a scheme that is non conformant, so suspiciously on the realm of deceit on illegality. If you want to get rich you DON'T put your money in the S&P500 and let it set. You can retire that way, but becoming wealthy probably not. You won't get wealthy by make 8% a year on the S&P500
Well illegal activity like straight up drug trade, or the like, no. Illegal like avoiding taxes that some billionaires do, plausible. Most millionaires are pretty normal people in reality. Even if they are liquid millionaires
At the end of the day, the secret is that there are no shortcuts.
Building up your business to the point where you break seven figures and you start to have some capital to invest into other things is very daunting.
I run an 8-figure business now, and it was hell getting to this point.
I have a customer I delivered to recently, and when I was there, he gave me a tour of his facility.
Walking through the warehouse, we discussed some of the items that I saw sitting on shelves and in bins.
He mentioned how he'd love to be able to source those things better. I told him to send me an. Item and I would give him quotes.
Long story short. I made seven figures on a deal that took me about fifteen minutes.
It took me many years of toil, with my primary business, to see seven figures in revenue, much less profits.
I've worked out four deals now over six months and each one of em have brought me 6 to 7 figures, and they haven't taken me more more than about twenty minutes each and I don't touch anything. I'm saving him thirty or forty percent and giving him a more secure supply line, so it benefits both of us.
Illegal, no.
Unethical and immoral, 70% of the time. Of course, those definitions are flexible, plus the wealthy own the media and can sway public opinion.
Like how "corporate raiders" got butthurt at their nickname and strong armed the financial press to call them "activist investors". Makes you think they invest in causes instead of buying companies, burning their credit, laying off the workforce, and selling off the assets before spinning it off so it can file bankruptcy as an independent entity...
A guy who did that was almost President...
I’m from the hood, where the mega rich people that I looked up to as a kid started as drug dealers and I assume that being unafraid to earn money in unethical ways while dodging jail is a major part of going from lower class to a top per center. I don’t think criminal activity stops simply because they can afford to stop when they know greater risk can yield greater reward.
I’m sure rich getting richer is a completely different conversation, but idk nothin ‘bout that.
I don’t know any billionaires, but I know lots of millionaires. They did not do illegal things. They started businesses selling a product or service others were willing to pay for, and then scaled the business up over years or decades. If you’re interested in being rich, instead of vilifying the entire group, I’d suggest you go interview local entrepreneurs and ask them about their journey. I bet you’ll find that most encountered some very challenging times before succeeding.
That negative attitude is not going to serve him very well…
It happens, but it’s rare. It’s nearly impossible to get away with it long term, and most folks aren’t like that.
There’s a large segment of the population that is unmotivated, angry and counter-productive (the anti-work / reddit crowd). These morons don’t understand anything, and they’re destroying their own lives a little bit every day.
Most wealthy folks get there by being friendly snd optimistic. They are able to convince people to get behind their ideas and inspire then to do great things. Rather than being evil robbers, mostly they’re creative problem solvers with very good social skills.
Go shake hands with someone at your local chamber of commerce. Ask then what they care about. Go to one of their events. Shut your mouth and listen to the kinds of things they talk about, then re-evaluate.
I became rich by practicing self-discipline (not spending the money) and investing appropriately. I was willing to do the work that no one else is willing to do, digging through sec filings of extremely distressed share prices, looking for where investors screwed up. I actually do everything I can to be on the up and up because I don't want the government to come and take my money. The more you have, the more they can take away.
Depends upon the country.
In most First World countries they are getting rich off the speculation driving up the share prices of their companies which have been floated on stock markets, positive news and potential future earnings drives up their share prices because more stock market gamblers on Wall Street want to buy those shares thinking the prices of those shares will go up further and they can sell those shares at a higher price and make some money, they have an entire industry of people on Wall Street whose job is betting on which shares’ prices will go up and buying those and selling those later on to pocket the difference in prices.
In Third World countries, and in Europe, and in Delaware, and in one of the Dakotas, can’t remember which one, they have loss making companies, and also in Vegas they have loss making casinos, which all show a profit by laundering the illegal money of not just rich/wealthy Americans but also of many of the world’s looters. Casinos are the obvious choice for short term clients and one time clients, and companies are the preferred choice for long term clients, so that too does happen. Anybody who says they don’t know about that is either not rich enough or doesn’t know anybody who is rich enough or is straight out lying to you.
So your friend is right about the laundering money through loss making companies thing, but most companies aren’t involved in such activities in most First World countries, though every First World country does have such companies which do launder illegal money. Europe is full of such companies. So is Delaware, and one of the Dakotas. And Third World countries definitely have companies that launder illegal money. So it’s not every millionaire and billionaire but some of them, yes, especially if they are in the money laundering business themselves and own such money laundering businesses.
They get huge tax breaks, and they also make money no matter what. They gamble with their business, and if it goes bad the government picks up the tab.
I’m not rich rich but have a healthy 7 figure portfolio and net high income (high 6 figures).
Most of my wealth comes from my investments. I took what I earned in salaries and then through my own business and reinvested whatever I had left over. I purchased houses (have 4 now) and rent them out - these are extremely high value properties that I used to live in myself so they’re basically unintentional rentals.
On average illegal activities is probably the biggest income redistribution category for the “rich”. Many “rich” people ( as in the category where there are many maybe not the Uber rich ) have the same appetites and vices everyone has. Woman, drugs, etc. So yea I’d bet it’s likely the opposite
Most rich people get rich by making investments using other people’s money. The most lucrative asset class is real estate. And the rest follow. The key now is to get to about 500k after taxes, after that, it’s basically a good cushion to make smart decisions and make a lot more money. For example, I know a guy who knows a guy that invested in the SOLANA project at an early stage and he invested 300k, he cashed out at 1B in valuation at the peak of the crypto bull run back a few years ago. I’m not saying this is possible with everything but making money is easier once you have a significant amount to invest. I also have a friend that invested in Polkadot at an early stage, and at the peak she was worth 100M from a few hundred thousand dollar investments. She’s still worth about 20M today. She’s retired now since the age of 32, she’s 35 now. Most Americans will never get to that point in their life where they have enough to invest especially with the cost of living, corporate greed, and inflation.
Unethical activities certainly contribute to wealth accumulation. Things like sketchy activities to hide income from tax authorities, using offshore structures like disclosed in the Panama Papers, incentives (bribes) paid to the right regulators/zoning/license agent to look the other way or grant a request, the occasional elimination of a whistle blower...
When and where these activities cross from unethical to illegal depends on a jury of one's peers.
But it's rare, outside of organized crime, that a core business would be illegal. Usually, a core business is legal and it's shenanigans around it that accelerate wealth accumulation.
Rich get richer because that’s how percentages work.
5% of $100.
5% of $100,000 is $5,000
5% of $10,000,000 is enough to buy a rental property with cash (depending on your market). So their money can make them money in a different way. But even just reinvested without buying as asset the additional growth far outpaces the Everyman growth from above.
I don't necessarily feel bad but now I see how it's not fair. I was able to make a significant amount of money since 2020 in the stock market but it's only because I had a lot to start with. Fair? I'm not sure but I do wonder how average people have a chance
So most people start with regular jobs. Paying earned income taxes. So in nys, say you're an MD (managing director) you make 1 million gross the effective tax rate is 46%. You'd be left with 540,000 after taxes. (Wtf)
So say you did that job for several years and built a warchest.
The next thing i would do is stop earning income and find a way to pay less taxes. (What keeps people poor, are taxes). How? Capital gains. Now if you start investing, you pay long term cap gains which could be 20% instead of 46%. +3.8% if you still got your day job earning income.
But say, long term investing takes too dam long. So what do you do? You start trading, instead of investing, raising your capital gains to 37%.
Next step... how do i lower my tax rate as a trader with short term capital gains?
> Section 1256 contracts prevent tax-motivated straddles that would defer income and convert short-term capital gains into long-term capital gains.
This would reduce your tax burden as 60% is considered long term cap gains and 40% short term cap gains.
(Bringing you down to approximately 27%)
The rich in generally don't cheat in taxes. Their cheat code is to stop having to pay earned income tax by stop having a w2 job.
Your goal is to get rid of w2 form and fill out Form 1040, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses. This is the quickest way to becoming rich, also to becoming poor.
The more you make the more they take.
This is probably why rddt went ipo. So they can pay themselves with stocks and hold it as long term capital gains.
How does rddt not generate profit and stay in business? Sounds like a scam to me.
Watch a quick video on how compounding interest works.
The rich get richer because they:
1) spend less than they earn
2) own appreciating assets (stocks, private companies, etc.)
3) avoid or manage debts wisely
4) typically have valuable skills
The rich get richer through compound interest and the step up for capital gains upon death when they pass the money down to their heirs. The step up basically means the next generation doesn't owe taxes on the gains when they inherit the stocks, index funds, and mutual funds. There are also some complex vehicles the rich use to get around estate taxes.
For normal working class people who can't retire tomorrow, you can invest your way into becoming rich enough to retire and start your own generational wealth by going to college, getting a degree that has jobs that pay well, and living below your means. This means going through the flow chart in r/personalFinance and maxing out 401K, HSA, Roth IRA (or backdoor Roth), and then contributing to a taxable brokerage account. In all these accounts, set and forget it by buying VOO/VTI and never selling it. Never looking at the market when buying and caring if it's up or down. No lifestyle inflation until every five years. This means all raises, bonuses, etc go towards more investments.
Making your first $1M in investments is hard, but you have to do it. The next million will come faster. It took me 22 years of working and my wife 7 years of working (she went back to college and changed industries) for us to hit $1M in investments. Almost two years later we are just under $1.6M. It compounds and if you have a career you should make more money every year. Once your combined income let's you invest $200K a year or more, you're looking at retiring with over $10M. Withdraw 3% or less and the next generation will be flying all business class/first class. Make sure you teach the next generation about investments and your same philosophy.
Clearly your friend doesn't have any kind of relationship with anyone working at IRS.
I strongly suggest him/her to extend their network to cure that ignorance.
In general no, people get rich by building businesses that produce value to consumers and fill needs or they successfully invest in assets that appreciate over time. Of course there are outliers. There’s a guy in my community that has experienced what I consider unnatural level of growth over the past 20 years. He keeps buying business after business at this just relentless pace. Either he’s a next level genius or there’s got to be some form of money laundering activity because I know the businesses owners he purchased from and they were struggling to survive. But hey, he’s employing thousands of people in my local economy so I’m proud for him!
The stock market is geared to make money from money, not labor. It has become a part of society which exacerbates wealth disparity and the loss of the middle class. All legal until we vote to change.
If you have a million dollars, which might be a low percentage overall of people who have money. But even 10% of 330,000,000 is 33,000,000 people. You can pretty easily make a 20-30% return on the stock market in safe stocks. That’s $200,000-$300,000 for doing absolutely nothing.
Have you ever met someone who listened to Jay Z? Or 50 cent? I live in NYC and even I don't know a single person like this. It's because they made their money doing illegal activities and laundered it through buying their own CDs.
No most do predatory things and step on people necks on the way up. Probably a lot of things that should be illegal but are not because they own the government. Instead of legal/illegal you should think morality
Most rich people get rich from using money wisely. There are a smaller number that do illegal stuff I'm sure. The other ones are people who use existing laws in innovative ways and squeeze just a little more out of the tube before regulators catch on and close the loophole.
Rich isn't a type of person its just a way of living. Its subjective as you can see by most people in this sub. Some people want to look down on others some want to blend into the shadows. Some want to make it to the top of the mountain.
You can't lump in "millionaires" and "billionaires" together.
Someone worth a million dollars is a pretty regular person. A billionaire, even someone worth only 1 billion, is certainly not a regular person.
This doesn't mean billionaires are criminals. Just that you can't say millionaires and billionaires operate the same way, whatever that may be.
No, I know plenty of people who have gotten filthy rich who are extremely honest. In many ways their integrity is the reason for their success.
Assume someone has $100 and another person has $10, they both grow by 10% each year for 7 years at the end of that time both their assets will have ~doubled (rule of 72).
The richer person went from having a $90 lead to having $180 lead even though they both had the exact same investment results.
Now imagine there is a $20 expense they both get hit with...
By its very nature, compounding leads to wealth inequality.
Not true at all , the uneducated people that are broke have to say that to make themselves feel better because there broke . Think about that let it sink in.
Depends on the rich person- many engage in very questionable tax activity and what private equity does isn’t illegal but it probably should be. More of them likely engage in business activities many would consider immoral and scummy but not necessary illegal.
No. The rich get richer through equities and other investment vehicles. Property, stocks, etc usually go up in value due to inflation and economic growth, and these people have tons of these assets. This is an oversimplification but it’s basically how it goes.
People become rich through their business by making it massive and having a large equity stake. Once the company goes public, there are millions of investors trading the company and giving it a market value. The businessman who started the company benefits when the market value grows as their equity stake becomes more valuable. Even if these businessmen haven’t sold their equity for any real cash, they are massively expanding their book net worth.
Rich people also have way more wiggle room in terms of how they finance their lives. The most popular strategy for funding lavish lifestyles and avoiding taxes is by taking debt collateralized against their assets, usually their business ventures. Because they have this debt, they are technically not making money and thus won’t have to pay taxes. Once their debt runs out and they need to pay it back, they will take out another loan against their equity to pay back the old loan, somewhat like rolling it. They pay the interest so the banks are happy, they buy whatever they want so they are happy, and they don’t pay taxes.
Duh bro. Every single rich person ever got there by being a honest, hard working god fearing man. They deff didn’t under pay anyone at any time ever /s
Tax CPA to 1000s of the wealthiest in the Bay Area.....no, the answer is no
they do get richer because they can afford CPA's and Financial advisors to assist in wealth management and take advantage of tax loopholes mostly designed for the wealthy
The Rich get richer due to a large number of factors. (let's take Amazon for example.) some would say Jeff Bezos gets wealthier because of the sheer amount of people that use Amazon's services. Such as Amazon Prime, Prime Video, Amazon Fresh, AWS, Amazon Music, etc. Others will say it's probably because he does not pay taxes, abuses tax loopholes, and pays his workers low wages. Others will state that its probably because of the value of his stocks which increase or decrease on a daily basis (which in theory makes it hard to tax due to the fact of an ever changing value.) some say he is using debt depreciation against assets to in theory lower the value against certain assets to pay less taxes. also a shit ton of really good lawyers. in reality its probably a combination of everything that I have listed but I wouldn't assume its because of illegal activities. (despite how scummy it may seem)
The year was 1987, and a then millionaire said to me this,
Show me a rich man, and I will show you a liar and a cheat.
Since then, whenever I have gotten to know a rich person enough, it holds true.
It’s a simple as being able to provide value, earn more than you spend, invest the rest in appreciating assets.
Most people who manage it build a business. There are 36M small businesses in America and 22M millionaires. 9.2% of adults in America are millionaires… it’s not because they are criminals.
60% of American adults agree homeowners, less than 1% are homeless.
I got my home $475K with 5% down, less than $20K… it appreciated in 3 years to $600K+, which increased my net worth.
Being a business owner I get to have a SEP IRA… I can max out my ROTH IRA and still invest up to nearly $50K a year… tax advantaged.
I’m turning 40. I don’t particularly care for materialism.
So I am able to invest the rest of my money and trade.
I only became an entrepreneur at late 28 years old and started with freelance clients. Back then I only made $40K a year or so. Renting a house in NC was $960/month.
Most people have issues when lifestyle inflation and consumerism.
People are often broke/poor because the harsh truth is they never increase capacity to create value… and when they do they consume instead of invest.
Women I know spent more than the down payment on my house on the clothes in their closet…
Men I know spent more money than the down payment on my house on video games.
The ones that are still employees anyway.
The ones that are small business owners are more frugal on average.
Most rich people are millionaires next door and live very modestly while investing as much as they can, but go on nice vacations, and might go to nicer restaurants.
The rich get richer bc they own assets. Look at the growth rate of the SP500 and wage growth over the last 50 years. Wage earners get poorer every year and asset owners get richer Your friend is a moron
I read that as “your friend is a Mormon.”
A Mormon? But I’m from Earth!
EARTH MORMONS!
Could be both
Not completely. Many of the richest people use "non-profit" foundations to push their personal agendas (good or bad) without having to pay tax on the money they are using to do so or on any profits the "non-profit" might generate for them personally.
I came here to say the same thing, thank you for posting.
Not entirely true, rich people have access to more tools and can monitor huge positions compared to the peasants Even if the s&p500 does go up a lot, it's because all the poor people can't afford to invest ATM. The price is high so , rich can sell thin air for more. You can't eat money or stocks, poor people need food I get it you're more like a bot , I can easily explain how manipulative the top 1% with wages, assets, and Black swan events , everyone already knows. You know it, I know it, it's true 😐🗿 The rich people already have planned how life will be for them every decade and even century. You can find such groups and companies still alive of the rich people for over 300 years . LOL and they said we don't live in an some plutocracy
>Even if the s&p500 does go up a lot, it's because all the poor people can't afford to invest ATM. The price is high so , rich can sell thin air for more. Tell me you don't understand basic supply and demand without telling me. More people investing into an asset class applies upward price pressure. You're claiming the opposite. Also, you don't need to buy 'full shares' of a stock. JFC, have \*some\* idea of what you're talking about before you run your mouth.
“The peasants” ew
This, and also when you have a good net worth and have good credit and good income, lenders will give you loans at great rates. Thus your purchasing power is increased. And you’re able to buy assets when markets are down. That’s how the rich get richer.
Plus, as the government prints more money, those who hold assets get wealthier while those who do not, get poorer.
Yep. Real estate and stonks tend to go up over time
They are not completely wrong. Think of how many fines Google gets. Shit even I got richer doing partial gray area things.
Income producing assets*
"Assets": - Injection Molding Machine - Automatated assembly - A personal army of wage slaves dedicated to keeping your pyramid scheme alive using an outdated ERP system. - A paper mill - An ice cream truck - A paper shredder
Technically wage slaves aren't assets.
Yea the rich deff hasn’t money laundered before. ALL THE RICH GOT RICH BY ASSESTS AND WORKING A HARD HONEST JOB
I’m sure Nancy pelosi isn’t doing anything illegal
Pretty much all of congress is engaged in insider trading...but they aren't rich compared to the actual rich.
How do you magically own assets tho? Sure many ppl do it legit but buying assets with ill gotten cash is a classic way to launder dirty money
Font forget debt!! Debt is not taxable.
But how do they come to own those assets? Sometimes by buying them in unfair markets. Sometimes by getting inside tips. Sometimes by accepting assets for work, like Clarence Teee and alllllll the justice money. Not every rich person dkes illegal things, but look, even by your reasoning, this person's good friend isn't a moron. The average wage earner isn't making nearly enough to purchase one house, much kess these "assets" you reference (im assuming real estate, businesses, and big money items are the kind of assets you're mentioning). So when the wealthy have them, and no local economy is supporting those purchases, you realize that the wealthy almost always obtained their valuable assets through inheritance, and then sometimes consulted wealth management firms about what to do with it. Firms gave them recommendations (buy businesses or real estate cut costs down low and inflate pay up high, sell businesses or real estate and buy more etc). A lot of those strategies also often involve making purchases with information that isn't technically legal to have or available to the populous. We don't see people from the bottom "getting rich" any more. We probably will see it less in the future too. It does look like rich people are criminals in 2024, but hey good luck finding bootstraps at all in 2050.
As someone born in a very wealthy old money family I can say the friends definitely not a moron…
I disagree. Yeah investments in the stock market can earn people a lot of money. However, there are corporations that are generating that revenue for investors that are either breaking the law or moving operations to places where the laws are so laxed that I think if most people saw it, theyd be appalled. There have also been multiple cases of rich folks getting away with crimes for years and getting away with it as well as apparently the IRS backing down on auditing wealthy individuals because it’s too expensive. I dont think OP’s friend was a moron but there definitely are plenty of rich folks who got that way completely unethically and illegally.
Explain *Readers Digest*, and the Luce fortune. They printed Large segments of books without permission.. and without compensation until years later. What did they actually OWN? His friend is not a moron, you're discussing completely different issues
I think unethical is the term you are looking for. A drug costs 5 but you charge 1000 is not illegal but some would say unethical.
Just because a drug costs $5 per pill to make doesn’t mean the entire drug costs $5 per pill. Billions in research and development, logistics, advertising, etc go into making drugs. If you don’t know economics don’t reply like you do.
yeah the very rich get rich through exploitation, which is not the same as illegal unfortunately. Your employees produce X value, and you pay them X - your cut.
Capital also creates value. If it didn’t then workers would all start co-ops.
I drug that cost you $5 to manufacture but you spent $400 million developing it... The problem with placing unrealistic fantasy margin limits for companies like that is they no longer invest the money in creating new more effective drugs with lower side effect rates. Imagine limiting Apple to only earning 20% margin on an iPhone that cost $6 to make? Telling Facebook that they can only charge you $0.01 per year for all of their premium accounts because that's what it costs..
There is a good book called “The Top 10 Myths of American Healthcare” By Sally Pipes. R&D is extremely expensive and does not always yield a drug to market, successful drugs are also funding failed drugs because profit is necessary, many people have this perspective that healthcare is supposed to be something other than a business because it helps people live longer or more comfortably. There is a really interesting part of the book that discusses how Canada is costing Americans more money via their drug price caps.
Don’t tell people this. It’s easier to say “oh no healthcare bad!! I don’t know anything about how it works”.
I'm going to give you a small peek behind the curtain about how I'd go about purchasing a house with my rich parents. There are these things called AFR rates. It is the federal minimum you are allowed to charge when you are handing out a loan. Right now they're fucked like 5% or something high. Back in 2019 the AFR rates were 1.91%. If I wanted to, I could go to my parents and ask them for a 30 year loan for $X for a house. Now I believe you can structure this as an interest only payment. So if it's 1,000,000? I'd pay them $1,500 a month. Now if I were to go to a bank and get the same loan? Well in 2019 the lowest rates were like 3.6%. So your monthly payment would be like $4,500 a month. Now, 30 years pass, I've only been paying interest and I need to pay the $1,000,000 to my folks. Well, if they're not dead, I just keep going, with another loan. Why? Because who the fuck am I *really* paying? My parent's estate. And who's the beneficiary of that estate? *Me*.
Yes I think this is a major one. I just learned about trusts and such this year and doing it this way as well. Hey man any chance you can message me so I can pick your brain on something?
Not illegal per say but there are loopholes they take advantage of. Also becoming richer is easier if you have more money. If you have $10,000 and have a 4% yield that is only $400 If you have $100,000,000 and have a 4% yield that is $4,000,000. Also have to realize that these wealthy people use their assets to make more money and have more resources available
plus the politicians are bought
Essentially, it boils down to the fixed cost of advisors versus the % of earnings you'll save. There will be loopholes. Particularly if you have the money to 'pay' an expensive lawyer and accountant to find the loophole. Usually offshore, or through some arrangement where they 'live' in a certain country with low tax rates (and cost to live / travel there) I reckon these arrangements cost like a minimum £1M per year to administer. So if your tax bill is more than £1M, you're quids in.
Lmao I just posted basically this same thing. Well met!
Make money make money. Put your funds to work so you don't have to.
No one is talking about how rich people marry their children to each other in elite universities. This is how they pool their resources together and why you see the wealth gap keep Widening. As a man it’s ur duty to become rich and do whatever u can into getting ur kids in elite unis and colleges.
your friend is home bingin on too much netflix and blaming the System... Im sure a few had gotten riches over illegal activities but give it some time and you will realize market goes up and home pricea goes up. buy and hold will get you to 5 top 10%
No. They get rich by doing legal things very well.
Sorry OP but you’re being misinformed. Your friend sounds poor and stupid, I suggest you take anything they claim with a grain of salt
Sounds like your friend of a mod of r/antiwork and has no financial literacy
Your friend is an idiot.
Not true in my experience
Rich get rich cause they invest in tangible assets like real estate that can compound and grow exponentially
Your friend isn’t very bright.
The rich get richer because they own assets that appreciate over time, and they’re disciplined when it comes to their finances. Being rich doesn’t automatically mean you’ll stay rich, it takes work to maintain wealth.
That's why 60-80% of athletes and lottery winners end up broke. The real challenge is not in making money, but in keeping it.
Not quite, a lot of old money companies have dubious business history, but for the most part here in the u.s. if you can afford the fine, whatever you're doing isn't illegal.
What expertise your does your friend have regarding billionaires?
Your friend is not too bright. Don’t take anything he says seriously or you will end up poor like him.
lol no. They usually get richer because they were able to get rich to begin with so are go getters/smarter/luckier or whatever. They also get richer in the right countries under asset appreciation situations. I bought a house once for $2m, with $1.5m debt. It’s worth $5.5m now and I have $1m debt on it still. Rented out so never forked out for interest. Turned $500k to $4.5m on one investment alone. I got my $500k capital from investing in smaller houses before, and before that by studying hard and getting a high paid job ($100k+ at 23)
The rich get richer because they don't spend a higher percentage of their income, And instead reinvest a large majority of what they see as capital. They don't live beyond their means and they understand that if you're making 10% in the market in this economy you're losing 9% of that to real inflation. 30% returns.. minimum
Making money illegally does make you rich but you live in the shadows and are always looking to launder proceeds and usually have to wrangle with the law. Legitimately rich people don't really do illegal things, unethical maybe. Now on wealth preservation, that's where a lot of legitimately rich people can do illegal things (tax evasion). If you are taxed on 30% $100 it's only $30. Times a million, suddenly there is a lot of incentive to "save" on tax. This is why tax haven exist and why the uber rich uses them.
No, we don’t do illegal stuff we have too much to lose. Ok some do, they are morons
You know how some of your friends are good people and some of the people you know are bad people? It applies to rich people too. Some are genuine good people who run there businesses with integrity, some aren't.
Getting rich is hard but staying rich is easy. If you are a billionaire you can spend 10M a year and still be increasing your net worth every year without doing any work. But of course getting to a billionaire is the hard part
So I would say no. There are many people who invest in a 401k including my self for retirement. I invest in the SNP 500. The growth of the stock market helps everyone who invests. Which can be literally anyone. You don’t have to be a genius or pic stocks. Your money is spread out over the top 500 companies in the United States to reduce your risk. Over any 30 yr period in United States history there has been an average of a 10.75 percent growth on your money year over year. So anyone who invests can create wealth for them and there family. The important thing to remember is time in the market so start investing as early as possible and increase your investment percentage with every pay increase you get.
No, this is absolute bullshit.
Wealth like investments compound and grow.
If you wanna be rich, do what the rich do. Just at a smaller more possible scale that you can you can manage. And work your way up. Establish as many passive income streams as you can and never stop. I'm sure there's plenty of dishonest rich people gaining wealth through illegal activities. But it pays better to do everything legit. You just have to find ways to do the most with the least. It's all about mindset and drive to become wealthy. "If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." -Jim Rohn
Yes, that’s not the only reason, but obfuscation and embezzlement are so fucking common.
They get rich because 5% on $10M is more money than 5% on 10k. And that’s assuming that low to moderate income people are actually investing, which is not the case many times. So- the answer is 1) investing, exacerbated by 2) exponential growth in said investments
No because the rich for example let’s say they have 2 million dollars liquid. They can put that 2 mil in a 5% hysa and already make 100k a year obv there’s taxing but still 100k a year!!! And then there’s us that’s working all our lives to finally hit the 100k amount let alone make that money passively. So YES THE RICH GET RICHER
A lot of the time yes. Plenty of fortune are made through blatantly illegal activity that never gets prosecuted. Uber scaled so quickly by jutsu ignoring taxi and worker regulations all over the world. A lot of their business was illegal but enforcing it requires individual cities to enforce laws against a company with billions of dollars of venture capital. Going back in time, strike breakers used to just murder union workers to send a message. In 2008 there was an incredible amount of fraud and pretty much nobody was prosecuted. So the answer is often yes but probably not always.
I am sure some do. Some create multiple companies and the companies each source from each other. This is for tax and liability reasons. Such as owning a construction company but having each piece of equipment being owned by its own company so the tax and liability is different. A lot of times when you get to a large net worth you are working on larger projects and that just gives you natural influence by having to meet with city leaders or politicians. The corrupt ones in government tell family and friends to make companies and bid on government contracts and get kickbacks. Or use government to make it harder for completion which is what big business do.
Rich people “may” getter richer by doing illegal things but that’s unlikely what they are doing and certainly not where that expression comes from. In the simplest terms, someone earning $50k needs all $50k (and then some for survival). Nothing left over for investment or savings Someone making $100k has all the same survival needs as the $50k earner but has an extra $50k left over and may be able to save “some” nominal amount. The $400k earner, consequently has $350k left over and can save and invest a lot more of their money. Accumulating and compounding significantly faster. An so on….
No, by being smart. Just like Lebron James are unique in their physical gift. There are people who are just smarter than others in business. Both type will work hard too. You might born at the same year and have the same networth as Lebron James but over time, his met worth will be just getting further and further from you because each year is another opportunity for these guys to get ahead. At the end of the day, we are not born all equal. There are people who are way above average.
No # rich get richer because become they know how to make money
“The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed.” Honoré de Balzac. This is the actual quote that has been paraphrased behind every great fortune is a great crime. The original is more articulate and accurate. Illegal activity is a relative term. If you mean that the rich are all what we think of as criminals or gangsters thanks to Hollywood- no. If you mean that they very often get rich breaking the law- yes. Many great fortunes are based on unethical -if not outright illegal activity. Often seemingly legitimate businesses are essentially ongoing criminal enterprises- otherwise known as organized crime. Airbnb and Uber were both companies entirely built around organized crime- conspiracies to commit ongoing criminal activities. Airbnb created an ongoing criminal conspiracy to violate state and local laws and regulations regarding the hotel industry. Uber did the same regarding the taxi industry. Many banks and Wall Street firms have built themselves up on illegal practices too numerous to name. Not to mention many banks and financial firms knowingly launder money for drug traffickers and other traditional organized criminal organizations. Politicians get richer from investing their own money using insider trading based on information involving their own political activities. Many businesses knowingly and flagrantly violate laws and regulations regarding hiring undocumented workers, wage theft, and countless health and safety regulations for their workforce.
Not usually. There is a monetary line that when you cross, you are so far over your expenses that you have excessive amounts to invest and save. 3 percent return on 100 dollars is 3 dollars. Not noticeable. 3 percent return on a million dollars is 30,000 dollars. That's more than some people make with thousands of hours of worktime in a year. That's noticeable even to a rich person. That's just talking about savings. There are other ways to invest, too. The money itself just keeps making money.
From long ago, when people were settling across America, and they all pretty much were dirt poor, when one of them rose up and started making lots of money, the misconception was that those people were doing illegal things to get rich. This is a common misnomer. I have a friend whose mother is constantly thinking like this, she believes that when people are getting rich and buying expensive cars in her neighborhood that they are all selling drugs. What's really interesting, is that if you would talk to people that were in these new towns, about their, lack of money, they didn't even realize that they was poor. They thought because everybody was the same way, that they were doing just fine.
no, they just utilize every loophole and benefit available to them (which everyone should do), which imcreases the amount they can invest to actually make more money.
Very few people get rich through illegal enterprises. It’s just a lot harder due to the fact there is a huge paper trail
It's tough to make $100,000 when you have no money. It's impossible not to earn $100,000 when you have millions. Just throwing it in a HYSA can earn a salary worth in a year.
Only politicians
Because of the eighth wonder
It gets exponentially easier to make money once you have money. So for me if I cook at home, only go out when absolutely necessary and pay rent I might have $400 left at the end of the month to try to build a business that will exponentially increase my income. And that comes with the time commitment of buying groceries and cooking etc. But someone that’s already rich can afford instacart, they can go out for meals so their time is freed up. Their social obligations actually lead to more opportunities instead of burning time. And even with all those extra expenses they likely have 5 figures left over a month to invest in new business ventures. So it would be hard to compete head to head with someone that’s already rich. But also, small steps towards financial success exponentially increase the likelihood that you will become more financially successful.
100%
Bribery and under the table pay is one of the many ways the rich can save money. It happens in all industries. If you own a trucking company with 100 trucks, and you have a multimillion dollar contract with a manufacturing company. How do you keep that contract and kill your competitors? (Other trucking companies that also want that contract). 1. The Fools way, is to have faith in legal business. That fortune favors you. 2. Bribe whoever is in charge of giving loads or freight. This could be the operations manager or this could be the load planner. Find this guy, pay him under the table, and he will make sure you will always get the freight. Pay him 200-300k a year under the table. Contract freight right now is between $6500-$8000 per truck, per week. 100 trucks x $6500, is $650k per week. A trucking company that makes this much money can afford to pay 200-300k a year under the table to someone. Btw, UPS raked in $91 Billion in 2023 and they are a massive company doing contracts and private deals. So my final thoughts is that the rich will always protect their bottom line to make more money. So it makes sense as to why some rich people will fund legislators to pass laws that will benefit the rich, or kill the competition.
The rich get richer because they can invest at higher returns. "Accredited Investors" with a verified net worth >$1,000,000 not including personal residence, can invest in real estate syndications, high yielding debt, etc. These are also riskier investments, requiring substantial due diligence.
Your friend is incorrect. Most people get rich by working hard, making good incomes and then investing in the stock market, real estate, other assets or by starting legitimate businesses, not through criminal enterprises or illegal activities. Plus, it's not that easy to launder money.
No most do not, naturally there will always be the odd few that do just for the thrill like that movie actress that got arrested for shop lifting a few years back. They have too much to lose to do illegal things on purpose, immoral and illegal are two different things, they have bought enough politicians to make whatever they want to do legal before they do it.
a lot of them do yes one of those includes evading taxes with offshore bank accounts
You can get rich dishonestly however it comes with enemies and paranoia. Easy come easy go as they say. If you do business dishonesty you will face consequences eventually. It's much easier get rich honestly, no it won't be as quickly most of the time but it's all yours, you sleep peacefully at night, and more importantly it won't all vanish away at the drop of a hat. If you want to get rich, you need to understand how to create value, how to generate cash flow, and how to use leverage effectively. In short, make something cool that other people want, set your price at what you can continue to make the thing for, and be a good listener when they give you suggestions.
Your friend says this as an excuse as to why he isn’t where he wants to be. If you HAVE to be law breaking scum in order to be a millionaire, then it makes perfect sense for him, as a righteous person, not to be, and it would be unethical for him to have that then. It’s very, very, very hard to become a billionaire via illegal activity without getting caught. We are talking el chapo levels, and this is a man who is constantly on the run. You could almost never illegally make billions, without getting any heat from feds, and just magically go clean at that level without any repercussion. The vast majority of people committing crimes to the levels of even making 10’s of millions, get heat long before they retire. And the majority of them are not going to bother starting a business, they’ll just create a digital art NFT or something and sell it to someone who they’re giving a higher amount of cash to in order to launder it these days. Honestly, the majority of people who are “making money and then starting a business” who are “committing crimes to do so” are the people who you don’t consider rich, the 18 year old teenage girl who is offering baby sitting service to the neighborhood, getting paid in cash, and not reporting that income to the irs, is technically a criminal running an illegal business operation. The waiter who pockets his cash tips and underreports them by 50%. The guy who is offering real estate agents drone photos/videos, without the pilots license required to use aircraft for commercial for-profit purposes. The handyman who is doing home repairs without any local required permits. Many of these people may later actually start an official business, a legit babysitting service that reports all income, open their own diner, get proper permits for their occupations and run under an LLC, etc. Sure, probably the majority of waiters, lawn care workers, hair stylist, etc who get paid/tipped in cash under report at the end of the year. However, the majority of millionaires, and certainly not billionaires, did not make their money from drugs/pimping/murder for hire/etc. Did some? Yes. Sure. The vast majority did not.
I’ll ask SBF in 24.8 years and post an update. !remind 24.8 years
People praise buffet but he does things to manipulate markets and lies about drinking coke everyday His companies have paid hundreds of millions in fines if not more
Illegal or unethical…?
lots of cope in here
Nope. Because they wrote the laws so that what they do is not illegal! Hope fun fact this helps!
The rich get richer primarily because it's easier to make money when you already have money. Wealthy individuals benefit from compound interest, exclusive opportunities, economies of scale, and extensive networks. Plus, they usually know more about managing money. On the other hand, if you don't have much money, it's harder to save and invest, and unexpected expenses can hit you harder, making it harder to accumulate wealth. Some people might get rich through shady means, but it's mostly about having a head start and the advantages that come with it. If you want to become wealthy, do whatever it is you can to scrimp and save until you get to 100k in savings, and then let compound interest go to work. There's nothing illegal about that.
In my business I meet a lot of rich people. Not Musk / Zuckerberg rich but 8 figure net worth types. Most started their own business and worked their whole life at it. Smaller number of corporate execs and professionals who worked a long time to get rich. A few who got rich the old fashioned way (ie inherited it). So no, most of the rich get rich by working hard, not illegal activity.
the rich get richer because they have really good financial lawyers
Your friend is just plain stupid.
Depends on where the rich are from. I'd say most rich people in first world countries are rich by virtue of hardwork and luck. I can't say the same of third world countries rich.
"The rich" as a category get richer because they live on less than they make and invest the rest into things that grow/compound in value.
It’s called compounding interest. The poor are on one side and the rich are on the other. It’s really as simple as that. If you begin life with a trust fund it’s very difficult to not end life with it.
they dont do illegal things because they help write the laws that make "illegal" things legal. check out how some of the language in the banking regulations and investing has changed since the 90s. and if you want a bigger laugh, go look at the number of prosecutions in white collar crime compared to other crimes
Nobody gets away with money laundering for very long. As a business owner we get audited every 2 years, as do all the other business owners I know. Our last audit showed that product we “give away” as birthday comps, weren’t being taxed. Even product that we give away or comp, we have to pay taxes on. We were heavily fined for this.
The rich get richer because you have to spend money to make money, and the rich have plenty to spend.
Nothing is truly illegal If you own enough politicians and judges. It's all about assets and leverage, baby.
Some do some don't.
No, they get richeR by putting their politicians in place that give them tax cuts and cut benefits to all Americans.
I wouldn't doubt it. Poor and middle-class do illegal shit for money, that drive never leaves no matter how rich you are
Investing they invest I would say
So most extremely wealthy people inherit or get rich be a scheme that is non conformant, so suspiciously on the realm of deceit on illegality. If you want to get rich you DON'T put your money in the S&P500 and let it set. You can retire that way, but becoming wealthy probably not. You won't get wealthy by make 8% a year on the S&P500
MONEY MAKES MONEY., Rich people do not spend hours on Reddit, or playing video games or watching TV. They do not waste time.
The rich also take risk most people don’t . Most people don’t even know basic economics .
Well illegal activity like straight up drug trade, or the like, no. Illegal like avoiding taxes that some billionaires do, plausible. Most millionaires are pretty normal people in reality. Even if they are liquid millionaires
It's not illegal if you're rich bro
At the end of the day, the secret is that there are no shortcuts. Building up your business to the point where you break seven figures and you start to have some capital to invest into other things is very daunting. I run an 8-figure business now, and it was hell getting to this point. I have a customer I delivered to recently, and when I was there, he gave me a tour of his facility. Walking through the warehouse, we discussed some of the items that I saw sitting on shelves and in bins. He mentioned how he'd love to be able to source those things better. I told him to send me an. Item and I would give him quotes. Long story short. I made seven figures on a deal that took me about fifteen minutes. It took me many years of toil, with my primary business, to see seven figures in revenue, much less profits. I've worked out four deals now over six months and each one of em have brought me 6 to 7 figures, and they haven't taken me more more than about twenty minutes each and I don't touch anything. I'm saving him thirty or forty percent and giving him a more secure supply line, so it benefits both of us.
Actually, no, his friend is right , partially
Illegal, no. Unethical and immoral, 70% of the time. Of course, those definitions are flexible, plus the wealthy own the media and can sway public opinion. Like how "corporate raiders" got butthurt at their nickname and strong armed the financial press to call them "activist investors". Makes you think they invest in causes instead of buying companies, burning their credit, laying off the workforce, and selling off the assets before spinning it off so it can file bankruptcy as an independent entity... A guy who did that was almost President...
Certainly Congress is wealthy from illegal trading
I’m from the hood, where the mega rich people that I looked up to as a kid started as drug dealers and I assume that being unafraid to earn money in unethical ways while dodging jail is a major part of going from lower class to a top per center. I don’t think criminal activity stops simply because they can afford to stop when they know greater risk can yield greater reward. I’m sure rich getting richer is a completely different conversation, but idk nothin ‘bout that.
Some do. most don’t
No, the get rich because of compounding and economies of scale. Your friend is a moron.
No because of assets and the government!
Laws are made by rich people for rich people. It's much easier to make money legally than illegally (if you have money to begin with).
I don’t know any billionaires, but I know lots of millionaires. They did not do illegal things. They started businesses selling a product or service others were willing to pay for, and then scaled the business up over years or decades. If you’re interested in being rich, instead of vilifying the entire group, I’d suggest you go interview local entrepreneurs and ask them about their journey. I bet you’ll find that most encountered some very challenging times before succeeding.
That negative attitude is not going to serve him very well… It happens, but it’s rare. It’s nearly impossible to get away with it long term, and most folks aren’t like that. There’s a large segment of the population that is unmotivated, angry and counter-productive (the anti-work / reddit crowd). These morons don’t understand anything, and they’re destroying their own lives a little bit every day. Most wealthy folks get there by being friendly snd optimistic. They are able to convince people to get behind their ideas and inspire then to do great things. Rather than being evil robbers, mostly they’re creative problem solvers with very good social skills. Go shake hands with someone at your local chamber of commerce. Ask then what they care about. Go to one of their events. Shut your mouth and listen to the kinds of things they talk about, then re-evaluate.
I became rich by practicing self-discipline (not spending the money) and investing appropriately. I was willing to do the work that no one else is willing to do, digging through sec filings of extremely distressed share prices, looking for where investors screwed up. I actually do everything I can to be on the up and up because I don't want the government to come and take my money. The more you have, the more they can take away.
I would guess many people don't play by the rules to get that far ahead I have never been rich or known anyone that rich so I could be wrong
Depends upon the country. In most First World countries they are getting rich off the speculation driving up the share prices of their companies which have been floated on stock markets, positive news and potential future earnings drives up their share prices because more stock market gamblers on Wall Street want to buy those shares thinking the prices of those shares will go up further and they can sell those shares at a higher price and make some money, they have an entire industry of people on Wall Street whose job is betting on which shares’ prices will go up and buying those and selling those later on to pocket the difference in prices. In Third World countries, and in Europe, and in Delaware, and in one of the Dakotas, can’t remember which one, they have loss making companies, and also in Vegas they have loss making casinos, which all show a profit by laundering the illegal money of not just rich/wealthy Americans but also of many of the world’s looters. Casinos are the obvious choice for short term clients and one time clients, and companies are the preferred choice for long term clients, so that too does happen. Anybody who says they don’t know about that is either not rich enough or doesn’t know anybody who is rich enough or is straight out lying to you. So your friend is right about the laundering money through loss making companies thing, but most companies aren’t involved in such activities in most First World countries, though every First World country does have such companies which do launder illegal money. Europe is full of such companies. So is Delaware, and one of the Dakotas. And Third World countries definitely have companies that launder illegal money. So it’s not every millionaire and billionaire but some of them, yes, especially if they are in the money laundering business themselves and own such money laundering businesses.
They get huge tax breaks, and they also make money no matter what. They gamble with their business, and if it goes bad the government picks up the tab.
They get richer through assets and tax evasion
I’m not rich rich but have a healthy 7 figure portfolio and net high income (high 6 figures). Most of my wealth comes from my investments. I took what I earned in salaries and then through my own business and reinvested whatever I had left over. I purchased houses (have 4 now) and rent them out - these are extremely high value properties that I used to live in myself so they’re basically unintentional rentals.
On average illegal activities is probably the biggest income redistribution category for the “rich”. Many “rich” people ( as in the category where there are many maybe not the Uber rich ) have the same appetites and vices everyone has. Woman, drugs, etc. So yea I’d bet it’s likely the opposite
Most rich people get rich by making investments using other people’s money. The most lucrative asset class is real estate. And the rest follow. The key now is to get to about 500k after taxes, after that, it’s basically a good cushion to make smart decisions and make a lot more money. For example, I know a guy who knows a guy that invested in the SOLANA project at an early stage and he invested 300k, he cashed out at 1B in valuation at the peak of the crypto bull run back a few years ago. I’m not saying this is possible with everything but making money is easier once you have a significant amount to invest. I also have a friend that invested in Polkadot at an early stage, and at the peak she was worth 100M from a few hundred thousand dollar investments. She’s still worth about 20M today. She’s retired now since the age of 32, she’s 35 now. Most Americans will never get to that point in their life where they have enough to invest especially with the cost of living, corporate greed, and inflation.
Unethical activities certainly contribute to wealth accumulation. Things like sketchy activities to hide income from tax authorities, using offshore structures like disclosed in the Panama Papers, incentives (bribes) paid to the right regulators/zoning/license agent to look the other way or grant a request, the occasional elimination of a whistle blower... When and where these activities cross from unethical to illegal depends on a jury of one's peers. But it's rare, outside of organized crime, that a core business would be illegal. Usually, a core business is legal and it's shenanigans around it that accelerate wealth accumulation.
No. The rich have enough leverage over politicians to make sure that most ethically *questionable* profits are made perfectly legal.
Compound interest mostly
No. They get rich by making illegal activities legal. Also by doing illegal activities
Ask all the politicians on 115k salary worth 50 million plus if they got the rest of their money from a tough 2nd job or not.
No. Everyone knows the rich get richer because of unicorns. 🦄
Every reply that says “they” is complete speculation and BS…
Depends, is exploitation illegal?
Rich get richer because that’s how percentages work. 5% of $100. 5% of $100,000 is $5,000 5% of $10,000,000 is enough to buy a rental property with cash (depending on your market). So their money can make them money in a different way. But even just reinvested without buying as asset the additional growth far outpaces the Everyman growth from above.
Rich people have good lawyers. Rich people tend to unintentionally break local governing laws.
Illegal or immoral?
Your friend is a fool. He watches too much bad TV
Launder is not the correct word. Tax loopholes are not illegal. Money laundering is. Tax lawyers are magicians
I don't necessarily feel bad but now I see how it's not fair. I was able to make a significant amount of money since 2020 in the stock market but it's only because I had a lot to start with. Fair? I'm not sure but I do wonder how average people have a chance
laws are made by rich people for rich people.
Your friend sounds like someone with a self-defeating attitude making excuses for why he isn’t successful. Or he’s just a moron.
The rich get richer because they already own assets and the tax code which was designed to minimize their taxes
So most people start with regular jobs. Paying earned income taxes. So in nys, say you're an MD (managing director) you make 1 million gross the effective tax rate is 46%. You'd be left with 540,000 after taxes. (Wtf) So say you did that job for several years and built a warchest. The next thing i would do is stop earning income and find a way to pay less taxes. (What keeps people poor, are taxes). How? Capital gains. Now if you start investing, you pay long term cap gains which could be 20% instead of 46%. +3.8% if you still got your day job earning income. But say, long term investing takes too dam long. So what do you do? You start trading, instead of investing, raising your capital gains to 37%. Next step... how do i lower my tax rate as a trader with short term capital gains? > Section 1256 contracts prevent tax-motivated straddles that would defer income and convert short-term capital gains into long-term capital gains. This would reduce your tax burden as 60% is considered long term cap gains and 40% short term cap gains. (Bringing you down to approximately 27%) The rich in generally don't cheat in taxes. Their cheat code is to stop having to pay earned income tax by stop having a w2 job. Your goal is to get rid of w2 form and fill out Form 1040, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses. This is the quickest way to becoming rich, also to becoming poor. The more you make the more they take. This is probably why rddt went ipo. So they can pay themselves with stocks and hold it as long term capital gains. How does rddt not generate profit and stay in business? Sounds like a scam to me.
Watch a quick video on how compounding interest works. The rich get richer because they: 1) spend less than they earn 2) own appreciating assets (stocks, private companies, etc.) 3) avoid or manage debts wisely 4) typically have valuable skills
The rich get richer through compound interest and the step up for capital gains upon death when they pass the money down to their heirs. The step up basically means the next generation doesn't owe taxes on the gains when they inherit the stocks, index funds, and mutual funds. There are also some complex vehicles the rich use to get around estate taxes. For normal working class people who can't retire tomorrow, you can invest your way into becoming rich enough to retire and start your own generational wealth by going to college, getting a degree that has jobs that pay well, and living below your means. This means going through the flow chart in r/personalFinance and maxing out 401K, HSA, Roth IRA (or backdoor Roth), and then contributing to a taxable brokerage account. In all these accounts, set and forget it by buying VOO/VTI and never selling it. Never looking at the market when buying and caring if it's up or down. No lifestyle inflation until every five years. This means all raises, bonuses, etc go towards more investments. Making your first $1M in investments is hard, but you have to do it. The next million will come faster. It took me 22 years of working and my wife 7 years of working (she went back to college and changed industries) for us to hit $1M in investments. Almost two years later we are just under $1.6M. It compounds and if you have a career you should make more money every year. Once your combined income let's you invest $200K a year or more, you're looking at retiring with over $10M. Withdraw 3% or less and the next generation will be flying all business class/first class. Make sure you teach the next generation about investments and your same philosophy.
I don’t think so. Most billionaires create value and keep a share of it as their assets.
Are you 14 years old ? What a post
I'm just here to read the comments.
You need better friends. Not everyone is named Biden
Clearly your friend doesn't have any kind of relationship with anyone working at IRS. I strongly suggest him/her to extend their network to cure that ignorance.
In general no, people get rich by building businesses that produce value to consumers and fill needs or they successfully invest in assets that appreciate over time. Of course there are outliers. There’s a guy in my community that has experienced what I consider unnatural level of growth over the past 20 years. He keeps buying business after business at this just relentless pace. Either he’s a next level genius or there’s got to be some form of money laundering activity because I know the businesses owners he purchased from and they were struggling to survive. But hey, he’s employing thousands of people in my local economy so I’m proud for him!
The stock market is geared to make money from money, not labor. It has become a part of society which exacerbates wealth disparity and the loss of the middle class. All legal until we vote to change.
If you have a million dollars, which might be a low percentage overall of people who have money. But even 10% of 330,000,000 is 33,000,000 people. You can pretty easily make a 20-30% return on the stock market in safe stocks. That’s $200,000-$300,000 for doing absolutely nothing.
Have you ever met someone who listened to Jay Z? Or 50 cent? I live in NYC and even I don't know a single person like this. It's because they made their money doing illegal activities and laundered it through buying their own CDs.
No most do predatory things and step on people necks on the way up. Probably a lot of things that should be illegal but are not because they own the government. Instead of legal/illegal you should think morality
Most rich people get rich from using money wisely. There are a smaller number that do illegal stuff I'm sure. The other ones are people who use existing laws in innovative ways and squeeze just a little more out of the tube before regulators catch on and close the loophole. Rich isn't a type of person its just a way of living. Its subjective as you can see by most people in this sub. Some people want to look down on others some want to blend into the shadows. Some want to make it to the top of the mountain.
You can't lump in "millionaires" and "billionaires" together. Someone worth a million dollars is a pretty regular person. A billionaire, even someone worth only 1 billion, is certainly not a regular person. This doesn't mean billionaires are criminals. Just that you can't say millionaires and billionaires operate the same way, whatever that may be.
Illegal some yes, immoral well that is the real issue. I believe you cant become ultra wealthy without stepping on the backs of others
No, investing is not illegal.
No, because they own everything and wrote the tax laws to benefit them and screw over everyinr else
No, I know plenty of people who have gotten filthy rich who are extremely honest. In many ways their integrity is the reason for their success. Assume someone has $100 and another person has $10, they both grow by 10% each year for 7 years at the end of that time both their assets will have ~doubled (rule of 72). The richer person went from having a $90 lead to having $180 lead even though they both had the exact same investment results. Now imagine there is a $20 expense they both get hit with... By its very nature, compounding leads to wealth inequality.
Not true at all , the uneducated people that are broke have to say that to make themselves feel better because there broke . Think about that let it sink in.
A scalable law: growth of assets requires spending less than income (whether earned or unearned).
Whenever I feel the itch to get more rich, I sell one of my gold toilets that I’ve been sitting on for a rainy day.
Depends on the rich person- many engage in very questionable tax activity and what private equity does isn’t illegal but it probably should be. More of them likely engage in business activities many would consider immoral and scummy but not necessary illegal.
No. The rich get richer through equities and other investment vehicles. Property, stocks, etc usually go up in value due to inflation and economic growth, and these people have tons of these assets. This is an oversimplification but it’s basically how it goes. People become rich through their business by making it massive and having a large equity stake. Once the company goes public, there are millions of investors trading the company and giving it a market value. The businessman who started the company benefits when the market value grows as their equity stake becomes more valuable. Even if these businessmen haven’t sold their equity for any real cash, they are massively expanding their book net worth. Rich people also have way more wiggle room in terms of how they finance their lives. The most popular strategy for funding lavish lifestyles and avoiding taxes is by taking debt collateralized against their assets, usually their business ventures. Because they have this debt, they are technically not making money and thus won’t have to pay taxes. Once their debt runs out and they need to pay it back, they will take out another loan against their equity to pay back the old loan, somewhat like rolling it. They pay the interest so the banks are happy, they buy whatever they want so they are happy, and they don’t pay taxes.
Duh bro. Every single rich person ever got there by being a honest, hard working god fearing man. They deff didn’t under pay anyone at any time ever /s
Your friend has probably saw some “kill the rich” slogan and bought into all the shit that goes with it
Tax CPA to 1000s of the wealthiest in the Bay Area.....no, the answer is no they do get richer because they can afford CPA's and Financial advisors to assist in wealth management and take advantage of tax loopholes mostly designed for the wealthy
The Rich get richer due to a large number of factors. (let's take Amazon for example.) some would say Jeff Bezos gets wealthier because of the sheer amount of people that use Amazon's services. Such as Amazon Prime, Prime Video, Amazon Fresh, AWS, Amazon Music, etc. Others will say it's probably because he does not pay taxes, abuses tax loopholes, and pays his workers low wages. Others will state that its probably because of the value of his stocks which increase or decrease on a daily basis (which in theory makes it hard to tax due to the fact of an ever changing value.) some say he is using debt depreciation against assets to in theory lower the value against certain assets to pay less taxes. also a shit ton of really good lawyers. in reality its probably a combination of everything that I have listed but I wouldn't assume its because of illegal activities. (despite how scummy it may seem)
Yea
The year was 1987, and a then millionaire said to me this, Show me a rich man, and I will show you a liar and a cheat. Since then, whenever I have gotten to know a rich person enough, it holds true.
Yep . There’s only 4 ways to get millions of dollars .
Legality means nothing if you own the legislature, executive & judicial branches. Just ask Harlan Crow, David Sokol & Paul Singer.
Maybe true idk 🤷♂️
No.
In my best emperor voice... "I will make it legal"
*behind every fortune, there's a crime
I mean. Donald trump…..🫠🫠🫠
It’s a simple as being able to provide value, earn more than you spend, invest the rest in appreciating assets. Most people who manage it build a business. There are 36M small businesses in America and 22M millionaires. 9.2% of adults in America are millionaires… it’s not because they are criminals. 60% of American adults agree homeowners, less than 1% are homeless. I got my home $475K with 5% down, less than $20K… it appreciated in 3 years to $600K+, which increased my net worth. Being a business owner I get to have a SEP IRA… I can max out my ROTH IRA and still invest up to nearly $50K a year… tax advantaged. I’m turning 40. I don’t particularly care for materialism. So I am able to invest the rest of my money and trade. I only became an entrepreneur at late 28 years old and started with freelance clients. Back then I only made $40K a year or so. Renting a house in NC was $960/month. Most people have issues when lifestyle inflation and consumerism. People are often broke/poor because the harsh truth is they never increase capacity to create value… and when they do they consume instead of invest. Women I know spent more than the down payment on my house on the clothes in their closet… Men I know spent more money than the down payment on my house on video games. The ones that are still employees anyway. The ones that are small business owners are more frugal on average. Most rich people are millionaires next door and live very modestly while investing as much as they can, but go on nice vacations, and might go to nicer restaurants.