Why are people so hesitant to call themselves rich/wealthy when they are by any definition?

[Anonymous]

It's obvious without saying. I'm not new money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because there is always a bigger fish. And most people will be looking up and comparing themselves to them.

We make $700K. I do not consider myself rich or wealthy because there are big law partners making $3M a year. To me, those guys are wealthy and we're just small fry.

It's how it works.

But can you see/acknowlege that you are a 1%er?

Are they? It's borderline.

[Anonymous]

Because definitions vary, primarily around the distinction between income and assets.

High income but moderate asset people typically don't think of themselves as "rich".

Lower/moderate income people tend to think of high income people as "rich", regardless of assets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because there is always a bigger fish. And most people will be looking up and comparing themselves to them.

We make $700K. I do not consider myself rich or wealthy because there are big law partners making $3M a year. To me, those guys are wealthy and we're just small fry.

It's how it works.

Agree. And the biglaw partners are looking at their private equity clients making $10M+ a year. And the PE clients are looking at their billionaire LPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because there is always a bigger fish. And most people will be looking up and comparing themselves to them.

We make $700K. I do not consider myself rich or wealthy because there are big law partners making $3M a year. To me, those guys are wealthy and we're just small fry.

It's how it works.

You are comparing the wrong way. You do realize the median HHI is $70k. You make 10 times that. You are rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because there is always a bigger fish. And most people will be looking up and comparing themselves to them.

We make $700K. I do not consider myself rich or wealthy because there are big law partners making $3M a year. To me, those guys are wealthy and we're just small fry.

It's how it works.

You are comparing the wrong way. You do realize the median HHI is $70k. You make 10 times that. You are rich.

Well, you know, being rich isn't the same thing as being smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because there is always a bigger fish. And most people will be looking up and comparing themselves to them.

We make $700K. I do not consider myself rich or wealthy because there are big law partners making $3M a year. To me, those guys are wealthy and we're just small fry.

It's how it works.

But can you see/acknowlege that you are a 1%er?

Are they? It's borderline.

Really?!?!
No it’s not borderline. $600k income put you in 1% in 2021. They are 1%, but at the lower part.

[Anonymous]

To me, wealthy = not having to work for your lifestyle.

This can require different levels of assets depending on your lifestyle. Most people inflate their lifestyle as their income goes up, making "wealthy" feel consistently out of reach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they have built up their lifestyle to be expensive, so they don't feel flush. They expect to feel flush when rich. But if you buy a bigger house or more expensive cars or just more THINGS every time you can afford it, you will never feel like you have extra.

+1

People equate "rich" with "I can buy anything I want" and that is literally never true. Money is always finite. Even Warren Buffett has to make tough decisions about which companies to invest in. There is no amount of rich that will buy you everything you want.

[Anonymous]

We never had a class war or socialist movement that actually gained power. People - especially the rich - want to pretend class doesn’t exist or that class mobility isn’t declining rapidly in America.

If people actually begin to recognize class - particularly inherited class - then some people will start to organize to do something about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because there is always a bigger fish. And most people will be looking up and comparing themselves to them.

We make $700K. I do not consider myself rich or wealthy because there are big law partners making $3M a year. To me, those guys are wealthy and we're just small fry.

It's how it works.

But can you see/acknowlege that you are a 1%er?

Are they? It's borderline.

Really?!?!
No it’s not borderline. $600k income put you in 1% in 2021. They are 1%, but at the lower part.

We've had some inflation since 2021, in case you were away. That's why I said they're a borderline case now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We never had a class war or socialist movement that actually gained power. People - especially the rich - want to pretend class doesn’t exist or that class mobility isn’t declining rapidly in America.

If people actually begin to recognize class - particularly inherited class - then some people will start to organize to do something about it.

Why is the decline of class mobility -- IN AND OF ITSELF -- necessarily a bad thing. I think it's the inevitable conclusion of a society that has successfully eliminated as many barriers as possible. Once you open up the opportunities for higher education to all classes, once you open jobs up to people regardless of race or gender, well then you're going to get a bunch of assortative mating like we're seeing now. A lot of this stuff comes down to the genes we pass on to our kids and their ability to pass the marshmallow test. Class mobility is a zero-sum game. For everyone who moves into the upper quintile, someone has to be kicked out.

It's far more important to focus on steadily improving the material living standards of all classes rather than celebrating one person usurping another at the upper brackets.

[Anonymous]

In what situation should one proclaim they're rich?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because there is always a bigger fish. And most people will be looking up and comparing themselves to them.

We make $700K. I do not consider myself rich or wealthy because there are big law partners making $3M a year. To me, those guys are wealthy and we're just small fry.

It's how it works.

But can you see/acknowlege that you are a 1%er?

Are they? It's borderline.

Really?!?!
No it’s not borderline. $600k income put you in 1% in 2021. They are 1%, but at the lower part.

We've had some inflation since 2021, in case you were away. That's why I said they're a borderline case now.

Oh SORRY you are so right. They are *only* in the top 1.5%. MY BAD! So poor it's embarrassing.

(I'm a NP but this one sent me)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because there is always a bigger fish. And most people will be looking up and comparing themselves to them.

We make $700K. I do not consider myself rich or wealthy because there are big law partners making $3M a year. To me, those guys are wealthy and we're just small fry.

It's how it works.

But can you see/acknowlege that you are a 1%er?

Are they? It's borderline.

Really?!?!
No it’s not borderline. $600k income put you in 1% in 2021. They are 1%, but at the lower part.

We've had some inflation since 2021, in case you were away. That's why I said they're a borderline case now.

Because inflation doesn't count if you make $50k a year right?