Translating income into more productive forms of capital.
We have conducted enough research among affluent people (Househild income above $150,000) to recognize that, statistically speaking, there are two general strategies for redeploying current income into assets that will increase long term value.
One strategy is the reinvestment of current money into cultural capital. Cultural capital includes advanced education, broader understanding of the arts and sciences, greater interaction with other intelligent and educated people, etc. This strategy (stated in very simple terms) leads to positions of greater responsibility in corporations and to greater influence on the deployment of corporate capital. Along the way the successful person increases their wealth through rewards from the corporation.
The other strategy, again broadly speaking, is more individualistic, less reliant on cultural inputs and models, more oriented to concrete aspects of current human existence.This strategy is demonstrated in personal interests (e.g., more kinetic and measurable; less abstract and theoretical) as well in economic activities This strategy leads to greater accumulations of economic capital with less social or organizational intermediation.
These two broad strategies each have subsets but, in toto, are significantly different and based on very different values which translate into very different behavioral patterns.
We have spent most of our effort translating our research into strategies for organizations. We are now considering articulating the individual-level implications. If you would be interested in more information, please let us know. richard.baker@premiumknowledge.net