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

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

#141

Post by andrewrn »

candiddevmike wrote: post #9
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…

Yet people still hate the thought of a "maximum wage" or limit to wealth. Everyone should have a life of comfort, not just those who won the lottery or were born into it.

The problem with a maximum wage is deciding what that maximum is. Outsides returns are what incentivize people to start companies. A earning cap will cap that incentive accordingly.

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

#142

Post by femto »

> Money can solve all problems for someone, so you offer it, because there is so much else to do.

Anthony Pratt is worth a few billion dollars and acknowledges the above with his quote "being rich is my superpower".

[1] https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/being-rich-is-my-...

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

#143

Post by bombcar »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #64
sarchertech wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stayed at the 4 seasons a few years ago just to give it a try. Not even remotely worth it. The only real difference I noticed was the obsequiousness of the staff. If you want hotel employees to kiss your ass and pretend to respect you, then this is the place for you. But the quality of the room wasn’t noticeably better than other places I’ve stayed. I will give you a good example of something that most upper middle…

> the quality of the room wasn’t noticeably better than other places I’ve stayed I broadly agree with you on their hotels. But I’d note that Four Seasons doesn’t compete on room quality, but service. If you planned your stay perfectly they shouldn’t outperform. But if you forgot something, or need help with something weird, they have a habit of being halfway legendary. (Colleague left his suit at home. They had one m…

This is exactly it. The middle class (even upper) aren’t really used to the “mention something, get it fixed” type of lifestyle. But that’s what you’re paying for.

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

#145

Post by ericrosedev »

Balgair wrote: post #83
azlev wrote: post #15

With billions, can I be Batman?

I'm going to honestly answer here. No, because Batman isn't a real person with real constraints. Sure, I mean, if you have a $1B, then you get to have a lab with gadget people making cool shit and you can buy a fighter jet and a personal submarine and you have the detective agency too. But you don't get the rogues gallery of super villains. You don't get new knees every week. You don't get to save your local city, be…

I find GiveWells approach the most satisfying when I ask myself “how can I make my charity go the furthest”. https://www.givewell.org/ I also highly recommend Famine, Affluence, and Morality by Peter Singer, it’s a perspective changing book. Also, great comment!

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

#147

Post by bombcar »

steveBK123 wrote: post #41

Having worked at a few 100~1000 person companies run by billionaires, this tracks. Most of the difference in lifestyle is the quantity and quality of housing they can afford, and having people to take care of problems for them. But they ALL universally have messed up personal lives with multiple messy divorces, embarrassing affairs, NYPost Page Six appearances, etc. The one thing you'd think it gives them is freedom,…

Those who know how to handle wealth never become billionaires because once they have a few million they retire and do what they want to do.

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

#148

Post by kamaal »

steveBK123 wrote: post #41

Having worked at a few 100~1000 person companies run by billionaires, this tracks. Most of the difference in lifestyle is the quantity and quality of housing they can afford, and having people to take care of problems for them. But they ALL universally have messed up personal lives with multiple messy divorces, embarrassing affairs, NYPost Page Six appearances, etc. The one thing you'd think it gives them is freedom,…

>>The one thing you'd think it gives them is freedom, but they all pretty much end up working til they die so I don't know.

I was having this conversation about this colleague a few weeks back about another colleague we knew who made it big working at a start up. You would expect he has lots of free time and mental space at hand to do whatever he wants, instead it turns out he has to now worry about managing that money.

And its not exactly a easy job. Managing big money can be hard as any loss even a small percentage is a lot of money. And that begins to weigh heavily on you in form of stress as there is a lots at stake.

>>Like the Bill Murray quote about people who want to be rich & famous should try just being rich first.

Absolutely there is big difference between 'comfortably rich' and 'having to worry day and night for your money'. You would expect more of a thing make things awesome as you go, but as it turns out there is a counterintuitive aspect to this.

Plus announcing your success to friends and family can bring unexpected complications. People begin to think you owe them things, and they are entitled to it. And saying no can be quite tricky, and make you look evil.

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

#149

Post by dehrmann »

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?

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

#150

Post by lazide »

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?

Maybe, but this is one of those ‘if you need to ask, you can’t afford it’ type scenarios.
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