Have you ever wondered why the rich keep getting richer and the gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening? Michael Yardney, from Metropole Property Strategists, addressees that topic in the show and tells us about his new book as well.
 

Transcript:

Kevin:  It’s a fascinating study, you know. When you look at the rich around the world, they just keep getting richer. Is there anything really wrong with that? Why does it happen?
Michael Yardney is from Metropole Property Strategists. Michael, have you been looking at this? Why is it so?
Michael:  Kevin, I’ve been studying this – I guess – for the last 25 years and more intently over the last 10 years as I’ve mentored over 2000 very successful entrepreneurs, business people, and property investors.
I’ve noticed that it actually has nothing to do with their background or education; it has a lot to do with their habits, the way they think about money, they way they act about money, and what they do.
Having studied it for a long time, I’ve actually put it all together in my latest book, “The Guide to Getting Rich.” The good news is that the majority of wealthy people in Australia actually didn’t start off that way. They weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth. I think most people can become wealthy in this country, Kevin.
Kevin:  I suppose that would be interesting, then, to have a look at what you would see as the common traits, Michael?
Michael:  The common traits of successful investors, business people, entrepreneurs, rich people are they think in a particular way. It’s interesting, and I don’t want to sound arrogant, but after having spent so much time studying people, I think after sitting down and spending five or ten minutes with somebody, I can actually come to a conclusion about how wealthy they are, or are going to be, because of the way they think, which leads them to act in different ways.
Kevin, the other thing is they have habits – what I’d call “success habits” – that separate rich people from the average people. In Australia, one of the big things that separates rich from wealthy people is also property. In fact, all around the world, the wealthy invest in real estate.
Kevin:  It would be very handy for us to know what we can learn from that, Michael. What can we learn?
Michael:  You can learn that if you don’t change, nothing else in the world is going to change. But if you change, your life and your wealth can change. I believe, Kevin, if you took all the money in the world and distributed it evenly, within five or seven years, it would be back in the same proportions again. I bet you’ve heard that, Kevin?
Kevin:  I have, and there’s another interesting point that you and I have talked about off-air on many occasions, and that is that I think really clever people, people who become rich, are very good at working out where they can best spend their time.
Michael:  That’s right, Kevin. But what they’ve also learned is to get mentors and models to change their thinking. For most of us, we’re taught by what I’d call “unwealthy” people – in other words, our parents, teachers, or friends, who aren’t wealthy. Do you think the conversation around James Packer’s kitchen table was different to the table when you and I grew up? Those people have a head start, but you can start hanging around other people. You can start doing things differently.
Kevin, when I learned this concept of modeling other people, and understanding how they think, what they do to become the way they are – whether it’s with regard to health, fitness, business, or wealth – then you can actually fast-track things. It’s arrogant to think you can start from scratch and learn how to do it yourself, Kevin.
Kevin:  If it were easy everyone would be doing it. Another thing I’m fascinated with, Michael, is that gap between the rich and the poor. I know it’s a terrible term, but is that getting wider?
Michael:  I understand your concept of poor. Fortunately in Australia we’re the wealthiest country in the world, so our poor are still richer than the rich in many other countries. Kevin, we also know that true wealth has nothing to do with how much money you have or how many properties you have.
But if we’re allowed to talk about money for a moment, in Australia, the gap is getting wider. The rich are getting richer, and it’s happened even more so post the Global Financial Crisis all around the world. Fortunately in Australia, the gap between the rich and the poor is smaller than any other OECD country.
My thoughts are if you want to change your financial circumstances, you actually have to hang around the right people, learn the habits of the rich, and change some ways of thinking. We’ve been taught that money doesn’t grow on trees and rich people are greedy.
The habits of successful people are that they learn, they educate themselves, they have different ways of thinking, they spend time looking after their personal health, they spend time on good relationships. They invest in themselves first, and then the rest seems to happen, Kevin.
Kevin:  Excellent. I suppose a good place to start if you’re interested in reading a little bit more about this is to get a copy of Michael’s latest book, “The Guide to Getting Rich.”
How do we get that, Michael?
Michael:  There’s a website called GuideToGettingRich.com, which is a really good place to start. It’s really the byproduct of my study over the last 10 years of the 2000 people I’ve mentored to see what the differences are, Kevin.
Kevin:  We might put a link to that on our homepage at Real Estate Talk, Michael.
Michael:  That would be very kind, thank you Kevin.
Kevin:  We’ll do that. Just go have a look for it on the homepage, you’ll find it there somewhere. I don’t quite know where it’s going to be. You’ll find it by the time you get to this.
Michael Yardney, from Metropole Property Strategists and author of that new book, “Guide to Getting Rich.” Thank you for your time, Michael.
Michael:  My pleasure, Kevin.