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Intelligence doesn't lead to Wealth

April 28th, 2007 at 02:20 am

A little while ago I wrote that I'd be interested to see any research on whether or not wealth is correlated to intelligence. Well, a recent study, has found that there is no link between how intelligent people are and their net worth. Although income is related to intelligence this doesn't translate into wealth. Having a big income doesn't guarantee wealth if you spend more than you earn, and it seems that the discipline and motivation required to accumulate wealth isn't related to intelligence.

Text is Enough Wealth and Link is http://enoughwealth.com
Enough Wealth

5 Responses to “Intelligence doesn't lead to Wealth”

  1. Amber Says:
    1177767318

    I heard about this on the news, it's funny even people with high intelligence are not as smart as those with low intelligence when it comes to finance. But we are all human and tend to fall in the financial trap

  2. yummy64 Says:
    1177771272

    I get this.

    I'm well educated and I like to think pretty smart. My education is in the financial areas. But even though I could manage my investments on my own I never did and for a long time I had debt. It took things happening in my life for me to get under control. And despite my knowledge of investing I had to outsource that to a financial planner. I might get it. But dang I'm sure not interested in doing i my myself - as proven by my actions.

  3. baselle Says:
    1177807082

    Isn't that funny - its almost like the more intelligent you are, the more able you are to divorce your job skills from your life skills. Like an accountant declaring personal bankrupcy. Handles the company money just fine because he knows what bucket to put it in. At home his paycheck goes into his checking account where it goes away.

  4. Broken Arrow Says:
    1177817413

    I completely agree with you. I don't believe there is a correlation between academic intelligence and financial wealth.

    However.... To be fair, because there is no correlation, it also means that it is entirely possible for highly educated individuals to be extremely financially savvy.

    Generally speaking, the higher the education, the more one narrows into a specific area of expertise. As specialists, even in fields related to finances, it the does not automatically infer that said individuals would even be interested in personal wealth.

    So it really depends. At least, that's what I believe.

    However, it is very interesting to me to postulate as to what DOES correlate to financial wealth? My latest pet hypothesis? Emotional intelligence.

    If we were nothing but robotic automatons, it would be clear as day that one must approach personal finances in a responsible, if not, staid manner based on empirical (financial) data.

    However, much of consumerism doesn't make any "logical" sense at all. Rather, it appeals to our emotional senses; our sense of wonder, our sense of lust, our sense of conformity, and our sense of worthiness... or the lack of.

    The key, I believe, is to temper and balance our human impulses with our sensibilites. After all, living below our means may mean just that, but it also does not imply that one can not live at all....

    I'm rambling now, but the bottom line is, I believe the key to personal finances (and so much more) is to tame that deep, dark emotional dragon within all of us. Only then will I know true freedom, including but not exclusive to just personal finances.

    But again, that's just my personal opinion.

  5. Personal Finance Guide 101 Says:
    1177911555

    Interesting post,

    "Having a big income doesn't guarantee wealth if you spend more than you earn" I agree with this.

    Daniel.

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