The thing about building real wealth is it’s not showy. Except for very high earners, actually showing off your wealth in materialistic forms is an indication of less wealth.

Why is it an indication of less wealth? Because it means they are saving and investing less due to their materialistic purchases.

For example, I recently started upgrading my lifestyle. From the outside, it looks like I’m more successful than I was a couple years ago. Yes, my salary has increased some, but not dramatically. My more luxurious situation just means I’m investing less than I was previously.

The funny thing is if you’d still see me at the laundromat, assuming I still have the same job, you’d know I’d be stacking up even more wealth because it means I’d still have an apartment without a washer and dryer, which means I’d be paying much less for rent.

I remember the kids of one of my friend’s making fun of me for being so frugal. Those kids didn’t understand that their parent had less wealth than I do. I didn’t say that of course, I just laughed along with the kids.

Kids aren’t much different than adults when it comes to understanding wealth. Wealth isn’t how much you spend or earn, but how much you keep and transform into more income.

Be prepared for people to overlook your success. Being overlooked is part of the building wealth lifestyle because it means you’re not doing the status quo which keeps you in a cycle of debt and living paycheck to paycheck.