Do you downplay your wealth? A social discussion NOT a money discussion...

[Anonymous]

I cant see not replacing my garbage disposalsnd driving a 30 year old car so that I can leave $15 million behind. No. I can enjoy life -- and a get a NEW GARBAGE DISPOSAL -- and leave $10 million behind and those folks who didnt work for a dime of it should still be damned grateful for it after I am gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The older generation knows how to be rich and act poor: my parents (in their 70s) are worth at least 15M+ and literally wear sneakers from Costco until they have holes in them. They drive cars until they are well over 15-18 years old. They cut coupons. They eat at Applebee's, if they eat out at all. They clean their own house, mow their own lawn, and basically refuse to pay for a single service or convenience.

They are also well-educated and when they were in their 40s and making 7 figures they were more flashy, but they grew up working class and in their old age they've found that's what makes them happy. They are also really paranoid about spending money and so they hoard.

THAT is hiding your wealth.

NO No... THAT is being cheap..

Agree. I am cheap. I was always cheap and I will continue being cheap.

Do you truly know rich friends driving cars made in 1999? That's astonishing to me.

If one can call themselves a friend, I do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The older generation knows how to be rich and act poor: my parents (in their 70s) are worth at least 15M+ and literally wear sneakers from Costco until they have holes in them. They drive cars until they are well over 15-18 years old. They cut coupons. They eat at Applebee's, if they eat out at all. They clean their own house, mow their own lawn, and basically refuse to pay for a single service or convenience.

They are also well-educated and when they were in their 40s and making 7 figures they were more flashy, but they grew up working class and in their old age they've found that's what makes them happy. They are also really paranoid about spending money and so they hoard.

THAT is hiding your wealth.

NO No... THAT is being cheap..

Agree. I am cheap. I was always cheap and I will continue being cheap.

Do you truly know rich friends driving cars made in 1999? That's astonishing to me.

If one can call themselves a friend, I do.

Honestly, if your parents were making 7 figure incomes 30 years ago, and they live really frugally, they should be worth WAY more than $15M by now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The older generation knows how to be rich and act poor: my parents (in their 70s) are worth at least 15M+ and literally wear sneakers from Costco until they have holes in them. They drive cars until they are well over 15-18 years old. They cut coupons. They eat at Applebee's, if they eat out at all. They clean their own house, mow their own lawn, and basically refuse to pay for a single service or convenience.

They are also well-educated and when they were in their 40s and making 7 figures they were more flashy, but they grew up working class and in their old age they've found that's what makes them happy. They are also really paranoid about spending money and so they hoard.

THAT is hiding your wealth.

NO No... THAT is being cheap..

Agree. I am cheap. I was always cheap and I will continue being cheap.

Do you truly know rich friends driving cars made in 1999? That's astonishing to me.

If one can call themselves a friend, I do.

Honestly, if your parents were making 7 figure incomes 30 years ago, and they live really frugally, they should be worth WAY more than $15M by now.

Not if they made bad investments.

[Anonymous]

We definitely downplay our wealth - we live a nice lifestyle and have nice cars but not extravagant ones. We have nice things but not super high end things like LV bags. Someone mentioned hiding the patagonia or northface labels- I don't think those would be a display of wealth- most middle class people have those labels.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure I'm one of only two people in my school (I'm a teacher) with a paid off house, and at least 50 people work there, many with advanced degrees, and some with decades in the district. The only other person who has paid theirs off is early 60s and will be retiring soon. They paid theirs off this month.

I'm early 30s and we paid it off in our 20s.

[Anonymous]

A home with no mortgage isn't the only sign of wealth. It could be a sign...or it could be that you're middle class and that's where you put your savings or it could be that you got a one time chunk of money and used it for that or it could be that you were gifted money to pay it off or it could be that your mother in law, who lives with you, put her money into it.

There are a lot of reasons a mortgage may or may not be paid off and whether it is or isn't necessarily going to tell you if someone is wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A home with no mortgage isn't the only sign of wealth. It could be a sign...or it could be that you're middle class and that's where you put your savings or it could be that you got a one time chunk of money and used it for that or it could be that you were gifted money to pay it off or it could be that your mother in law, who lives with you, put her money into it.

There are a lot of reasons a mortgage may or may not be paid off and whether it is or isn't necessarily going to tell you if someone is wealthy.

Who said it was?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure I'm one of only two people in my school (I'm a teacher) with a paid off house, and at least 50 people work there, many with advanced degrees, and some with decades in the district. The only other person who has paid theirs off is early 60s and will be retiring soon. They paid theirs off this month.

I'm early 30s and we paid it off in our 20s.

Okay, but you recognize that this is extremely rare, right? In my 20's I was into putting more into my house due to security desires, by my 30's I realized how much more my investments were making than I was paying in mortgage interest so I happily pay my mortgage and watch my investments grow.

[Anonymous]

No, this is stupid, but we are not big spenders on things because our priorities are retirement, kids college, and travel.

We live in the same home we bought years ago for 475k (our
annual income is higher than that) that is paid off. I still drive my 2007 minivan, my DH is 2012 SUV, our home is not updated because our kids beat everything up, and we mow our own lawn. However we've been on 2 safari trips, hiked Maccu Picu, went all around Turkey, Jordan, and Egypt (yuck!), and took an Incredible trip to South Korea to name a few. This travel cost on an annual basis as much on a yearly basis as a mortgage on a 1M house and Id MUCH rather my very basic life in Northern Virginia in order to fund my love for travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure I'm one of only two people in my school (I'm a teacher) with a paid off house, and at least 50 people work there, many with advanced degrees, and some with decades in the district. The only other person who has paid theirs off is early 60s and will be retiring soon. They paid theirs off this month.

I'm early 30s and we paid it off in our 20s.

I paid off mine in my 20's, but we didn't tell anyone. WHO ON EARTH Discusses their finances/ mortgage with co workers. So tacky.
Maybe your other coworkers just don't want you to know their private info.

[Anonymous]

We have worked hard and consider ourselves to be wealthy - both in late 40s. We are frugal but to a point where we are not wasteful. We live and eat well fully aware that life is a temporary game, a journey. We go to great lenghts to downplay our wealth but those that really want to know im sure have discovered it. Since we have acquired 100% of our means (no inheritances or financial support from family) we understand the the struggles with those who are in various struggles with everyday life. We certainly cannot flaunt our good fortune. My mother used to tell me the more fruit a tree bears, the lower it falls to the earth.

[Anonymous]

It just sounds so exhausting to go to "great lengths"for to downplay a truth. Give your money away if it offends you so much that you try to pretend you don't have it. The most loathesome type of hoarding is earning a lot, pretending to be different than you are, and keeping your money out of the economy where it could help other.

[Anonymous]

Well, we are comfortably off. We live within our means and are earmarked for a comfortable retirement as well. I wouldn't say we hide our affluence because it is somewhat obvious through our house and things like travel and private schools. But we are, for our income, not extravagant and we do have a budget. We don't hide who we are but it's never been an issue otherwise. Our friends are all in similar positions.

If we downplay our affluence it's through not blinging out all the time and we try to teach our children to be frugal and sensible with money as well as reminding them how fortunate they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure I'm one of only two people in my school (I'm a teacher) with a paid off house, and at least 50 people work there, many with advanced degrees, and some with decades in the district. The only other person who has paid theirs off is early 60s and will be retiring soon. They paid theirs off this month.

I'm early 30s and we paid it off in our 20s.

Okay, but you recognize that this is extremely rare, right? In my 20's I was into putting more into my house due to security desires, by my 30's I realized how much more my investments were making than I was paying in mortgage interest so I happily pay my mortgage and watch my investments grow.

Meh, it depends on whether you want more money or more security. We killed our mortgage and invest lots.