YES you say, I want more money. Do you feel as those others seem to have more money than you? On the other hand, it may feel strange to be the one who has more money.

I had the strange thought of “why do some people have more money than others” as I was looking at a group of people. It wasn’t me judging a person’s possible financial worth, but rather just another of the strange wonderings that go on inside my mind.

The first path my thoughts followed ventured down the “appearance” path. The usual “judging a book by its cover” argument or “what you see if what you get.” Everyone seems to have really nice stuff. They are birds of a feather… You’re probably an average of your top five friends…Yes, that’s true somewhat, as well as it is total BS.

Then I thought a little deeper as to income. How would someone generate more income than average? Possibly as simple as: they provide more value than the average person. Therefore they generate “more” than the average person. They push themselves more than the average person. And even, they placed themselves in a better position (some say “lucky”) than the average person.

If you are reading this, you are more than the average person. No, not because I’m somehow special but because you are. You took the time to try and gain knowledge, more insight, more ideas, more experiences from others. You are trying to educate/elevate yourself.

I think there are two main ways people put themselves into a better than average (financial) position. 1) They gain education/knowledge that is of a higher level, or more valuable than the average person. This will increase the demand for your knowledge, skills, and abilities above those with lower KSAs. 2) They may have created something. A business, a product, a service, a [what’s next?], that people need/want and are willing to pay for. Possibly pay more than average.

So income is important, as well as spending. The whole “spend less than you earn” logic. It is still very important to consider the money vs value equation. “Stuff vs Experiences.” I say understand what makes you happy, but spend wisely, after you have given the appropriate amount of thought and planning.

• Does a Mercedes get you from point A to B better than a Kia?
• Does an iphone make better calls than an HTC phone?)
• Or do these products have a higher than average feature set/value than the average for people?

What can you do to increase your above-averangess to add value to yourself? Remember, there really is no ceiling to your ability to earn more. However, you can only frugal yourself so much.

One of the best t-shirts I’ve seen said: “half of your friends are below average.” My wife won’t let me buy that shirt, yet it’s mathematically correct.