Get rich by 35, or else

[kevm14]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingan ... ?ocid=iehp

So encouraging.

[kevm14]

The foundation of this discussion sort of trickles down to whether you are fiscally conservative or liberal.

So many ways to interpret this data. Sounds like they are saying the rich get richer because they are rich. The more wealth you have, the more wealth you will get. Perhaps it's not the resulting wealth that causes such a huge income growth (after all, your income must grow at a 9% rate compounded each year to hit the reported growth over a career), but the drive, attitude, determination and brains that allows the highest earners to continue to grow their earning power over the course of their lives. Perhaps it is simply risk? If you become an electrician (a very honorable job, by the way), your income will cap out eventually. If you become an electrician and start your own company, your income cap is only limited by the size to which you choose to grow your business. You could stay local and make decent money, or you could start a state wide or even national company with employees everywhere, in effect making your income skyrocket as your business grows. Since this study is about earning potential, I assume it is taking out of consideration net worth and focusing just on earnings. I suspect the majority of the "rich" went to school for 8 years after college or started their own companies. That is the only way to make that kind of money. Either that or invent the snuggie.

We talk about the super rich, and the 1%, and so on. But it is interesting that 20% of US households have a mean income of $226,200 or higher, and a household net worth of $2M or higher. 20%. That is a LOT of people. Having a 2 earner household where both people are in, for example, engineering, could easily produce this income level.

Source: http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

[bill25]

Well, I have 2 years, and a LOT of work to do...

[kevm14]

I heard another statistic that said there are like 8 million households with an annual income of at least $1M. 8 million. That's the top 2.5%. But 8 million is a lot of people, isn't it? Seems like you have a much, MUCH higher chance of being in that group of 8 million than you do willing any kind of lottery.

[bill25]

I am in the wrong business. What do these people do?

[kevm14]

I don't know but I would suspect that the vast majority work for a living. Or business owners.

I don't think there are 8 million CEOs in the US.

[bill25]

I think you are right with the business owner part. I don't think there are that many CEOs and a salary of 1 million dollars doesn't exist.

I also don't see a dual income of 500K each either.

[Bob]

I have to believe that a good portion of the $1M+ earners are relying on a significant amount of passive income to hit the $1M mark. I also think business owners make up a significant portion of this group. There simply aren't many traditional jobs that pay that kind of money.

[Bob]

http://taxfoundation.org/article/who-ar ... llionaires

The most interesting slide here is the one about how millionaire status is fleeting. I think this breaks down the perception that it's the same people who are continually sitting at the top of the earning pyramid. While I suspect this is still true for the very top of the pyramid, it is interesting to see how fluid things are at $1M level.