To think that most “self-made” people had way more help than they admit?

[ArtfulTealCrab]

Every successful person loves to talk about their “hard work” and “grit,” but they leave out the rich parents, private schools, and family connections. Is true self-made success even possible?

@EilonwyWithRedGoldHair , obviously people have different levels of ability and intelligence but the question was whether to become wealthy it is necessary to have some help or privilege and the answer is emphatically no.

What about all the silver spooned toss pots 🤣😅😜, that's life has gone downhill.

A cousin started off as an apprentice carpenter. Finished as one of the biggest funeral directors in the north-east, plus a huge carpentry and bespoke joinery workshop. Started with nothing.

Can't speak for others but my DH (and then myself) didn't have help we have built a business from scratch and worked our backsides off to make it what it is today. We did that one with no help from anyone, we now employ 12 people and have a comfortable living although it has become harder to continue building our business due to the current economic climate and NI increases etc

I think there are many very wealthy people that are not particularly intelligent and who lack nuance.

I also think intelligence can be a barrier to the kind of decision making required to be super wealthy.

Part of the lack of nuance of some super wealthy, seems to be an inability to understand that not everyone would choose their life and that not everyone values wealth above all else.

Yes it’s possible. My grandfather left school at 14 from a poor family who gave him nothing. They couldn’t even let him stay in school until 16 as they needed his meagre wage as a post office clerk coming in.

He died with an estate worth £6m - all entirely from his hard work setting up a business and buying commercial property (in the 1960s!) . He gave away a huge amount to charities before his death too - and contributed to the community tirelessly. So maybe not massively successful in global terms but pretty inspirational to me.

I should add that my grandfather had the privilege of inherited intelligence (the post office did an IQ test on him after WW2 and he was off the scale - but couldn’t move into the civil service as he had left school so young) and good health (lived to age 95 with no chronic health problems).

DH is self-made in the true sense of the word. Absolutely no handouts or legs up. he has done very very well and that makes him incredibly unsympathetic to people who grew up in the same environment who blame their circumstances. He has insane levels of drive and ambition. All these words like tenacity, determination. You can always make something of yourself wherever you come from. But it’s having that follow through and tenacity when things are not quite going your way that is rare. He’s never wobbled or doubted himself.

I also see a lot of people who grew up with my background, so very privileged, who have had all the benefits and advantages and they genuinely think they are something really special and different to the average person. I have often wondered how they or I would even have done if we hadn’t been filled with so much confidence and had everything paid for to a point. Having said all that, at some point you do need to find your drive.

I think it's rare to find someone who's self made.

The two genuinely 'self made' people I know both had older parents who were able to care for the grandkids most days out of the week so the person could focus on their business, which I think is pretty special these days no matter what income band you're on, or whether you run your own business or are employed. I consider that help.
But they weren't given any money/funding or mentoring to help with business, and started from a working class background in a deprived city, left average/min wage jobs, and both didn't go to uni. They also aren't what most people would consider wealthy, just able to make this their only job (and happy with it!).

Whilst it's not impossible I think genuine rags to riches stories are far more reliant on good luck than those who started out with more support/safety nets. Therefore more other people in the same starting position will have failed in their similar attempts at risk-taking to accumulate wealth.

What I really dislike is these stories being used to essentially blame people for their own poverty - you too could be rich if you worked hard enough. Sure, hard work is necessary but not enough on its own imo. Either good luck or privilege will also play their part.

Yup! Uni fried is self made and minted … except his dad paid for his uni and gave him an allowance so he was debt free, then put a deposit down on a flat for him where we rented off friend and that covered the mortgage, then he went into ‘business’ with his dad as a guarantor. He sold the flat and made loads of money and kept upgrading the properties he lived in. Then bought another rental property with the dad covering the deposit again and charging minimal
Interest this time.
Business has done well but to hear him tell it he came from Victorian style poverty to become the man he is today…

Obvs having a guarantor, financial safety net,
bring gifted money and given low interest family loans has had a massive impact but he’s never acknowledge that in a million years!