TL;DR: Habits from a Lower Middle-Class Upbringing Persist Even After Achieving Wealth
People raised in lower middle-class families often carry over skeptical habits and perspectives into their wealthy lifestyles. These behaviors, shaped by experiences of financial insecurity and scarcity, influence decisions about career stability, luxury purchases, financial advisors, networking, and more.
• Persistent Skepticism: Anxiety over job security and mistrust of high-ticket items like luxury products remain.
• Practical Decisions: A deeply ingrained habit of prioritizing utility over indulgence affects spending and investing.
• Trust Issues: Lower trust in advisors and networks can limit business opportunities but also encourage caution.
Understanding and reevaluating these ingrained perspectives can transform them into strengths for success. For insights into the broader mindset of discreet affluence, read Key Signs of Hidden Wealth.
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Growing up in a lower middle-class family creates habits, instincts, and perspectives that can endure even when wealth is later achieved. As someone who has built businesses and developed substantial financial security, I’ve seen firsthand how these deep-rooted behaviors manifest in everyday decisions, often in ways that are surprising. The question is, why do these habits persist, and how do they shape a person’s worldview even when money is no longer an issue?
In this article, I’ll break down eight specific things that people from lower middle-class backgrounds never fully trust, even when they’ve “made it.” Each of these elements is tied to underlying experiences of scarcity, financial instability, or societal class dynamics. Understanding these ingrained perspectives can shed light on how class upbringing continues to influence personal and professional behavior, even at the highest levels of success.
1. Is Any Job Really Secure?
If you grew up watching your parents worry about layoffs, factory closures, or sudden shifts in employment, you likely learned to view jobs as inherently unstable. This worldview doesn’t just go away with wealth. Even as a business owner, I’ve found myself questioning whether success in any given role, or even in an entire industry, can truly last.
The ironic twist is that this skepticism can actually be a strength. It often leads people to diversify their income streams or consider backup options, which are critical business strategies. But on the flip side, it can also limit risk-taking and make trust in business partnerships harder to achieve.
2. Are Expensive Things Ever Worth Their Price?
Making budget-conscious decisions while growing up shapes lifelong patterns. Even when wealthy, there’s an ingrained hesitation to spend on high-ticket items, whether it’s a luxury car, a designer bag, or an extravagant vacation. You might calculate how many “useful” things you could buy for the same amount instead.
- Someone raised in a lower middle-class household may resent the impracticality of spending $300 on a single shirt.
- Luxury purchases might feel indulgent rather than functional.
- Pragmatism becomes the default justification for most financial choices.
Even when the mindset is no longer useful (or necessary), these habits linger, often influencing larger business investments as well.
3. Can Financial Advisors Really Be Trusted?
For many, financial advisors represent a source of fear rather than help. Past stories of family members being scammed, losing money on bad investments, or simply avoiding financial literacy shape a deep-seated mistrust. Even today, I find myself triple-checking advice from professionals, balancing trust with caution.
4. Networking or a Transactional Game?
In wealthier circles, networking can feel like second nature, a combination of casual socializing and alliance-building that happens effortlessly. For someone with a lower middle-class upbringing, networking can feel highly performative and insincere, especially because familial and community processes don’t often rely on these kinds of exchanges.
- Mistrust might stem from assuming others have hidden agendas.
- Small talk may feel forced, and the overall process of building connections can feel draining or false.
- This doesn’t mean networking can’t be mastered, but it takes conscious effort to frame it as collaborative rather than manipulative.
5. Will Retirement Ever Feel Comfortable?
There’s a lingering worry for people who grew up lower middle class about whether “enough” money for retirement is truly enough. Even with substantial savings or multiple investments, the fear of unexpected disasters, high medical expenses, market crashes, or other financial threats, creates anxiety about long-term comfort.
This translates into overly cautious behaviors, such as postponing necessary life upgrades or avoiding calculated risks, which could result in greater wealth-building opportunities.
6. Are Credit Cards Anything More Than Debt Traps?
The mere sight of credit cards can evoke negative feelings among those raised lower middle class. Many grow up equating credit with danger and debt crises. Even when rewards programs or business benefits make credit cards useful tools, it’s hard to shake the mental connection between that plastic card and spiraling finances.
7. Is Moving Always Worth the Cost?
Growing up lower middle class, moving can feel like a massive disruption rather than an exhilarating chance to start fresh. The costs of breaking community ties and leaving established support systems contribute to skepticism about whether relocation for career opportunities is a good deal.
This caution can affect decisions related to relocating businesses, taking on international clients, or expanding into new markets.
8. Is Success Solely the Product of Hard Work?
The notion that hard work is the only key to success often dissolves for those who experience upward mobility. Success stories from more privileged backgrounds highlight structural advantages that many from lower middle-class origins didn’t have. This creates a healthy skepticism of “meritocracy” as a sole driver of achievement.
Recognizing the mix of hard work, opportunity, and luck doesn’t diminish effort; instead, it creates a clearer picture of success factors, helping manage expectations of others and oneself.
Conclusion and Practical Takeaways
Whether these persistent hesitations serve as barriers or tools depends on how they are managed. The lessons you carry from a lower middle-class upbringing can ground you in resilience and practicality. Yet unchecked, they can also limit opportunities for growth and trust in new situations.
- Reevaluate financial and professional decisions through the lens of current rather than past circumstances.
- Address skepticism through education, be it about investments, networking, or personal spending habits.
- Recognize the value of your instincts but learn when to loosen their grip.
The goal isn’t to erase the past. It’s to integrate its lessons into a mindset that supports broader possibilities. By balancing what you’ve learned with where you want to go, you can navigate success on your own terms.
FAQ on Growing Up Lower Middle Class: Understanding Persistent Skepticism
What habits persist in people who grow up lower middle class?
People from lower middle-class backgrounds often retain habits like budgeting cautiously, doubting job security, and hesitating to engage in networking. These behaviors stem from experiences of financial instability and limited exposure to wealth during upbringing. For deeper insights, check out The Female Founder Mindset.
Why do people from lower middle-class distrust financial advisors?
Many individuals raised in lower middle-class families have witnessed their parents or relatives being scammed by bad investments or misled by financial professionals. This leads to a persistent skepticism toward advisors, even when wealth is achieved.
Can skepticism toward luxury purchases be beneficial?
Absolutely. Individuals who view expensive items as unnecessary can develop resourcefulness and better decision-making skills regarding investments. Learn master budgeting tips in Essential Startup Skills for Female Founders.
How does growing up lower middle class influence professional networking?
People from this background may perceive networking as insincere or feel uncomfortable with the transactional nature of building professional connections, which contrasts with the mutual aid typical in their communities.
Why is the concept of job security hard to trust for individuals from lower middle-class families?
Witnessing layoffs, factory closures, or other economic shifts during childhood can lead to lifelong skepticism about the permanence of any job or career, pushing individuals to diversify income sources.
Would people from lower middle-class backgrounds benefit from overcoming skepticism of retirement planning?
Certainly. Addressing long-term financial goals with the help of credible resources can alleviate retirement-related anxieties. For investment tips, explore Female Founder Trends: What’s Winning, What’s Dying.
How can people from lower middle-class backgrounds adapt their mindset toward credit cards?
Educating yourself about credit card benefits like reward programs and responsible card usage can help shift the perspective, making credit tools advantageous instead of ominous debt traps.
Why do some lower middle-class individuals hesitate to relocate for career opportunities?
Relocation can represent loss of community ties and support systems that are deeply valued in lower middle-class households. Assessing career benefits versus the emotional cost is crucial.
How does the debate over meritocracy impact individuals from lower middle-class roots?
Understanding success as a mix of hard work, opportunity, and relationships, as opposed to meritocracy alone, helps recalibrate expectations and improve confidence in leveraging systemic advantages.
Can financial habits from lower middle-class upbringing support entrepreneurship?
Yes, practical habits like budgeting wisely and questioning unnecessary expenses can be strengths. To reframe these habits into entrepreneurial advantages, explore Startup Accelerators.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the “gamepreneurship” methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the point of view of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.