What Does It Mean To Be Wealthy?
By Robert Kiyosaki Last updated:June 08, 2020
Wealthy or rich, it's your choice.
How much money would it take for you to feel rich?
Investment firm, Charles Schwab asked 1,000 Americans that very question. The answer? $2.4 million.
There some interesting findings in the survey about what being rich meant for people.
Spending time with family (62 percent)
Having time to myself (55 percent)
Owning a home (49 percent)
Eating out or having meals delivered (41 percent)
Subscription services like movie/TV and music streaming (33 percent)
Other things that make people feel rich in their daily lives include owning the latest tech gadgets (27 percent), having a gym membership or personal trainer (17 percent), and using a home cleaning service (12 percent).
And almost half of those surveyed felt that saving money and investing was the way to achieve their definition of rich.
The difference between rich and wealthy
When I was a young boy, my rich dad told me about the difference between being rich and being wealthy.
“Many people think that being rich and being wealthy are the same thing,” said rich dad. “But there is a difference between the two: The rich have lots of money but the wealthy don’t worry about money.”
Almost Half Of People Surveyed Feel That Saving Money And Investing Was The Way To Achieve Their Definition Of Rich.
What rich dad meant was that while being rich might mean you have lots of money, you also might have lots of expenses that keep you up at night. These could be expenses like your mortgage, your car payment, credit cards, private school tuitions, and more. In short if you’re rich, you’re often trying to keep up with the Rat Race. (The Rat Race is a horrible place to be, which is why my board game, CASHFLOW® is designed to help you get out of it).
Often if you’re rich, you have a high paying job to pay for the Rat Race, and you have to get up to work every day. You probably also have a fear of getting fired or laid off. What would happen if you didn’t have your job and your salary? That’s often a scary proposition of rich people.
This is why I find interesting what the people surveyed by Charles Schwab consider being rich. With the exception of the first two, which had to do with more free time, they were about liabilities like eating out, subscription services, and gadgets. Truly the worries of those in the Rat Race.
This signals that most people do not understand what it means to be truly wealthy. In fact, most people are confusing wealthy with being rich, that is with having lots of money to spend but no real financial independence.
Being wealthy means you don’t have these worries. Why? What’s the difference?
The definition of being wealthy
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