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During his five years studying the rich and the poor Tom Corley identified 10 hard truths about the wealth gap that no politician or member of the mainstream media would dare reveal. 

And as I share them with you today, you'll probably get a few surprises.

These aren't just our thoughts.

In his 5 year study, Tom asked 361 rich and poor people 144 questions each. That's 51,984 questions.

From the data he gathered, he was able to identify 344 differences between the way the rich and the poor conducted their lives.

Over one hundred million individuals have read something about my research, which has been cited, quoted, referenced, commended and criticised in 25 countries around the world.

As a result, Tom has made a lot of friends and a lot of enemies.

And he's about to make some more with this podcast.

His research opened my eyes.

One of the many benefits of having done this research is that he became privy to the inner workings of the lives of the rich and the poor.

For five years he was that fly on the wall.

And this fly has identified 10 hard truths about the wealth gap.

10 Hard Truths About the Wealth Gap

1. Bad Parents – The poor have parents who simply do not do their job. Drugs, alcohol, gambling and a host of other parent character flaws pull the rug out from underneath their kids. 
2. Broken Families – The poor are raised in broken families. Divorce, incarceration, abandonment are common denominators among the poor that fracture the family unit.
3. No Work Ethic – The poor are bad employees who have a bad work ethic. As a result, they find themselves regularly unemployed.
4. Financial Negligence – The poor spend their money as quickly as it comes. They don't save. They don't invest. They are financially illiterate.
5. Poverty Ideology – The poor believe they will be poor their entire lives. They see poverty as a fact of life. They are without hope and thus, without motivation to escape their poverty.
6. Bad Health – The poor do not exercise regularly. They eat and drink too much junk food. They frequent fast-food restaurants. They take drugs and drink too much alcohol in order to numb their pain. They are overweight and out of shape.
7. Uneducated – The poor do not embrace education. It's not part of their culture. They do not self-educate themselves. They do not read. They do not engage in self-improvement.
8. Bad Habits – The poor have many bad habits and few good habits.
9. Entitlement Ideology – The poor believe they are entitled to things others have to work very hard for.
10. Victim Ideology – The poor believe others hold them back in life. They see themselves as victims. They look to the government to take the wealth of those who are producing and working hard in society and redistribute it to poor people.

I now know that rich people, particularly the self-made rich, are the good people.

They were raised by good parents, parents who cared and who mentored them to succeed.

Poor people, conversely, were raised by bad parents.

Some were raised in broken homes, some were raised with little to no work ethic, some were raised to be ignorant of finances, some were raised with a poverty mindset, some were raised to disregard their health, some were raised to shun education, some were raised with bad habits, some were raised to believe they should be given free stuff and some were raised to believe the world was aligned against them.

We don't have a wealth gap in this country. 

We have a parent gap.

If, as a society, we truly want to end poverty, we have to first acknowledge the cause of poverty.

Parents.

Parents cause poverty.

Parents are to blame.

As a great man once said, "the truth shall set you free."

Links and Resources: 

Michael Yardney

Tom Corley - Rich Habits

Get your own copy of our international bestseller Rich Habits Poor Habits 

Show notes plus more: 10 hard truths about the Wealth Gap

Some of our favourite quotes from the show: 

"We know that children develop habits from things they see, things they experience, things they hear, and their mentors as a child are really their parents." – Michael Yardney

"Bad mentoring from parents is more likely to – but not certainly – going to give you a disadvantage in life." – Michael Yardney

"It's probably worthwhile reminding our listeners that we're all walking around with some good habits, some bad habits, some rich habits, some poor habits, some habits that are empowering us, and some habits and beliefs that are disempowering us." – Michael Yardney

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