The rich keep getting richer because they think bigger, hold money ready for opportunities, own assets that pay them, create value and use borrowed money, while staying unemotional about money. The script begins with the wealth gap, one of the hottest debates of recent years, with calls for higher taxation or mass redistribution. It sets two ideas aside first: there has to be a reward for working harder than everyone else, and the rich are not hoarding money in a room full of gold coins like a cartoon.
What you hear as someone’s wealth is a valuation of what they could get if they sold everything of value today, and most of it sits in other people’s companies and investments. The article follows the script’s own list of 15 reasons, plus a bonus, and presents its views as the video’s argument.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 reasons at a glance
- They think bigger than everyone else
- They have money ready for opportunities
- They hold long-term investments they do not touch
- They only spend the interest, not the principal
- They are financially educated
- They surround themselves with other rich people and help each other
- They create value
- They are not trading their time for money
- They are not controlled by their emotions
- They are building the future you will live in
- They understand how the game works
- They try to shape the rulebook
- They make money using other people’s money
- They hire the smartest people to protect them
- They are not emotionally attached to money
1. They think bigger than everyone else
To be rich you need to solve bigger problems. While the average person worries about their own issues, the rich work out how to build companies that serve millions. That think-big mentality is the foundation of wealth building.
The narrator adds a practical point: it takes almost the same effort to build something small as something big. If you are going to think anyway, think big.
2. They have money ready for opportunities
One reason the rich keep getting richer is that they always have money lined up. That is also why poorer people see them as cheap: they are saving.
Take two people facing the same opportunity. Person A has saved money to act on it and their wealth grows. Person B has nothing ready and stays where they are. That is the basic reason some move ahead and others never move.
3. They hold long-term investments they do not touch
Give the same two people $20,000 each. One puts it down on a $100,000 rental house. The other buys a new car and a TV. Rent pays the property off in 10 to 20 years, and it is eventually worth $200,000, paid for by the tenant. The car needed constant repairs and ended up unusable.
The rich spend money on assets that generate money, directly or through appreciation. Buy enough of them and your wealth gains momentum, until the income your wealth produces exceeds the cost of the life you want.
4. They only spend the interest, not the principal
The video defines financial freedom as asset income reaching double your monthly expenses. As long as your lifestyle does not balloon, wealth keeps rising and you have excess capital to reinvest.
The catch is never spending the principal or selling assets to cover temporary expenses. Alux says it has seen families where children liquidate everything after the parents die and split the cash. Once they see cash they spend it. Legacy wealth takes only three generations: if each acquires without selling, the fourth generation is rich. People would rather spend it all now than secure the future.
5. They are financially educated
The rich invest in financial education. They learn how money works, how to buy assets instead of liabilities, how to invest for cash flow, manage debt and control spending.
The script compares it to baking an apple pie. You first decide you want one, then learn the recipe, then buy the ingredients. There are plenty of recipes for building wealth, and the Alux channel has shared a number of them.
6. They surround themselves with other rich people and help each other
If your friends are poor, you are probably poor too, since you share an environment and similar problems. The wake-up call in the script: if you stay where you grew up, you will end up like your parents.
The people around you are among the biggest factors in success. They motivate you, push you toward bigger things, call out your nonsense and back your ideas. You cannot do epic things with poor-minded people. Many people believe your network is worth more than your net worth.
7. They create value
Many people do not understand value. The rich see that it can be created, while the poor think it is limited and must be divided. The narrator says to take one thing from the piece: a bar of iron costs $5. Made into horseshoes it is worth $12, into needles $3,500, and into watch balance springs $300,000.
Your own value depends on what you make of yourself and the things at your disposal. The more you learn to create value, the richer you become. Ask what you see in the mirror, what that person can be made into, and start shaping yourself.
8. They are not trading their time for money
Get paid by the hour and you always have a cap, because a day has 24 hours. Even well-paid people can be left unable to work if life goes wrong. The rich build businesses that run without them on the hamster wheel, find great people to run them and move on to new ones.
You may know ROI, return on investment, but the script says the rich prioritize ROT, return on time. At some point you understand money so well that you focus on what is valuable: your time here. If people knew how valuable time is, few would sell it so cheaply.
9. They are not controlled by their emotions
This is why average people find the rich stuck-up or serious. They do not care about meaningless drama because return on time is on their minds. Emotional intelligence is among the strongest weapons, and controlling emotions gives a competitive edge.
Feelings matter for emotional issues, not financial ones. Money does not care about your feelings, and as long as you are emotionally invested in it, you are not owning wealth. Your wealth is owning you.
10. They are building the future you will live in
We already live in the world of people such as Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. They make the things we use and enjoy, so of course they get richer. You vote with your money and signal which direction they should build in.
The video quotes Steve Jobs: everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you. You can influence it and build things others use. The world is made of builders and consumers, builders get paid and consumers pay. Decide who you want to be.
11. They understand how the game works
Money and wealth are simple games with clear rules, and the more you learn them, the better you play. Start with supply and demand, assets and liabilities, creating value and starting a business. Then move on to more complex rules and push them to the limit.
If you do not know the rules, seek help from people who do and give them something in return. Then both of you grow.
12. They try to shape the rulebook
Alux flags a dark side: power and wealth tempt people to skew the rules in their favor, and unfortunately it happens. One reason the rich keep getting richer is direct influence over those who make the rules. The video calls this one of the biggest issues the world faces.
Money and power can corrupt people into wanting more, and nobody can be relied on to self-govern when personal interests are at stake. It says the more efficient a government is, the richer a society is, and that under a corrupt system a few get unearned wealth at the masses’ expense. That is why many have a poor view of the rich, who they assume all twisted the rules. The script concedes that sometimes this is true.
13. They make money using other people’s money
The magic word is leverage, which average people almost never use. The $100,000 house with a $20,000 down payment is the simplest version: the buyer does not live in it, and it pays for itself if managed well.
Credit lets you borrow and get rich, which the script calls good debt. Poor people get poorer by borrowing for a car and a TV, which is bad debt. The rich also lean on their network, pooling funds and knowledge, while others live paycheck to paycheck envying friends.
14. They hire the smartest people to protect them
Money buys security. The narrator lists financial security (accountants who handle financial issues), legal security (lawyers who handle legal ones), medical security (premium doctors who solve issues before they become life-threatening) and psychological security (therapy and counseling before problems ruin what you built).
There are more, and all of them keep the rich from losing wealth and power.
15. They are not emotionally attached to money
That does not mean they do not care about money. It means they are not emotionally invested in it. For many, the next paycheck means groceries, car repairs, bills or a treat, so money ties to an emotional outcome. For the rich, money is a number on a screen and they are playing for a high score.
Removing the emotion lets you make calls that get better results. The video sums up: the rich position themselves correctly, learn the rules, stay unemotional, buy for long-term value, usually with other people’s money, and build what everybody else uses.
Bonus 16: the rich are practitioners, not theoreticians.
Practitioners win
Almost everybody wants wealth, fame and success, but few make the moves. You can watch every money video, read all the books and attend every conference and still trail the people laying one brick on another. Alux says its videos work best for those already moving, who find them ten times more valuable because they clarify the next steps.
Stop saying you could have done what someone else did. Maybe you could have, but you did not. The trophy goes to those who perform, not those who watch.
FAQ
Why do the rich keep getting richer?
According to the script, they think bigger, keep money ready for opportunities, own assets that produce income, create value, borrow money and stay unemotional about money.
What is return on time?
ROT is the script’s idea that the rich prioritize return on time over return on investment. Once you understand money, what matters most is how you spend your time.
Do rich people hoard cash?
No. According to the script, their wealth is a valuation of what they could get by selling everything, and it is mostly held in other people’s companies and investments.
What is the difference between good debt and bad debt?
Good debt is borrowing to buy something that pays for itself, like a rental property. Bad debt is borrowing for things like a car and a TV.
How long does it take to build legacy wealth?
According to the script, it takes three generations. If each acquires assets and never sells the earlier ones, the fourth generation is rich.
What does it mean to be a practitioner, not a theoretician?
It means acting on what you learn. According to the script, watching videos and reading books is not enough and that builders who act step by step win.
Keep reading
- While Everyone is Getting Sick The Rich Are Getting Richer
- Services You Get As You Get Richer
- Complete list of ways to get Rich (62 Examples)
