I was reading Dave Ramsey‘s blog and came across the post about what the rich do daily. It lists 20 things rich people do daily that poor people don’t do.
The premise is that we can all improve our own net worth by learning and then implementing the 20 things rich people do.
For instance, the wealthy carefully manage their money and so can we with free tools available online.
Tom Corley, on his website RichHabits.net, outlines a few of the differences between the habits of the rich and the poor as follows.
I’m using this to examine my own habits and have what I do regarding each habit following the listed habit. You could do this for yourself and see how you stack up.
20 Things Rich People Do
So what do the rich do every day that the poor don’t do?
Maybe it’s time to change some habits? Use the list to evaluate your own habits and then implement the habits of wealthy people.
Rich People Lifestyles
1. 70% of wealthy eat less than 300 junk food calories per day. 97% of poor people eat more than 300 junk food calories per day. 23% of wealthy gamble. 52% of poor people gamble.
2. 80% of wealthy are focused on accomplishing some single goal. Only 12% of the poor do this.
3. 76% of wealthy exercise aerobically 4 days a week. 23% of poor do this.
4. 63% of wealthy listen to audio books during commute to work vs. 5% for poor people.
5. 81% of wealthy maintain a to-do list vs. 19% for poor.
Rich People Relationships
6. 63% of wealthy parents make their children read 2 or more non-fiction books a month vs. 3% for poor.
7. 70% of wealthy parents make their children volunteer 10 hours or more a month vs. 3% for poor.
8. 80% of wealthy make hbd calls vs. 11% of poor.
9. 74% of wealthy teach good daily success habits to their children vs. 1% for poor.
Rich People Habits
10. 88% of wealthy read 30 minutes or more each day for education or career reasons vs 2% for poor.
11. 6% of wealthy say what’s on their mind vs. 69% for poor.
12. 79% of wealthy network 5 hours or more each month vs. 16% for poor.
13. 67% of wealthy watch 1 hour or less of TV every day vs. 23% for poor.
14. 6% of wealthy watch reality TV vs. 78% for poor.
15. 44% of wealthy wake up 3 hours before work starts vs .3% for poor.
16. 67% of wealthy write down their goals vs. 17% for poor.
Rich People Beliefs
17. 84% of wealthy believe good habits create opportunity luck vs. 4% for poor.
18. 76% of wealthy believe bad habits create detrimental luck vs. 9% for poor.
19. 86% of wealthy believe in life-long educational self-improvement vs. 5% for poor.
20. 86% of wealthy love to read vs. 26% for poor.
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Other Things Rich People Do
The things listed above are studied habits of rich people. But what else do they do that we can learn from?
Rich People Investments
Rich people are often rich because they either had a head start or they invested well.
Sometimes this investment can be in their own business and other times it’s in a career. That initial investment leads to more investments with the money created.
They invest their money with trusted companies and continually buy more assets.
Investing is a good way to earn on your money long term.
Read more: Investment Tips For Beginners
Money Management For Rich People
At a certain point rich people generally get advice and money management help from trusted advisors. They manage money well with services and trusted advisers.
Many rich people would rather spend their time making more money. Despite this they still want someone they trust looking out for them and their money.
Read more: Budgeting For Beginners
Rich People Make More Money
This headline is a bit tongue in cheek, but rich people obviously make more money than they spend.
They make sure they are spending less than they are making – this is how you gain wealth. You just can’t spend everything you earn!
If you want to be rich you have to be moving in the right direction and building net worth.
Read more: Net Worth Tracker Options
Am I Doing Rich People Things?
The important thing to do with this information is to use it to improve your own life.
So below I’ve applied the “rich people habits” to myself to see how I stack up with the list. Am I spending my time on habits that build wealth?
Am I Living A Rich Lifestyle?
1. 70% of wealthy eat less than 300 junk food calories per day. 97% of poor people eat more than 300 junk food calories per day. 23% of wealthy gamble. 52% of poor people gamble.
I have been diligent about cutting back on junk food and calories lately so I’m moving more toward a wealthy lifestyle habit in this case. Also, I don’t gamble.
2. 80% of wealthy are focused on accomplishing some single goal. Only 12% of the poor do this.
I need to get better at this but I do normally have at least 1 thing I want to do every day even if it’s pretty simple.
3. 76% of wealthy exercise aerobically 4 days a week. 23% of poor do this.
I do this! I am currently exercising almost every day and have a goal to get at least 30 minutes of cardio 4-5 times a week. So far, so good. I also plan on buying the Sole Fitness E95 Elliptical Machine for my house once I save up for it. My friend bought one and LOVES it.
4. 63% of wealthy listen to audio books during commute to work vs. 5% for poor people.
I don’t have a commute so this one doesn’t really apply, but I have gotten audio books for long road trips. When I did have a commute it was short and I would listen to either the radio or a podcast or make a phone call.
5. 81% of wealthy maintain a to-do list vs. 19% for poor.
I’m the master of to-do lists. I love making lists and I adore to-do lists. It helps keep me focused and keep accomplishing things!
Am I Building Rich Relationships?
6. 63% of wealthy parents make their children read 2 or more non-fiction books a month vs. 3% for poor.
I have young children who “Read” books with us but can’t actually read yet. So this question does not apply yet!
7. 70% of wealthy parents make their children volunteer 10 hours or more a month vs. 3% for poor.
I don’t have children that can volunteer yet but we’ve already started discussions about helping others.
8. 80% of wealthy make hbd calls vs. 11% of poor.
I don’t make calls but I regularly text on special occasions! I like to make sure I’m keeping relationships alive because your network is important. It can often lead to networth and lifestyle increases.
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Do I Have Wealthy Habits?
9. 74% of wealthy teach good daily success habits to their children vs. 1% for poor.
I don’t have children that can understand these concepts yet but we are just now starting to talk about and learn about money.
10. 88% of wealthy read 30 minutes or more each day for education or career reasons vs 2% for poor.
I don’t do this daily but I do read quite a bit for education and career reasons. A lot of this is through blogs and news sites but I also still read books as well.
11. 6% of wealthy say what’s on their mind vs. 69% for poor.
I definitely lean toward not saying what’s on my mind in a lot of situations because I know it’s not appropriate.
12. 79% of wealthy network 5 hours or more each month vs. 16% for poor.
Networking is one area where I work hard to make sure I’m succeeding. It can take a lot of effort to attend networking events and keep relationships active but it’s how I’ve been hired for the majority of jobs in my life.
I’m very introverted and shy so I tend to shy away from traditional networking opportunities. I make myself attend some but I also do a lot of networking online through sites like Twitter and LinkedIn.
Am I Doing Rich People Activities?
13. 67% of wealthy watch 1 hour or less of TV. every day vs. 23% for poor.
Since I cut cable I’ve barely watched any TV at all and only through Netflix and Amazon TV.
In the past I’ve used TV watching time to double as side hustle time – catching up on admin tasks so I’m somewhat productive while also enjoying TV guilt free.
14. 6% of wealthy watch reality TV vs. 78% for poor.
Okay, you got me on this one. I love some reality TV.
Not stuff like the Kadashians or the Housewives, but things like Gold Rush Alaska and Swamp People and other shows that introduce me to lives I’ll never live.
Also I enjoy things like Top Chef and Project Runway where the focus is creation and talent.
15. 44% of wealthy wake up 3 hours before work starts vs .3% for poor.
When I was employed I woke up 1-2 hours before work started. Now that I’m doing my own thing I have been horrible at having a standard wakeup call for myself.
16. 67% of wealthy write down their goals vs. 17% for poor.
I definitely do this. I keep written goals around my house in a Moleskine Classic Notebook and I keep written goals on this blog. Just the act of writing down goals helps you cement your direction and get closer to achieving what you want.
I always make sure I’m tracking my financial goals by writing things down and tracking my goals. My favorite savings trackers make things like this very easy!
Do I Have A Wealthy Mindset?
17. 84% of wealthy believe good habits create opportunity luck vs. 4% for poor.
I do believe this which is why I continue to try to establish the types of good habits that will lead to opportunity.
18. 76% of wealthy believe bad habits create detrimental luck vs. 9% for poor.
Agree with this as well to a certain extent. I know it’s not true in all cases but bad habits do majorly affect the types of opportunities that come along.
19. 86% of wealthy believe in life-long educational self-improvement vs. 5% for poor.
I fully agree with this and am surprised more poor people don’t agree with it as well. I believe we never stop learning and improving ourselves throughout life. Education doesn’t stop in school.
20. 86% of wealthy love to read vs. 26% for poor.
I looooove to read! That will make me wealthy, right? Time to go read now!
Surprisingly I already do or agree with most of the things wealthy people do daily! This bodes well for my plan to achieve financial independence.
This means in the long term my good habits should pay off handsomely, right?
Do you share many habits of the rich? Or the poor?
Mary is the founder of Pennies Not Perfection where she shares her journey to build wealth through online income. She quit her day job in 2021 after she paid off her debt and doubled her 9-5 salary.
Mary's favorite free financial tool is Personal Capital. She uses their free tools to track net worth and work toward to financial freedom.
Her favorite investment platform is M1 Finance, where she built a custom portfolio for free with no fees. She shares her portfolio growth and savings progress every month on YouTube.