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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)

#811

Post by Tuperoir »

resource_waste wrote: post #440
sublinear wrote: post #400

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say "being rich" is not a personality or set of preferences. Lavish spending is still seen as pointlessly insecure by anyone on any budget. Many things are good enough for anyone. Relevant Andy Warhol quote: "Sometimes you fantasize that people who are really up there and rich and living it up have something you don’t have, that their things must be better than your things because…

>Lavish spending is still seen as pointlessly insecure by anyone on any budget. I seen and lived this until I got my wake up call. I was regular upper middle class, I would laugh at people who thought I was poor for having an Android because I could easily afford a $1000 iphone, I just didnt want it. Then I got into philosophy and inevitably Stoicism, where I found happiness within. Then I read too much philosophy an…

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

#812

Post by kridsdale3 »

Animats wrote: post #794
AStonesThrow wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What comes to mind here is Up In The Air starring George Clooney. Now Ryan Bingham doesn't command any particular status or wealth, but he makes a living firing people on behalf of other companies ("Concierge firing-as-a-service"?) and he leads a nomadic lifestyle that many of us would find completely intolerable. His one lifelong dream is to earn 10,000,000 Frequent Flyer miles and hold the special Unobtanium card f…

> this is his unique number and there is a specially-assigned staffer waiting by the phone to personally take his call. For small values of "personally". I once visited a rent-an-office place which had a live receptionist. She had a phone with about thirty line buttons. Each time she answered a different line, she gave a different company name.

Virtualization.

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

#813

Post by mdp2021 »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #645
caulkboots wrote: post #633

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only Miele you want is the vacuum cleaner.

The only vaccum cleaner you want is a central vac (Miele doesn't make these). Central Vac's are easily 4X as powerful for often the same price as the over priced Miele stuff.

Thanks for the info! Do you happen to have references?

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

#814

Post by steveBK123 »

gadders wrote: post #244
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,…

I think I heard a quote by Chris Williamson recently that the ideal level of fame is "Everyone knows your name, but no-one knows your face."

This is pretty accurate. I know a guy professionally worth probably $100M. His name occasionally turns up in industry rags, and even in more mainstream business news once or twice.

However no photos have ever appeared in the stories. The only photo I can find of him online is his LinkedIn photo.

Within the industry his name can open doors, but out in public no one would recognize him and he can live a normal (extraordinarily wealthy) life.

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

#815

Post by DSingularity »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #639
DSingularity wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about gaggenau?

I compared Miele, Thermador, gaggenau, and regular Bosch 800 fridge side-by-side in a appliance store. There is nothing on those higher end versions which make them worth anything close to the markup on the Bosch 800 fridge. If I'm going to spend almost 2X, you better give me at a minimum fully metal and glass construction (almost no plastic). I get slightly more metal and slightly (very slightly) stronger plastics.…

Thanks! The thing that made me consider them were some deep dives into their ovens and counter top cooking surfaces. Those actually do seem superior. Have you compared them?

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

#816

Post by toyg »

narrator wrote: post #796
toyg wrote: post #630

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a classic put-down (and a lie). English aristocracy really knows how to cut someone to size when they feel like.

Have you ever read "Remains of the Day?" Not sure how close to reality it is, but it's a fiction book about the servants culture of those who worked for British aristocracy in the mid-20th century. I can see how a true British aristocrat would only have servants enter the kitchen.

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

#817

Post by toyg »

myself248 wrote: post #800
narrator wrote: post #796

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever read "Remains of the Day?" Not sure how close to reality it is, but it's a fiction book about the servants culture of those who worked for British aristocracy in the mid-20th century. I can see how a true British aristocrat would only have servants enter the kitchen.

Furthermore, it would be an insult for them to do so. That would imply that the servants' performance had been so lacking as to require some sort of direct investigation or intervention. At least, that's how it was explained to me.

Even medieval lords had to survey their lands from time to time. Competent aristocrats would periodically survey their belongings, if anything to ascertain that the good stuff was still there.

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

#820

Post by RemainsOfTheDay »

toyg wrote: post #816
narrator wrote: post #796

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever read "Remains of the Day?" Not sure how close to reality it is, but it's a fiction book about the servants culture of those who worked for British aristocracy in the mid-20th century. I can see how a true British aristocrat would only have servants enter the kitchen.

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