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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)

#801

Post by kridsdale3 »

Damogran6 wrote: post #512
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…

In covid had a whirlpool dishwasher that lasted less than 3 years (4 subsystems failing all at the same time)...it was either wait 2-X months for the Miele we wanted, or pay twice as much to have it today. ($2k vs $1k) I'm uncomfortably enamored with this dishwasher. (Bought it over a Bosch as the percentage needing repair in the first year was 8% instead of 12% and I was flat done with it.) The dishwasher is fully e…

I think we have the same one.

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

#802

Post by anon-3988 »

Suppafly wrote: post #757
anon-3988 wrote: post #564

I would love to say that I would not do any of these superficial things but I have clearly raised my standards of living after earning good wages. Thankfully its not "linear", I think. But I think I am self conscious enough that I am always asking if I should really be doing or buying stuff that I can perfectly afford. Do I really need that new phone? I have a perfectly serviceable phone, what do I really get from th…

>Do I really need that new phone? I have a perfectly serviceable phone, what do I really get from these stuff that is totally within my mean. I always wonder how rich I'd need to be to just buy a new phone. I always get the step down models and use them for years, only upgrading when they stop working well or I get forced to upgrade when they change network technologies. I could afford to buy any phone I wanted right…

Well, my phone just randomly died the other day. Now it works again. The charging port is also getting less reliable (have to push in a certain way).

Is this useable phone? Yea. How much more annoying should it get before I could justifiably get a new phone?

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

#803

Post by blharr »

refurb wrote: post #789
blharr wrote: post #666

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a complete non-sequitur. A wealth cap of, say, a billion dollars would have none of the same implications

It’s not a non-sequitor. The comment I replied to referenced a “wealth cap” and “redistribution” so “everyone could have a comfortable life”. My point is that take to an extreme of equal redistribution to everyone, people would end up in a barely comfortable position.

Your point is that too much of something to an extreme is bad. That's true of everything. What's the point?

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

#804

Post by JohnBooty »

47282847 wrote: post #243
JohnBooty wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I think this is something that people in countries like the US don't instinctively understand, or at least I didn't. My Filipino friend explained to me that back home, if you have more than a certain amount of money, it's seen as incredibly selfish not to employ people as housekeepers, etc. I'd imagine that's true in a lot of places with income disparity and/or high unemployment numbers. It made a lot of sense t…

I understand where this is coming from but that argument simply doesn’t make sense. There are many ways to give back to society; providing low-status jobs is only one of them. And a poor one, because it locks people in that status and heteronomy. Within 10 minutes, anyone can come up with some ideas that would contribute to other people’s development and growth in a more sustainable fashion. It serves other purposes.…

    There are many ways to give back to society
Right, but ultimately what (nearly all) people want is frigging jobs. Or to be even more specific: steady, dependable income.

    because it locks people in that status and heteronomy
Yeah there's so many incorrect assumptions here.

I can tell you that here in the US, my somewhat upper middle class aunt used to clean homes part time. Husband was an engineer, she was a housewife, kids were away at school. Not the type of person with hobbies and such. Was a bit bored.

Not sure of the specifics but I think she pulled in a couple of grand a month cleaning. Pretty handy when you're putting two kids through college. Or so I thought. Thanks to you, today I learned it was all "a lie." ((giant eye roll))

It's not an uncommon side gig for bored suburban housewives. There are a few women in my middle class town that do it.

I don't think full time housekeeping, which seems more common in other countries, necessarily locks anybody into anything. Anecdotally I think it's a fairly common thing to do when getting an education. I also don't know that it's always low-paid, either, especially if it includes nanny duties etc.

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

#805

Post by fakedang »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #636
fakedang wrote: post #589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://franksboots.com/ Are you these guys? One techbro recommended these to me and my cofounder and I've never looked back. Your boots are going places, literally! Edit:- Changed link to direct.

Any objective comparisons to Whites, Nicks, Thursday boots?

Purely anecdotal, but I know friends have used Nicks without issue. The basic advice I got was to buy jackets and leatherware from places in Washington and Oregon.

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

#806

Post by tweetle_beetle »

Eavolution wrote: post #769
faster wrote: post #584

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought Levi's 501s at a farm supply store in the 80s, $12 on sale. About 10 years ago I gave away my two remaining pairs. They were a little thinner but still intact, no holes anywhere. Modern 501s are made of much thinner fabric; I'd be surprised if they would last 5 years. Looks like the sale price is $45 now, which seems comparable.

I bought a pair of 501s recently and they barely lasted 6 months. I do a fair bit of cycling which seemed to very quickly wear through them. I'm really not sure what to buy if I want things that last a long time now.

Levis are fashion products, not workwear. But even if they were, if you want things to last a long time then buy things made for a specific purpose. Denim products made by cycling brands are a rarity for a reason.

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

#807

Post by madaxe_again »

chairmansteve wrote: post #793
madaxe_again wrote: post #596

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I understand statistics and survivorship bias - I’m a mathematical physicist by training. I’m also a pretty average schlub. Most people aren’t wealthy because they don’t even try, and instead run on a treadmill until they drop dead. I have no interest in going to work on Wall Street or anything similar. My entire investing philosophy is basically based on this site. There is constant signal here on what will be…

What lemons did you bet on?

Stuff I didn’t understand, in short - biotech, mostly. I can’t even remember their names, which kinda underscores why they were bad bets. Fortunately small stakes, and at least they’re a tax write-off against some of the gains.

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

#808

Post by subpixel »

marcuskane2 wrote: post #703
bane wrote: post #488

Grew up poor, made it a little in life - could maybe retire now. The things I and the people I grew up with don't know how to do at all can be shocking. People who grew up similarly and ended up in middle class seem to be similar unless they put real time into it: - how to buy stocks, what ETFs are, what a 401(k) is, etc. - hiring people to clean your house, do yard work, etc. - traveling out of the country, or in ma…

> how to buy stocks, what ETFs are, what a 401(k) is, etc. I've seen this before, and I remain incredulous. We learned about stocks in 4th grade and did a mock exercise picking stocks and tracking their performance over a few weeks. We did calculations on mortgage interest and investment returns in middle school math class. Every news source has a finance section and talks about stocks regularly. There are advertisem…

I grew up upper middle-class and graduated from the ivy league. I will not list out how antithetical my own experience is to yours, but I promise you your financial education was highly abnormal.

I'd wager walking down Main Street USA and asking people in their 30s and 40s what stocks they own and what an ETF is would be get you a lot of blank stares.

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

#809

Post by mellosouls »

albedoa wrote: post #515
mellosouls wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you have a couple of good examples in your comment and I understand you would have liked more along those lines, but: The referenced reply is dull. It's very pretentious but just reiterates common knowledge, it doesn't convey any useful information. I disagree strongly - its not a multiple-gold answer that is now being linked to years later for no reason. I read it years ago and have always remembered it - on…

This is fascinating to me and I'm sure many people who read your comment. What did you learn from the reddit comment that you didn't know before reading it ten years ago? Why has it stuck with you?

I particularly remembered the gradations, but not the details. I remembered enjoying reading it and that it has insights into fantastic worlds and have revisited it at times, like I did here.

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

#810

Post by Suppafly »

anon-3988 wrote: post #802
Suppafly wrote: post #757

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Do I really need that new phone? I have a perfectly serviceable phone, what do I really get from these stuff that is totally within my mean. I always wonder how rich I'd need to be to just buy a new phone. I always get the step down models and use them for years, only upgrading when they stop working well or I get forced to upgrade when they change network technologies. I could afford to buy any phone I wanted right…

Well, my phone just randomly died the other day. Now it works again. The charging port is also getting less reliable (have to push in a certain way). Is this useable phone? Yea. How much more annoying should it get before I could justifiably get a new phone?

yeah that's about the point that I consider it broken enough to get a newer one. except I'd probably deal with the wonky charging for a month until it got to the point I couldn't wiggle the cable enough to make it work and it finally stopped altogether.
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