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Wade G.
  • Houston, TX
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Circle of Influence - does it really matter?

Wade G.
  • Houston, TX
Posted Aug 25 2014, 10:32

We have all heard the saying that you are the average of your five closest friends.  Lately this has had me thinking about that.  For me the people I am around the most are the people I work with at my job and my wife.  I work at a low level government agency where the scarcity mentality is alive and well.  Most people there seem to be very envious of others that have higher incomes but yet they would never take any risks to achieve a higher income.  Lets just say that the very things in life that keep people poor is the normal behavior at the office.  I make it a point to never discuss finances at work.

The wife, good person but she only thinks of money as a means to go out and buy more stuff.  Her financial life has been like a boat out to sea without a rudder or motor just going wherever the current takes her and accepting it.  Meanwhile my goal is for financial independence and I don't really care about buying "stuff".  I really can't have financial discussions with her. 

Other than that my friends and family range from poverty to middle class.  I do not mean to sound arrogant because I do not think I am better than anyone else but my financial mentality is just way different than anyone I associate with.

So in regards to the circle of influence, do people really seek out friendships and kill friendships based upon their finances?  Seems like that would be a very bad basis for a friendship.  There are plenty of good poor people and I don't think I should avoid them just because they are poor but I do believe there is some truth that people can bring you down or pull you up based upon where they are socioeconomically.

It does seem to me that if a person was around higher income and like minded people that there would be more possible opportunity for that person. For instance, if someone is a SFH investor but wants to make the leap to MF then it would be advantageous to be surrounded by people who are already there and investing in MF. Then the opportunity may arise to be a passive investor at some point thereby being pulled up. On the other hand if that same person is surrounded by poor people then that opportunity will never arise nor will any knowledge of how to get there.

I am curious to know everyone's opinion about this.

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