Out of the 140 million tax returns filed in the United States every year, about 1.4 million make an adjusted gross income of over $400,000 a year. Now imagine if there were 1.4 million undead zombies roaming the country. They’d be everywhere!

Most would agree that a top 1% income is rich wherever you live. However, some will say you’re just middle class if you’ve got to pay for private school tuition in cities such as San Francisco, New York, Paris, and London! Given it is one of our mantras to always describe ourselves as middle class, being called financially average is a blessing.

Regardless of what your true financial definition of rich is, your mission if you choose to accept, is to lock down one of the 1.4 million+ rich people the IRS knows about to marry you. Seriously, why bother trying to slave away for decades to become a millionaire when you can just marry one?

The one tautology about money is that once you have money, you don’t worry as much about not having money. And when you worry less about money, you get to fight more about all the other joys in a relationship.

This article will provide some insights into how single men with over $400,000 a year in income or net worths of over $3 million dollars think about women and marriage. $400,000 is a top 1% income in America and $3 million is the new $1 million thanks to inflation.

Once you understand such a man’s fears and hopes, you are well on your way to living the good life!

HOW GOOD RICH MEN THINK

* I must be dreaming. Most wealthy men are self-made. They may have studied hard in school, took some calculated risks, worked even harder on their ventures, and struck lucky gold. They know what it’s like to be middle class or lower because that’s exactly where they toiled for most of their lives. They’ve made far more than they’ve ever imagined possible and can’t believe their luck. There is a constant awareness that the good times can’t last forever. In fact, there is a paranoia that one day they’ll wake up to see everything they’ve worked for disappear. As a result, they keep on working to make their dreams happen, never taking for granted what they have.

* Nobody is going to give me anything. Given most rich men are self-made, they strongly do not believe in entitlement. Nothing is deserved which is not earned. Given this type of stance, sometimes they can be very harsh on those who are receiving some type of assistance from the government, friends, or family members. It takes time to assuage such a man to see another’s point of view as a result. Men want to see that a woman is independent or on her way to being financially independent through self-struggle.

* Women who know what they want are most attractive. Nothing turns a rich man on like a strong woman who is successful in her career or business. The woman who goes for glory piques the most interest. Rich men constantly search for those who they can find their equal or superior. She doesn’t have to be rich. Instead, she can be superbly talented in something that he is not e.g. musical instrument, language, singing, dance, art, etc.

* Why should I ever settle down? Rich men have a larger selection of women thanks to women being more accepting of rich men. You will see 4s go out with 8s all the time and nobody ever bats an eye because it’s so common in places such as New York City and San Francisco. Given a rich man’s mental conditioning, he will logically assume he is more handsome, more charismatic, and funnier than he really is. It really doesn’t matter if he’s not because he continues to get outsized attention from the ladies.

* Please don’t waste my time. Although everybody’s time is finite, time is much more precious to a rich person because the dichotomy between time and money is wider. Rich men have less patience for relationship games and long term courtships. He needs to know whether she wants him or not. None of this “I’m in a weird place right now” while she goes off and dates multiple men. A rich man has no problem being a friendly suitor who meets up on random occasions. But there is no way a confused woman will ever snag herself a stable rich man.

* If only I had someone to share my money with. There will come a time in every rich man’s life when he’ll realize the pointlessness of making more money if there’s nobody to spend it on or with. He may accumulate so much that he won’t mind being a sugar daddy to someone who doesn’t fit any of his criteria for the ideal woman so long as she enjoys his company. He would rather be with someone than be alone.

* When am I going to lose it all? Rich men pay attention to fortunes lost all the time. An example is Eike Batista who is estimated to have lost $33 billion dollars in 16 months as his conglomerate, OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA lost 90% of its value. Batista is still worth $200 million dollars, but still, that is a frightening fall. Given the paranoia of losing it all, rich men are very methodical in their money management ways. They will allocate at least 20% of their net worth to risk free investments so that if things go to hell, they’ll still live a comfortable life. Rich men realize their wealth is an important reason why they have more selection.

* I hope she still loves me if I had no money. Rich men understand they are attracting more women than normal for their wealth, but every rich man hopes his woman loves him for who he is as a person. Rich men don’t want to feel like chumps who have to pay for companionship. As soon as a rich man feels the only reason why a woman is asking a man out so he can pay for dinner and a show, it’s game over.

ADVICE FOR WOMEN ON HOW TO LOCK DOWN A RICH MAN

Now that you know how rich men think, it’s important to adjust your actions accordingly if you want to be with someone with means.

* Be your own person. Thoroughly pursue your dreams and do not give up until you get there. It’s important not to compromise your standards for a rich man. If you’ve always wanted to make it on Broadway, don’t you dare leave New York City to be closer to a man who lives in Chicago. If your dream job demands that you travel for three months a year, go for it and don’t look back. The more you focus on what you want, the more the rich man will want you. He has the financial resources to move, travel, or buy a piede de terre where you live if he wants to be with you so don’t worry about not pursuing your goals.

* Develop a strong network of friends. You don’t have to have a ton of friends, just enough where you can spend all your time with them as if you didn’t have a man in your life. A rich man worries his woman will smother him if they get too close. Once you have a couple friends to go out with for dinner or shows, you provide a man some relief that he doesn’t have to always entertain you. Develop your own world and invite him in.

* Be an expert at something he is not. Singing, dancing, writing or playing a musical instrument are tops on the list of things most men don’t do well. If you can master just one art you will gain a tremendous amount of admiration. Tanya Streeter is a world record holder freediver who went down 525 feet and can hold her breath for 4 minutes. Now that is one sexy woman!

* Take care of yourself. Because rich men have more selection, they tend to gravitate towards better looking, fitter women. The one thing every person can do is work on their fitness – facial features not so much. There’s a big fear from men that once he marries his woman that she will chop off all her hair and let herself go. Don’t let your man fear such a thing by eating healthy and maintaining a workout regime that’s beyond his own. When a woman asks a rich man to see whether he’d like to join her at the gym, deep down the rich man is beaming with joy.

* Be a lower high maintenance woman. High maintenance women generally have a bad wrap. They take two hours to get ready, love to take pictures of themselves, aren’t grateful and have never met a mirror they don’t like. The flip side is that they generally look good. A rich man loves to have a beautiful woman on his arm. He feels proud to call her his girl as onlookers check them out. The “level of maintenance” is highly subjective. If a beautiful woman can turn it down a notch based on his perception, she’ll be much more attractive. Simple things like saying “thank you,” leaving the house in comfortably simple clothes, and offering to pay once in a while go a long way.

* Show interest in his business. A man wants to marry a woman who cares about where their money is coming and going. After all, the man has spend all of his post secondary education life working on a career or business that made him rich. It’s vital to understand what he does for a living and check in every so often to ask how things are going. There is always some new deal or initiative on his plate that he’ll love to share. Rich men always think they’ll bore their women to death with business talk so they don’t mention anything related. Take interest in the source of his wealth and you will go farther than any other woman.

* Spend more time listening. Listening is a skill that is more difficult than talking. The ideal conversation is balanced 50/50 where both participants actively listen to each other’s dreams. If you dominate the conversation by more than a 70/30 ratio, men tune out quickly unless you are stunningly beautiful. A great way to find balance is to simply ask the question you were asked and go from there. It’s often times what you don’t say that speaks volumes.

* Be where rich men are. We tend to end up with people who roam our environment. Pilots date stewardesses, cooks date waitresses, bartenders date everything that moves, doctors date nurses, and Facebook employees date Twitter nerds. The majority of men over 30 who work in banking, management consulting, high tech, big law, and venture capital are on the path to top tier wealth if they keep on saving and working for just one more decade. Attend charity events, volunteer programs, or opening night galas. Rich men love to network while supporting a cause. Lay on a beach at a five-star Hawaiian resort. All Hawaiian beaches are public. Take up traditionally expensive sports like golf and less so tennis which have private clubs. Go to alumni mixers with a friend who went to a prestigious university. There are at least 700,000 men in America (out of 1.4 million $380,000+ tax returns) out there after all.

* Show a tremendous interest in your personal finances. Nothing is more attractive than a woman who has a strong command of her finances. The more a woman cares about her own financial well-being, the less the man has to worry about having to care for everything financial-related, even though he easily could. I recommend signing up for Personal Capital, a free financial software online that lets you track your cash flow, analyzes your investments for excessive fees, calculators your retirement financials, and tracks your net worth. I’m positive a rich guy will be super impressed with your financial savviness if you show him the app on your phone next time you meet up. Being financially wise is sexy!

LIFE IS STILL GOOD EVEN IF YOU CAN’T LOCK DOWN A RICH GUY

It takes time to lock down a handsome multi-millionaire fella. You’ve got to take my advice to heart and proactively be in environments that accommodate such potential interactions. If you haven’t found someone wealthy, don’t worry. Millions of couples are perfectly happy without being wealthy. Life with someone you care about is infinitely better than coming home to an empty bed. May all of you find someone!

Related: The Average Net Worth For The Above Average Couple

Photo: Paper suit, courtesy of RMA art collection.

Updated for 2020 and beyond. The bull market in stocks and real estate have made a lot more people richer. Further, the new tax cut plan doubles the wealth threshold to $11 million per individual and raises the AMT income threshold to $500,000 a year.