Attitude #5 - The Wealth Hang Around Each Other

The following quote from Warren Buffet reminds me of another attitude the wealthy have:

“Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.”

Wealthy people hang around each other.

One of the powerful ways the wealthy create opportunities and maintain their wealth is by hanging around each other. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet became friends. Retreats and conferences bring successful people together.

As an example; Jack Welch of General Electric and Bob Wright, who was the head of NBC, had a conversation at a retreat for business executives in Colorado in 1986. That conversation led to the sale of NBC to General Electric.

After I went through my horrible financial mess I realized the people for me to hang around needed to be financially where I wanted to be, not where I was. My friends were folks that taught swimming, taught school, or were in door to door sales. I was in sales too, but not very successful at it; I was just scraping by.

One of my friends from high school became a successful attorney and began to buy small strip centers. You know the kind you see where there used to be a gas station, but now it has a dry cleaner, a 7/11 or Circle K, a nail salon, and maybe a restaurant. These turned out to be very profitable for him. This is someone I began to spend more time with. I met other people through him who were as successful, or more successful, than he was and it opened my eyes to other possibilities.

           

It was around this time that my brother died and I inherited a small four-plex. Not knowing how to effectively manage it, I took a class at UCLA by Mel Flack. He was a school teacher by day, and purchased apartment buildings after school. I learned so much in that class, and one thing always stuck with me. He said, “If the economy gets bad and people have to close their office, they still need a place to live and will work out of their home, whether it’s a house or an apartment.” While my attorney friend had some struggles renting his retail spaces when the economy was tough, I never had a problem renting apartments.

Look around and see who you associate with. Are they were you want to be, or where you are?

If you know of some people who are where you want to be, spend more time with them and the people that they know.

And here is another quote from Warren Buffet:

“It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.”

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