This past September Forbes released their annual list of the 400 richest American citizens (“The Forbes 400“). After getting over the mild disappointment of not seeing my name on the list – 25 year old software engineers rarely crack the top 400 – I took a look at how the list was composed.
The most interesting thing that stuck out to me was the number of individuals in the top 50 with no formal advanced education. In the top 50, 10 people lack any education past high school, and another individual, Carl Icahn, dropped out of school once before returning and getting his Bachelor’s. This includes three people in the top 10; even the number one slot is occupied by the world’s most famous college drop-out, Bill Gates. Also, only two of those individuals inherited their fortunes – Christy’s Walton of Walmart fame and Frederik Meijer of the eponymous super-store chain.
Obviously, many people have ideas they believe in that they see through to completion, that fail and never make them rich. But I admire anyone who is willing to take risks and invest in themselves by pursuing their dreams.
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DINKS (Dual Income No Kids) Finance is a blog discussing personal finance for couples. While by no means financial experts, we own a variety of assets including real estate and stocks. We've been up to our eyeballs in debt and have made tons of financial mistakes. However, we've successfully retired that debt and we both do learn from our failings. We hope that our voice in this blog can help others in achieving their goals!
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