Millionaires chalk success up to hard work and family values

Millionaires chalk success up to hard work and family values

(Rrraum/Shutterstock)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Most high net worth Americans say they worked their way up from a lower class.

That's according to a report released by U.S. Trust last week, based on a survey that asked 684 adults in the U.S. with $3 million or more of "investible assets" hundreds of questions.

About 77 percent of those surveyed said they grew up in the middle class or lower, including 19 percent who say they were poor. And they credit their success to three somewhat surprising factors: Hard work, ambition and family upbringing. Respondents even went so far as to say that these influences were much more important than "connections" or "innate talent."

"The points seem to be so traditional in nature," said Chris Heilmann, the chief fiduciary executive at U.S. Trust, Bank of America's private wealth management firm. "It's [about] deeply held family values rather than an inheritance or existing wealth."

Strict parents

The survey was also a shout-out to strict parents. About 80 percent of respondents said their parents were firm disciplinarians. They also named "academic achievement," "financial discipline" and "work participation" as the family values that were most emphasized in their homes.


It's [about] deeply held family values rather than an inheritance or existing wealth.

–Chris Heilmann, U.S. Trust


"It indicates the American Dream seems to be alive and well," Heilmann said.

Considering that some people might doubt that, Heilmann said that the results were "refreshing, encouraging and a bit surprising."

Copyright 2016 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Related links

Related stories

Most recent Family stories

Related topics

FamilyU.S.
Jackie Wattles

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast