The real reason most rich people stay rich is that they have mastered the thing that got them rich in the first place. Meaning that if they lose it, they can make it again. The rich understand that getting rich is not a game of money — rather it is a game of assets. Even the dickheads do.

In Defense of “Dickheads”

And there is a reason I’m calling out dickheads in this context. There are millionaires and billionaires that are smart, intelligent, courteous, and polite. Maybe due to the way they were raised.

But there are others who are ruthless, wicked, unruly, disrespectful, and brash. Those are the dickheads. Most people think the dickheads will lose their wealth because of their attitude. But in many cases, they don’t.

In fact, if you study history, you will realize that the majority of rich people were dickheads. Why? This is because wealth is a symbol of power.

If you appear weak, you can lose out very fast. Now, that is not to say that these bad behaviors are necessary to stay rich. It is just that many people interpret those behaviors to be signs of strength.

And let’s face it, there are dickheads among the middle class and the poor too. In fact, the percentage would be slightly more. But something really strange is happening right now. The rich are splashing cash around like never before. Let me explain.

Cash Splash

When the luxury industry began to boom, I thought it was just the usual inverse recession thing. But the spending of the rich has gone more profound and obvious.

And when I mean the rich in this context, I mean “hedge fund kind of rich”. At first, there was this massive influx of cash into real estate. The rich were buying single-family homes and putting them out for rent or back on the market.

Businesses doing multi-family investments grew. And all those are good. At least, they are not so bad. But one thing confirmed that cash splash has started.

And that is musicians selling their catalogs for huge cash. First I heard Justin Bieber. Then, many others followed. Recently, I heard Nelly too. I don’t think I have ever seen this kind of closeness in how the news was breaking for each artiste. It seems to me that someone is dumping cash for music assets.

In the last 2–3 years, there has been a cash splash on farmland, real estate, and music (to name a few). And who knows what is changing hands again that we do not know of.

But if you notice, this is not some dumping of cash to buy worthless things. These are hard assets that won’t go away.

I get it if this is a smart play by a few intelligent people. But it seems even the dickheads are in. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be this obvious.

State of Affairs

Maybe, just maybe, the US dollar is about to lose its global reserve status. And these filthy rich people are dumping cash for hard assets. It is no fresh news or surprise that the US dollar has been on a devaluation spree since 1971.

But what if it’s about to get very worse very fast? Now, if billionaires know that the US dollar is going to lose (let’s assume) 50% of its value in the next 2 years, what will they be doing now?

Got the idea? I am trying to use the answer we have (and the observation we see) to find the question. We do not have access to the question. So we infer from what we can see.

If you have read my “Don’t work for money” book, you will understand that you don’t follow what rich people say. You watch what they do. If the big guys are dumping cash for hard assets, think about the music you are dancing to.

This is not an economics article — this is a self-awareness article. It is to give you perspective so you can know what to prioritize and what not to.

I don’t know what is going to happen to the US dollar. Nobody knows for sure. But if something is going to break, the billionaires will know it first. And you can tell what they know by what they do. (Not what they say).

Yep, rich people lie a lot about the state of affairs regarding the economy.

The China Thing

This is another ticker that something is up. A major US venture capital firm doing business in China has had to split up. They split up their China business from their US business.

And this is kind of happening across the board. If there is going to be a showdown between the two giant countries, this is the first way you know. Big businesses that will be hurt will start repositioning themselves.

There is still a lot of trade going on between the US and China. But that has been under a lot of threat lately. That is another ticker to watch.

Apple is fast moving its manufacturing out of China to India. Think about that. And it is rumored that BRICS will develop a new global reserve currency soon. I think if those threats were real, it is enough reason to splash cash and move to hard assets.

Conclusion

If I actively manage over $1 billion and I see these signs without knowing what is happening, I would want to know. If I can’t find out, I would intelligently mirror what the people who know are doing (perhaps in other industries).

This is a perspective and opinion. Make your own decisions.