Randy Jones | April 16, 2009

When I turned in The Richest Man in Town to my publisher last fall, there were slightly more than 9 million millionaires in the United States. By the time my book debuts on May 4th, there will be just under 7 million. One is forced to question whether this is a good thing or bad thing.

Many people think this economic correction, which has cost wealthy Americans $10 trillion dollars in net worth, has brought the rich their richly deserved comeuppance. And as I have written before in the blog, that attitude is understandable, at least toward those rich who made their fortunes on the backs of others, and those who expected the government to bail them out from the consequences of their recklessness and greed.

Category: Money and Meaning | No Comments »
Tags: economic correction, millionaire, millionaires, self-made wealth

Randy Jones | March 4, 2009

“If I made it once, I can make it again,” is a common refrain I hear from the self-made wealthy. And I don’t think it’s classic success bravado, either. The self-made see the recession through a slightly more optimistic lens because no matter what the economy throws their way, they believe they can weather the storm. For one thing, as I found in my research for The Richest Man in Town, the self-made rich loathe leverage, so they don’t have creditors knocking at their doors. Perhaps more fundamental, though, is their self-assurance that they could so it all over again if they were so forced. In fact, most of my self-made multimillionaires have done just that.

Category: Investing and Wealth Management | No Comments »
Tags: recession, self-made wealth