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Vishesh Raisinghani
Updated Jul 15, 2026
According to Northwestern Mutual, 76% of wealthy individuals consider themselves disciplined financial planners — far more than the general public.
To avoid market hype and focus on fundamentals, you can build a diversified portfolio with Vanguard Digital Advisor, which uses low-cost ETFs and automatic rebalancing.
For passive real estate income without landlord duties, Mogul offers fractional ownership in vetted properties with average cash-on-cash yields between 10-12% annually.
The millionaire next door doesn’t necessarily make headlines. They have probably built their fortune in a mundane and boring way and live an equally understated lifestyle.
These are the ‘stealthy wealthy’ and their habits hold powerful lessons for anyone who’s serious about achieving financial freedom.
Here are seven habits you could replicate to boost your financial position or peace of mind.
1. Avoiding the hype cycle
According to the WSJ, the stealthy wealthy are most likely to make their fortunes in relatively overlooked niches of the economy. Think cup-holder manufacturers, commercial carpet cleaning or industrial appliance maintenance companies.
Put simply, most successful entrepreneurs and investors are not chasing the latest hype cycle. Instead, they focus on lucrative, always-on industries with sparse competition.
The same logic applies to everyday investing: avoid the noise, focus on fundamentals. That's where a strategy built on low-cost diversification comes in.
Vanguard’s Digital Advisor puts the investing expertise of one of the world’s largest asset managers right at your fingertips.
It takes the guesswork out of investing by building a personalized portfolio for you using Vanguard’s well-known low-cost ETFs and mutual funds — then keeps things running smoothly with automatic rebalancing.
The platform also offers guidance on saving for retirement and lets you set additional goals as your life evolves.
It can even help you think through debt repayment strategies, potentially freeing up more cash to invest toward your long-term plans.
With a minimum investment of just $100, it’s an easy way to get started with professionally guided investing.
For every $10,000 in an all-index portfolio, you'll pay approximately $15 to $16 per year¹.
You can even test-drive the Vanguard experience with no advisory fees for the first 90 days.
2. Driving modest cars
Contrary to the stereotype, millionaires and multimillionaires aren’t always driving Aston Martins or Bugattis. In fact, Dave Ramsey’s survey of millionaires across America found that the top three most popular brands were Toyota, Honda and Ford.
Picking a practical and relatively inexpensive car is perhaps a better way to retain your fortune rather than burning it all through the tailpipe of a McLaren F1 sports car.
Another way to keep car expenses affordable is to shop around for the best car insurance rate available. Doing your due diligence and comparing rates can help drive down your monthly costs and free up that extra cash for investing.
By using a comparison platform like Insurify, you can instantly view quotes from top-rated providers to ensure you aren't paying a hidden ‘loyalty tax’ to your current insurer.
Just answer a few basic questions, and Insurify will show you the most affordable deals in as little as 3 minutes.
Not only is the process 100% free, but you could also save up to 15% by bundling your car and home insurance.
Finally, keep in mind that you can usually change your insurance policy before the renewal date. Just keep an eye out for any early cancellation fees.
3. Multiple streams of cash flow
A single source of income, perhaps from your full-time job, is unfortunately rarely sufficient to build wealth these days. To reach the top, you will likely need a diversified pool of multiple income sources.
Consider a side gig to boost your income, and invest in passive income opportunities such as real estate to reach your financial goals faster.
New platforms have lowered the barrier to entry, allowing you to invest in a diversified portfolio of real estate with flexible minimums.
Mogul, for instance, is a real estate investment platform that offers fractional ownership in blue-chip rental properties, which gives investors monthly rental income, real-time appreciation and tax benefits without the need for a $250,000 down payment or 3 A.M. tenant calls.
Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the team hand-picks the top 1% of single-family rental homes nationwide for you. Simply put, you can invest in institutional-quality offerings for a fraction of the usual cost.
Fully Funded
The Harden
Phoenix, AZ$323K
Invested80+
Investors Fully Funded
The Yamamoto
Poconos, PA$909K
Invested80+
Investors Fully Funded
The Alcaraz
Lizella, GA$833K
Invested80+
InvestorsThese are a few examples of properties from Mogul. Browse available properties on their website.
Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Their cash-on-cash yields, meanwhile, average between 10-12% annually.
Each property undergoes a vetting process, requiring a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios.
With numbers like that, it's no wonder that offerings sell out in under three hours — with investments typically ranging between $15,000 and $40,000 per property.
For instance, The Fundrise Flagship Fund¹ is a $1 billion private real estate fund that lets you invest in an expertly crafted strategy without needing hundreds of thousands of dollars. You don’t need to be an accredited investor, and you can get started with as little as $10.
With 4,700+ single-family homes and 2,500+ residential units owned by the Fundrise Flagship Fund, you get exposure to institutional-style scale and diversification.
Industrial
215 Interchange
Las Vegas, NV Build-for-rent
Pine Ridge
Fountain Inn, SC Build-for-rent
Omnia
Richmond Hill, GAThese are a few examples of properties powering the Fundrise Flagship Fund. For a full list of the Fundrise Flagship Fund's portfolio properties see the Flagship Fund website
After you place your first investment, the Fundrise Flagship Fund will work to find and add new assets to your portfolio over time and send you transparent updates along the way.
It only takes a few minutes to sign up now and become a real estate investor today.
Fundrise Flagship Fund
Buy real estate through Fundrise's $1 billion private fund4. Maximizing tax efficiency
Tax-efficient decision-making is how most wealthy people retain and expand their fortune. Although your tax situation might be very different from someone who has a seven- or eight-figure net worth, that doesn’t mean you can afford to neglect tax planning.
Tax optimization often works best when coordinated with your investment and retirement strategy. A financial advisor can help you maximize contributions, time investment moves for tax efficiency, and keep more of your returns by minimizing unnecessary taxes.
Platforms like Advisor.com can match you with an expert who is able to take a holistic approach to your tax situation.
Just answer a few quick questions through their online form and the platform will match you with a vetted financial advisor in 5 minutes.
You can set up a free, no-obligation-to-hire call to see how they can help you based on your needs and whether their approach and pricing model make sense for you.
5. Tracking and directing every dollar
A 2025 survey by Northwestern Mutual found that an impressive 76% of wealthy individuals considered themselves disciplined financial planners, while only 49% of the general public felt the same.
While a budget is a key part of the equation, automation makes it easy to stick to it.
A micro-investing app like Acorns makes this very straightforward.
Every time you make a purchase on your credit or debit card, it automatically rounds up to the nearest dollar and invests your spare change into a low-cost diversified portfolio based on your investing timeline and goals.
Beyond its round-up feature, you can set up recurring contributions timed to your paycheck, so a portion of each deposit flows into your portfolio automatically—before you spend it.
As a Moneywise reader, you get a $20 bonus when you sign up with a recurring deposit.
6. Focusing on privacy
Another hallmark of the stealthy wealthy is their deep respect for privacy.
By keeping your finances discreet, you not only protect yourself from fraud and financial crimes, but also improve your chances of securing better deals and avoid unnecessary tension in personal relationships.
Platforms like Aura offer practical tools to safeguard your personal information. The service removes your data from Google search results, people-search sites and brokers that sell information to advertisers.
Aura also scans the dark web and data breach sources for your credentials, monitors spending patterns for suspicious transactions, and provides $1 million identity theft insurance to cover eligible losses and fees.
You could save up to 68% if you sign up today — and Aura even offers a risk-free, 60-day money-back guarantee.
Remember the old adage: Money talks, but wealth whispers.
7. Avoiding status symbols
The stealthy wealthy’s cardinal rule is to conceal their fortune (or at least not flaunt it) so that they can enjoy it in complete privacy. That means no flashy toys or glamorous status symbols that call their wealth to attention. A quietly rich person isn’t likely to buy a Gucci belt or Birkin handbag. As far back as 2024, The Wall Street Journal noted that consumers are questioning the prices of luxury brands.
That said, the stealthy wealthy may be interested in investment opportunities that have historically only been available to the ultra-wealthy, such as fine art. But that asset class is no longer limited to the elites.
Masterworks has given over one million users the opportunity to invest in pieces from artists including Banksy, Basquiat and Picasso. Masterworks takes care of all of the heavy lifting, from finding and acquiring to storage and sale. All you have to do is pick which pieces you want to invest in via fractional shares, and reap the returns when the piece sells.
Sold
Joan Mitchell
17.8% annualized net return Sold
Yayoi Kusama
17.6% annualized net return Sold
George Condo
21.5% annualized net returnThese are a few examples of sold artworks from Masterworks. For a full list of currently available art, visit Masterworks' Price Database.
From their 23 exits so far, Masterworks investors have realized representative annualized net returns like +17.6%, +17.8% and +21.5% among assets held for longer than one year. To see if you qualify, you can find out more about investing with Masterworks here.
See important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd
- Vanguard Digital Advisor is an all-digital service. Digital Advisor charges brokerage accounts an annual gross advisory fee in the amount of 0.20% for an index portfolio option or 0.25% for an active portfolio option. That gross advisory fee is reduced by a credit of the actual revenue The Vanguard Group, Inc. ("VGI"), or its affiliates retain from investments in each enrolled account, resulting in a net advisory fee. The net advisory fee is the actual fee collected from your account(s) and will vary based on your unique asset allocation, portfolio option, account type, and specific holdings in each enrolled account. Note that this fee doesn't include investment expense ratios charged by a fund, such as fees paid to the funds' third-party managers which are not credited. While we generally recommend using low-cost Vanguard funds to build your portfolio, actively managed funds will have higher expense ratios than index funds. For more information on the services, find VAI's Form CRS and each program's advisory brochure here for an overview.
Vishesh Raisinghani
Freelance Writer
Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
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