Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

old.reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 829 posts

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#161

Post by BLKNSLVR »

This was the most demonstrative part for me:

PERSPECTIVE. The wealthiest person I have spent time with makes about $400mm/year. i couldn't get my mind around that until I did this: OK--let's compare it with someone who makes $40,000/year. It is 10,000x more. Now let's look at prices the way he might. A new Lambo--$235,000 becaome $23.50. First class ticket internationally? $10,000 becomes $1. A full time executive level helper? $8,000/month becomes $0.80/month. A $10mm piece of art you love? $1000. Expensive, so you have to plan a bit. A suite at the best hotel in NYC $10,000/night is $1/night. A $50million home in the Hamptons? $5,000.

My issue with this level of 'earning' is, it feels entirely like stealing from them would be justified since they're most obviously stealing a whole lot from the rest of the world.

What products can I buy that don't filter up some percentage into these billionaires bank accounts?

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#162

Post by bryanrasmussen »

dehrmann wrote: post #149
canucker2016 wrote: post #99

You were a fast collegiate-level runner, became a wealthy financial adviser, who now has three sons who are doing well in high school long distance running. What do you do? You convince one of your old running buddies, who now coaches elite runners, to coach your son. The son sets the national high school indoor record for the 800m. Son decides to go pro after graduating high school. Then Covid19 hits. Access to outd…

Is there any scenario where a pro runner can gross $4M in lifetime running earnings?

I'm sure taking the bronze or silver in the Olympics is a great talking point for a future as a lawyer or financial analyst, so the backup plan is in place.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#163

Post by viraptor »

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #85
HardCodedBias wrote: post #5

I really like this post since it shows how very little there is for the wealthy to buy other than status goods. The life of the rich, other than status, is very much like the life of upper middle class. The same phones, the same digital entertainment, the same appliances in their homes. We have very few items for the rich to buy. Honestly, it is a problem it breaks incentives and it drives the rich more towards statu…

The incentives for the ultra-rich are screwed up. I remember a few years ago Mark Zuckerberg announced that he was donating 99% to charity. The internet got very angry about it, based on flimsy reasoning: https://qz.com/564805/5-criticisms-of-billionaire-mega-phila... Bill Gates has saved millions of lives through his philanthropy, and the internet is full of malicious rumors about him. Other billionaires who do far…

> Bill Gates has saved millions of lives through his philanthropy, and the internet is full of malicious rumors about him.

But that's not related to his philanthropy mostly. There's evil business stuff he actually did and there are some conspiracy freaks. Those would exist anyway. But I've never seen a significant number of people with criticisms because of the programs he enables.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#164

Post by ludicrousdispla »

florbnit wrote: post #135

It’s funny how emotional responses questions like this become on part of the people answering everything but the question. If some one asks in a sports forum what the best exercises are that pro tennis players do that novices don’t know about you wouldn’t expect the majority of answers being in the line of “Tennis players never experience true love! If all you have is tennis you’ll be depressed!”

For many tennis players, love means nothing.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#165

Post by lotsofpulp »

HardCodedBias wrote: post #90
lwo32k wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> which help no one since they are zero sum Signalling Status plays a big role in group formation/group maintenance/social cohesion etc. The larger groups grow, the more complex the group dynamics get, keeping groups of people together and preventing them from disintegrating is one of the most complex problem we face, given all the differences in culture, religion, language, class, personalities, ambitions, values, n…

Not to be trite, but signaling status is only complicated due to animals/humans making it complex. These are games and they are zero sum games. We should strive to remove ourselves from these games as much as possible and not to lean into them as LVMH would like. Rejecting such superficial signaling only enhances one's life, IMO.

There are only 24 hours in a day. Signaling (or looking for others' signaling) is inevitable if one wants to curate their interactions. There are uncountable types of signaling, other than the LVMH style.

Not sure how any individual or society could function otherwise, due to the limits physics places upon us.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#166

Post by cess11 »

drewcoo wrote: post #81
rglullis wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A very rich person has a full-time housekeeper. So does any middle class family living in a developing country with high economic inequality.

And it would be heartless not to. Those housekeepers need jobs and incomes.

Are all jobs and incomes alike?

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#167

Post by lm28469 »

HardCodedBias wrote: post #5

I really like this post since it shows how very little there is for the wealthy to buy other than status goods. The life of the rich, other than status, is very much like the life of upper middle class. The same phones, the same digital entertainment, the same appliances in their homes. We have very few items for the rich to buy. Honestly, it is a problem it breaks incentives and it drives the rich more towards statu…

Buying "things" really is the level 0 of wealth. What matters is that you don't have to sell your time for money, that alone changes your entire existence. Then you have access to better healthcare, education, seeing your kids grow, &c.

That's why a lot of poor people who unlock large amount of money go broke quite fast, they still think like poor people

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#168

Post by AndyKelley »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #161

This was the most demonstrative part for me: PERSPECTIVE. The wealthiest person I have spent time with makes about $400mm/year. i couldn't get my mind around that until I did this: OK--let's compare it with someone who makes $40,000/year. It is 10,000x more. Now let's look at prices the way he might. A new Lambo--$235,000 becaome $23.50. First class ticket internationally? $10,000 becomes $1. A full time executive le…

Products that are produced by employee-owned, co-ops, or non profit businesses. Even then, however, those organizations will have operating expenses - for instance renting a building. The only meaningful way to get the money circulating back through the economy is taxation. Or, if that doesn't happen enough and the disparity becomes too great, war and/or collapse of society will chaotically and capriciously redistribute wealth, restarting the cycle. The French Revolution comes to mind.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#169

Post by m463 »

florbnit wrote: post #135

It’s funny how emotional responses questions like this become on part of the people answering everything but the question. If some one asks in a sports forum what the best exercises are that pro tennis players do that novices don’t know about you wouldn’t expect the majority of answers being in the line of “Tennis players never experience true love! If all you have is tennis you’ll be depressed!”

Sometimes the question is really asking something else.

In this case, it might seem to be "what trick can I use that ultra-wealthy use?" or "how can I be prosperous on a budnget" but it really is "what is it like to be rich?"

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#170

Post by normie3000 »

mauvehaus wrote: post #103
drewcoo wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it would be heartless not to. Those housekeepers need jobs and incomes.

Perhaps not exactly comparable, but I went to a talk at wlog REI from some relatively ordinary person who climbed some famous, but accessible peak (Kilimanjaro?). I asked about the practice of hiring local porters, and got basically this answer. The local economy pretty much depends on the influx of foreign money from the people climbing. A fit person would be physically capable of carrying their full load, but it si…

On Kilimanjaro you must employ a guide, a cook for the guide, and a porter to carry the gear of the cook and the guide. You are welcome to carry your own gear but at this point you've already got a support team of 3 people and are paying $1500+. An extra porter is probably around $100.
Post reply on HN