Why Practice Steal Wealth
As discussed in a previous article, there are several benefits to practicing stealth wealth. Stealth Wealth is the practice of minimizing publicly available information about one’s income, assets, and net worth in order to maximize privacy. This level of secrecy also extends to keeping your wealth hidden from friends and family.
It allows you to live the lifestyle you desire without the celebrity status. People who practice steal wealth prefer to fly under the radar.
Individuals who fit the stealth wealth profile are financially independent with a high net worth. The difference is their wealth is not outwardly apparent. While becoming wealthy in America has never been easier, feeling comfortable about being wealthy has never been harder.
This is where stealth wealth comes in. Practicing stealth wealth allows the avoidance of anger & resentment, prevents people from asking you for handouts, allows you to keep more of what you make, makes it less likely con artists and shysters rip you off, and helps to identify who your friends really are.
While all of this sounds great, you’re probably asking yourself, “how do I get started?”
That is why we are here! Let’s discuss 5 things you can start doing today to practice stealth wealth.
How To Practice Stealth Wealth
Here are some practical tips for practicing stealth wealth.
Don’t Show Off For Appearance Sake
You just received that big promotion you’ve been working for 3 years to achieve… congratulations! You’re now making six figures… what to do with all that extra money?
You may want to buy a new car, purchase designer clothes, or buy some bling. While you initially may feel good about it (like eating a great donut…yum! 😊) and enjoy showing off the results of your hard work, is it really the best choice with your money?
Psychologically speaking, people tend to be what others expect them to be. However, just because people think the rich should act in a certain way doesn’t mean you should.
People also have a tendency to want to be interesting and people think that flaunting your wealth makes you interesting. It doesn’t. Showing off your wealth instead makes you look like an arrogant fool.
If you’re practicing stealth wealth, the best thing to do is maintain status quo. It’s ok to treat yourself and use your money to buy nice things. The downside is that a buying spree might draw unwanted attention which stealth wealth does not condone.
Also, seeking validation from others only brings temporary satisfaction and does not bring you any long-term benefit. Trying to impress others does not bring value to you nor should you care to show off what you have to others. Why? What does it prove?
Buying expensive cars, jewelry, and clothes is the enemy of stealth wealth. Instead of buying things with flash and sizzle, buy things with a purpose.
Buy things you need, bring value to you, or that you simply really like will bring you true joy that showing off does not.
Stealth wealth is about spending the way a middle-class person would spend. Having the urge to spend extravagantly is natural. Giving in to those urges is not. It’s a natural reaction, however, it won’t help you keep your wealth a secret.
Another stealth wealth tactic for not showing off is not providing your home address. For some people, having a large house may be a desire or it may be a need because you have a large family.
Owning an expensive home is an easy way to let people know that your living expenses are well above others and that you are wealthy. A great way to prevent this from becoming public knowledge is to simply not tell anyone your home address.
If someone has your mailing address, they can look it up on Google or Zillow, find out how much it is worth, and then assume on how much you make…. or so people think. It will give people an impression on how much you’re worth whether it is accurate or not.
It’s not likely you can keep an expensive home a secret forever so ask yourself if you REALLY need it before buying it.
Don’t Brag About Your Accomplishments
Another great way to practice stealth wealth is to not brag about your personal and professional accomplishments. First off, no one wants to hang out with the person who always tries to top what you do. Second, no matter how well you think you are doing, there is always someone who is doing better than you.
There is no reason to brag about how much money you make or what your net worth is. There are several things that could happen, and most are bad. People may become annoyed with you. They may treat you differently. They may even treat you like an enemy.
Don’t let this happen to you. Practice stealth wealth and stay on the downlow.
Another “don’t” for bragging is don’t brag about your profession. First off, your profession can be a dead giveaway that your make a lot of money or have a high net worth. For example, how many poor “ad executives” have you heard of? No matter how humble you act, once people know you are a doctor, lawyer, engineer, software developer, etc., they think you make $100K+ per year.
When people hear a certain job title, they assume you are on the high end of your pay range, it’s human nature. Now I know what you are thinking. Just because you earn a high salary doesn’t mean you’re wealthy. I know that and you know that, but the average person doesn’t consider that when judging financial success. To them, the job title indicates wealth.
Another thing not to brag about that people often do is the vacation they take. How many poor people do you know of that take annual month-long vacations to the Mediterranean? Using the excuse, “I go to visit family” doesn’t hold up if you are able to take a month off to do it. I know from experience. I knew of several people who did this at my company.
Instead, keep it generic. Just say, “we went out of town” or “we went somewhere nice and warm” is enough to give up to people. If they pry (which most people do), just say we went to “get away” and leave it at that… ‘nuff said!
It’s easy for others to get jealous of what you do or accomplish. Don’t give them any ammunition and just steer clear of the topic altogether.
Don’t Brag On Social Media
People, in general, are closet narcissists. They LOVE attention for even the silliest of things (Hint: I do not care if you think you make a really good apple pie…. just send me a sample and let me be the judge! Lol 😊)
Social media is great and can also be extremely annoying. Being flashy about the awesome 1-acre backyard you have or the great trip to the Grand Caymans you were on make seem cool to share, but if you are practicing stealth wealth it could be your downfall.
Do you really want to be that person that has to post every day showing how rich you are?
Being flashy on social media could not only alert others to how much your worth but could also alert criminals to what you have and when you’re not there. If you post that you are on a month-log vacation to Hawaii and trollers find out online, guess whose house could be a prime target for a burglary?…. yours.
People post all kind of pictures online: their house, their car, the luxury items purchased, and essentially document all of their spending. Not only is this documented online but also geotagged so anyone can know your whereabouts. Robbers can track your location, know what kind of goodies you have in your home, whether you are at home or not, and even establish the layout all thru your online posts.
You’ve just left yourself open to a burglary…nice! Was bragging about what you have really worth it?
These are just a few examples of the dangers of posting personal information on social media.
Empathize With People
Showing empathy is one of the best ways to blend in with friends, co-workers, and family. Showing empathy comes from a place of compassion and understanding. This means showing empathy to those who are struggling to pay their bills, to get out of credit card debt, are unemployed, and to those who are way off track on their financial goals.
A great way to remain financially undercover is for everyone to believe that you are in or have been in the same situation as them and understand what they are going through. Letting people know you’ve struggled too or that you don’t know a lot about finances is ok. Anything to keep the hounds off the scent! Lol 😊
According to this Inc. article, researchers claim that the more wealthy a person becomes, the less compassionate and empathetic they become. Stealth wealth enables empathy and compassion because it enables a person to keep the right priorities in the forefront and treat people the way you want to be treated.
Not only is this good business but also just a good way to live your life. Empathizing can also be a powerful tool that stops people from even looking into your income, assets, and net worth in the 1st place.
A great example is a friend of mine has a friend who is in a cover band. Nothing famous, just a group of people who like to hang out together on weekends and play at local bars for fun.
As they became better friends, the guy in the band invites him over to his house for a barbeque. Thinking he was just an average, middle class guy, he brings a case of beer with him because he didn’t want to impose on him and come empty handed.
When he arrived at the guy’s house, it was a 4,000+ square foot home, with 150+ feet of prime lake shore front. The house had its own tennis court, wine cellar, and even an underground tunnel connecting the house to the garage, so the guy doesn’t have to walk in the cold winter weather to his car…….. True story.
Meeting the guy, you never would have thought he was worth millions, but he was. He was just a good, down to earth guy who treated people well. Goes to show you that empathy and compassion is the way to go!
Be Humble
Another rule to live by and practice stealth wealth is to be humble and praise others for their success. By being another person’s cheerleader, you recognize their hard work and appreciate their success.
Society has a way of discrediting a person’s achievements. On one hand, we love to cheer for the underdog who beats the odds and achieves success. On the other hand, people also jeer for successful people to fail (Think Tom Brady or the New York Yankees). As much as people love an underdog, they hate successful, dominant people.
By being humble and acknowledging other’s success, you also acknowledge an abundance mindset. Instead of jeering people thinking they took something from you and robbed you of an opportunity, an abundance mindset admits that there is enough success to go around and be shared. Remember, sharing is caring! Lol
In an ideal world, everyone would practice humility. Just because you built your wealth doesn’t mean you need to be arrogant about it. People catch onto snobby views and poor attitude.
Praising others steers the conversation away from you and makes avoiding bragging about yourself much easier. This makes the attention focus elsewhere and people will be less likely to pry about your income, assets, and net worth.
Also, by praising and caring about others, other people will care about you. Spreading a positive mindset, being humble enough to acknowledge other’s success, and being grateful for what you have is a powerful tool for achieving stealth wealth.
How is this possible? A perception people have discussed in the Inc. article above is that wealthy, successful people lack empathy and lack humbleness. By doing the exact opposite of what people expect makes it easier to hide the fact that you are worth millions and to fly under the radar.
The Longest Journey Begins With A Single Step
When you decouple wealth from the actual numbers, you realize the truth about money. Money isn’t about what it can buy but what it can enable. It’s an enabler for things like freedom, financial independence, and early retirement.
Practicing stealth wealth is also an enabler. It enables having more genuine conversations with people, caring about others, and encouraging their success.
Stealth wealth also protects you from unpleasant conversations and difficult discussions. When I suggest being stealthy with your wealth, I don’t mean you should hide it against your own best interests. I am not suggesting you hide because you think people are out to get you. I am merely saying that there are a lot of benefits to practicing stealth wealth and being humble about it.
Any journey worth taking is undertaken with a single step. Try practicing stealth wealth to see if your life improves and relationships prosper…… I think it will!
Live The Life You Love, Want, and Deserve 😊