The Billionaire Money Rules
What our research shows about how the self-made Super Rich build their wealth
If you are like nearly every other successful person, you’re not ready to rest on your
accomplishments. You want to build on your success so far to create even more wealth and
more value. In fact, according to our research, 94 percent of successful business owners
want to be wealthier. (And even if you don’t own a business, you are effectively the CEO of
your family, so this all applies to you, too.)
Why you need serious wealth
You’re not driven by greed or after wealth simply for wealth’s sake. Instead, you probably
want to grow your wealth substantially to achieve goals that are deeply meaningful to you.
As the chart below shows, these goals likely include taking care of your family and other
loved ones, supporting the causes you care deeply about and perhaps even changing the
world for the better.
To make those goals real, you’ll need to determine the amount of wealth you’ll need to
reach them. Whatever your amount is, if it enables you to achieve all that is most important
to you and your family, we call it serious wealth.
The Billionaire Money Rules
It takes discipline and focus to become seriously wealthy. We have evaluated the attitudes,
behaviors and actions of self-made billionaires and have identified some of their most
pronounced, dominant and persistent patterns—the Billionaire Money Rules. These seven
rules encapsulate the key mindsets and strategies that you may want to consider adopting
yourself.
#1. Commit to extreme wealth. Truth be told, many people would like to be rich but
have not committed the time or effort to get there. Following this rule means having a clear
sense that money is a critical—if not the critical—objective.
#2. Engage in enlightened self-interest. Enlightened self-interest takes many forms.
One example is making well-reasoned decisions based on solid financial projections. Another
example can be seen during negotiations. Skilled negotiation is at the heart of successful
economic endeavors. As Bill Gates said, “In business, you don’t get what you deserve. You
get what you negotiate.”
#3. Get in the line of money. Some endeavors make more money than others. Where the
self-made Super Rich choose to apply their skills counts. For instance, they know they’ll
have a greater chance of attaining wealth by being their own bosses than by working for
somebody else. Following this rule means pursuing fields and initiatives that offer the
highest paybacks, now and in the future.
#4. Pay everyone involved. When building teams, the very wealthy assume everyone has
a degree of self-interest that can be used. They never assume people are willing to work
solely for satisfaction or fulfillment, and therefore they reward handsomely—with cash,
equity or some other form of currency—to cultivate the loyalty and specific behaviors that
can help them reach their long-term goals.
#5. Connect for profit and results. Highly successful people think about networking as a
means to an end: finding the person, information or tools that get them one step closer to
their goals. Following this rule means maintaining a small but deep network of relationships
that may lead to friendship, but that certainly will lead to power and influence.
#6. Use failure to improve and refocus. Failure is inevitable, so most of the very
wealthy don’t worry about avoiding it. Instead, they focus on learning from each experience
and using the lessons to get an advantage the next time around. Rather than obsessing
about lost opportunities and getting discouraged, they study their failures and do all they
can to prevent repeating missteps.
#7. Stay focused. The wealthiest among us know there are very few things they do
exceptionally well. They also know the role these skills and expertise play in generating
wealth. Being focused means sticking to their plans and not getting distracted by other
opportunities or events that call for new and different skill sets.
Where to start? Determine the amount of wealth you need to live a life of financial freedom
and meaning. Armed with that number, you can start to incorporate the Billionaire Money
Rules yourself.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This article was published by the BSW Inner Circle, a global financial concierge group working with affluent
individuals and families and is distributed with its permission. Copyright 2018 by AES Nation, LLC.
2
Investment advisory services offered through Woodridge Wealth Management, LLC. Coastal Equities Inc. is not affiliated with
Centric Capital Advisors, LLC. or Woodridge Wealth Management, LLC.
IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax
advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used,
for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to
another party any transaction or matter addressed therein.
