Pretty much everyone I know who has money, in fact has used leverage in one form or another to get there. The other method beyond leverage has been to get other investors. Mind you, this is not I have a million dollar home and work as an engineer money. This is more like, I don’t really need to work anymore sort of money. I would not argue your facts in a minute Ray because they make perfect sense.
Alternately I am kind of a shmuck… I make good money but work a 9 to 5 job and have a brokerage AND my wife works her business as well. Any person of wealth looks at me and laughs because to work that hard is pretty stupid considering what I make. At the end of the day when I do buy my home, every grain of financial sense would say not to use the pile of coin I have saved up for that. It would make much more sense to use maybe half of it and then use the rest for other investments etc… Yet I am a and will always be one of those types who just sleeps better at night with as little leverage as possible. I think it is buried within our personalities.
Those who are willing to take more risk will always always always be more successful then those of us who are not. In all paths of life. Yet that comet of risky people also has a tail of flotsam of those that didn’t make it. Still, deep down I do agree with your premise.
I will say that with that risky behavior and chutzpah, intelligence is needed. Therein lies the problem. By far, by very very far, that intelligence just is not present in the vast majority of the population. Basically they are idiots and leverage to the hilt simply to spend more, not to make more.
