How to Get Rich - Stay in the Shadows

Have you ever looked at someone and instantly known that they were wealthy ?

Did this person ooze wealth or was it something else you noticed ?

Chances are, you could be dead wrong on your observation !

Appearance of Wealth


I have seen and known many individuals whom I had thought on first sight were extremely wealthy. Much to my surprise, once I got to know them better, I realized they were far from the wealthy person I had envisioned.

What many individuals try to do is make themselves appear wealthy even if they can't really afford the image.This type of behavior is what I call the "keeping up with the Jones' syndrome". This type of lifestyle can be very dangerous for those who truly want to be wealthy some day.

Generally, these individuals must live beyond their means simply to maintain their image of prosperity. This means there will be no room in their lives to set aside savings and to invest those savings. Eventually they will have to borrow money just to maintain their image and some day may even have to declare personal bankruptcy.

Stay in the Shadows  


A better alternative for someone who truly wants to become wealthy is to stay in the shadows. Basically, this means to live within your means and save at least ten percent of your take home pay for wealth building. Avoid situations where you feel tempted to buy something just because someone else did and you need to keep up or feel left behind.

You must learn to become modest and not shout your success. By shouting your success (or bragging as it were) others may expect you to show off more of your wealth. They may expect you to pay for more things etc. This situation could severely damage your future wealth creation efforts.

Many of the truly wealthy do not look wealthy. They live in a modest home. They drive average looking vehicles. They have no need to show off their wealth as they don't feel the need to impress anyone. They feel very comfortable financially, therefore, there is no need to portray an image of success. They don't necessarily care too much about what others think.

To become truly wealthy, learn to stay in the shadows and let others show off their desire to become wealthy. You can have the peace of mind knowing that you are doing well and soon you won't really care too much about what others think. Your wealth will be real where their's may not be. Enjoy !

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions for future topics.