Rich Man, Poor Man

I title this entry with apologies to Robert Kiyosaki, though his book follows the point of it. What prime difference in the attitude of money do the poor and middle class have versus the rich and very rich? I feel it's the attitude of lack versus the attitude of abundance. I know it's easy to say that it's because the rich have abundant amounts of money while the poor really do lack money. However, I submit to you that it is the reverse. The rich rich have a lot of money because of their attitudes of abundance while the poor have little money because of their attitudes of lack.
While many are born into poverty, and others are born into luxury, this has little or no bearing on the eventual rich or poor status of the individual. The benefit of being "born into money" is really little more than rich parents having thoughts of abundance teaching the child to think abundantly. The downfall of being "born into poverty" is the poor parents teach the child to think thoughts of lack.

This also begs the question: Who are more greedy: millionaires or the impoverished?

While many instinctively say "the millionaire," they often follow it with an attempt at reasoning. Such as "because they are hoarding more than they need," "they keep trying to get more even though they have plenty," "they rig the system." Now, if the answerer felt this was true, and also felt this was the collective assumption, why would they need to explain?

I feel that it is often the impoverished who are the more greedy. I will explain this because I feel the answer is true and that it is not the collective assumption. The impoverished are those who choose to steal, beg, borrow without the intention of paying back (which I equate to stealing), borrow more than they can afford to pay back, borrow without expecting to gain greater (such as getting a loan for a luxury as opposed to a margin account in a stock portfolio or mortgage on a real estate investment). I think the choice to behave in a self-centered manner is a very greedy choice. To think "I am getting more by making others have less" or "I will get more on the surface to show the world, so long as they can't see I'm not rich." The rich on the other hand, of which the majority is not seen on television or newspapers and behaving as such, when finding ways to get more think in terms of benefits to others. "What product can I provide that will get me more?" "What service can I give people that they would be willing to pay me for?" "What business should I support (that has the same goal, growth of profits, as all other companies) that will create a better product or service for it's consumers and in turn will produce greater profits?"

If you think about yourself as poor or middle class, ask yourself a question: What could I do that would make me rich?
The poor respond with thoughts of "it will never happen" or "luck of the draw"
The middle class typically respond with thoughts that "I don't want to be rich, just comfortable" or "win the lottery" or "if I would only have invested in ______ (Microsoft, AOL, Cisco, Xerox, etc. [pre-bubble])" or if I hadn't invested in _________ (WorldCom, Enron, Tech Stocks, [at their peak]"
But the rich who would like to get richer think "Launch a new product" or "Start a new venture" or "invest wisely."

Introduction

Everyone looks at money a little bit differently. Reactions to seeing physical money vary based on a person's thoughts of money. In reality, money is really no more than a collective thought. The expression about a weak currency goes "that money isn't worth the paper it's printed on" is a great example of this, as a clerk won't accept a more "valuable" item, paper, unless it is printed on with the official markings, but reducing it's value. Also, currently a US penny costs more than one cent to manufacture, when material and production costs are both factored in. But the attitude of money seems to strongly correlates to, if not causes, the real manifestation of gains or losses in finances.
Even the stock market, which seems incredibly fickle, is driven by both the individual collective attitude of money. From bubbles in certain market sectors to their eventual burst, the timing involves little more than simply thoughts.
Throughout this blog, I intend to pursue and report both agreements and disagreements to my theories about the mystery that is money. I invite all readers to comment, either positively or negatively, about my ideas and ideals.

Cheers,

Brandon Joerges
The Attitude of Money Blog