Many people are educated and work hard but will never be rich. Not everyone can do the jobs that pay more; those jobs are very often not even as important to society as lesser-paid jobs. We don't WANT everyone to be a hedge fund manager -- somebody has to teach kids to read. Lots of us don't waste money on bullshit at all. There is also such a thing as having no debt and low spending but also not being wealthy. Those are different categories. Finally, one can VERY MUCH lose by having multiple income sources ... not everything pays off, and if you have one that is really doing well for you, why wouldn't you concentrate on that? Would you be a brain surgeon with a side hustle?