A change of perspective maybe.... ?

To put things into perspective, a persom in the top 0.5% of Australia's wealthy means that if you attend a function that has 200 random people, on average, you would be the wealthiest one in attendance. In a gathering of 1000 random people, you would be one of the top five wealthiest people at that gathering. But who are these people in the 0.5% "club"?

Some background first - until recently, I owned a comfortable flybridge motoryacht.

Many days have been spent on it enjoying the boating/cruising lifestyle. The boat was used on average at least every second weekend - it was our get-away place, our "cottage by the sea" that allowed us to have a very pleasant distraction from the day-to-day.

However, over the years, my interests and circumstances have somewhat changed (as they can do), and as a result, I was not using it as much. I decided it was time to sell my baby around Christmas 2021. For the many years that I owned it, I kept it berthed at a couple of different marinas in Sydney. This put me in a position to meet many other boat owners at the marinas, and I made a number of friends.

Now to put things into perspective, larger boats that are kept berthed at a marina have some serious expenses - around $40,000 to $90,000 per year (assuming there is no employed crew on the boat). I'm sure you would agree that this is not the sort of "toy"that your average person can afford to have.

The picture here was taken by me from Pyrmont Bridge in Sydney, and it is of Darling Harbour Marina. This is where I took my boat one year for a few days prior to watching the Sydney Harbour fireworks on New Years Eve. My boat is one of those berthed at the marina pictured, and no, it's not the big one on the right!

Now, back to my marina story.... over the years, I would have met and chatted with around 50-60 boat owners. Being curious, and a student of life, I would always ask what they did for work. The answers were not surprising for me at all.... After speaking with so many people, only ONE person worked for an employer, he was a pilot. EVERY OTHER PERSON has some sort of business..... interesting eh?!

The businesses were many and varied including: plumbers, electricians, property developers, builders, food manufacturers, trucking companies, retail shops, dentists, importers, wholesalers, mechanics, vending machine suppliers, conveyancers, cleaning companies, owners of multiple investment properties, formwork companies, excavation companies, pub owners and so much more. Are you following what I am saying here?

Marina's have a concentration of people that have been successful enough to run and maintain an expensive "toy". Meeting such people at the marinas gave me confirmation that the people that are wealthy enough and make enough money to run a boat are not normally people that work for an employer.

Employees pay a lot of tax because that is the way our tax laws are structured. Entrepreneurs pay the least tax because (again), that's how our tax laws are structured.

It is because entrepreneurs take risks and employ people, that they get the tax breaks and benefits from the government.

The purpose of this exercise is to understand that a higher education, does not guarantee wealth creation any more than entrepreneurship does. However, entrepreneurship, if successful, can create serious income that can be used for wealth creation.

Yes, I actually have some friends that have amassed some serious wealth as employees, but they were corporate high-flyers that made large incomes and invested continuously for decades. However, these people would amount to about 5-10% of the wealthy people I have met. At least 90% were/are entrepreneurs and/or business owners.

Yes, there will be those that will defend their beliefs that educated people with numerous degrees can get into the corporate scene and earn big dollars - and yes they can. However, for every high income corporate high-flyer, there are thousands of average employees with degrees working under them with long hours and average pay.

If you have any doubts whatsoever with regard my observations above, then why not visit a marina, chat to people that have motoryachts and ask them what they do for a living. You will find out that the vast majority of these people have no degree/diploma and if they do, it is likely they do not use it. Some may even appear to be illiterate, but trust me, they will be intelligent in the ways of business and wealth creation.

Now before you go off and do this, you must understand what a motoryacht is......

A motoryacht does NOT have sails, and does NOT sit on a trailer towed by a car.

A motoryacht sits in the water permanently, due to size. It is tied to a wharf (berth).

Many marinas are secure facilities needing a swipe card or key, and only boat owners can enter them. However, some marinas are not. Why not test out what I have stated above, and go make enquiries for yourself?

Please understand, I am not saying that business is for everyone, nor am I saying that a (profitable) business, or entrepreneurship is required to create wealth. You can certainly create serious wealth as an employee.

However, owning a profitable business, in my opinion, is certainly a "fast-track" to creating wealth and financial freedom.