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Originally posted by CET
I've now quoted the figure "88% of all Amerians worth over $10 million are first generation wealthy" several times in this thread. If anyone wants to know where I got that, it's here: The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. This book is an exhaustive study into Americans with a net worth of over $10 million. It's a bit of a dry read, but it's under 300 pages and VERY insightful into how wealthy people become wealthy people, as well as how they stay wealthy. One of the things you'll learn is that those that inherit wealthy generally don't stay wealthy for very long. The day of dynasty fortunes is essentially dead, with only a few exceptions (Kennedy, Gore, Bush, etc).
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Ah, now there is a source. All that is lacking now is the exact information on the research method used.
By the way, here's something suggesting the opposite:
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Almost a third of the Forbes 400 richest people were born onto that list, with an average net worth of $2.6 billion. Another quarter inherited a small business, oil lands, or perhaps had well-to-do parents able to provide an expensive education and family friends helpful in a business career.
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http://csmonitor.com/2004/0802/p17s01-wmgn.html