The safest way to try to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want. - Morgan Housel

And since you can build wealth without a high income, but have no chance of building wealth without a high savings rate, it’s clear which one matters more.

The challenge for us is that no amount of studying or open-mindedness can genuinely recreate the power of fear and uncertainty. I can read about what it was like to lose everything during the Great Depression. But I don’t have the emotional scars of those who actually experienced it. And the person who lived through it can’t fathom why someone like me could come across as complacent about things like owning stocks. We see the world through a different lens.

Stress focuses your attention in ways that good times can’t.