Why You Should Aspire To Being Filthy Rich

We live in insane times. Being poor is lauded as being noble, which being rich is denigrated. This is hypocrisy. One gets the impression of middle-class residents of Hampstead empathising keenly with the problems of public schooling, while sending their children to private schools.

There are historical reasons for this, of course. Simple Christian guilt, the infiltration of workers movements by Marxists, the peculiar delight of the bien-pensant affecting a bohemian lifestyle, for fun.

And thus we come to the nub of it. Being poor is only fun if you can quickly nip back to the mansion when reality intrudes.

Now, what many people don't realise is that being rich is also fun.

Sure, sure, you've read all the sob stories in women's features section. You've met someone who's loaded and they didn't seem to happy. What you don't realise is that, for the very rich, life's small and bigger problems can be avoided by throwing money at them. In fact, they don't even come up. Money is a barrier and an insulator.

To paraphrase Douglas Adams, for the rich it's not a case of whether you eat, or what you eat, but where you eat.

Most people sweat for their bread. The rich do too, but only because they want to. Work is fun! It's a boutique in Bond Street or a stable in historic Cornwall or an office in the City. Endless days stretching out into decades; of delicious lunches, fabulous parties and exciting encounters with beautiful people in exotic locations.

Yes, they have problems, but they're not like your problems. Having solved all their material problems, the ones left are spiritual. And they can be solved by hiring a guru. At keen rates!

This is why the children, mind you, of rich men end up in rehab; having only known wealth and the cold care of their obsessive parents, they get spiritual problems: what to live for? And this is a problem that can be fixed a lot more easily that how to make the monthly rent.

But otherwise:

What to wear? Only the best!

What to eat? Only the best!

Where to live? In a cottage in the country or a penthouse suite or a favela in Brazil! They get to choose!

Why can't that be you?

Why not, indeed? There's only one obstacle, isn't there?

Money!

The retort arises is the underlings throat: "Money can't buy you class!" To which the wise man replies: "True, but it will for your children."

The tradesman builds up a fortune, his son consolidates it and his grand-daughter marries a duke. It's a tale as old as trade itself. And therein lies the key:

Money is made by trade.

(Unless you're a tyrant or a thief, and those are dangerous occupations.)

Some simple stats:

Mike Ashley, Sports Direct, worth £3.75bn. Started with: £10,000;
Sir Richard Branson, Virgin, worth £3.6bn. Started with: £300;
Peter Hargreaves, Hargreaves Landsdowne, worth £2.39bn. Started with: £500;
Sir Philip Green, Arcadia, worth £3.88bn. Started with: £20,000;
Charles Dunstone, Carphone Warehouse, worth £1.49bn. Started with: £6,000;
Jon Hunt, Foxtons, worth £1.07bn. Started with: £100.

Bear in mind these are publicly-touted figures. There is probably an element of propaganda. Daddy may have chipped in, in the early days. But note the ratio of starting amount to end-fortune.

These men found their way to providing something that people badly wanted and removed all objections to the target market buying it. These people are famous because it helps their business to famous. Be assured there are many richer people out there who pay publicists to keep them out of the news. Not everyone wants to feature in the Sunday Telegraph, for very good reasons. When you have money; people want to get it from you. What a nice problem to have!

Why will someone give you money? Because they badly want what you have; a good or service. The rest is watching your profit margins.

Sociologists know that money makes money and that rich people work with other rich people to acquire, keep and pass on their wealth intact. This is simple logic. They are not bound by law to give it away; that defeats the logic of money.

So having decided that, on balance, being rich is great, and that trade is the way to do it, how can you become rich too?

Simple: find something that people badly want, that you can provide, that you are good at, that there is sufficient demand for and which you can supply at a fat, net profit. Work hard at it. And then get lucky.