Tricks of the Rich

Introduction: What the rich know and what you need to know

I’m writing this in May 2010 and in the last 24 months everyone’s understanding of finance has had to change dramatically. But the process of knowing the right things and making the right financial decisions is the same whether the economy is booming or busting. Taking my home of Ireland as an example: we had close to 20 years of unprecedented economic growth (remember the Celtic Tiger?) and yet, it seems that few people actually added much to their personal wealth. They drove nicer cars and changed them more often; they traded up their homes; they took better holidays. They look better off, but they are not. In a recent speech in Dublin, I made the following comment: ‘We have just had ...