&gt; This year, we gave each member of The Forbes 400 a score on a scale from 1 to 10 — a 1 indicating the fortune was completely inherited, while a 10 was for a Horatio Alger-esque journey.  We also did the analysis for every 10 years going back to 1984. Looking at the numbers over time, the data lead us to an interesting insight: in 1984, less than half of people on The Forbes 400 were self-made; today, 69% of the 400 created their own fortunes. [0]<p>If upward mobility to achieve great wealth is your concern, surely this means we&#x27;re heading in the right direction. I don&#x27;t think the system is rigged towards benefiting those with already great wealth, but markets have expanded and entrepreneurship has a bigger upside than it has in the past. You don&#x27;t have to take the analysis I quoted at face value, but just take a look at the richest Americans. No Vanderbilts, Rockefellers or Carnegies.<p>My opinion may not be popular, but I find it encouraging to think that so few can create such great wealth in today&#x27;s society, even if the odds are against me creating such wealth. In many cases, that means that a product or service one person creates can benefit a large number of people and make you very wealthy. And I personally benefit from many of the products and services that were created by this generation of the wealthy individuals.<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.forbes.com&#x2F;sites&#x2F;afontevecchia&#x2F;2014&#x2F;10&#x2F;02&#x2F;the-new-forbes-400-self-made-score-from-silver-spooners-to-boostrappers&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.forbes.com&#x2F;sites&#x2F;afontevecchia&#x2F;2014&#x2F;10&#x2F;02&#x2F;the-new...</a>