The reason that the middle class stay in the middle instead of moving up in the world is because they're afraid of money, says multi-millionaire Steve Seibold.
He was teaching tennis lessons for a living and $50k in debt when he graduated college. Wanting to pull himself up, he began a 29-year journey of interviewing the rich and learning their secrets. What he says he found is that wealthy people fundamentally think about money differently than regular folk. The good news is that us common-born can change our station in life simply by changing the way we think about money, the premise of Siebold's new book, "How Rich People Think."
In our TODAY Money live chat, a reader asked Siebold how they as a recent college graduate should invest their $2,500 in savings.
SIEBOLD: I would invest the $2,500 in yourself through personal development. Read books by rich people, attend their seminars and study them like a scientist. That will prepare you to be rich.
TODAY: So the way to get rich is to pay rich people to tell you their secrets ... a little self-serving, no? In any event, what about the advantages the wealthy are typically born with, like an inheritance, higher education, and social connections. Don't those give them an insurmountable head start over the common born?
SIEBOLD: 2/3 of millionaires are self made, 1/3 are inherited, I interviewed the self made and anyone with a great idea can catch and pass them.