If you are ‘upper class’ how did you make your fortune?

amother

OP ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 9:49 pm

I tried to find a definition of upper class and it is apparently different for each state. So this question is not based on numbers, but if you feel upper class, how did you get there?

Was it the stock market, individual stocks, mutual funds, 401k, Roth IRA?

Was it simply your W-2 over time or maybe an investment you made in an external business?

Maybe you yourself started a business?

This question isn’t coming from a superficial place, as I am not interested in couture clothes or luxury cars. But I do however want to live a very comfortable life, and given the tuition rates and other challenges our communities face, this can be difficult to accomplish

amother

Stone ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:03 pm

The first step is financial literacy. Not a little bit. Read lots of books (Or audiobooks or online courses - but not pop stuff or magazines or pop podcasts.) Follow the market even when you have minimal investments so you have a visceral sense of what the up and downs look like. Read the Wall Street journal or Barons. I have some family money but that doesn't last without real financial literacy. My father insisted we all read and have a good understanding of finances and taxes and investment. Of compound interest and the wealth mindset.

I know you're lacking in this from your OP. I'm not trying to sound mean but that is the first step.

amother

Periwinkle ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:07 pm

amother Khaki wrote:

I am not wealthy but have family members who are

Attorneys
Real estate investments
Business owners
Working for big companies like Goldman Sachs
Doctors
Healthcare industry ie selling healthcare products

Becoming a Dr. Isn't the surefire path to wealth. (But I guess nothing really is!)

The Dr's I know are basically middle class (and paying off mountains of student loans) , unless they are very highly specialized/surgeons.

amother

↑ Periwinkle ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:07 pm

amother Stone wrote:

The kosher money podcast is a great start! I have learned tons, and it's very digestable content Smile

amother

↑ Khaki ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:08 pm

amother Periwinkle wrote:

True, you have to invest the money you make as a dr very wisely.

amother

Jetblack

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:23 pm

amother Khaki wrote:

True, you have to invest the money you make as a dr very wisely.

You have to invest any money you make wisely. The point she was making is that doctors don’t earn nearly as much as they used to. They end up with huge loans to pay off and if they’re an average frum family with a mortgage and a few tuitions, they don’t have much left to invest.

amother

↑ Periwinkle ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:25 pm

amother OP wrote:

I’ve heard majority of doctors don’t end up millionaires due to student loan debt and living a higher lifestyle when they can’t afford it yet.

I've heard this and see it too.

Dh's best friend is a pediatrician (a notoriously low paying specialty) and struggling.

My uncle is an ENT, 50% of his billing is for procedures/surgeries in which insurance pays well. He also owns a percentage of the practice and is doing well financially bh.

Again, it depends on which specialization/field

amother

Opal

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:25 pm

BH my parents are quite comfortable. My dads family had a very successful retail business and my dad was able to fulfill his dream of retiring before age 50. BH he did and now almost 25 years later (ad 120
In good health) they are still living a very very comfortable life despite not having worked a job for decades. My dad has tremendous financial literacy and is able to live off his investments (stocks, mutual funds. Not real
Estate)

amother

Calendula ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:43 pm

We are not wealthy/upper class but we came from being in debt to having enough to pay all our bills, pay for extras and have savings.
This is a result of real estate investments. In addition we were able to put money in stocks. This is something that I unfortunately do not understand but my husband has some knowledge about. I do wish that I would be financially literate but after so many decades of living in the negative I just never picked up on this and it seems as strange as a foreign language. If you have the opportunity and headspace to become financially literate when you are young it’s worth your while.

amother

↑ Cyclamen ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:47 pm

Financial literacy is really not a foreign language it isn't so complicated.

1. Don't spend more than you earn
2. Start investing as early as you can. The longer your money has to grow the more you'll have by retirement.
3. Invest in index/mutual funds

Dave Ramsey has financial peace university while it isn't perfect for a frum life it can help.

amother

Linen ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:49 pm

We follow Dave Ramsey. My husband will be able to retire and learn by 50 according to our plans and spreadsheets. I’ll continue working a little bit longer and retire after him. We’re not sure yet of what age I’ll retire, too far away to really know. He teaches you how to plan and invest to become a net worth millionaire. We wish we heard of him younger and we’d be there earlier. We both have jobs earning 100k, and we think we’ll be very comfortable in retirement by the numbers.

amother

↑ Khaki ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:54 pm

amother Linen wrote:

Couples with approx 2.5-5 million can retire, depending on their lifestyle and how they choose to spend their money. If they’re spending $50-100k on weddings they’ll need on the higher end of that range.

amother

↑ Stone ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:55 pm

amother Cyclamen wrote:

That's the basics of financial responsibility. Wealth has its own language. If you followed Ramsey's philosophy, you're unlikely to ever become as wealthy as you can. That's just not what he's aiming for. He doesn't have a wealth mindset.

I was speaking to a friend who's a business owner recently. And she's super responsible with money and in that sense is financially literate. But she doesn't have the mindset it would take to become wealthy. She won't push her business in the direction it would need to become wealthy. She's afraid of risk, and to some extent, probably afraid of owning a big business.

What I'm trying to say to OP is that the answer to becoming wealthy isn't, for example, invest in real estate or go to medical school. The answer is, like most worthwhile things in life, long and complex and understood mainly by the people who are really dedicated to putting in the effort to learn it.

Which is why, despite there being some great podcasts out there, casually listening to podcasts is unlikely to put you in the right mindset and give you thorough knowledge of how wealth works.

(Obviously money is from Hashem and mazel. And a person can study and be dedicated and work hard and still not make it big. But in terms of hishtadlus, knowledge and mindset is more important than how many hours you work.)

amother

↑ Khaki ↓

Sat, Nov 23 2024, 10:58 pm

amother Stone wrote:

If your friend takes 100k a year from her low risk business and invests it in mutual funds she will become wealthy rather quickly actually.
Not Uber wealthy but wealthy. Which sounds good to me!