Some politicians and activists talk about the “injustice” of the income inequality between the poor vs. the rich. Luckily, there are plenty of statistics and decades of studies that highlight the steps that lead to poverty vs. the steps that lead to financial success.

According to the Brookings Institute: if you can avoid combining all 3 of the following events, then it is virtually impossible to remain poor in the U.S. Here are the necessary landmines, that when combined, lead to poverty:

1. Drop out of high school.
2. Only have a part-time job.
3. Produce children out of wedlock while you’re under age 21.

No matter what an individual’s circumstances, avoiding all three of these events are within the individual’s control and there are no notable barriers to avoid these. If you can get a high school diploma, or get a full-time job, or delay having children until married (after age 21), then it is nearly a guarantee that you’ll advance into the middle class or beyond.

What if you’re not satisfied with a middle-class income? There are some additional hurdles that may assist you to advance into the top 5% of all income earners (today, that is around $230,000 per year). According to the Tax Foundation, the majority of people whose income is in the top 5% check off these attributes:

1. Have a college degree.
2. Are a small business owner or business executive.
3. Focus on career and financial goals every single day.
4. Are frugal and savers.
5. Have developed at least two sources of income.
6. Have +10 friends that are very successful.
7. Have a career or business mentor.
8. Have a positive outlook and avoid pessimistic people.
9. Enjoy what they do for a living.
10. Work more than 50 hours a week.
11. Took a significant financial risk to become rich.

Again, no matter what your circumstances, all of these traits are available to everyone to work toward. Only two of these items may require money upfront (the College Degree and small Business owner), the remaining items only require attitude, or making the effort.

Let’s ignore that most poor Americans today have a higher lifestyle than 99% of human history, and just examine income inequality. In the U.S., this statistic began to rise in the late 1980s and 90s. Coincidentally, this was the exact same time as the arrival of a new batch of billionaires: the business founders of Microsoft, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Cisco, Dell Computer, Oprah Winfrey Productions, and a few hedge fund managers. This handful of billionaires, providing value to millions of people, began skewing the income inequality statistics for the country. If you lived next door to a billionaire, would raising the minimum wage by $200 do anything to reduce the income disparity between you two? Not one speck. Rather than focus on income disparities, it is more helpful for the country to focus on increasing economic freedom. And individually, it is more productive to focus on moving up the steps of economic success.

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