Read on Twitter
This is from a survey conducted by Ramsey himself that relies on self-reporting of both inheritance and familial class status (something rich people are notoriously bad at estimating) and an unconfirmed definition of “inherited.” This casts doubt on the reliability of the data. https://twitter.com/DaveRamsey/status/1293565907361554434
This article covers a really interesting evaluation of the 2012 Forbes 400. I’d like to see the participants of the Ramsey survey ranked according to this method. https://inequality.org/research/selfmade-myth-hallucinating-rich/
Additionally, the details of the Ramsey survey, as you go deeper, are interesting. Millionaire seems to be defined as “person who has a million dollars in assets” including retirement savings. You know, the savings that has to last them 30 years while they aren’t making money.
I will not deny that this person is, definitionally, a millionaire. But this is where my English background comes in: let’s talk denotative definitions and connotative definitions. Denotative definitions are what’s in the dictionary—the technical definition.
Connotative definitions on the other hand... those are what we think of when we see a word. Those often change culture to culture. The connotative definition of millionaire is someone who doesn’t have to worry about spending money because they have SO MUCH of it.
The retirement asset millionaires? They’re the denotative definition of millionaire. And a few years into retirement, they won’t be millionaires any more, as that money is now their income and gets consistently depleted. They have to watch it incredibly carefully.
In his tweet, Ramsey is technically using the denotative definition for that stat. However, Ramsey is ALSO USING the connotative definition to his advantage. He wants people to believe that nearly 80%(!!!) of millionaires are self-made AND throw-cash-around rich.
That way, when we look at throw-around-cash millionaires and billionaires, we think “self-made” not “unearned/hoarded wealth that is a poison to society.”The majority of those 79% of millionaires? They had a leg up from the start and/or they saved enough for a 30-year retirement.
Not the same thing. Numbers may not lie, but you sure can frame them in just the right way to sell a pretty lie. Ramsey is—absolutely intentionally—doing exactly that.
