Most people’s poverty is due to a lack of patience.

The United States has such a developed education system, that wealthy people from all over the world are willing to pay steep tuition fees to study abroad. The U.S. stock market rises so steadily — despite occasional pullbacks, it climbs upward, year after year, for over a century. And the business environment is so favorable, with such strong protection of private property and such emphasis on investors and entrepreneurs. Given all these favorable conditions, you’d think that through long-term investing, education spending, and running a business with continuous iteration, nearly every poor American family would gradually climb into the middle class or even become wealthy.

But in reality, none of that happens. Why?

The truth is: there’s no patience. Most people simply can’t hold onto their gains. When they earn more, they spend more — income and expenses stay balanced, with no surplus.