What is"wealthy" these days?

[Alpo 6,642]

I'm reading a story. These two people rob an armored car but get shot up in the process. They die of their wounds. A week or so later somebody finds their corpses. And in the trunk of their car are three duffel bags full of money.

 

They had stolen five and one half million dollars in used bills.

 

He takes the money and goes on his merry way. He finds a nice little town, and buys himself a house, and invests the money.

 

His investments are doing so well that it looks as if, "he might be able to retire relatively well off, if not wealthy".

 

That's what the story said. Direct quote.

 

He found five and a half million dollars. Isn't he already wealthy? How much do you need to be wealthy these days?

[Rye Miles #13621 6,511]

5 million would be wealthy to me but it's all relative, Bill Gates would consider himself broke with a measly 5 million!

[Smuteye John SASS#24774 2,792]

Mario should be worth a fortune after all of these years in entertainment and he still has to find a side job this time of year.

 

 

 

Then again, that's what you get when you hook up with a Princess.  Talk about high maintenance!

Edited December 24, 2020 by Smuteye John SASS#24774

[Still hand Bill 102]

5 million would be comfortable, but not “wealthy” to me.  If you could get 5% return that would be $250k per year.   While a high salary, not so much money you couldn’t spend it money.   
 

It really depends where you live, your cost of living, if you have kids.  College alone could easily run 250k-500k per kid.   Private school, k-12 could run another 500k.  

[Rye Miles #13621 6,511]

11 minutes ago, Still hand Bill said:

5 million would be comfortable, but not “wealthy” to me.  If you could get 5% return that would be $250k per year.   While a high salary, not so much money you couldn’t spend it money.   
 

It really depends where you live, your cost of living, if you have kids.  College alone could easily run 250k-500k per kid.   Private school, k-12 could run another 500k.  

True, in Ohio that 5 million would set you up pretty comfortable compared to say California!! My kids are grown, house paid off I'd live really good on 250K a year with 5 million in backup

Edited December 24, 2020 by Rye Miles #13621

[McCandless 1,921]

To me, at this point in my life, "wealthy" is:  having enough money, not to have to worry about money.

I suppose that's going to vary with the individual.

[Fence Cutter 672]

Just the other day on the radio I heard John Wayne was worth five to seven million dollars when he died, an equivalent to 20 million dollars today.

 

Either way that's a lot of money to me.  However....

 

with upper-crust hollywood pukes getting more than that today for one movie, these days John Wayne would be considered poor.

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life 1,016]

It doesn't make a lot of difference to me how much money other people have. I am retired (have been for over 20 years) and have not depleted my "nest egg" I started with. My wife and I pretty much do what we want....... travel, have 2 pretty new vehicles and a new rv paid cash for them, donate to our favorite charities and have $$$ left over each month. Am I wealthy.....in my mind I guess I am.

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 6,618]

To me, it is enough money to pay your bills in full as they come in and pay cash for cars (and other pricey things) as needed.  I don't really need more. Although, I could use more. Wisely, of course.

[J-BAR #18287 6,006]

There is a historical aspect to the question.  Most Americans living in "poverty" today are still living better than royalty did 150 years ago.  Our "poor" eat better and have access to modern medical care, have cars and TVs, can go to the bathroom furnished with sewage disposal, and sleep where rain won't fall on them.  Many kings and queens never had it that good.  I performed a house call veterinary service for nearly 20 years, and treated the pets of poor folks and rich folks in the same day.  I walked through the kitchen of a huge mansion one day and saw the food packages they had purchased on the counter.  They were from the same supermarket that fed me and my family.  The rich folks were drinking the same water and eating the same food I was, watching the same TV programs.

 

I always figured that if I could drop my car off at the shop and not worry about having to take out a bank loan to pay the bill, I had enough money.

 

[Cypress Sun 2,831]

I don't think that wealth is built from money. Without integrity, wealth means nothing. I may not have wealth but I'll always try to keep my integrity.

[Sixgun Sheridan 4,253]

As soon as the IRS finds out where he got his cool 5 million he won't be wealthy. You can take THAT to the bank!

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 889]

I'm with those here who describe "wealth" as having just enough money to not worry about money anymore. No more debts, pay cash when you need something like cars, etc. 

 

If you don't have a lot of material desires, it's not so hard to get "wealthy". If you do, it's harder. It always takes time, though; decades usually.

 

One of the things I like the most is  looking at something nice and thinking- "I could write a check for that"... and not doing it, because you don't want or need it. The pleasure of not buying things that you could. And you save a lot of money that way!

 

[Smoken D 2,061]

I couldn't even dream of one million. To me I'm rich in two ways. 1st, Jesus Christ is my Savior. 2nd, for every dollar I have coming in, I only spend 70 cents. Yep, I'm real rich for me.

[Subdeacon Joe 25,855]

If you realize that God loves you beyond measure. 

If you have a person to love and makes your life complete, and who loves you. 

If you have a roof over your head. 

If you have food on the table. 

If you have potable water. 

If you have sanitary facilities. 

Then  you have wealth beyond measure.  

Everything else is gravy.

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263 796]

Where does one put $5 million so that it is safe?  Your life  style would have to remain the same so as not to draw attention to you and forget about investing it without legal proof that the money is yours.  You couldn't buy a house, for example, without furnishing tax returns.  If you spent $100 a day it would take around 140 years to spend it all. 

[Sixgun Sheridan 4,253]

It's like when the anti-gunners say that we don't NEED assault weapons. Humans only need food, water, heat, shelter, clothing, and affordable health care. The rest is all a WANT.

[Whiskey Hicks 219]

Psychologists actually did research on this somewhat several years ago. They wanted to determine if money affects happiness. The results of the study showed people reported money contributed to their happiness up to 70k a year. It was enough to live comfortably and take a vacation every now and then, necessities met and living stress free moneywise.

 

The surprising or perhaps not surprising result was that anything more than that didn’t contribute more to happiness.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Whiskey Hicks

[Springfield Slim SASS #24733 632]

Interesting point. I used to drive an Armored Truck for  living, for almost 14 years. During slow periods we of course talked about how to and how much you could steal and get away with it. All academic, of course. I pretty much decided if you stole/found more than 500,000 it was too much. Really, you can't go around paying cash for everything without someone in charge finding out about it. Buy used cars for cash, maybe. Buy all your groceries for cash. Give money away for presents to friends. It would actually be difficult to spend it all if you really think about it. Real life is not like the movies. 5 million? Forget about it.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 889]

1 hour ago, Smoken D said:

for every dollar I have coming in, I only spend 70 cents. 

 

One of the very definitions of happiness!

[Springfield Slim SASS #24733 632]

70,000 isn't going to get you very far in my part of California. An older 1600 sq ft house in a decent neighborhood can cost you 3,000/month to rent. That would be more than half your pay, and that's assuming the 70 K was take home. I'm lucky I have lived here a long time, since before most of the house value madness set it.

[South-Eye Ned 769]

According to Whiskey Hicks, psychologists say anything more than $70k won’t bring you more happiness.  I have some comments in that regard:

  - How many decades ago did they say that? (Time value of money; inflation or, Apparently, these psychologists don’t like to travel or have costly hobbies)

- What was the average salary of these psychologists?  (I’ll bet it was more than $70k)

- I don’t need a psychologist to tell me what makes me happy because all of them will get it wrong.

Edited December 24, 2020 by South-Eye Ned

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 3,332]

As a young man I worked in a bank. I was sometimes surrounded in cash, low demonation used bills, all neatly packaged 100 bills to a pack. I was impressed by the volume. But thoughts of my parents, my wife and daughters at home and I never considered taking any of it. I was never wealthy in $$$s, but I have always been wealthy in life.   

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 889]

26 minutes ago, Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 said:

As a young man I worked in a bank. I was sometimes surrounded in cash, low demonation used bills, all neatly packaged 100 bills to a pack. I was impressed by the volume. But thoughts of my parents, my wife and daughters at home and I never considered taking any of it. I was never wealthy in $$$s, but I have always been wealthy in life.   

 

I wouldn't take that either. But if I had a sloop in the Carribean, I'd gladly board a Spanish treasure galleon, subdue the crew, and take all of the doubloons and pieces of eight we could carry. I'd take the rubies and emeralds of the ladies, and invite any who were interested to join me as I sailed away.

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 3,332]

4 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

 

I wouldn't take that either. But if I had a sloop in the Carribean, I'd gladly board a Spanish treasure galleon, subdue the crew, and take all of the doubloons and pieces of eight we could carry. I'd take the rubies and emeralds of the ladies, and invite any who were interested to join me as I sailed away.

Don't forget the weapons. They probably are not registered and valuable.  

[Forty Rod SASS 3935 7,196]

Five and a half million?  Yeah.....with a fat hog and a garden I could get by.  

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736 446]

I've seen articles about what Whiskey Hicks referenced.  The dollar amount changes over time. But for most people the happiness level increased along with more money at a certain rate. But as you continued with more and more money the increase in happiness level flattened out once you got to the point where people didn't have to agonize over being able to pay their bills. The rate of increasing happiness slowed down at that point. I think for most people that would be accurate.

[Dantankerous 4,341]

 I am just happy when I can remember where I left my wallet. If there's anything in it, bonus!

[Major Crimes 2,303]

A home, enough healthy food and drink and someone I love to share it with is all the wealth I "need".

 

The rest is icing on the cake.

[Smoken D 2,061]

2 hours ago, Springfield Slim SASS #24733 said:

70,000 isn't going to get you very far in my part of California. An older 1600 sq ft house in a decent neighborhood can cost you 3,000/month to rent. That would be more than half your pay, and that's assuming the 70 K was take home. I'm lucky I have lived here a long time, since before most of the house value madness set it.

 

My home is for sale, $279,900 and is 3,188 sf, sits on a bluff over Truman Lake and surrounded by 750 Corps acres. Shows the difference between Ca. and Mo. And as a bonus I can step out back and start shooting.

[Texas Lizard 1,082]

You are only wealthy till someone finds you and wonders where the money is....Then you are broke and maybe in jail...Paying cash for everything opens many questions...

 

Texas Lizard

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 926]

Let this sink in:

 

A net worth of $93,170 U.S. is enough to make you richer than 90 percent of people around the world, Credit Suisse reports. The institute defines net worth, or “wealth,” as “the value of financial assets plus real assets (principally housing) owned by households, minus their debts.”

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 6,618]

57 minutes ago, Smoken D said:

 

My home is for sale, $279,900 and is 3,188 sf, sits on a bluff over Truman Lake and surrounded by 750 Corps acres. Shows the difference between Ca. and Mo. And as a bonus I can step out back and start shooting.

Where I live, in CA. you can shoot on your property. I hear shootin' most days. 

[Assassin 1,571]

Wealthy, I'd say owning your home outright and no debt. Everything is a bonus after that.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 889]

2 hours ago, Texas Lizard said:

You are only wealthy till someone finds you and wonders where the money is....Then you are broke and maybe in jail...Paying cash for everything opens many questions...

 

Texas Lizard

 

When I think of 'paying cash', I have in mind writing a check for the full amount, as opposed to financing the purchase. If I buy a car 'for cash', I don't mean handing over actual greenbacks.....