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Life lessons from the very wealthy

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#31

Post by DavidAdams »

gaius wrote: post #16
pacemkr wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be talking about different things. I read "golden handcuffs" as extending a line of credit to employees to support and _encourage_ living beyond their actual means. This is very very different from being pampered and spoiled as you describe.

A line of credit? Never heard of that. Golden handcuffs are generally in the form of deferred bonuses, vesting periods, etc.

This is much more common in finance and legal firms, where much of the upside accrues to partners in the firm, and the junior people work long hours for much more modest compensation. But they're loaned money in order to get a jump start on the lifestyle that their more senior colleagues enjoy, putting them in hock to the firm. If they were to leave to join a startup, for example, they'd have to pay it back in a lump sum.

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#32

Post by DavidAdams »

gmkoliver wrote: post #10

From what I've found with a quick search it seems like most held wealth is earned rather than inherited. Does anyone know if this is accurate, and what the typical 'pre-earnings' demographic background of the very wealthy is in the U.S.?

Here's something I read today in this month's Atlantic:

"Many of today’s super-rich started out in the middle and make most of their money through work, not inheritance. Ninety-five years ago, the richest 1 percent of Americans received only 20 percent of their income from paid work; in 2004, that income proportion had tripled, to 60 percent. "

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/07/the-14-b...

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#33

Post by krohrbaugh »

nl wrote: post #28

I'm not from the US, and so I only follow this from a distance, but: Taxes for the top 2 percent are very likely to go higher Is this actually true? Obama couldn't get support to rollback tax cuts on the rich - is he really going to be able to increase them now? I believe Republican policy is to cut taxes on the rich (?) In the United States, the very rich hold most of that wealth in dollars, which are worth increasi…

Yeah; I almost stopped reading the article because the introductory paragraphs (which you are citing) were rubbish.

Now is a great time to be rich in the US.

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#34

Post by wvanwazer »

andymoe wrote: post #26
wmat wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just clicked the Print link and went straight to the full article: http://goo.gl/E5FyA

Thanks, I know how to get around them but I just don't think I will bother anymore. There is so much information out there that is just as interesting and freely available.

There's no paywall at the Washington Post...

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#35

Post by georgefox »

nl wrote: post #28

I'm not from the US, and so I only follow this from a distance, but: Taxes for the top 2 percent are very likely to go higher Is this actually true? Obama couldn't get support to rollback tax cuts on the rich - is he really going to be able to increase them now? I believe Republican policy is to cut taxes on the rich (?) In the United States, the very rich hold most of that wealth in dollars, which are worth increasi…

Is this actually true? Obama couldn't get support to rollback tax cuts on the rich - is he really going to be able to increase them now? I believe Republican policy is to cut taxes on the rich (?)

Spot on. The Bush tax cuts have only temporarily been extended, and the Democrats have expressed interest in eventually eliminating them for the top bracket only. I assume this is what the article is referring to. We'll see if that actually happens anytime soon. The Republicans certainly aren't going to support it because, as you said, their positions generally involve further cutting income taxes, if anything. Here's a chart that compares a recent Republican proposal to the Bush tax cuts: http://www.offthechartsblog.org/pawlenty%E2%80%99s-high-end-...

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#37

Post by cheez »

krohrbaugh wrote: post #33
nl wrote: post #28

I'm not from the US, and so I only follow this from a distance, but: Taxes for the top 2 percent are very likely to go higher Is this actually true? Obama couldn't get support to rollback tax cuts on the rich - is he really going to be able to increase them now? I believe Republican policy is to cut taxes on the rich (?) In the United States, the very rich hold most of that wealth in dollars, which are worth increasi…

Yeah; I almost stopped reading the article because the introductory paragraphs (which you are citing) were rubbish. Now is a great time to be rich in the US.

Not to spoil your fun but it's always great to be rich.

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#39

Post by nl »

cheez wrote: post #37
krohrbaugh wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah; I almost stopped reading the article because the introductory paragraphs (which you are citing) were rubbish. Now is a great time to be rich in the US.

Not to spoil your fun but it's always great to be rich.

it's always great to be rich.

To be pedantic - the French and Russian (and many other) revolutions didn't work out great for the rich.

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#40

Post by WalterBright »

nl wrote: post #39
cheez wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to spoil your fun but it's always great to be rich.

it's always great to be rich. To be pedantic - the French and Russian (and many other) revolutions didn't work out great for the rich.

They didn't work out so well for the poor, either.
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