Anonymous wrote:So much of this is just urban/rural divide. The fact is that if you don’t attend a good school or live in an urban area when you are young single and mating/pairing off your odds of upward mobility are dramatically lower.

Have seen people from South Podunk State make tons of money while top MBAs never got near their professional goals. A good school helps but isn't a guarantee. Urban area? Great careers don't generally start in Rust Belt cities.

So much of this is just urban/rural divide. The fact is that if you don’t attend a good school or live in an urban area when you are young single and mating/pairing off your odds of upward mobility are dramatically lower.

What does that even mean - upwardly mobile?

Dh and I are children of immigrants. We did everything right, are professionally successful and earn a high income. I often don’t feel like we fit in. I don’t waste energy on this. I do try to give my children every advantage I didn’t have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your mistake is thinking that all you needed to do was "do everything right". It doesn't work like that. A lot of it is just dumb luck. Also, you probably forgot about compound interest.

Yes, even when you do everything right, if you didn't have opportunity, then you won't necessarily be upwardly mobile. Sometimes just being in the right place at the right time makes all the difference in the world.

Opportunity does not necessarily mean luck. It can mean creating conditions for things to happen, starting with educational accomplishments, choice of employment, spending/saving habits, choosing where to live, choosing who to marry, and many other factors within one's control. Making choices leads to opportunities or to their absence.

Opportunity is also often a reflection of personal attributes and character, e.g., diligence, flexibility, interpersonal skills, responsiveness, initiative, imagination, and others. These are within your control but you have to recognize the extent to which they influence how others react and respond to you and, ultimately, how they can impact upon opportunities for you. If you're passive or ascribe your situation to external forces working against you, things just happen. Instead, you can try to help make them happen by your own choices and behaviors.