22 GETMONEYMAGAZINE.COM
The #rst step is #nancial literacy education. What do the wealthiest 1% of Americans know and
practice that has helped them achieve their current economic status? They have the money mind.
Yes, they also have other bene#cial advantages that the less fortunate of us common folks don’t.
Namely, inheritance, the resources required to fund the best educations, and a network of
well-established connections that is as long as the nation is old, although those aren’t the only
things that keep them on the continual rise. Albeit, they are helpful head starts, they are not the
de#ning measure of wealth security over the long haul.
The de!ning characteristic of longevity in economic health and success is the “money mind”. It’s how
you look at and view money. The 1%’ers see money in a very di"erent light than those who don’t
have large amounts of it (the 99). It is not possible to explore any part of the “money mind” without
#rst examining the fundamental mindset that is the norm in our cultural structure at present—con-
sumerism. Although consumerism is the end result of a long line of mismanagement steps relative
to #nancial literacy, it is ultimately the driving factor behind how and why the 99 stay #nancially
illiterate.WHAT’S THE
FIRST STEP?
22 GETMONEYMAGAZINE.COM