[sidlls]

For the wealthy when people refer to growth versus consumption the context is almost always against the return generated from their portfolio, and the two are separate figures. That "4% growth above inflation" does not include what the capital owner is drawing for his own income. It's almost certainly more like an 8% - 10% return gives 3% to taxes and inflationary pressure, 3% - 4% for income, and the rest to growth.

And, yes, it's quite easy for the wealthy to get investments that return 7% - 8% with low to modest risk of loss. It's much harder to get more than that, but it's not difficult to generate substantial returns from even a modest portfolio in the low 7-figure range.