How to Get Rich… in 10 Minutes

Andy Snyder|August 13, 2020

It’s easy to hate the rich. They can afford things others can’t. Better clothes. Better food. Better healthcare.

All because they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth…

Right?

Actually, no. The percentage of wealth that is inherited is actually quite low.

Ordinary folks become millionaires every day, either through savvy business dealings or – gasp! – the stock market.

In fact, 70% of the folks who make up the Forbes 400 are self-made.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t fit into the current narrative that capitalism is a rigged system. It’s better, say the folks in charge, if you lean back and let the government handle things for you.

And while few people realize it… there’s powerful psychology at play here.

It turns out our attitude toward wealth and the wealthy is a big determinant in our ability to generate income.

The very act of hating the rich can keep you from becoming rich.

Who Needs Hard Work?

That’s the conclusion of Dr. Brad Klontz, a financial psychologist and fellow of the American Psychological Association.

In 2015, Klontz helped pen a study on the subject, titled “The Wealthy: A Financial Psychological Profile.” What he found was what you’d probably expect.

According to his report:

Research has noted some differences between higher income individuals and lower income individuals on a number of psychological variables…

Whether deserved or not, research has supported the notion that negative beliefs about money and wealthier individuals are associated with lower income, lower net worth, and a host of financially self-destructive behaviors.

In other words, hating the rich is a self-limiting exercise.

It only keeps you from achieving your own success.

Klontz focused on three psychological constructs to make his case:

• Money Ambivalence and Cognitive Dissonance. People who are “anti-rich” tend to have a love-hate relationship with money. They simultaneously believe that more money can make them happier… and that they can never have enough. This can be the root cause of many self-destructive financial behaviors, including “the tendency of investors to irrationally hold on to losing investments.”
• Envy. This one’s pretty straightforward. When you feel “inferiority, hostility and resentment” toward someone else because they have more than you, it can play tricks on your brain. You spend more energy on being angry than, say, working hard or learning to invest wisely.
• Relative Deprivation. The idea is that “an individual’s level of satisfaction is not based on their objective realities but on their life circumstances relative to the experiences of those around them.” According to Klontz, people who feel this way tend to prefer smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. Delayed gratification – an indispensable habit of successful investors – is totally lost here.

More Money, More Liberty

Every election season, we hear angry rhetoric about income inequality and corruption on Wall Street.

You won’t hear a peep about how a mere 57% of adults are able to pass a basic personal finance exam… or how Washington wants to fix it.

It’s far easier to rage against the 1%.

We often write here about the liberating nature of wealth. The idea is simple: More money means more freedom to do the things that fulfill us.

It’s a universal concept.

We all yearn for more freedom.

The stock market is a proven means of getting you there. Make the right moves and you can lead a life most folks can only dream about.

But you won’t get there with zero effort… i.e., you need to make some moves.

Fortunately, it’s really easy to invest these days.

Right now the average American is being duped. They’ve been led to believe that stocks are locked away in some cabinet that they can’t reach… that it’s difficult to trade… or that you need a lot of money to do it.

Yet you can buy shares of Ford for less than you’d pay for lunch at a cheap diner.

Literally anyone, rich or poor, can sign up for a trading account – for free, even! – and start investing for the future.

You can be up and running in 10 minutes…

Or you can keep sharpening that pitchfork.

The research is clear. Don’t hate the rich.

If you do… you will never join them.

Have your views on money and wealth changed or evolved over time? Tell us about it at mailbag@manwardpress.com.