$1,000,000,000; All about the world's billionaires

Recently, Forbes magazine released their list of the richest billionaires in the world. Since there’s never been a trillionaire yet (although billionaire Mark Cuban predicts there will be one soon), this list also encompasses the wealthiest people on the globe. 

Here are some interesting facts, figures, and anecdotes about billionaires:

First off, we want to clear up how much a billion dollars is. A billion dollars is a thousand million, or one followed by nine zeros (1,000,000,000).

However, that wasn’t always the case. Interestingly, the old English definition of a billion was actually a million million (not a thousand million). So their version of a billion was 1,000,000,000,000!

Forbes released a record 1,826 names on their most recent Billionaires List.

Together, they have an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion.

Remarkably, that aggregate net worth is up from $6.4 trillion last year – a huge leap in wealth.

 The newest list of the world’s billionaires includes 290 newcomers.

A record 46 members are under the age of 40.

That’s contrary to the usual demographic of billionaires, with an average age of 60.4 years for the top 100 richest people in the world.

But thanks to this influx of new, younger members to the list, the average age has dropped by five years in the last year alone.

The youngest billionaire in the world is 24-year old Evan Spiegel, who is the co-founder of Snapchat and is worth an astounding $19 billion.

Many people assumed that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was the youngest billionaire. However, he never held that title even before Spiegel, as his college roommate, and Facebook co-contributor, Dustin Moskovitz, made more than a billion dollars but is eight days younger than Zuckerberg.

Women are also represented in the billionaire club like never before. In fact, we’ve seen a 50% increase in the number of female billionaires over the last 20 years.

Still, women only represent 12 out of the 100 top billionaires on the Forbes list.

Elizabeth Holmes, at only 31 years old, made the list as the youngest self-made billionaire woman.

One woman that is guaranteed to make the billionaire’s list is actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine from Seinfeld). Dreyfus’ father is a billionaire, and she will automatically become one of the wealthiest people in American once she inherits his fortune.

Another interesting statistic is that 88% of billionaires are married, compared to only 49% for the U.S. average.

Sure enough, billionaires seem to be family men and women, with an average of 4 children among the world’s richest billionaires.

So are billionaires all graduates of Yale, Harvard, and MIT? Not at all, as 25% of all billionaires are college dropouts!

The United States is represented by 515 billionaires on the Forbes list.

While the U.S. led the world in people with ten-figure net worths as recently as last year, China became the top billionaire nation in the world this year.

In fact, China added 242 new billionaires in one year alone, bringing the total to 596.

Inheritance and family wealth doesn’t seem to play a huge role in creating billionaires, as only 230 inherited all of their wealth to make the list. (Although many inherited some funds and worked to increase their net worth exponentially.)

In fact, 1,191 members of the Forbes billionaire list self-made their fortunes.

A professor at Stanford University gets credit as being a self-made billionaire…sort of. In fact, he amassed all of his wealth by investing in the ideas and inventions of his genius students.

The top countries for billionaires including China, the United States, Russia, Germany, and Brazil.

Moscow has more billionaires than any other city in the world, with New York City and London next.

But 740 Park Avenue in Manhattan is home to the highest number of billionaires of any one address in the world.

The first billionaire in the world was John D Rockefeller, who was worth an estimated $1.4 billion when he died in 1937. In today’s dollars, that’s almost $70 billion!

Henry Ford wasn’t far behind, becoming a billionaire in 1920. Ford’s fortune would be worth an estimated $194 billion today, making him the 7th richest person in the history of the world!

J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series of books, became the first person in history to amass her billion-dollar fortune by writing. At one point, Rowling was actually wealthier than the Queen of England! But when she started giving away most of her money to charity, she dropped her off the Forbes list as is now "merely" worth a few hundred million dollars.

Philanthropy and giving away vast sums of money characterize many billionaires. In fact, almost one hundred billionaires have signed “The Giving Pledge,” an agreement to voluntarily give at least half of their wealth to charitable causes within their lifetime.

Likewise, former billionaire Chuck Feeney (co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Group) has given away 99% his $6.3 billion fortune anonymously, helping underprivileged kids go to college. He’s now not only fallen from the billionaire’s list, but has a net worth of “only” $2 million.

Not all billionaires are so generous, even with their own families. Notoriously frugal billionaire J. Paul Getty even refused to pay a $17 million ransom when his 16-year-old grandson was kidnapped by Italian gangsters. Only when the boy’s ear showed up in the mail three months later did Getty negotiate, agreeing to pay $3 million, but only if his son paid back $800,000 of that with 4% interest!

One Kuwait billionaire owns a portfolio of valuable URLs and domain names worth an estimated $3 billion, such as party.com, research.com, and jackass.com, but he refuses to sell or do anything with them.

Perhaps the wealthiest person in modern history was Pablo Escobar, a Colombian drug lord that made so much money in the cocaine trade that it’s hard to even quantify (or count, as he certainly never kept it all in banks).

Reportedly, Escobar lost about 10% of his profits every year – about $2.1 billion wasted - due to rats chewing up his hidden stores of cash, moisture decomposing it, or just burying it for safe keeping but then losing it.

He once burned $2 million in crisp new bills just to keep his family warm when they were on the run.

In his prime earning days, Escobar spent $2,500 a month just on rubber bands used bundle all of his endless stacks of cash!

The 10 most expensive watches in the world.

What do you spend on a watch? $100? $250? Or do you really splurge and fork out $5,000 for that prized Rolex or Tag Heuer that really announces, “I’ve arrived”?

Well even with the most expensive designer fashion or luxury watches we see in stores or ads in magazines, we’re not anywhere near the stratosphere of the world’s most expensive time pieces. These chronographs are more bejeweled, handcrafted works of art than just watches, but if you have a few million dollars to spend – or much more – you may find one on your wrist!

10. FRANCK MULLER AETERNITAS MEGA 4

Price tag: $2.7 million

Designed by Swiss watchmaker Franch Muller in 1991, the watch with the full name “Aeternitas Mega 4 Grande Sonnerie Westminster Carillon” has 36 complications and 1,483 individual components, earning it the honor of being the world’s most complicated watch.

9. PATEK PHILIPPE 1953 HEURES UNIVERSELLES MODEL 2523

Price tag: $2.9 million

Patek Philippe & Co. first started making watches in Switzerland in 1839, and is one of the highest quality makers of timepieces still today, guaranteed to appreciate in value. This model has an 18k gold case, shows several time zones, and a polychrome dial that details a map of North America.

8. PATEK PHILIPPE 1895/1927 YELLOW GOLD MINUTE REPEATING

Price tag: $3 million

This watch was part of the Henry Graves, Jr. signature collection, built in 1895 with the case completed in 1927, it recently went for $2.994 million at a Sotheby’s auction.

7.  LE BRASSUS TOURBILLON CARROUSEL

Price tag: $4 million

The Swiss company that produced this masterpiece, Blancpain, has been around since 1735 but continues to innovate. With this watch, they combined two traditional methods of combatting the degenerative effects of gravity on time keeping, tourbillon and carrousel methods. It’s the first watch in the world to use both, making it an instant classic of quality.

6. LOUIS MOINET “METEORIS”

Price tag: $4.6 million

This chronograph is truly out of this world – and that’s not just my opinion, but fact! That’s because this watch, built as a series of four tourbillons in conjunction with Luc Labenne, is built with pieces of moon rock, but also a meteorite from Mars and an Asteroid!

5. BREGUET & FILS, PARIS, NO. 2667 PRECISION

Price tag: $4.7 million

Horophiles (time piece connoisseurs) appreciate the quality and luxury produced by the Swiss Group, and Breguet & Fils is a branch of that tree, founded in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet. This watch is 18k gold with two timepieces and two movements. 

4. PATEK PHILIPPE 1943 WATCH REF. 1527

Price tag: $5.5 million

Built in 1943, this was the most expensive wristwatch in the world at the time. It features an 18k yellow gold case and a silver matte dial that accentuates its chronograph, perpetual calendar, and moon phase display.

3. PATEK PHILIPPE CALIBER 89 POCKET WATCH

Price tag: $6 million

Designed to commemorate Patek Philippe’s 150-year anniversary in 1989, this is the world’s most complicated pocket watch with 33 complications and 1,728 complications, weighing more than 2 pounds and taking the design team more than five years of research and 4 years of manufacturing to build.

2. PATEK PHILLIPE HENRY GRAVES SUPERCOMPLICATION

Price tag:  $11 million

This watch comes not only with a big price but a fascinating story. Back in 1927, Banker and watchmaker Henry Graves Jr. entered a contest with his friend, James Ward Packard of the Packard Car Company, to produce the world’s most complicated watch. After four years, Graves emerged victorious when he produced this gold pocket watch with two faces and 24 complications. When it sold at auction, Sotheby’s appraised it at $5 million but it actually sold for a then-record $11,002,500.

1. THE GRAFF DIAMONDS HALLUCINATION 

Price tag: $55 million

We saved the best (and most expensive) for last with this only women’s watch o

n the list. Encrusted with rare gems and a face of diamonds set in platinum, this one-of-a-kind watch (they really only made one!) debuted last year at the iconic Baselworld watch show, becoming an instant legend – and a price tag that makes it the most expensive watch in the world.

The Million Dollar Club; A look at millionaire status in the U.S.

For many of us growing up in the 1970s and 80s, it was held as the ultimate measure of material success: millionaire status. In our minds, to accrue one million dollars meant we would live in a gigantic 2,400 square foot mansion, drive a Porsche 911 with our salmon colored collars turned up, and probably get interviewed by Robin Leach on the sun deck of our yacht for “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”

Decades later, we’ve had plenty of television shows, songs, books, and yes, even real estate seminars that celebrate membership into the vaunted millionaire club. And while a million dollars isn’t what it used to be (adjusted for inflation, $2,848,567 is equal to $1,000,000 in 1980,) it’s still an enviable chunk of change. So let’s take a look at who exactly these millionaires are, how they got there, and if our perceptions still stand true.

Although estimates vary, the most recent assessment is that there are about 6.15 million millionaire households now in the U.S. It’s important to note that those figures include retirement plans and insurance with cash value, but don’t count the value of real estate because the volatile nature of equity.

There are 114,235,996 households in the United States, so 1 in every 20 households in the U.S. has more than $1 million in assets. While that may seem like a lot, remember that we’re talking about households, which most likely contain more than one person, not individuals.

1 out of every 39,015 households has $100 million or more, while

1 out of every 314,700 households has $1 billion or more. 

There are approximately 12.6 million households in the world that have a net worth exceeding $1,000,000, so almost half of them are in the United States.

Of the 6.15 million millionaires in this country, only 304,118 actually earn one million dollars per year or more.

California, Texas, and New York hold 25% of the nation’s millionaires.

The states with the most millionaire households per capita are:

1)        Maryland (7.7% of households there!)

2)        New Jersey

3)        Connecticut

4)        Hawaii

California is 6^th on that list, with 777,624 households with at least $1 million in assets in 2013.

Statistically, the average millionaire is a fifty-seven-year-old male who is married and has three children.

Almost all millionaires are married, the vast majority of them to their first and only spouse.

Millionaires in the U.S. have an average household net worth of $3.7 million.

The median annual household income for millionaires is $131,000. Of course that is just the median, or the exact 50th percentile. The average household income is $247,000.

8% of millionaires make between $500,000 to $999,999 in income every year, while only 5% earn more than $1 million.

On average, their total annual realized income is less than 7 percent of their wealth. That means they aren’t getting rich on their income for the most part.

The median net worth in millionaire households is $1.6 million but the average is higher, with nearly 6 percent enjoying a net worth of over $10 million.

About 95 percent of millionaires in America have a net worth of between $1 million and $10 million.

97 percent of all millionaires are homeowners.

Their average home is currently valued at $320,000 and they’ve lived in the same house for more than twenty years. (That speaks to the fact that most millionaires don’t live as lavishly as we might expect.)

Approximately 70 percent of millionaires earn 80 percent or more of their household’s income, making one person (the vast majority are men) the primary bread earner.

About half of their wives do not work outside the home. When they do work, the most frequent occupation is teaching.

Two-thirds of millionaires who are still working are self-employed. In contrast, self-employed people make up less than 20 percent of American workers.

Three out of four of millionaires who are self-employed call themselves entrepreneurs, while the rest are usually professionals like doctors, lawyers, and accountants, etc.

Most millionaires do not work in glamorous industries like pro sports, music, and entertainment, etc. They aren’t the CEOs of companies or tech wizards. In fact, the vast majority of millionaires made their wealth in professions they describe as “dull-normal”: running service, blue collar businesses or manufacturing companies that fill an under-served and very specific niche.

They are hard workers but not necessarily workaholics, as about two-thirds of millionaires put in between forty-five and fifty-five hours per week.

80 percent of millionaires have first-generation wealthy, having self-made their fortunes, going against the common perception.

 Only 19 percent of millionaires receive any income or wealth of any kind from a trust fund or an estate.

Fewer than 20 percent of them inherited 10 percent or more of their wealth, a tiny proportion. More than half of all millionaires received no inheritance at all!

About fifty percent of them never even received a dollar of college tuition from their parents or other family.

But millionaires are well educated: only about one in five are not college graduates. Eighteen percent have master's degrees, 8 percent law degrees, 6 percent medical degrees, and 6 percent Ph.D.s.

They are mostly a product of public schools, as only 17 percent of millionaires or their spouses ever attended a private elementary or private high school. But their children are in private schools, to the tune of 55 percent of them.

A majority of millionaires did not attend Ivy League schools (though they did attend those institutions at a rate much higher than the general public).

Millionaires actually live well below their means and are frugal. Only a small minority live in big newer houses or drive new or leased cars. Instead, they live in older homes they’ve had for a very long time, older cars, and wear modest or inexpensive clothing.

They live in nice family neighborhoods but are usually the wealthiest, with more than six and one-half times the level of wealth of our non-millionaire neighbors, but. But their non-millionaire neighbors outnumber them more than three to one.

They are meticulous budgeters, planners, savers, and investors, on average investing at least 20 percent of their earned income every year.

They enlist the professional help and opinions of plenty of investment professionals, but in the end, most of them end up managing their own investments to some degree.

Most millionaires have accumulated enough assets so they wouldn’t have to work for 10 years at least, and usually much longer.

We Love Giving: All about charity and philanthropy in the U.S.A.

There’s no doubt that the United States is one of the most compassionate and giving countries in the world, and the data about the size and scope of our charitable sector backs that up. For instance, did you know that the U.S. is one of only a handful of countries in the world that allow tax donations for charitable contributions? So in order to explore and encourage our national dedication to philanthropy, we found the answers to 10 important questions about charity and giving in the U.S.:

1. How prevalent is charitable giving?

Together, Americans gave $335.17 billion in 2013, an amazing sum. While it’s estimated that 2/3 of people in the U.S. give to charity every year, that adds up to an impressive 95.4% of households that give to charity. Our citizens on average give about 3% of their incomes to charities every year, and giving is so prevalent that it accounted for 2% of our country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2013.

Non-profit organizations, like charities, congregations, foundations, and other civic entities take in approximately $1.5 trillion in revenue per year, though of course almost as much goes out in expenses and operational costs.

And in case you were wondering, Warren Buffet is the most generous giver in the U.S., a designation he earned when he donated $31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates, of course, are some of the biggest philanthropists in the U.S., too.

2. What organizations do we give to?

Every year, religious organizations are by far the largest recipient of our charitable contributions. As of 2013, this was the breakdown:

31% Religious organizations

16% Universities and educational foundations and charities.

12% Human Services.

11% Grant making foundations.

As you can see, making a donation at church, like tithing, or sending in a check to your alma mater are some of the most popular ways to donate money.

In fact, as of 2013 the biggest increase in giving occurred with donations to the education sector, which was up 8.9% from the previous year.

3. How much do we give every year?

On average, we give $1,000 per person in the United States, though of course that includes the people who don’t give. Similarly, the average annual household contribution is $2,974.

4. How big is the charity and nonprofit sector?

In 2013, there were approximately 1,429,801 tax-exempt organizations in the United States.

Those include:

966,599 public charities

96,584 private foundations

366,618 other types of nonprofit organizations, including chambers of commerce, fraternal organizations and civic leagues.

321,839 congregations in the United States.

Charities don’t just collect funds to help people; they actually provide jobs for a surprising number of our citizens. In fact, 13 million people are employed by charities every year. The salaries and wages they make account for about 10% of the total in the economy! To put it in perspective, that’s twice the share that goes to national defense.

5. How much do corporations give compared to individuals?

While individuals are incredibly generous, don’t forget that corporations make significant philanthropic contributions every year.

Here is the breakdown of giving, as of 2013:

72% Individuals giving to charity, which accounted for $241.32 billion

15% Foundations making contributions, adding up to $5028 billion.

8% Bequests, which came to $26.81 billion.

5% Corporations, who donated $16.76 billion.

6. What are some recent trends in charity?

Charitable giving hit a modern-ear high in 2005 as the economy and real estate sector boomed. But as wealth declined, unemployment grew, and the economy tightened during the Great Recession from 2008-2011, the amount of charitable donations also declined, understandably. But since 2011, giving is back on the rise, increasing steadily every year. The 2013 statistics reflect a 4.4% increase from 2011, though we are still not at 2005’s peak yet.

Some other interesting trends speak to the correlation between the health of the economy and giving. Economists estimate that every time the Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index drops 100 points, charitable giving declines by a total of $1.85 billion. Whether up or down, the movement of the stock market usually paces charitable giving, 2 to 1.

7. Are charities online?

The advent of the internet, social media, crowd funding sites, and payment processing sites like PayPal and Bitcoin have exponentially increased the instances of online donations. Utilizing social media and videos on sites like YouTube have also helped spread the word about causes, as we saw with recent phenomenon of the Ice Bucket Challenge and others.

 In fact, as of 2013, the largest charitable organizations in the U.S. reported a 13% increase in online donations. 25 of these charities received more than $10 million each in online donations in 2013.

Charitable giving grew by 13.5% just in 2013, with smaller nonprofits and faith-based nonprofits receiving the biggest increases.

8. Which states are the most generous?

The top 10 most generous states are:

1. Utah: 6.6 percent giving rate

2. Mississippi: 5.0 percent

3. Alabama: 4.8 percent

4. Tennessee: 4.5 percent

5. Georgia: 4.2 percent

6. South Carolina: 4.1 percent

7. Idaho: 4.0 percent

8. Oklahoma: 3.9 percent

9. Arkansas: 3.9 percent

10. North Carolina: 3.6 percent

Interestingly enough, some relatively prosperous and well-educated states, like New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, etc. are some of the lowest for charitable giving. Though it’s speculated that the states in the top 10 are largely there because they are very religious and make contributions at church, while Northeastern states tend to be more secular. There is also a correlation between a state’s wealth and giving, with West Virginia giving the least per-person in donations

9. What about individuals volunteering?

It’s wonderful that the majority of Americans give money to charity, but don’t discount the positive impact of people who give their time, energy, knowledge, and skills every year. In 2013, 64.5 million adults volunteered 7.9 billion hours of service, worth an estimated value of $175 billion, data that should make us proud. More than 25% of Americans over 16 years old volunteered in the last 4 years. The good news is that volunteering stays pretty steady every year, even through the recession and economic turmoil.

Volunteers are most likely to help out with these activities:       

25.7% Fundraising or selling other items to raise money.

23.8% Food collection or distribution.

19.8% General labor or transportation.

17.9% Tutoring or teaching.

Volunteers most frequently help out with religious organizations (34.2%), educational organizations (26.5%), social services (14.4%), or health organizations (8%).

10. What time of the year is best for giving?

One point to note is that giving is extremely imbalanced toward the end of the year, so much so that charities call the months of October through January 1 as “The Giving Season.” There are several reasons for this, including the spirit of giving in Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the winter holidays, as well as the necessity to make donations for tax purposes before the end of the calendar year.  One area of improvement we can work on together is giving and volunteering more consistently throughout the year, as the need remains about the same no matter what month it is.

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Do you have a favorite charity? Do you volunteer? Is there a cause near and dear to your heart? We’d love to hear about your philanthropic experiences, and thank you for your continued generosity! 

15 Habits of financially successful people.

No matter who you are or where you’re from, you probably have the same financial goals as everyone else – to be comfortable and build wealth.  Lucky for us, we can learn from the habits and traits that successful people all share.  They have a certain relationship with money that allows them to get ahead, no matter what life circumstances, up’s and down’s in business, or fluctuations in the market they may face. Here are 15 habits that people who are well off and live comfortably all have.  They...

1. Diversify.

People who do well financially never put all of their eggs in one basket – they diversify their investments and income streams, whether it’s the stock market, real estate, or investing in their own company.  By diversifying, they minimize their risk and

2. Track and analyze their expenditures.

Financially successful people pay close attention to their financial picture.  They track all of the income and expenses, whether it’s by inputting them into a spreadsheet, saving receipts, or using tracking software.  This allows them to analyze their expenditures every month and reduce unnecessary or impulse purchases.

3. Live below your means.

Research consistently shows that the millionaire next door rarely is interested in showing off their wealth.  They believe in buying quality but then holding on to it for the long term, whether it’s their car or home.  They’re more interested in saving and reinvesting then throwing around “flash” money to impress other people and keep up with the Joneses.

 

4. Make moves for the long term.

People who live comfortably and amass wealth rarely are tempted by get-rich-quick scheme nor chase any shortcuts to wealth.  They don’t buy and sell assets frequently or expect short-term gains – they buy quality investments and hold them, with the eye toward cashing in way in the future or at least based on market fluctuations. 

5. Automatically save.

Not only do wealthy people save, but they save automatically.  Most often, putting a portion of their paycheck into savings is the very first thing they do, followed by funding investments and paying bills.  Savings isn’t an afterthought for the wealthy - it’s automatic.

6. Plan for every eventuality.

Financially comfortable people understand that life will throw them some twists and turns, and sometime tragedy, so they make sure they plan for all of it.  They get life insurance to cover their families, great health insurance locked in when they’re young, disability insurance, and leave a clear will.

7. Live within a budget.

Being smart with your money isn’t the same thing as being cheap or not having fun.  In fact, wealthy people often spend on vacations, luxury items, and fun for their families, but they plan it.  They budget carefully and exhibit the discipline to follow it, not giving in to impulse purchases.

8. Invest young.

One of the consistent traits of people who are financially comfortable later in life is that they started investing young.  Even in their 20’s or sometimes their teens, they understand the time value of money.  By putting money into 401k’s, Roth IRA’s and the like when they’re young, they benefit from compounding returns and a windfall as they get closer to retirement.  

9. Always have a solid emergency fund.

Financial planners always shake their heads at the lack of savings among Americans these days.  Despite all of our income, wealth, and big purchases like houses, boats, cars, etc., people still do not follow the golden rule of finances – ALWAYS have an emergency fund of at least 6 months expenditures (and a year is much better!)  There are so many people who look like they’re doing well but are one paycheck or a medical emergency or divorce away from losing it all because they don’t have an emergency fund.

10. Pay off bad debt.

One of the most important characteristics of financially stable and savvy people is that they abhor bad debt, which includes credit cards, installment loans, and any other high-interest type of debt (different than mortgages or business loans that serve a purpose.)  They understand that they’re basically renting money at an exorbitant rate, and all of the savings and investments are for naught if they’re giving the money right back through debt payments.  The first thing on any financial To Do list to analyze your debt load and come up with a viable plan to make extra payments, and “stack” or “snowball” principle, allowing you to pay them off aggressively.

11. Pay bills immediately.

People who are smart with their money never wait until the end of the month or the last days before the due date to pay their bills.  Every month, they pay all of their bills immediately, right after they automatically save and invest.  This eliminates interest charges and solidifies the financial discipline to budget carefully with what they have left.

12. Invest in education.

Being good with money doesn’t mean you have to be a financial planner or get a university degree in economics, but everyone should read books, magazines, and do their fair share of research.  No one is going to care about your money more than you will, and trusting slick-talking sales people or following hot financial trends and get-rich-quick infomercials are a surefire way to lose.  Instead, invest time and energy into knowing who to hire, what questions to ask, and the basic principles about the risks and rewards of investments. 

13. Set goals and plan.

Just like any achievements in life, setting tangible goals with concrete timetables and planning the action steps to achieve them is crucial to success.  People who are wealthy never get that way by accident – there’s always a history of goal setting and careful planning, along with consistent reevaluation of their plan based on changing circumstances.

14. Work with the best team.

Truly financially stable individuals want to work with the best financial planners, CPA’s and tax professionals, and attorneys they can find.  They understand that this may cost a little more, but it’s nearly impossible to get ahead with a second-rate team behind you.  They definitely resist the temptation to try and do everything themselves, which is about ego – not financial smarts. 

15. Focus on the right things.

It’s amazing to see a direct correlation with how someone lives their life and what they sow from it.  Financially comfortable people almost always understand that true wealth comes from things you can’t buy – their health, spending time with family, their faith, and giving back to charity and community.  Those are the things they cherish above all else, and somehow it helps the rest fall into place.