In the Millionaire next Door (or maybe it was the Millionaire Mind), it was pointed out that a common way of becoming a high net worth individual isn't to make an obscenely huge amount of money; but rather to be careful about how you spend the money that you do make. A lot of high net worth individuals own their own business, and make a good income, but are also frugal enough that they are able to build up wealth rather than make the money and immediately spend it.