Stop me if you’ve heard this before, “Millionaires inherit their wealth.”
A Dave Ramsey study found that over 75% of millennials believe that millionaires inherited their wealth rather than worked for it.
Not only is that assumption wrong (and the numbers prove it), but it’s also part of a losing mindset.
If you believe most millionaires inherit their wealth, you also believe getting rich is about luck rather than choices and hard work.
I stumbled on an article in Newsweek the other day titled “Today’s Millionaires Are Young and Self-Made.”
Naturally, I was intrigued.
The article proved that millionaires today look “substantially different” from those of yesteryear.
Key takeaways:
- Just over 12 percent of American families, roughly 16 million, have more than $1 million in wealth
- College was a top predictor of future millionaire status, disproving the typical college dropout millionaire myth
- Investments, college degrees, and upward career mobility are key factors in driving wealth increases for most families
- The surge of wealth is not predicated by a transfer of wealth from family members
Once again, this helps prove a couple of different crucial facts:
Fact #1: The majority of millionaires don’t inherit their wealth, which confirms what study after study has found to be true, and
Fact #2: College, while expensive, is still a heavy predictor of success
Just going to college boosts your chances of making money.
For you chart lovers, here’s one from the Public Policy Institute of California.
The chart clearly proves those with a college degree earn more money.
It’s tempting to believe what all the “cool kids” spout these days, that millionaires lucked into their wealth and college is a scam.
But the cool kids have no interest in facts, only what will get them attention on social media.
They are willfully believing in lies.
But because you’re a subscriber of Millionaire Habits, you’re smarter than they are. Because you prefer evidence over what’s trending.
The next time you hear someone claim millionaires inherit their wealth or simply lucked into it or that college is a scam, you’ll know it’s a lie.
And the numbers prove it.
– Steve
