What does it take to get rich in America? According to Lisa Keister, there are some surprising and some not-so-surprising answers to that question, which she writes about in her new book, Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Lisa, a sociology professor at Duke University, shares with Jean a few of the factors that she says most influence wealth accumulation in the United States today:
Education matters. Not surprisingly, studies have shown that people with a college degree have higher incomes and greater wealth ownership than people with less education. Learning how to save, how not to spend and making social contacts are just a few of the advantages a higher education provides.
Boring is better. While there are certainly a great deal of entrepreneurs making big money, many people accumulate wealth simply by "playing by the rules." "They don't accumulate a lot of debt, they buy things they can afford and they save their money every month," Lisa says. "Those people do really, really well."
Childhood values are key. The financial lessons you learn growing up—whether consciously or unconsciously—are some of the strongest predictors of adult wealth.
