Traits, habits and attitudes of the wealthy

Free Money Finance has been reviewing The Difference: How Anyone Can Prosper in Even The Toughest Times by Jean Chatzky and the book seems to have a lot of interesting pieces of advice and tips based on survey of those who are considered wealthy.  I am reproducing some of those here from the FMF blog.

The survey tested for hundreds of factors to try and determine the difference that helped people rise to the top. And out of those hundred, only twenty were the ones that made the difference. They are:

Financial Attitudes and Behaviors

  • They feel stocks are worth the risk.
  • The devote money to personal savings or a 401k each month.
  • They save regularly for emergencies.
  • They have invested for retirement.
  • They have reduced outstanding debt.

Goals

  • They want to be financially comfortable during their working years.
  • They aim to retire comfortably.
  • They always knew what they wanted to do (for a career).
  • They made it a goal to accumulate $1 million.
  • They want to own a home.

Personality

  • They are confident.
  • They are happy.
  • They are optimistic.
  • They are competitive.
  • They are leaders.

Nonfinancial Behaviors

  • They have a college degree.
  • They socialize with friends at least once a week.
  • They exercise at least two to three times a week.
  • They read newspapers regularly.
  • They are married.
The book also touches on the fact that while the poor blame their misery on their bad luck, the rich rarely consider their wealth a lucky coincidence.  This seems to run contrary to how Jim Collins had described a Level 5 leader in his book Good to Great ... if both assertions hold true, this would mean that good (corporate) leadership and personal wealth don't necessarily go hand-in-hand.
Seven Traits of the Wealthy
 FMF quotes the seven traits that were considered to be force behind those who fought their way to the status of wealth:
  1. Optimism
  2. Resilience
  3. Connectedness
  4. Drive
  5. Curiosity
  6. Intuition
  7. Confidence
And the Four Habits
  1. Work hard
  2. Save habitually
  3. Invest soundly and aggressively
  4. Give back
The lists resonated with me.  I have often found that the difference between a successful businessman and an unsuccessful one if typically just a matter of optimism, resilience and confidence.  In fact, of the seven traits, I place these three and drive at the top of the list of traits.

I was somewhat surprised to see that the wealthy actually thought that giving back was important. What I have learned through experience and believe in strongly is that giving back never, ever hurts. It always opens doors of opportunity in ways that you can't even imagine at the time.