How do you define rich/wealthy?

[ultimatebob]

The problem is, how do you define "owning" a house? Outright paid off? Huge mortgage? Is it a home in Alabama or NYC?

"Owning" a BMW...Well, it could be financed. many people like to show that they have wealth, even when in reality, they don't.

If you think about it, let's say you have 1 million saved. Take another person, that has 2 500k houses paid outright. They are kind of the same, but I'd say that since the 1 million paid doesn't have to pay property taxes on two homes, nor the maintenance/insurance that goes with it, that the person with savings is more wealthy.

I know that it's all relative, but when you get to the point where you can afford your own and maintain your own freaking Airplane, most people no longer worried about where their next paycheck is coming from

 

[Yuriman]

Read what he was responding to. You habitually MAKE THINGS UP and present them as facts/reality.

Let's say you posted bank statements(what would this prove)? That would prove that you have X amount in a bank at one specific time. This is not what I claimed you do.

I claimed that when you don't like/get jealous of what someone else says, you start making statements about what you WISH the other person's life is, and then argue against this made up version of reality as if it had any merit. It does not. Even if you gave your social security number to us and gave us access to every facet of your life, it STILL would not give any credence to your made up assertions about other people. Period.

I believe the word you're looking for is "strawman".

@Eug, my wife and I are in our early 20's and in college. We don't have plans to keep making 15k per year, but for the time being we're trading off working part time, depending on who has the heavier semester. I'm close to graduating with a bachelor's in geology, and I plan to work while she pursues higher education in the humanities (even if it doesn't have a fantastic return, because it's what she wants to do).

 

[ponyo]

Personally, I think that you're officially "wealthy" when you can afford more than one house and your own airplane.

The airplane thing is something that I've noticed while watching people luckier than myself moving their way up through corporate America. Once guys get up to the Director level, they suddenly get interested in taking up flying. Once they get to VP level, they have their own plane. And usually a BMW.

Once they hit Senior VP, they also have a nice boat and a vacation house somewhere.

Airplane thing might be the hobby for people you know. I don't know a single wealthy person who owns a plane. And they're multi-million and billionaires. The ones who want to fly in a private plane own fractional shares in NetJets. My cousin's billionaire relatives use NetJets when they fly somewhere privately.

All the wealthy people own multiple homes. That's something common I noticed with everyone.

 

[alkemyst]

I know that it's all relative, but when you get to the point where you can afford your own and maintain your own freaking Airplane, most people no longer worried about where their next paycheck is coming from

My 'housing payment' was $2250 that I paid for 3 years while my mortgage company, my two car payments were $446 and $7xx. At the same time I was going out each night and saving money.

An airplane isn't that big a goal though. I almost bought one.

It's like a boat.

Now something that can travel across seas is different.

Many people that own those things are still worried, they aren't wealthy/rich in reality.

 

[nickbits]

Rich is someone who makes 2x I do
Wealthy is someone who can live very well from passive income

 

[ultimatebob]

Airplane thing might be the hobby for people you know. I don't know a single wealthy person who owns a plane. And they're multi-million and billionaires. The ones who want to fly in a private plane own fractional shares in NetJets. My cousin's billionaire relatives use NetJets when they fly somewhere privately.

All the wealthy people own multiple homes. That's something common I noticed with everyone.

I hear what you're saying, but most wealthy folks are smart enough not to brag about their millions in the bank.

They aren't so shy about telling you about their restored floatplane or their vacation house in Boca, though. That's what I would call "visible" wealth.

 

[Eug]

@Eug, my wife and I are in our early 20's and in college. We don't have plans to keep making 15k per year, but for the time being we're trading off working part time, depending on who has the heavier semester. I'm close to graduating with a bachelor's in geology, and I plan to work while she pursues higher education in the humanities (even if it doesn't have a fantastic return, because it's what she wants to do).

Yeah, that's fine. Living as a student or even a post-grad on $15000 is fine... but those are the early years. You have to start somewhere. But the key is you're aiming higher, and I suspect this higher target would become even more acute if you had a kid on the way.

As for owning that boat or plane or whatever, not really. Around here it's owning a cottage, but they're all potentially money pits (even the boat, because of docking fees, etc.).

The other problem with all of those is the time requirement. Unless you're making a big wad of cash, you're probably going to feel the need to spend time every year at that cottage, much of it thawing it out for spring and closing it down for fall, that is if you live in an area where cottage country is dead for the winter. I'd rather just save my money for retirement, and rent that cottage every few years. Even if I had to spend $8000 to rent a high end cottage for 2 weeks, that's heluvalot simpler than buying one for $600000 and wasting my time managing it every season. And yeah, maybe next year I don't want to be at the cottage, and would rather visit Europe or something.

P.S. While it's common for people to have part time maids, it's very uncommon these days for people to have butlers. That is a dying profession, at least in Europe, and it's virtually non-existent in North America. The ironic part is that if you're a big-wig butler, you can make 6 figures.

P.P.S. I ran into Kevin Bacon on a commercial flight a few years back. No, he doesn't have a plane. Apparently he has a net worth of about $50 million. Is he not rich?

 

[shadow9d9]

I posted those bank statements when people challenged what I bought.

Yeah, like I have mentioned it's easy to post a 5 figure bonus that was payment for 5+ years.

Whatever, bro. I am going to head out soon and go eat somewhere nice.

With your .5-$1MM savings you can't find anywhere else to go.

So who is really lying?

You keep doubling down.

" I am going to head out soon and go eat somewhere nice.

With your .5-$1MM savings you can't find anywhere else to go."

This is a complete fabrication. You want sooo much to believe it, and therefore it is magically a reality to you. Back it up. No amount of "bank statements" could do so.

You are the one who is lying. I just quoted the lie. Making something up and pretending it is reality is a lie when you have zero reason to believe it to be so(aside from your jealousy).

 

[alkemyst]

You keep doubling down.

" I am going to head out soon and go eat somewhere nice.

With your .5-$1MM savings you can't find anywhere else to go."

This is a complete fabrication. You want sooo much to believe it, and therefore it is magically a reality to you. Back it up. No amount of "bank statements" could do so.

You are the one who is lying. I just quoted the lie. Making something up and pretending it is reality is a lie when you have zero reason to believe it to be so(aside from your jealousy).

BUAHAHAHA you are seriously pissed!

See ya, bro. We are going out. No work tomorrow.

You are really thinking this out...with so much money in the bank why do you care?

lol, you are great entertainment.

 

[shadow9d9]

I know a lot of people who make a lot of money, many of whom would be considered rich by the posters in this thread. They are comfortable and secure but not rich. In my opinion, the easiest and most reliable way to identify the truly wealthy is by their staff. People who have full time staff on their personal payroll such as butler, chef, caretaker, chauffeur, personal secretary, etc. are the really rich and they all have staff. IMO, you need $10 mil in the bank to be genuinely secure and comfortable, able to live a high end lifestyle and you need much more than that to have staff.

Joe M.

Making money doesn't mean that ANY of it is saved.

Paying a staff still doesn't mean that ANY of it is saved.

All that it shows is that they LOOK rich.

Are they retired or still working?

 

[dmcowen674]

Wealthy is never having to ask what something costs.

This which is most ATers.

 

[shadow9d9]

BUAHAHAHA you are seriously pissed!

See ya, bro. We are going out. No work tomorrow.

You are really thinking this out...with so much money in the bank why do you care?

lol, you are great entertainment.

Projection much?

You started up with me in this thread, like you always do, and as soon as your jealousy(and excuses) popped up, you had to concoct something out of thin air to attribute to me in order for you to feel bad about what you've made of your life.

No work tomorrow? That's cool. Since I work for myself, I took the following month off, and I'm 10+ years younger than you.

I suppose I could hire someone with my money(preferably not married) to pretend to care about me, so that I could take care of them(they don't want to work), and their kids(too old to need a stay at home), on my way to my third divorce... then, I could troll online forums and make up stuff that have a better life than me... I just don't have the desire for such a lifestyle though.

I think making things up about people on the internet so you could attempt to attack them is even worse than the mess that you've made of your life to be quite honest. Every post you maje where you make things up and use them as fact shows you as sadder and sadder.

77,000 posts on awesome street...

 

[Humpy]

You realize I am one of the few that have posted bank statements, test scores, college transcripts, etc?

LOLOLOLolololo... :| You've really posted that stuff here?

 

[shadow9d9]

LOLOLOLolololo... :| You've really posted that stuff here?

Gotta fill up 70k posts somehow... Also, when you are extremely insecure, you do stupid things to prove yourself to the internet.

 

[Kaido]

Personally, I think that you're officially "wealthy" when you can afford more than one house and your own airplane.

The airplane thing is something that I've noticed while watching people luckier than myself moving their way up through corporate America. Once guys get up to the Director level, they suddenly get interested in taking up flying. Once they get to VP level, they have their own plane. And usually a BMW.

Once they hit Senior VP, they also have a nice boat and a vacation house somewhere.

Nah, I know plenty of regular joe's who have little Cessna's and stuff. That's like saving up for an expensive BMW or something...it's affordable, especially if you're single & don't have kids.

 

[Kaido]

Airplane thing might be the hobby for people you know. I don't know a single wealthy person who owns a plane. And they're multi-million and billionaires. The ones who want to fly in a private plane own fractional shares in NetJets. My cousin's billionaire relatives use NetJets when they fly somewhere privately.

All the wealthy people own multiple homes. That's something common I noticed with everyone.

Yeah I've seen the same thing. Assuming rich is say in the millionaire range & wealth is more like multi-millions or tens of millions, then the wealthy I've seen usually own at least 2 or 3 (or 4) homes. Real estate seems to be a good investment.

 

[Kaido]

P.P.S. I ran into Kevin Bacon on a commercial flight a few years back. No, he doesn't have a plane. Apparently he has a net worth of about $50 million. Is he not rich?

Wow so you skipped the whole six degrees thing eh

 

[Kaido]

Yeah, its not a definite number. Its all relative.

The average American is rich compared to most of the world. They think its weird we argue about how to apportion our massive budget. Do we give a trillion to welfare, or a trillion to the military?
Thats insane compared to the hardship many countries deal with.

Yeah it's a difficult question. I mean, look at Russia - they see how much we've decreased our military stuff and now they're all like hey, let's take over the world! WWIII bro? U mad? :biggrin:

 

[Eug]

Wow so you skipped the whole six degrees thing eh

Well, not really. I didn't actually meet him. He was just hiding in his seat in business class trying not to make eye contact with anyone, as the rest of us walked by in the aisle. I think several of us recognized him, but everyone was remarkably polite. Not a single person said a word.

Meanwhile, Will Smith refused to fly with the commoners:

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...-tv/will-smith-snubs-aer-lingus-flight-856026

They had made special VIP arrangements for his family, but instead Smith's people chose to spend 10000 UK pounds to charter a private jet for this 50 minute flight.

 

[Kaido]

A lifestyle that the vast majority of people can't afford.

Yeah, that's all relative though. Even the poorest American living on the street with access to soup kitchens & shelters is probably in the 1% compared to the rest of the world. And even if you're a millionaire & hang out with other rich guys, if they're making hundreds of millions and you're only make a few million or tens of millions, you're still the poor kid in the group.

Having lived in several places across America, I've had my eyes opened to just what "relative wealth" means. I come from a middle-class family (lower middle class? not "well-off", but comfortable enough to have 2 used cars & a decent home growing up, which I'm thankful for!). I always thought this was fairly normal because most places I went, that's where most people were - in a house with a car or two. But if you've ever lived in or near trailer parks, low-incoming housing, cheap apartments in bad neighborhoods, in a food desert, in the boonies or backwoods, you'll know that that's only a portion of America...a lot of people live with serious day-to-day struggles. I recently watched the documentary "A Place at the Table" about food insecurity in America & it's a pretty scary watch, because I think most people are pretty close to that if they were to lose their job or have a serious financial incursion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgxxT4xpVNI

I think in general though, being rich means either:

1. Being a multi-millionaire
2. Making 5 or 6 figures with no debt & good money management (ex. cars & house paid off, no serious financial vices that cause a constant drain on the piggybank)

I think you can be rich if you have a lot of money, but I also think you can be rich if you earn a good wage & manage it well. And I think that's the definition most people think of - either having a ton of cash in the bank, or doing "pretty well" and staying on top of your budget so that you do okay no matter what situation comes your way financially.

 

[brianmanahan]

This which is most ATers.

dmcowen speaks the truth

everyone here makes > 100$k per year

everyone knows this

 

[shortylickens]

Wow so you skipped the whole six degrees thing eh

Dude thats like ZERO degrees!

Now we all know Kevin Bacon by one degree.


My previous best was 3.

I was in the navy, served with a chief who worked on the carrier where Tom Cruise did Top Gun.
And of course Tom Cruise was is in A Few Good Men with......


:awe:

 

[Kaido]

Now we all know Kevin Bacon by one degree.

 

[Svnla]

If I have $10 million in cash, I will quit my job and be happy.

 

[Midwayman]

Wealth is when you can afford to make financial decisions, even relatively expensive ones based on long term benefit rather than just short term cash flow. IE you're going to buy a car and you can buy the car in cash without hurting your finances, but you consider financing just because your money would work better for you elsewhere.

In addition I think there is a certain element of not having to compromise on anything you consider important. You may choose to buy the kia instead of the BMW, but you do so because you think its a better value and not because you're forced into the choice.