"I think they just build wealth," Jennifer Barrett, financial journalist and Chief Education Officer for Acorns, told Lowry. "That is part of the strategy from the get-go. It's this idea of 'getting by' versus 'building wealth.' It's not just in the mind-set, but there is a lot of it inherent in the mind-set. If you feel like you're getting by paycheck to paycheck, it's a struggle, then you're not building toward something."
She continued: "You're stuck in one place treading water. For the wealthy, from the beginning, the idea is 'How do I take what I have and build more from that? How do I put this money to work for me?'"
The wealthy don't just put money aside, she said — they pick a real number at which they could achieve financial independence and work toward it.
As she put it, "You have to stop thinking about your situation as being paycheck-to-paycheck survival mode and really sit down and figure out how you can start getting ahead today."