AIBU?
To ask if you are rich, and if so how you made your money?!
jinglebelly · 01/05/2011 20:05
I run a small ebay business but after DC 3 starts school I'd either like to retrain/get a degree or start up a larger business... I don't know any very well off people hence why I'm asking on mumsnet!
shakey1500 · 01/05/2011 20:19
Yes "rich" can be ambiguous. I wouldn't consider myself "rich" (by my yardstick) but we are comfortable. That has come about by sheer hard graft in the early years of marriage twinned with buying and selling a property at the right time which equates to nothing but pure luck :)
PeterSpanswick · 01/05/2011 20:22
Sadly not! Did all the right things, got my degree, built a half decent cv and my job is pretty good but DH still earns three times what I do with barely a G.C.S.E. to his name!
He has the drive and the ambition that I've never possessed plus he does something he loves whereas my job is just that to me. I think to succeed at something you have to enjoy or at least believe in it, neither of which I do - how depressing! Although I do have plans to retrain after ds2 arrives... Best of luck in your endeavours!
stoppinchingthedummy · 01/05/2011 20:22
I think people who are rich are not always genurous with their money ..thats why they have money (obviously from working hard or inheritence too) but people (like myself) who get a little extra once in a blue moon and then spend it on nice gifts for people wont ever be rich ...I.E i worked a few extra hours this month so had a little more wages so buy my friend a lovely birthday present because this month i can
Ok reading this back im not making much sense am i?
Garcia10 · 01/05/2011 20:35
My brother is very rich and he has done it all through hard work. Worked hard at school (12 O-levels and 3 A-levels) and at University. Moved into the City , worked crazy hours and now has his own hedge fund. He is generous and helps out his family whenever needed.
I think hard work is key but he will probably admit that he had a bit of luck too.
Mirage · 01/05/2011 20:54
My friend is very rich.He left school with a CSE in woodwork and no other qualifications and I don't know what he started out doing,but he was investing in commercial property as his last job and has just 'retired'.He does a lot of exploring,trekking to the poles,that sort of thing and I know he donates a lot to charity.
Thinking about it,I know a lot of millionaires/very wealthy people and they are almost all very philanthropic.Their wealth has come from,processed foods,hardware stores,housebuilding,commercial property,being a sports/tv personality,diet industry,and oil.A few others have a lot of wealth tied up in land,but not a lot of ready cash IYKWIM.
MayBankHoliday · 01/05/2011 20:58
I'm not rich because X years ago I chose a career I loved and felt I could contribute to, instead of something well-paid. Now not sure that was a great idea, but that's another story! So I can't help, sorry, but looking forward to seeing what others have to say!
SybilBeddows · 01/05/2011 21:03
the people I know who are rich have done it through finding commercial applications for scientific research - a Physics one in the 70s and 80s, and a biotech one recently - and then creating successful businesses out of those applications.
they were academics who took the risk of leaving a safe job in academia and then working very hard and missing out on home life for a long time.
it's taken them hard work + talent + luck.
oh and I also know a few city lawyer types who are clever and have worked their socks off in a not always congenial environment and been very successful, but at an even greater cost in a way because they're working for someone else rather than having the creative satisfaction of building up a product and a company that they believe makes the world a better place.
I think you should do something you believe in and then even if it doesn't work out you can be proud of having tried.
good luck.
TattyDevine · 01/05/2011 21:07
If you work very hard in your twenties or before you have children in a professional capacaty, are careful with your money and invest (say, in property) then that can pay off for many years from the "head start" you gave yourself by putting your head down and keeping your eyes on the prize while everyone else pisses it up against a wall.
A successful business that is more than local would allow you to do it now though, as the scenario described above may have passed you by by the sounds of it.
lechatnoir · 01/05/2011 21:08
Most people I know who are very comfortably off (inc my own family but not me sadly 
) can attribute their wealth to inheritance, canny/lucky property purchases but mainly studying hard then working up the ladder to senior management/board level. IMO some people just have that natural drive, ambition, self-motivation & strong work ethic and other don't. The big earners I know tend to work in either law or finance.
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