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Personal
Snapshots
Forecasts
& Strategies, March 2000
Yes,
The Rich Are Different -- They're Better
"The
rich are different from you and me." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Yes,
they have more money." -- Ernest Hemingway
In 1996
when I jogged with President Clinton (see My
Jog with Bill Clinton),
I complained about his constant attacks on the wealthy. During
the presidential campaigns, he would often opine, "The rich
don't pay their fair share of taxes." Politicians and the
media love to take potshots at the well-to-do. Hollywood producers
delight in portraying the rich as big spenders who use drugs,
engage in white-collar crime, avoid taxes, and dump their
companions in favor of trophy wives.
Millionaires
Are Model Citizens!
Thomas
J. Stanley, former professor of marketing at Georgia State
University, shows that the critics of capitalism are dead
wrong. Prof. Stanley, you may recall, is the author of the
huge best seller, The Millionaire Next Door, which I reviewed
last May in Forecasts & Strategies. Now he has a new book
out, and it's a blockbuster. According to The Millionaire
Mind, (available from www.amazon.com
or Laissez Faire Books www.lfb.org)
millionaires are model citizens. Here are the results of his
survey of over 1,000 super-millionaires (people who earn $1,000,000
a year or more):
- They
live far below their means, and have little or no debt.
Most pay off their credit cards every month; 40% have no
home mortgage at all.
- Millionaires
are frugal; they prepare shopping lists, resole their shoes,
and save a lot of money; but they are not misers; they live
balanced lives.
- 97%
are homeowners; they tend to live in fine homes in older
neighborhoods. (Only 27% have ever built their "dreamhome.")
- 92%
are married; only 2% are currently divorced. Millionaire
couples have less than one-third the divorce rate of non-millionaire
couples. The typical couple in the millionaire group has
been married for 28 years, and has three children. Nearly
50% of the wives of the super-rich do not work outside the
home.
- Most
are one-generation millionaires who became wealthy as business
owners or executives; most did not inherit their wealth.
- Almost
all are well educated; 90% are college graduates, and 52%
hold advanced degrees; however, few graduated top of their
class -- most were "B" students. They learned two lessons
from college: discipline and tenacity.
- Most
live balanced lives; they are not workaholics; 93% listed
socialiazing with family members as their #1 activity; 45%
play golf. (Stanley didn't survey whether they were avid
book readers -- too bad.)
- 52%
attend church at least once a month; 37% consider themselves
very religious.
- They
share five basic ingredients to success: integrity, discipline,
social skills, a supportive spouse, and hard work.
- They
contribute heavily to charity, church and community activities
(64%).
- Their
#1 worry: taxes! Their average annual federal tax bill:
$300,000. The top 1/10 of 1% of U.S. income earners pays
14.7% of all income taxes collected!
- "Not
one millionaire had anything nice to say about gambling."
Okay, but his survey also showed that 33% played the lottery
at least once during the year!
Thus,
we see how the super upper-income families of this nation
are not the ones contributing to crime, welfare, divorce,
child abuse, and a spendthrift society. But they are playing
a lot of taxes and making a lot of contributions to solve
these social problems.
Although
Stanley did not cover this issue, I've also seen studies indicating
that higher-income individuals live longer, on average five
to ten years longer, than the average American (76 years)
and enjoy better health, fitness and quality of life. They
aren't the ones causing Medicare to go bankrupt.
Instead
of bashing the rich, let's salute them. If indeed the wealthy
are such good citizens, as Stanley's work suggests, our goal
should not aim to impoverish the rich, but the enrich the
poor. That our goal at Forecasts & Strategies.
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