KrantCents

Making Sense of Money

Old Guys Win!

Old Guys Win!

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Most of the richest people on the Forbes 400 are over 65 years old!  Yea, old guys win!   Some of the Forbes 400 inherited their money such as the Waltons (Walmart), others made their money early such as Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook), Sergey Brin, Larry Page (Google) or Bill Gates (Microsoft).  Dietrich Mateschitz founded Red Bull in his late 40’s and was a billionaire at 59 years old. 

Interesting Statistics

Here are a few statistics you may be interested in:  Average net worth of the Forbes 400 is $3.17 billion, only 274 were self-made, 74 inherited their entire fortune, 52 inherited some portion of their fortune, only 42 are women, and 83 live in California.  There only eight (8) billionaires below the age of forty years old.  Why is all this relevant?  There are very few people on this exclusive list and you probably won’t make it in the foreseeable future.

Technology and the internet are the best way to become rich.  Some of the other industries represented include finance, sports, or hedge fund managers where age matters less.  Maybe one of the most interesting facts for many of these people is they failed at least once before they succeeded.  Failure is expected!  Successful and wealthy people have confidence, tenacity and drive to succeed!  That may be a lesson for everyone!

Interesting Billionaire Traits

When you think about wealth at this level, you don’t think about their mistakes.  If the average new worth of someone on the Forbes 400 list is $3.17 billion, even a big mistake doesn’t matter.  Many of their mistakes occurred in the beginning when they were small.  Hard to believe that these billionaires started out small, many of whom started in their garage.  Companies like Apple and Hewlett Packard (HP) were started by just a couple people in their garage.

The billionaires were willing to take calculated risks.  As I wrote in a recent article called “Lean In”, you cannot let fear stop you.  They think big!  They may have started small, but they always knew they would build a large successful company.  Do you think they like what they are doing?  They found their passion and it drives them to success.  Competitiveness is another important trait.  They have to be the best not necessarily the biggest.

They set goals and created a plan to accomplish them.  When you are rich and successful, you would expect to be confident, have high self esteem and focused on results.  They were always like that before they succeeded.  They saw opportunities when others did not.  In some ways it is like the stock market buying when everyone is selling.  Last, debt does not scare them; they know how to use debt to their advantage.

Not everyone who works hard will become a billionaire never mind a millionaire.  Some may say you would be happy with a lot less.  Rich people never think that way.  They view their net worth as a score card.  Why don’t they stop at $10-20 million?  Isn’t that enough?  How much can you spend on cars, houses, vacations, dinners out and jewelry?  Rich people don’t look at it that way!  They are not working hard for what they can spend, but out of competitiveness.

Wrap Up

What drives you?  How many of these traits do you have?  You don’t have to be a billionaire to be rich or happy, but you can learn how to act like a rich person!  Find your passion!  It isn’t as hard or elusive as you think.  What are you good at?  What are your interests?  Get the training, education and skills you need.  Ask someone who is doing it, and experiment yourself, and put in the time and effort to succeed.  “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”- Confucius.  Old guys win!

Photo by:  graphicitinarary

Comments

  2. I don’t have the drive to become a billionaire. I am happy with what I have and I am not very ambitious. At least I know that about myself now and will concentrate on winning small battles. I agree old guys win! 🙂

  3. One of the things I like most about blogging is it is interactive. You get an opportunity for a reaction or comment to your work.

  4. When I was younger I always assumed I’d make millions as a grown up. I didn’t have a clear plan, just knew that I would. I think reality finally hit me when I chose accounting as a major, and figured out that if you just go out and get a job, even moving up through the ranks will not make you a millionaire. (Well if you make $200k/year and save most of it, you could become a millionaire pretty quickly. But making $1 million or more in a year is different.)

    You have to do something special for that (or be born to it I guess.)

    • As a CPA, you may have a shot at it, either as a partner or financial executive in a public company. Don’t write it off yet!

  5. It’s interesting to read that most of them are self-made. In billionaire circles, I wonder if there is a higher level of respect for having made your own fortune, as opposed to simply inheriting it. I would think that it still takes some skill to hold on to a billion dollars, even if it was given to you on a silver platter.

    • I don’t know, however I would be far more interested in learning from someone who achieved that goal.

  6. Those folks who take bold risks, even if calculated, are the ones who can have a chance at reaching that level of wealth. Plus the power of time, which as we know is hugely important for wealth building at any level.

    Confidence, vision, tolerance for risk, and ability to sell ideas would seem to be traits that are needed to have a chance at getting to those lofty levels of wealth!

    • These levels are beyond my imagination! I would add to your statements that there were a lot of people who helped them get there too.

  7. I take away a few things from this information. 
    One:  Time helps.  Work at something for several years allowing compound interest and compound growth to work its magic. 
    Two:  274/400 is 68.5% meaning that becoming a self-made billionaire is certainly possible and more likely than inheritance.

    • Although it takes time, the idea and vision are paramount in my book. They all seem to know they were building a huge business.

  8. Very interesting post. I think you have to have the wisdom and responsibility to believe in yourself and know how to use your talents in the right way. I think when you get older you are better at doing this. I just watched the movie Limitless and it reminded me that we can’t get the easy way into things- we need to respect the hard work it takes to get somewhere and use our skills responsibly- not in an egotistical juvenile way.

    • Most of these billionaires had a vision when it came their companies. They could see that it would become very big. They knew when to bring in professional management and step away from the day to day work.

  9. Nice post.  Can’t argue with the numbers.  Uber successful people seem to have the highest level of confidence in themselves and their plan.  Failure and debt, no problem because they will ultimately get to where they need to go.  Can this be taught?  Interesting point about cutting corners Miss T, agreed, but it was cool to see someone living as their best version.  Hopefully we all get there one day.

    • I don’t know if it can be taught! Certainly, you can teach the elements of finance, etc., but you must have a vision. You can be taught how to get a vision, but not the vision.

  10. If the thing that drives a billionaire, or even a millionaire, is competitiveness, I guess I am destined never to become one! But that’s okay. Making money has never really been the goal for me– I just want to have enough to sustain a comfortable life. I think, as you mentioned, the goal for any career should be exploring your passion and doing what makes you happy. Too often it seems like money becomes the goal, and I guess when you combine super competitive nature with a drive for money and a some brains or even a bit of luck, you wind up with the people on this list.

    But really, you can live frugally and have as much fun as the next guy. I work for Mango Money’s blog and we have all kinds of ideas of how to have fun and be HAPPY, even without being a billionaire. So if you’re ever bored, or just wishing you, too, had a billion dollars, check us out. You don’t have to be rich to be happy! 

    http://www.mangomoney.com/blog/

    • Money should never be the goal! If you love what you do, you will be good at it and generally monetary rewards follow.

  11. I would love to have an endless supply of money.  Actually, we would be quite well off if I hadn’t quit to stay home with the kids and we didn’t pay for private school all these years.  However, life is full of trade-offs, and we have traded money for my kid’s happiness (basically).  It is funny because we will go from saving ‘some’ to saving ‘almost everything’ in a short period of time.  My house will be paid off a couple years before my youngest child is done with college.  Although not optimal, our ‘older’ years is when we will be saving by far the most.

    My husband has taken huge risks with his career.  He left security to work at a start-up.  He prefers the entrepreneurial spirit of small companies, so although their is risk, he loves working in that environment. Also, it has definitely paid off.  For myself, I have always tried to generate some money while being at home, but I obviously do not pull in what I would if I worked full time.

    Fear hinders so many things in life.  So many people just can’t get over it though.

    • I think fear can be used to spur you on to great things. I use fear to make me prepare more thoroughly. You can not grow, improve or accomplish anything if you only play it safe. I am not suggesting jumping out of planes, or climbing K2, The first time I gave a speech in a college class I was scared to death, but no one knew it. I was well prepared and aced it.

  12. I don’t consider myself tenacious but I do have a drive for success and am confident about my strengths.  I like the point you bring up about competitiveness vs money.  I can see how making money would lose it’s allure once you’re a billionaire and the majority of thrills would come from being the best and staying the best. -Sydney

    • I think the most important trait is tenacity and determination. If you have those two, you can overcome any obstacle! The rest of the traits you can learn, but those two can not be taught.