The Rules of Wealth, 4th Edition

RULE 8

Understand that wealth is a consequence, not a reward^*

If you work hard at making money, you stand a better chance of becoming rich. You have to accept that money is a payment given to you for clever thinking and hard work. The harder and smarter you work, the more you will earn. You don’t get given the money by a committee who examine whether you deserve it or not, whether you have been good enough or not. It is a direct consequence.

We often look at someone who has money and make all sorts of value judgements about whether they deserve it or not. We all do it. I was reading about Calvin Ayre – the internet bookie – who has grown very rich indeed running online gambling. He has something like 16 million customers in the US. The US Department ...