The Self Made Millionaire Myth

The self made millionaire myth is a bit of a slippery slope because it likens wealth to deserving this and it strips success of context. There is no empirically rigorous way to validate how many millionaires are truly quote self made without further defining what's meant by self made. It appears approximately 90% of global millionaires are male, which to me is one of the clearest indications that self made is a myth,. if only because half of the world population is female.

Transcript

chevron_right

Play full episode

chevron_right

Transcript

Episode notes

“Luck” is where opportunity meets preparation, right? Fantastic financial outcomes are the culmination of a lot of factors coalescing in a very specific way, but we tend to only focus on one: effort.

So much American lore (and by extension, American…personal finance advice?) is constructed on the foundation of the self-made meritocracy.

One such “statistic” that often gets touted in these conversations: Somewhere in the ballpark of 88% of US millionaires are “self-made.” But where does that figure come from? How was it determined? And where do its implications fall dangerously short?

We chat with Shannon McNamara, host of the Fluently Forward podcast, all about it.

Learn more about our sponsor, Vin Social: https://www.vinsocial.vip

Learn more about our sponsor, TaxAct: https://www.taxact.com/moneywithkatie

Learn more about our sponsor, Fidelity: https://fidelity.com/stocksbytheslice

Transcripts can be found at podcast.moneywithkatie.com.

—

Mentioned in the Episode

The Fluently Forward podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/mk/podcast/fluentlyforward/id1589952385
Here's How 9 Billionaires Start Their Mornings, per Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-morning-routine-mornings-oprah-zuckerberg-bezos-musk-buffett-gates-2019-1
A History of Hating the Rich for the Saturday Evening Post: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2020/02/a-history-of-hating-the-rich/
"88% of all millionaires are self-made," per US News: https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/on-retirement/articles/7-myths-about-millionaires
2017 Fidelity Investments Study: https://institutional.fidelity.com/app/proxy/content?literatureURL=/9884619.PDF
The National Study of Millionaires from Ramsey Solutions: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/the-national-study-of-millionaires-research
US Bureau of Labor Statistics on inheritances: https://www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2011/pdf/ec110030.pdf
Hailey Baldwin Bieber on the Forbes 30 Under 30: https://people.com/style/hailey-bieber-lands-cover-of-forbes-30-under-30/
Kendall Jenner on work: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/08/207820/kendall-jenner-modeling-comments-response
Kendall Jenner on "having to fly all over Europe:" https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/6416481/kendall-jenner-kardashian-out-touch-delusional-modeling-career/
Elon Musk on now-deleted Forbes article on his father's emerald mine: https://web.archive.org/web/20140802011449/http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2014/07/28/elon-musk-tells-me-his-secret-of-success-hint-it-aint-about-the-money/
90% of millionaires are male: https://www.verdict.co.uk/90-percent-millionaires-male/
8 Ways Rich People View the World Differently: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/11/8-ways-rich-people-view-the-world-differently-than-the-average-person.html