Wealth is not the same as income. If you make a good income each year and spend it all, you are not getting wealthier. You are just living high. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend.

Thus, a gift of a down payment, whether full or partial, can place a recipient on a treadmill of consumption and continued dependence on the gift giver. But the majority of these recipients’ neighbors, more likely than not, receive no cash gifts from their parents. They are much more content and confident about their lifestyle than most gift receiv

How many generations does it take for an ancestry group that today contains thousands of Victors to become Americanized? Only a few. Most move into the “American normal” range within one or two generations. This is why America needs a constant flow of immigrants with the courage and tenacity of Victor. These immigrants and their immediate offspring

what is the effect of cash gifts that are knowingly earmarked for consumption and the propping up of a certain lifestyle? We find that the giving of such gifts is the single most significant factor that explains lack of productivity among the adult children of the affluent. All too often such “temporary” gifts affect the recipient’s psyche. Cash gi

Gift receivers… the adult children of the affluent feel that their parents’ wealth/capital is their income… income to be spent.

If your goal is to become financially secure, you’ll likely attain it…. But if your motive is to make money to spend money on the good life,… you’re never gonna make it.

It’s important to note that the children of affluent parents have (in today’s dollars) about a one-in-five chance of accumulating wealth in the seven figures during their lifetimes, while the average child in this country whose parents are not millionaires has about a one-in-thirty chance.

Remember, expensive homes are typically located in what we call high-consumption neighborhoods. Living in such neighborhoods requires more than just being able to pay the mortgage. To fit in, one needs to “look the part” in terms of one’s clothing, landscaping, home maintenance, automobiles, furnishings, and so on.

They became millionaires by budgeting and controlling expenses, and they maintain their affluent status the same way.