How do Most People get Rich?

What if you had to choose one investment vehicle to get you to riches? What would it be? It’s an intriguing question not only because so many people have done it so many different ways, but because the question deals more with the future than looking at the past.

The vast majority on the Forbes billionaires list have gotten there through owning all or part of their own business. The industries range from technology to finance to fashion and even real estate.

Most of the newer billionaires have done it through technology (like Mark Z., Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos). A good portion of the older billionaires have made it though finance. But even within sectors there is great variation as to how the billionaires made it. For example in the technology sector Jeff Bezos has done it through online retail while Zuckerberg has done it through social media.

Real estate, whether you consider it a business(which it true) or it’s own investment category altogether has also created many wealthy people. One notable difference between billionaires in real estate and millionaires in real estate is that the millionaires have focused primarily on single family and small multifamily homes while the billionaires have purchased scalable, large operation commercial properties. (For example Donald Bren.)

Arguably it’s very difficult to get into these large operations without significant capital. So for the average investor a good place to start is either smaller properties or partnerships. Either way you look at it, real estate as a whole has been a solid investment for both the well-off and the ultra-rich.

If you’re looking to the fastest made billionaires technology businesses are your best bet. If you’re looking for the most stable, predictable, simple and versatile investment, real estate is your best choice. Most of the other investment options including bitcoin, gold, bonds, futures, options and commodities have considerably less stellar track records. However the one similarity between the ultra rich is that they have done so with extreme focus and specialization – becoming experts in their field of influence.

As times change and new technology becomes more mainstream there becomes a great advantage to the person who is willing to pick one thing, just one thing, and focus entirely on it.

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