Interesting conversation on income.  One thing I would add which I remember from one of my business classes in college over 25 years ago and have used in my life was a study of millionaires.  In that study the broke down three characteristics they all had.  Motivation + ability + opportunity.  You could be stronger in certain areas, but you had to have all three.  You can have all the intelligence or g factor (ability) in the world, but if you are lazy (not motivated) or in a place where there is no opportunity, you will not become a millionaire.,(reply>), @Thamus Jones yeah you having over a million is bs.  That or you inherited it.  I can tell by your attitude your the type that blames everything on someone else or your mental problems.  Always a excuse.  Sorry I did not come from money or a great family.  Probably the only thing I learned at a young age was hard work.  2 paper routes as a kid.  Working and going to college.  16 hours a day 7 days a week on my first business.  Moving all over the world for better opportunities.  Yeah luck.  Complete bs.,(reply>), @Johnny Woo Yes, pretty much everything comes down to luck.  I have over a million myself and if I take a good hard look at how it happened it was essentially luck.  I would ask the question what did you do to get your innate ability?  What did you do to have your opportunities in your life path?  What did you do such that your dopamine reward system was firing on all cylinders? You probably won't like the answer.  The self made man hypothesis is really a story wealthy people tell themselves to justify their self indulgence and to lessen the feeling deep down that they are lucky and others aren't and that isn't fair.  Essentially lucky people have a duty to others and some like to dodge that duty by telling themselves nice fairy-tales.,(reply>), @Thamus Jones I have a friend who is a millionaire who is in a wheelchair.  So what you are saying is everything that come down in life is luck?  That is ridiculous.  If they did a study on unsuccessful people they would lack a combination of motivation, ability and opportunity.  In my experience they typically blame other people or luck.  I have used this formula my entire life and have over 1 million in retirement.  I have lost my job several times from companies failing or downsizing, but found opportunity elsewhere.  Worked all over the world as a high paid contractor.  I grew up in a town that had no opportunity.  Education was good and most people moved out for better opportunities.  Most people who stayed had pretty bad lives, but a few made their fortunes because they were highly motivated and were smart (ability).  The unsuccessful are always blaming other people and unmotivated or they say unlucky.  Knew a guy who had a better opportunity or job in another state and it came down to he was afraid to move.  Guy is flat broke today.  One thing unsuccessful people usually have plenty of is excuses.,(reply>), @Johnny Woo People who say that haven't really thought very deeply on the subject. Did the 5 year old the died from cholera make their own luck?  Did the person born with severe depression make their own luck?  The fact is the vast majority of everything (if not everything) is down to luck of one form or another.  Millionaires love to think that they are self made but that is mostly an illusion created by the human ability for post hoc justification.,(reply>), @Thamus Jones motivation and opportunity are not broad at all.  The only broad category is ability, because it has to be.  Different fields require different abilities.  It basically describes your good at what you do.  I know several millionaires and they all laugh or get angry at people who think they made their money because of luck.  Typically they lack the motivation or do not have the ability.  You make your own luck.