How 5-Minute Phone Calls Could Make You Rich

Most of us haven't made a personal phone call in a while.

Why would we, when we could text or email and deal with our friends and families at our convenience (it got lost in my inbox!)?

Well, finds Thomas Corley, maybe we should do it because it could make us rich.

Corley, the author of "Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals," spent five years studying the lives of both rich people (defined as having an annual income of $160,000 or more and a liquid net worth of $3.2 million or more) and poor people (defined as having an annual income of $35,000 or less and a liquid net worth of $5,000 or less).

He managed to segment out what he calls "rich habits" and "poverty habits," meaning the tendencies of those who fit in each group.

One of those rich habits is simply making phone calls.

According to his research, 80% of wealthy people make birthday calls, hello calls, and life event calls, compared to 11%, 26%, and 3% of poor people, respectively. 

These numbers are in line with one of Corley's larger findings: Wealthy people value their relationships, and think those connections helped them get where they are. In fact, 88% of rich people agree with the statement, "Relationships are critical to financial success," and 68% of them say they love meeting new people.

Corley himself even credits a windfall of $60,000 to getting into the habit of making a few simple phone calls, after these check-ins secured him the job of rolling over a wealthy new client's 401(k) funds in his accounting business.

Does calling your friends on their birthdays guarantee an influx of cash? Of course not. But on the other hand, it certainly couldn't hurt.

(By business insider )