{"id":27248,"date":"2016-11-28T12:28:02","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T04:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=27248"},"modified":"2018-09-25T10:06:18","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T02:06:18","slug":"if-youre-still-poor-at-35-maybe-its-not-your-fault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/if-youre-still-poor-at-35-maybe-its-not-your-fault","title":{"rendered":"If You’re Still Poor At 35, Maybe It’s Not Your Fault"},"content":{"rendered":"

“If you’re still poor at 35, you deserve it!” shouts\u00a0the\u00a0headline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The quote supposedly comes from Jack Ma — from his Alibaba story and how he became one of China’s richest men.<\/p>\n

It’s a great headline, and the article itself is pretty inspiring (though I\u00a0can’t verify that Jack Ma really said those things).<\/p>\n

But the article has always bugged me for one reason: it puts\u00a0all<\/strong>\u00a0the responsibility to\u00a0become rich\u00a0on\u00a0you.<\/p>\n

Now don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that we shouldn’t do our best to make our lives comfortable. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be ambitious. I’m a firm believer in taking action; and not hoping\u00a0for freebies from the universe.<\/p>\n

But I think saying “it’s your fault that you’re poor” is way too arrogant.<\/p>\n

It completely ignores external factors to financial success.\u00a0Today, we’ll talk about two of them: privilege and opportunity.<\/p>\n

<\/span>What is privilege?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

If you’ve never had to think about privilege — you’re privileged.<\/p>\n

Like if you’re a straight white\u00a0male in America\u00a0— then you have privilege. Or for that matter, if you’re a\u00a0straight guy in any part\u00a0of the world — you’re privileged too.<\/p>\n

(If you don’t believe me, here’s a hint: when you’re walking down the street alone, you don’t have to worry 500 times that someone much stronger is suddenly going to intimidate or rough you up in a dark alley.)<\/p>\n

Privilege is special benefits that only certain members of society enjoy. Like how men worry less about safety than women. Or how, certain groups in the society have better access to cheaper higher education compared to others.<\/p>\n

Of course, we all have varying degrees of privilege. A\u00a0common\u00a0Chinese guy living in Malaysia (me) is more privileged than a common\u00a0white\u00a0guy living in America in 1943. Mostly because I have peace and security around me; while\u00a0the American guy in 1943 had to go to fight World War II\u00a0in Europe.\u00a0I can actually think about what kind of\u00a0career<\/a>\u00a0I want for my life, and drive\u00a0Uber<\/a>\u00a0if I want to make more money. But the\u00a0first thing on the honourable WWII soldier’s mind was just to\u00a0survive.<\/p>\n

Now I’m not here to debate about who deserves it, or b*tch about why life isn’t fair. What I’m here to say is that privilege exists, but\u00a0whether you have it or not is totally random. If you’ve got it, congratulations — you won the genetic lottery.<\/p>\n

If you were born at the right time; into the right class of society — it’s always going to be easier to make money.<\/p>\n

<\/span>What about opportunity?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Opportunity is privilege’s cousin; they’re closely related, though not the same. If you\u00a0were born with privilege, you’re bound to have more opportunities to make money.<\/p>\n

For example, there’s this famous\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0that says most entrepreneurs actually come from rich families; they already have money, so they can afford to take risks.<\/p>\n

Here’s another example. Let’s say your dad is a rich businessman with lots of powerful friends. Do you think you’ll have\u00a0more opportunities to become rich than the son of a construction worker? We’ve just witnessed it: By most\u00a0accounts<\/a>, Donald Trump is actually a terrible\u00a0businessman<\/a>. His companies have declared bankruptcy four times. But his father was rich; and now\u00a0he’s going to become the next president of the USA.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Malcom Gladwell wrote a whole book about the topic of opportunity versus success:\u00a0Outliers<\/em>. Successful people are often idolised because they seem to have magically controlled their fate; and\u00a0by the sheer power of their will: forced life to grant them success.\u00a0What we don’t often hear about is unique advantages and opportunities they received along the way.<\/p>\n

But listen closely to their stories, and you’ll notice something: many\u00a0successful people (at least the honest ones)\u00a0give credit to family, friends and mentors. For helping them reach where they are today.<\/p>\n

Warren Buffett, third richest guy on the planet explains this\u00a0candidly<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I happen to have a talent for allocating capital. But my ability to use that talent is completely dependent on the society I was born into. If I\u2019d been born into a tribe of hunters, this talent of mine would be pretty worthless. I can\u2019t run very fast. I\u2019m not particularly strong. I\u2019d probably end up as some wild animal\u2019s dinner.
\nBut I was lucky enough to be born in a time and place where society values my talent…