Here's something I pulled together for my staff to discuss a few months ago, and it's worth revisiting for my perspective.
For Discussion: Rich V Poor
Our clients are often affluent ($150,000-plus household) and they often sell to or partner with affluent constituencies. The more we focus on the Fortune 500, the more we will run into the affluent. And, since people like working with those who think like them, the following perspectives and demographics can help us better orient ourselves to this market:
Perspectives:
Several popular speakers and authors have outlined differences between the so-called rich, compared with the middle-class and poor. Interestingly, the similarities between the middle-class and the poor are quite pronounced. The rich, however, have an entirely different “operating system”
Please note – I’ve tried to do the best I can in selecting content that resonates with my own experiences and observations – meaning, as an anecdote, it has some truth to it. Much of the information below will come across as “classist” and some of the tone – reflected in copy points pulled from a myriad of credible and popular publications – may come across as biased. I’ve tried to balance that out without mitigating the primary focus of the content. Some of this content is rhetoric and a bit hard to take, but I think this will serve as a very important discussion topic about our individual motivations and perspectives.
As executives, we’ve agreed to think strategically and be responsible for end-outcomes. Yet our tactical histories and personal experiences may foster a limiting mind-set – one that is short-sighted and problem-focused. Perhaps there is a reason why the words “rich” and “executive” often go together. In my research of both perspectives, there are many similarities.
Seven Ways The Rich Differ from the Poor and Middle Class
1. Rich people believe that they create their lives while others believe that life happens to them.
a. They approach decision-making as if they are the ones who is responsible for their lives; they are the ones who is creating their future, not the economy, or others, or luck.
b. On the other hand, poor and middle-class people often rely on excuses and blame on the circumstances. When they failed, they will blame the economy, their boss, their family or anything that did not go according to their wishes.
2. Rich people think and focus on opportunities while poor people focus on obstacles. When you face with problems, what are you focusing on?
a. the poor and middle-class often think how bad the situation is going to be. The rich, however, focus on the solution and think about how you can solve or even turn the situation into opportunity?
4. Rich people dare to dream big, poor people think “Why do you need so much money? You can live a very good lifestyle if you got a job that has a good pay. You don’t need to be a millionaire.”
5. Rich people are committed to their dreams, poor people are just dreaming about their dreams. Yes, this is an obvious one. If you’re not committed to be rich, you can never be rich. How many times have you heard people say that they want to be rich, but they never do anything about it?
This is the mentality of poor people. They will just think about how good it is going to be if they are rich, but they will never do anything about their dreams. They know that they cannot afford a luxury car if they have a low pay job. The thing is, they never do anything to change it.
6. Rich people associate with rich and successful people. Poor people will associate with poor people. Do you have any rich friends? Or all of your friends are poor?
I’m not suggesting that you need to stop making friends with poor people, what I’m suggesting it, try to get to know more about rich people. The more you mix with them, the more you will think like them. And if you think like them, you will start to create amazing results just like them.
If most of your friends are poor and their working salary all are below say, $20,000, you will be having the same range of salary most of the time. However, if you associate with rich people who are making $20,000 in just a day, you will start to see the many more possibilities of what you can accomplish.
7. Rich people good learners while poor people think that they have learned everything in the world. One of the fastest ways to be financially abundance is to learn directly from people who have already achieved this status.
And if you’re not willing to learn, you will never be able to be successful. If you want to get the best pay, you must be the best. And the only way you can be the best is to learn from the best and learn to be the best.
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WSJ ArticleBy Robert Frank
Middle-class Americans have always had a conflicted view of the rich. They aspire to wealth, but they often resent the wealthy. And this envy and bitterness seems to have grown in recent years as the economic gap between middle and uppers has widened.
A new Pew Research survey of the middle class, however, sheds some light on the reasons for the divide. (The study was brought to my attention by Andrew Hermann of the Chicago Sun-Times, who wrote a fascinating article on rising wealth.) http://pewsocialtrends.org/2008/04/09/inside-the-middle-class-bad-times-hit-the-good-life/
One finding of the Pew study: Between 1983 and 2004, the median net worth for upper-income families (defined as those who earn 150% of the national median) grew by 123%, while the median net worth for middle-income folks grew 29%.
But the study finds that not just economics but also attitudes may play a strong role in the divide. Specifically, the rich and middle class differ sharply on how the rich are getting rich today. The study found:
· They are split on how the rich got there. Fully 47% of those surveyed say the wealth of the wealthy is mainly the result of having good connections or being born into wealth, while 42% say it’s mainly the result of hard work, ambition and education.
· Those in the upper classes (56%) are more inclined to cite hard work, ambition and education as reasons behind their wealth than are those in the middle (42%) or lower (32%) classes.
· Asked if success in life is determined by forces outside one’s control, the upper class disagreed (69%) more than the middle (62%) or lower (51%) classes.
From www.simplyinvesting.com
Most people will never be rich. Why? Because most people (the middle class) are investing the same way as everyone else, and everyone else is not rich. The middle class are not wealthy, and if you are going to be investing like the middle class then statistically speaking you will never be wealthy. You have to change the way you think and act about investing in order to achieve financial success.
A quick review of some of the wealthiest people in the world will reveal that the most of them did not invest their money like the middle class. A MoneySense magazine article a few years back confirmed that rich people do not buy mutual funds, the majority of them invest on their own.
If you want to be financially free then start to invest like the wealthy. Research their methods and strategies, it's no secret; most of them have written books about how they became wealthy, books like:
- One Up on Wall Street, by Peter Lynch
- The Dividend Connection, by Geraldine Weiss
- The Investment Zoo, by Stephan Jarislowsky
- The New Buffettology, by Mary Buffett
- The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham
- The Dividend Investor, by Harvey Knowles III
Knowledge allows people to succeed, the rest just copy everyone else and hope for the best (or buy lotto tickets). Spending that little extra time (skip TV for one night or two) to gain the investment knowledge will give you the financial freedom you seek sooner than later.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6198665
The following chart is from Chapter Three “Hidden Rules Among Classes” in A Framework: Understanding and Working With Students and Adults from Poverty.
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| Poverty | Middle Class | Wealthy |
| Possessions | People | Things | One of a kind objects |
| Money | To be used, spent | To be managed | To be conserved, invested |
| Food | “Did you have enough?” (Quantity) | “Did you like it?” (Quality) | “Was it presented well” (Presentation) |
| Clothing | Valued for individual style and expression of personality | Valued for quality and acceptance. Label Important. | Valued for artistic sense and expression. Designer important |
| Time | Present most important. Decisions made for moment for survival. | Future important. Decisions made against future ramifications. | Traditions and past important. Decisions made based on decorum. |
| Social Emphasis | Social of inclusion of people they like. | Emphasis on self-governance and self-sufficiency. | Emphasis on social exclusion. |
| Language | Language is about survival. | Language is about negotiation. | Language is about connections. |
| Family Structure | Tends to be matriarchal. | Tends to be patriarchal. | Depends on who has the money. |
| World View | See the world in terms of the local setting. | Sees the world in terms of the national setting. | See the world in terms of an international view. |
| Driving Force | Survival, relationships and entertainment. | Work and achievement | Financial, political, and social connections |
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/17446_Gilbert_Chapter_1.pdf :
1. upper class which defines as those with great deal of power who are prestigious and influential especially on the nation's institutions.
2. The second class system is upper middle class that refers to those who enjoy high job with comfortable personal income. Most of them have received post-secondary degrees and they belong to the white collar professions.
3. Lower middle class is the third system that refers to those with college education who usually suffer from the lack of job security. They don't receive proper income
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/924658
17 ways the rich differ from the poor and middle class:
1. Rich people believe they create their life, poor people believe that life happens to them.
2. Rich people play the money game to win poor people play the money game to lose.
3. Rich people are committed to being rich poor people want to be rich.
4. Rich people think big poor people think small
5. Rich people focus on opportunity poor people focus on obstacles
6. Rich people admire other rich and successful people, poor people resent successful rich people.
7. Rich people associated with positive successful people poor people associate with negative people.
8. Rich people are willing to promote themselves and their values poor people don't.
9. Rich people are bigger than their problems poor people are smaller than their problems.
10. Rich people are excellent receivers poor people are poor receivers.
11. Rich people choose to get paid based on results poor people chose to get paid based on time.
12. Rich people think both poor people think either or.
13. Rich people focus on their net worth, poor people focus on their working income.
14. Rich people manage their money well; poor people mismanage their money well.
15. Rich people have their money work hard for them; poor people work hard for their money.
16. Rich people act in spite of fear, poor people let fear stop them.
17. Rich people constantly learn and grow; poor people think they know it all.
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From another “Seven Differences” article…
No. 5: Watch Small Expenses
Warren Buffett invests in businesses run by managers who obsess over the tiniest costs. He once acquired a company whose owner counted the sheets in rolls of 500-sheet toilet paper to see if he was being cheated (he was). He also admired a friend who painted only the side of his office building that faced the road.
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