Ever wondered how the richest people got to where they are? Of course it helps to be incredibly good at something, whether that’s playing music, making people laugh or creating an important piece of tech. But a lot of their long term wealth has to do with their attitude to money. In this post, we reveal how some of the richest people in the world view money in a completely different way to a lot of us…

Don’t keep up with the Joneses

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Before the age of 30, businessman Derek Sall was $116,000 in debt from student loans, mortgage repayments and credit cards. After realising the extent of his problems, he set about increasing his income and decreasing his spending. He realised he didn’t need to keep up with his peers, spending money on clothes, cars and holidays. To help him focus, he withdrew from social media and decided to live his own life as simply as possible. He maintains that being attracted by superfluous things is the biggest drain on people’s finances.

Change “can I afford this?”, to “should I afford this?”

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Eminem might be worth millions, but he deliberates over every big spend. “I don’t want to run out of money,” he said, “I want my daughter to be able to go to college”. This philosophy of looking long term stops you having the impulsive purchases that add up, and allows you to rationalise each big buy.

Set your goals higher than amassing money

Well after Facebook’s valuation passed one billion dollars, Mark Zuckerberg was still sleeping on a mattress on the floor of a very spartan apartment in San Francisco. As he was spending all his waking hours in the office, there was no real reason to splash money on champagne, cars or property. According to those who have worked around him, he would rather be the most influential person in the world, rather than the richest. Even now, Zuckerberg’s house has been described as modest in relation to his wealth.

The Jay Leno philosophy

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Comedian Jay Leno may be a millionaire, but a lot of that is down to financial scruples. He puts his wealth down to a method he adopted when he was a struggling comedian. In the early 70s he worked as a used car sales person during the day, and would so stand up gigs in the evening. “When I started to get a bit famous, the money I was making as a comedian was way more than the money I was making at the car dealership,” he says, “so I would bank that and spend the car dealership money.” Couples have adopted this method to pay off debt and save towards a goal.

Try to develop another income stream

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Whether it’s getting an evening job, doing freelancing work in your spare time, or selling items on eBay, finding a second income stream is a big factor in many rich people’s success.”Self-made millionaires do not rely on one singular source of income,” writes Thomas C. Corley in “Change Your Habits, Change Your Life,” a culmination of his research on hundreds of self-made millionaires. “They develop multiple streams.

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