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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)

#491

Post by bluGill »

lm28469 wrote: post #376
rwmj wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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> £100k/year Well first off £100 != $100 != €100 Sorry but you're completely delusional if you think literally "anyone on a programmer's salary" can make 1 million in 10 years. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm not saying you didn't do it, I'm just saying it's not "accessible", nor the norm, nor representative of the vast majority of devs. https://www.levels.fyi/heatmap/europe/ The median software engineer salary…

Salaries in Europe are much worse than in the US. (I'm told for the best India pays better than Europe - though India is skewed by a lot of bad coders not making much). In US just maxing out your 401k for 15-20 years will do it (depending on your company match), and you still have far more than the average income left over. So if you live like the average person and save that difference as well 10 years seems doable.

That said I'm not sure I'd recommend it. It can pay off for some, but the future is unknown. I've been to funerals for several people who didn't live to 65. Your body starts declining as you get older so a lot of active things really need to be done young if you do them at all. Maxing a 401k seems like a good plan and then spend the rest today - you should still have a nice retirement if you live that long, but you can enjoy life now.

If you don't like the above, religion offers an afterlife if you choose the right one. However they agree choosing the wrong one won't... Good luck choosing.

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

#493

Post by madaxe_again »

mykowebhn wrote: post #250
madaxe_again wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time is indeed a very major thing, but it’s more accessible than most realise - I am only marginally wealthy, high 7/low 8 figures, and that’s ample for me to not need to work for a living and live very comfortably. Frankly, once you have even $1M in free liquid capital, you are in the endgame, as money makes money far more efficiently than labour. I spend perhaps 20 hours a year farting around with our finances, pla…

I agree with this so much. I'm not your level wealthy, but I don't work, live comfortably, and I'm happy. I prefer not to eat at expensive restaurants, but I enjoy restaurants that serve good food. I don't really want to fly to an expensive city and spend lots of money. I'd rather spend time in nature, hike, try to ID plants, and spend time with my wife and our animals.

Yeah, that’s pretty much our schtick too - we live off grid in the boondocks of Portugal, and our idea of a holiday is to go spend a month hiking somewhere or other. Spend my days hauling gravel and digging pits. It’s good.

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

#494

Post by mathverse »

snowwrestler wrote: post #459
mathverse wrote: post #319

I find the most interesting bracket the 5-8M one where almost anything highend / luxury becomes a commodity.

You think that happens at wealth = $5 million? One high-end luxury house costs more than that.

I am thinking liquid not net worth.

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

#495

Post by fragmede »

throwanem wrote: post #401
TacticalCoder wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was invited for coffee at a friend's friend. He seemed a pretty regular guy, very friendly: kids playing in the pool. Nothing out of the ordinary except as many house employees as adult guests (and house employees where calling guests by their name). I happened to know the artist Jeff Koons: not a big fan of the "inflated balloon dogs" but I do like his ballerinas. Well... Turns out the dude had one house destroyed…

> But yup: buying x times the exact same car when times comes to change cars is kinda just weird. Is it? I'm on my second iPhone 13 mini, this one being the replacement after the first died of a drop. There are two more stored in the attic, each preconfigured with the accessories I like and with a SIM from my provider in the box. So if anything happens to this phone, as soon as I get home I just break out #3, restore…

> Scale the dollar amount up a few orders of magnitude

But that's what makes it "weird". Most people can't afford to do that. As you point out, it mashed a certain amount of sense, but we're in the midst of an housing crisis. People who have enough money to own, not just multiple houses, but so many cars that they got tired of different cars so they just bought more of the same? Weird because I've never done that.

How many iphone 13 minis have you used concurrently, and in how many different locations did you own them? Byb your own admission, you only use one at a time.

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

#496

Post by DSingularity »

Loic wrote: post #426
em500 wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For example I wish someone told me about the existence of Miele kitchen equipment before I accidentally rented an apartment of a well-to-do woman. Don't believe the hype. I got an apartment full with Miele kitchen equipment (from the previous owner, but less than 10 years old). They're nothing special, and I got a lot more random errors on the oven ("please contact service", tried that once, they were as clueless a…

We are all Miele at home and for the next renewal, I will go to Bosch/Siemens. Too many small failures here and there (less than 8 year old). I was sincerely surprised because 20 years ago, Miele was the gold standard (at least in Germany). So, I agree with you.

What about gaggenau?

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

#497

Post by bluGill »

baal80spam wrote: post #420
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.

Wait, you can't be serious.

One of my coworkers - a senior engineer - came to the US from India and found it a big change - sure he knew how to cook, but he didn't realize he would have to cook every meal. He has two house keepers before who would come in the morning make breakfast, and clean the house. They would then leave for the afternoon and return to make supper and minor tidying up. He really only had enough work for 1 house keeper but having 2 meant if one was sick or quit he had time to find a second. Since he was paying them less than $1/day each the total cost was very reasonable.

Who know if or how long the above will continue, but it is still possible in many countries if you can get a job there.

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

#498

Post by myself248 »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #449
JKCalhoun wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, post the company name — because I'm picturing instead a company posing was a company for the rich and famous. Do we remember The Sharper Image catalog?

There was one that totally had that look. Ugh. I should have made notes of the names. It was a very Sharper Image-looking catalog, filled with wildly eclectic products. It was replete with statements about everything being top-of-the-line, satisfaction guaranteed, and lifetime warranties.

I miss DAK.

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

#499

Post by lm28469 »

madaxe_again wrote: post #424
lm28469 wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> £100k/year Well first off £100 != $100 != €100 Sorry but you're completely delusional if you think literally "anyone on a programmer's salary" can make 1 million in 10 years. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm not saying you didn't do it, I'm just saying it's not "accessible", nor the norm, nor representative of the vast majority of devs. https://www.levels.fyi/heatmap/europe/ The median software engineer salary…

8% is an awful return in today’s markets. 30% is eminently achievable with foresight and an appetite for risk. I started investing a decade ago with about £100k, as that was all I could afford to risk, and have a return of between 20% and 200% year to year. Shit, you’ll get 15-20% cash-on-cash just running an Airbnb, which is what provides our day-to-day living income.

Cool, do you know about statistics and survivor bias ? If it was that easy why isn't everyone a millionaire ? Why doesn't everyone make 20-200% per year ?

If you can guarantee 20-200% of return per year consistently over 10-20 years go to wall street they'll pay you millionS per year to work for them

There is a big gap between "I'm in the top 1% earners and lucked out in the market" and "Literally every software engineer can make 1m in 10 years".

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

#500

Post by FreebasingLLMs »

myself248 wrote: post #487
alexey-salmin wrote: post #176

The referenced reply is dull. It's very pretentious but just reiterates common knowledge, it doesn't convey any useful information. For example I wish someone told me about the existence of Miele kitchen equipment before I accidentally rented an apartment of a well-to-do woman. She renovated it for herself but then rented out when circumstances changed. Similarly it took me a long time to realize just how much better…

My mom worked at a law firm where one of the partners retired, moved to England, and bought a castle. As one does. He told this story while back in the States for a party: Castles are old. And drafty. And need a LOT of renovations to bring them up to a modern standard. So he had immediately set upon this work, hiring contractors, picking out high-end appliances, arranging for the import of Italian marble countertops.…

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