One of the big sadness’s of my life revolves around people’s spending habits in the US (and elsewhere I am sure). So many people talk about how they have money stress and feel like they just cannot get ahead financially. Traditionally, they blame low pay, the cost of goods, the government, the price of housing, interest rates and so on. But, what most people don’t seem to grasp is they are already a high income earner, and if they are having any problems with money after that fact, it is purely due to spending habits.

I cannot say it is 100% their fault they have spending problems. We can safely say that many people in the US (and everywhere) do not get proper coaching or education around managing money. This lack of education comes from not getting taught by their family, their friends, the US educational system, and so on. Therefore, before I go into a multi-minute rant about my irritations with people’s spending, let’s first dive into education to help them (you) understand their (your) income and wealth. That seems much more purposeful.

As I listed in the heading of this post, you are probably already “Making Bank”, for a cooler sounding phrase. Take a moment to let this sink into your SOUL. You are probably already wealthy!

YOU . . .

Are . . .

Probably . . .

Already . . .

Wealthy!

Looking at the 2023 Global Wealth Report¹ that is put out by UBS, at the World Inequity Database², and at givingwhatwecan.org³, I want to point out two things.

1. Take a look at this chart of global wealth in US Dollars:

This chart shows you the percentages of the world population that has less than the equivalent of $10,000 to their name, then $10,000 to $100,000, then $100,000 to $1,000,000, and finally above $1,000,000.

If you simply look at the bottom wealth range, you will notice that if you have $10,001 to your net worth (whether that is cash, stock or bond market investments, retirement funds, real estate equity, bitcoin, or a combination of the above), you are already richer than 52.5% of the world. OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!

If you get to the point where you have a net worth of $100,000 or more (which you likely will if you are reading this education – because you care about your finances), you will be richer than 86.9% of the REST OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!

OF THE WORLD!

2. If you compare income ranges in the same fashion, even if you made today’s minimum wage in the United States ($7.25 an hour, 40 hours a week/2080 hours a year, 10% tax after standard deduction), you are already making more money than 85.7% of the world (based on income alone and a 1 person household with no kids). OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!

If we look at the average household income in the United States, which is $80,610 as of 2023, and based on a 3 person household (after taxes), that would put that average household making more money than 92.6% of the REST OF THE WORLD!

And yes, just in case you were wondering, these income calculations and percentages already account for costs of living differences in different areas of the world. So, yes, cost of living is higher in the US than in Djibouti, Africa. But yes, the income ranking is already adjusted for cost of living differences, according to the www.givingwhatwecan.org calculator.

So, you want to be rich or you want to make a lot of money? Good news, you likely already are by income, assets, or both, compared to most of the world. I want you to appreciate this for a moment. Say thank you to the universe for providing you the life you have.

After being appreciative, lets jump into why you usually feel like you don’t make or have enough money? It sure as heck isn’t because you don’t have enough or make enough (unless you really are at minimum wage or so, that still will be tougher than being near the average in the US). The reason you feel like you don’t have or make enough money is because of what you are spending your money on and your values you are living by. What I need you to do is to become a little bit more focused on your understanding around YOUR money.

Money is a very powerful thing. It has the power to very much improve your world and the lives of the people you love (including yourself). Or it has the power turn your life into a huge stressball (normally because you spend too much of the money and don’t know how you will be able to get back out of the hole again). It relies purely on what decisions you make with that money.

Most people think that in order to feel rich, they have to own expensive cars and expensive homes. They have to eat fancy meals, take expensive vacations, dress in expensive clothing, and have extravagant weddings when they get married. But, what everyone finds out is that doing all of that does nothing to making you feel rich. All it does is make you feel stressed because you have to keep working non-stop, for literal decades, in order to afford the payments on all of that expensive stuff. It also makes you feel hollow because none of these things are actually bringing meaning to your life (except, hopefully, your marriage and wedding).

This education is not going to have all the answers to your life written in it (even if I tried to write 500,000 words). What is does have in it is some perspective. If you are making more money than even 85% of the world (which you are, because you have a decent or good job in the United States of America), don’t you think that is enough money to be happy with (and appreciative of)? I hope your answer is yes.

Focus on enjoying what you are lucky enough to have and spend more of your time thinking about your appreciation and enjoyment within your life. In doing so, you will hopefully spend less time thinking about all the stuff you thought you needed previously (But no more, right?).

For a different, more entertaining, viewpoint on this, check out this video by Mr. Money Mustache –Mr. Money Mustache Speaking Event

What I want you to take away from this post is that you already make more money than the vast majority of the world, even after cost of living differences in each area of the world. You do not need to make more money to be financially secure and financially free. As you do make more money, great, but it is not needed, just a bonus. What you need is to just use the money you are making. to live more purposefully. Stop buying things that don’t add joy to your life and invest that money instead so you can feel financially stable, and eventually financially independent. Then teach others to do the same so they can live a better life also.

Hopefully that is eye opening. And hopefully you appreciate the money you make and have, more than before. You could be much poorer than you are. Just like most of the rest of the world. So always appreciate what you have.

1. UBS global-wealth-report-2023.pdf ↩︎
2. https://wid.world/ ↩︎

Also, enjoy a random picture to end this post, it is one of the Ocean Art Contest winners and is called “Where’s Waldo” –