The top 0.1% really boggles the mind with a net worth of over $43M. That means 1 out of 1,000 people have that level of wealth. What’s crazy is that with my 500,000ish followers, we would expect about 500 of them to be at that level! Please identify yourself in the comments.

ALTHOUGH, to be fair, wealth skews higher with age, as those building businesses and investing see their net worths increase as they get older. My audience, and instagram in general, skews younger, meaning we may not have all 500 of those $43 millionaires reading this. Although I suspect there are at least a few!

Note that the vertical access of this bar chart isn’t “to scale”. Of the nine bars, FIVE of them are representing just the top 5% of wealth. That kind of gives the visual impression that lots of people have that kind of money, when really it’s pretty few. So if your net worth is under a million, don’t feel bad! You’re in good company with about 88% of other US households.

When you talk to the wealthy, and learn how they did it, you almost exclusively hear answers like these:

• Frugality
• Career advancement / high income
• Real estate investing
• Stock market investing
• Starting businesses

You rarely or never hear answers like this:

• Day trading
• Crypto
• Life insurance
• Speculating
• Lottery
• Credit card points

If you want to move up this net worth rank, the secret is hidden in plain sight right in front of you. Lower the big expenses in your life (housing, transportation), increase your income, grow your career, invest those savings along the way in index funds and real estate, and if you’re up for it, start a business. That’s how rich people get rich.

As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.

-Jeremy