9 Rules of Life That Rich People Follow While Poor People Consider Them Stupid

While the tips about reading a lot and working less in the office may sound pretty good, it’s not enough to follow them to become a person who is well-off financially. It’s important to have a certain mindset and this way of thinking that can be developed thanks to certain habits. Millionaires have a similar attitude toward many things and it’s not without reason. The same goes for people who can barely make ends meet.

We at Bright Side are sure that the rules of life that are used by successful people are worth sharing with our readers.

1. They keep their mouth shut.

Wealthy people do many things differently. They don’t talk too much about their money and they don’t try to show the whole world how rich they are.

• The wealthiest people I know either dress exceptionally cheap or wear things that are expensive, but you wouldn’t know it just from looking at them. On the contrary, those who are trying to make an impression and demonstrate how rich they are love showing off their designer clothes. © Bran_Solo / reddit

• Wealthy people often understate all that they do and keep “quiet” about their financial status. Their clothes are good quality and tasteful, but nothing draws undue attention to itself. Whereas flashy types who are literally covered in brands, crave your attention and want you to think they are rich. © Back2Bach / reddit

Obnoxious and ridiculous excessiveness reveals the truth about people who went from poor to rich very quickly or who just want to feel like they belong to the group of more well-off people.

2. They take care of their health.

Any rich person believes that when it comes to their health, prevention is better than cure.

• Rich people often use the services of concierge medicine. They pay a high annual fee to have whatever care they need available whenever they want it, without having to struggle to be seen by a doctor. © LarsAlereon / reddit

• All well-off people I know focus on preventative healthcare, more than on actual treatment when a disease strikes. Of course, they have access to high-quality early diagnostic methods, but each one of us has access to regular medical check-ups that can save our lives. © Anthon Lund / quora

You don’t have to be wealthy to be healthy. Fresh air and a healthy diet with a combination of a good night’s sleep and the absence of harmful habits don’t cost anything except for the effort you have to put in to maintain them.

3. They know how to share.

If money itself turns into the final goal, a person loses their connection with reality. That’s why well-off people spend money on charity and establish charitable organizations that have an opportunity to quickly help people in need.

• Really wealthy people understand that great wealth comes with great responsibility. And those who don’t understand this idea aren’t happy with their lives. They just live in golden cages, instead of iron ones. While people who belong to the middle-class may enjoy the illusion that money can buy you happiness, for very wealthy people, this illusion is already gone. So the most important thing to them may be to figure out how to give their money meaning and value, rather than using their status to attach meaning to their lives. © David Frank Gomes / quora

• My brother-in-law is a gazillionaire who has his own business. But he wears baggy pants and a polyester down jacket. Once, my brother asked to borrow some money and he just gave him a pile of money without a second thought and said that it was a gift, not a loan. He’s always just been very modest. Apart from buying a nice house and sending his 3 kids to good schools, he has just been just saving and investing his money. © catsasss / reddit

Well, you might ask, “Why wouldn’t rich people help other people out if they have the money to do it?” But help shouldn’t be measured in money and the most important thing is to take part in the life of another person and do it without pursuing your own interests.

4. They find time to express gratitude.

And it’s not about just being polite, which is an essential quality if you want to feel comfortable among well-off people. An ability to be grateful and express this gratitude have a strong power over people.

• All wealthy people I know say thank you to their banker, their gardener, their attorney, their garbage man, their pool boy, and the chairman of their board, because they are aware of the vital contribution each one of them makes to their success. They appreciate everyone’s work and they don’t take people for granted. They make others feel happy to be a part of their team. As a result, they get significant amounts of cooperation and 110% effort from those they work with. This gives them enormous success. © Steve Kobrin / quora

Robert Townsend, the former president of Avis and one of the 20th Century Fox executives, mentioned: “Saying ‘thank you’ is a strongly underappreciated way of compensation for doing your job.” Simple words of gratitude help build an emotional connection with people and may even inspire others.

5. They understand the value of education.

There’s a famous saying that states: “If you give a hungry man a fish, you feed him for a day. But if you give him a fishing rod and teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” A good education is this “rod.”

• A member of my family is a private wealth manager for rich people, so I know what I’m talking about. Rich people invest in their education like crazy. Do their kids want a Maserati? Nope, it’s not going to happen! Do their kids want to learn how to play the piano? Of course, they’ll have as many lessons on the piano as they want. They invest in the best teachers and the best universities and want to give their children the best education possible. © Priamosish / reddit

• My aunt and uncle are rich. They have never owned a new car in their lives or spoiled their 2 kids. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found out how much they had paid for the art school for their son. They spent $100k! But this investment has paid off, because their son works at some big NYC ad agency. © kieffa / reddit

New knowledge and skills mean new opportunities for development, personal growth, and increasing your wealth. That’s why education is an investment that lasts a lifetime.

6. They communicate with people who they look up to.

Millionaires are extremely picky when it comes to the people who surround them because they know that similarities attract and bind.

• Sergey Kosenko, a young millionaire, shares: “I have friends who have already started their own business. You need to find the topics that can connect you with people. If you have 10 friends and none of them have their own business, you’re likely to stop doing business yourself because the people around you won’t understand you. You’ll have nothing to talk about and they’ll drag you to their world, where you work a full day at the office, go on planned vacations, and receive notifications about the transfer of your salary to your bank account on a schedule. They’ll also joke that if you didn’t leave your job, you’d be happier now.”

• Ultra-wealthy people would never allow toxic people to stay in their lives. They won’t spend time with people who are poor and only complain about their lives, because this is the reason why “poor people only become poorer.” © Ratna Kumar / quora

Experience is priceless and well-off people think that if you know a successful person who is ready to share their knowledge, it’d be stupid to miss this opportunity. They look for people who can help them and have the same vibe as they do.

7. They don’t spend their energy trying to impress people.

Owning expensive things doesn’t show our status anymore because most people can afford to buy most of this stuff on credit.

• I decided not to change my lifestyle after my income significantly grew and I quickly realized that things aren’t a source of happiness. Owning too many things puts pressure on you. It’s better to spend money on experiences and traveling. Memories will last forever, but things make you happy only for a moment. And I don’t try to keep up with my friends and colleagues. You’ll never know the whole truth about the financial status of another person. I had well-off friends who were in debt and had no savings. © mwatwe01 / reddit

Buying things that you don’t really need just to demonstrate your financial status and living on credit are only for people who don’t think about their future.

8. They build a financial safety net.

Very rich people often have to deal with “gold diggers” and people who want to get some of their money. They have learned to completely rely on themselves and have come up with 2 rules that help separate interpersonal relationships from financial ones: they don’t talk about their income and they have a separate personal account.

• I live a life that is the complete opposite of one that you’d expect for someone who is well-off to have. I live in an ordinary apartment, drive a used car, and shop at the mall for clothes. I left my relationship after 6 years. My ex-girlfriend saw my bank statement and she and her mother began using me as their personal checking account. It started off with little things, but I ended up paying off all the debts of her family. When I confronted her, she said that I’d buy her anything she wants if I truly loved her. So as you’ve probably realized, she became my ex. © MedicGirl / reddit

• Don’t keep all your money in joint accounts. Have an emergency savings account in your name and transfer a part of your salary there. I used to finish my husband’s sentences, we would sing together, and I loved him with all my heart. There were no warning signs. But after we broke up, my savings (if I had any) would have helped. Otherwise, if your marriage is over, you’ll be left with nothing. © d / reddit

It’s not about trust but more about perspective. Any person needs a personal safety net, not because they don’t trust their partner, but because this money may save you one day or go to your family budget. And it also makes you feel safer.

9. They buy comfortable, but not pricey clothes.

Money can make you feel more satisfied and help you solve your everyday problems. But as soon as you buy everything you need, it will start to bring you less and less happiness, even if your income grows. Sounds like a paradox, right?

• My parents have a lot of money and they’ve earned it all themselves. They have 3 rules: “Don’t buy stuff to impress people,” “Don’t waste money on luxury cars. They lose a lot of value and they cost a fortune to maintain,” and “Save whatever you can, and invest whatever you can.” Wasting money means going out to dinner more than one night a week or trying to buy all the new gadgets. Seriously, people who have tons of cash don’t pay attention to these things. They prefer to have a good amount of savings instead. © powerlesshero111 / reddit

• Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple and Pixar, once said: “I watched people who worked at Apple and who made a lot of money, but they were so unhappy. Some of them bought Rolls-Royces, each one of them had a manager who took care of their house and a manager above that manager. Their wives went through so many plastic surgeries that they turned into these strange people who didn’t look like people anymore. I didn’t want to live that way. It’s madness.”

Well-off people are sure that all decisions connected to how much you can spend should be made based on your current financial opportunities and the objective benefits you might get from owning this exact object.

What rules from the lives of wealthy people do you think would be beneficial to follow?