More on the “Middle-Class Wealthy”

As discussed earlier on this blog, there is a growing segment of the population which many would consider “rich” but which consider themselves merely “middle-class,” that is, people with a net worth of $1 million to $10 million.

Based on research from their book The Middle-Class Millionaire, Russ Alan Prince, Marcia S. Nelson, Hannah Shaw Grove, & Lewis Schiff have published the results of a survey in their essay Millionaire Intelligence Amount Private Client Attorneys: The Attitudes and Habits of Highly Successful Private Attorneys.

Here are the key points of this survey:

Based on our survey of 418 private client attorneys on matters relating to work-life balance and wealth accumulation, we uncovered several “best practices. First, choosing to be a private client attorney over another legal specialty neither hurts you nor helps you create significant wealth. Rather, what matters most are the traits, behaviors and attitudes you demonstrate as an attorney.

Second, attorneys at all levels of net worth have the same perception of how money can improve their lives. However, successful attorneys implement those ideas more effectively. Also, private client attorneys who have high net worth exhibit similar behaviors and traits to successful people in other fields.

Third, private client attorneys with higher net worth exhibit different work habits from those with lower net worth. In particular:

• They work longer hours and consider themselves to be more available to work during off hours.
• They consider themselves to be better connected in their communities.
• They are more determined to succeed when negotiating with others.

Private client attorneys with high net worth excel at one or more of the talents identified in this research paper. They can increase their success by focusing on areas in which they are less proficient. Private client attorneys with lower net worth can increase their success by improving their work behaviors in any one of the areas identified by high-net-worth attorneys as crucial to success.