It's simple. Make $100K, live near people making $90K = rich. Make $100K, live near people making $110K = poor.
or:
make $100k, spend $85k = happiness
make $100k, spend $101k = misery
Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
21–30 of 190 posts
Re: Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
#22It's simple. Make $100K, live near people making $90K = rich. Make $100K, live near people making $110K = poor.
It's not that simple. It's more like
Make $100K, meet basic expectations for standard of living with $20K to spare = feel comfortably well-off
Make $100K, do not meet basic standard of living expectations = feels poor.
Have enough money to blow a few million investing in startups just for the learning experience = rich.
The catch is that living near people making more is likely to raise your standard of living expectations (but does not have to). Also, the cost of a particular standard of living is determined (roughly) by the market rather than its worth to you. For example living in Cambridge, MA costs more than living in Hudson, MA, whether you actually value that or not.
Re: Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
#23Excellent article. Thank you for sharing.
Re: Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
#24Perhaps it's because the definition of "rich" that they would need to feel is one where they'd never have to work again if they didn't want to. The article points out an annual income of $172,000 as being rich, but by implication, these people still have to work for their money. Therefore probably don't feel "rich" If they could maintain that income or even half that income in perpetuity without working. If they coul…
"The article points out an annual income of $172,000 as being rich, but by implication, these people still have to work for their money." I think the real issue is that someone making 300,000 probably doesn't have much more disposable income than someone making 80,000. Whatever extra money they have is likely just going to a slightly nicer house, their IRA, dental insurance, a slightly better preschool for their kids…
You make a good point, I would just substitute "choose not to" for "probably can't." The person chose that nicer house and an expensive lifestyle. As a counterpoint, I went to Virginia Beach for a week on a whim at a time when I had no real income to speak of.
Re: Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
#25This is just a tangent, but I wonder whether Robert Gibbs really quit at least partly because his salary was too low. (That’s what Obama’s remark about his departure seems to suggest.) I don’t think you become Press Secretary of the White House because of the salary, you become Press Secretary because you are passionate about it. (For all you cynics out there: replace “passionate about it” with “power hungry”.) You c…
That's simply a cover. No way he quit because of a salary issue. On top of that, no way he would have felt ashamed or poor at a cocktail party. I mean, he is directly speaking to the POTUS - likely daily. Many very rich people don't even have that luxury.
Re: Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
#26Perhaps it's because the definition of "rich" that they would need to feel is one where they'd never have to work again if they didn't want to. The article points out an annual income of $172,000 as being rich, but by implication, these people still have to work for their money. Therefore probably don't feel "rich" If they could maintain that income or even half that income in perpetuity without working. If they coul…
I think what people are really searching for is satisfaction. If they define satisfaction as being top 5% in wealth, then they'll probably have a long road to satisfaction. As for me, and I suspect others here, I'm satisfied when creating value. Dollars made is just a fallible measure of how much value has been created.
Anyone who defines satisfaction that way is fooling themselves; probably in more ways than one.
Re: Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
#27My adult life began with several years at a non-profit making $18k/yr. I've worked to avoid dramatic changes to my standard of living since then and it's helped me put money in the bank regardless of where I fell on the income scale. I also find that I need to "reset" my spending every 6 months or so, because it's trivially easy to start spending more than you realize, for no practical gain.
Sometimes I get jealous of people at work who seem to have nicer things. Then a few days later they start to complain about not having money, and I'm reminded that I don't really need a TV, much less a 52-inch what-have-you. Nor do I need to replace my nearly 20 year old car with something newer just because I can. Or more realistically: I don't need to get a new car because someone else I know bought a Z3.
Re: Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
#28The reality of this phenomenon is that people who have done everything "perfectly" in their life and academic career feel a bit cheated when their income tops out in between 100k and 200k. They might be senior engineers or doctors or lawyers but they've hit this brick wall as far as income, sometimes in their 30s and yet there are all these people out there that make more than 10x or even 100x their annual income.
Now there are four ways that I am aware of to make more than about 200k/year.
1. Be an investor/entrepreneur in your own company.
2. Have stock in a company that IPOs or get bought.
3. Work in high finance at a well performing hedge fund or a maor wall street firm.
4. Be a senior partner in a major law firm or an experienced surgeon in an in-demand specialty. Though you'll still top out at about 500k, at least according to glassdoor.com.
Did I miss any?
Re: Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
#29Every time I read an article like this, I think of all the people I know who are well off, yet appear to be miserable. Then I want to share with them this old wisdom from "The Ethics of the Fathers": "Who is wise? One who learns from every man." "Who is strong? One who overpowers his inclinations." "Who is honorable? One who honors his fellows." "Who is rich? One who is satisfied with his lot."
This reminds me of an HN comment from a few months ago. It was something like... "Need more money can usually be replaced with need less stuff"
Edit: I found the comment: 'I bet that 9 times out of 10, "I need more money" should really be rephrased as "I need less stuff"'. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2025234
Re: Why So Many Rich People Don’t Feel Very Rich
#30It's simple. Make $100K, live near people making $90K = rich. Make $100K, live near people making $110K = poor.
It's not that simple. It's more like Make $100K, meet basic expectations for standard of living with $20K to spare = feel comfortably well-off Make $100K, do not meet basic standard of living expectations = feels poor. Have enough money to blow a few million investing in startups just for the learning experience = rich. The catch is that living near people making more is likely to raise your standard of living expect…
I argue that living in Cambridge indicates that you value living in Cambridge, or at least moreso than you would living in Hudson, give or take the cost of moving.