Where does this notion come from that wealthy people don't drive nice cars?

[Anonymous]

Lots of realtors in the DMV as well and those professionals needs a pricey car to impress their clients.

[Anonymous]

^need

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I think DMV is very different than anywhere else in the country. There is a very real “millionaire next door” attitude, dating back to waspy ambitions.

Nearly everywhere else in the country, affluent Americans are driving nice cars.

+1 DC money is not showy and is more likely to be expressed in private school tuition and fancy vacations. This is not Miami or LA where people like to show off their expensive sports cars.

Agree. DC money is very quiet compared to other areas of the country. You won't ever know money here out on the street.

I do know a billionaire in the DC area, they live more like an upper middle class lawyer making $750k-low 7 figures. No $50M mansion. Just a house in the low millions in a nice neighborhood. They’re also not on Forbes or any list, very private individuals. They own a variety of other properties that are more expensive but primary residence surprisingly not fancy relative to their NW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I think DMV is very different than anywhere else in the country. There is a very real “millionaire next door” attitude, dating back to waspy ambitions.

Nearly everywhere else in the country, affluent Americans are driving nice cars.

+1 DC money is not showy and is more likely to be expressed in private school tuition and fancy vacations. This is not Miami or LA where people like to show off their expensive sports cars.

lol. Land Rover Bethesda is the top selling Land Rover dealer on the east coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The humble millionaire next door seems like nonsense to me; rich people are not driving 25 year old Volvo station wagons. And everyone with a nice new luxury car obviously isn't broke and overextended. I'm currently in a swank town and every car is a new Range Rover, Porsche crossover, Tesla, or Audi-BMW-Mercedes (they all look alike). The worst car I see are new Chevrolet Tahoes, which are like 80 grand. If that humble old money thing ever existed, it certainly doesn't anymore.

I would kill for a 25 year old Volvo station wagon.

Rich folks can afford anything. But the car manufacturers all produce indistinguishable crap today. If you have a decent vehicle now, there is zero reason to buy something new today. And don't even get me started on the people that choose Range Rovers or Jeeps.

You’re so full of crap. Nobody rich is driving an out of warranty piece of junk with gen 1 airbags that probably don’t even work. Rich value safety and their time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The humble millionaire next door seems like nonsense to me; rich people are not driving 25 year old Volvo station wagons. And everyone with a nice new luxury car obviously isn't broke and overextended. I'm currently in a swank town and every car is a new Range Rover, Porsche crossover, Tesla, or Audi-BMW-Mercedes (they all look alike). The worst car I see are new Chevrolet Tahoes, which are like 80 grand. If that humble old money thing ever existed, it certainly doesn't anymore.

I would kill for a 25 year old Volvo station wagon.

Rich folks can afford anything. But the car manufacturers all produce indistinguishable crap today. If you have a decent vehicle now, there is zero reason to buy something new today. And don't even get me started on the people that choose Range Rovers or Jeeps.

You’re so full of crap. Nobody rich is driving an out of warranty piece of junk with gen 1 airbags that probably don’t even work. Rich value safety and their time.

Ah. Sorry, we don't. Maybe some of us are stupid. I don't like the way modern cars are stuffed full of gizmos that are liable to break down at any moment and annoy me. Cars from 30 years ago are so much simpler to repair. I do worry about the airbags, though. I guess there is no car that can satisfy all my demands. Also, and I cannot emphasize this enough... I don't like cars. They're all ugly. I'd rather ride horses (that too is a dangerous pursuit).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I think DMV is very different than anywhere else in the country. There is a very real “millionaire next door” attitude, dating back to waspy ambitions.

Nearly everywhere else in the country, affluent Americans are driving nice cars.

+1 DC money is not showy and is more likely to be expressed in private school tuition and fancy vacations. This is not Miami or LA where people like to show off their expensive sports cars.

lol. Land Rover Bethesda is the top selling Land Rover dealer on the east coast.

That may be, but nowhere else in the country do you have so many affluent people who live below their means. That Land Rover dealer could be doing even better business if Washingtonians cared about cars.

[Anonymous]

Everyone is exploiting tax loopholes to write off their cars. They’re essentially driving them for free. Middle class are the only suckers driving used and out of warranty cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don't exist then. I am sure I am not the only person to drive a 20 year old entry-point Japanese sedan while my stock portfolio has ballooned to 20M. I think it depends on what sort of wealth you're talking about: if it comes from salary, and people are surrounded by others with the same salary, that's going to lead to visible signs of wealth. But if they made their money in a more discreet way and do not socialize with others who have that level of wealth (or who like them chose not to display it)... then it leads to driving a dinged up Corolla.

Can you even access that money without major tax implications?

This is a question a poor person would ask.

Why? If you have 20M in a brokerage account and want to buy a car with cash, then you'd have to liquidate some portion, which would trigger a tax event. Sure, you could take out a loan, or do some fancy accounting where you live off of loans instead of ever liquidating anything. But usually the person who has been fortunate to buy stock 30 years ago that is now worth 20M vs old money set up in trusts, they aren't generally doing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I think DMV is very different than anywhere else in the country. There is a very real “millionaire next door” attitude, dating back to waspy ambitions.

Nearly everywhere else in the country, affluent Americans are driving nice cars.

We live in a very affluent area in the Midwest and there are a lot of expensive cars all around us. We look like the poor relatives with our 10+ year old basic cars. But, we’re not the poor relatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don't exist then. I am sure I am not the only person to drive a 20 year old entry-point Japanese sedan while my stock portfolio has ballooned to 20M. I think it depends on what sort of wealth you're talking about: if it comes from salary, and people are surrounded by others with the same salary, that's going to lead to visible signs of wealth. But if they made their money in a more discreet way and do not socialize with others who have that level of wealth (or who like them chose not to display it)... then it leads to driving a dinged up Corolla.

Can you even access that money without major tax implications?

This is a question a poor person would ask.

Why? If you have 20M in a brokerage account and want to buy a car with cash, then you'd have to liquidate some portion, which would trigger a tax event. Sure, you could take out a loan, or do some fancy accounting where you live off of loans instead of ever liquidating anything. But usually the person who has been fortunate to buy stock 30 years ago that is now worth 20M vs old money set up in trusts, they aren't generally doing that.

Why would you not have anything in savings or HYSA?

[Anonymous]

Rich people are too money smart to waste money on an overpriced status symbol car. They don't want other people to know how rich they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I think DMV is very different than anywhere else in the country. There is a very real “millionaire next door” attitude, dating back to waspy ambitions.

Nearly everywhere else in the country, affluent Americans are driving nice cars.

+1 DC money is not showy and is more likely to be expressed in private school tuition and fancy vacations. This is not Miami or LA where people like to show off their expensive sports cars.

lol. Land Rover Bethesda is the top selling Land Rover dealer on the east coast.

That may be, but nowhere else in the country do you have so many affluent people who live below their means. That Land Rover dealer could be doing even better business if Washingtonians cared about cars.

This feels like anecdotal evidence. If not, then I'd like to see your source for this data. My anecdotal evidence are CEOs and some Big Law people who live in McLean and I assure you they are not driving 20 year old Hondas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don't exist then. I am sure I am not the only person to drive a 20 year old entry-point Japanese sedan while my stock portfolio has ballooned to 20M. I think it depends on what sort of wealth you're talking about: if it comes from salary, and people are surrounded by others with the same salary, that's going to lead to visible signs of wealth. But if they made their money in a more discreet way and do not socialize with others who have that level of wealth (or who like them chose not to display it)... then it leads to driving a dinged up Corolla.

Can you even access that money without major tax implications?

This is a question a poor person would ask.

Why? If you have 20M in a brokerage account and want to buy a car with cash, then you'd have to liquidate some portion, which would trigger a tax event. Sure, you could take out a loan, or do some fancy accounting where you live off of loans instead of ever liquidating anything. But usually the person who has been fortunate to buy stock 30 years ago that is now worth 20M vs old money set up in trusts, they aren't generally doing that.

Why would you not have anything in savings or HYSA?

I have very little money in savings and a HYSA, certainly not enough to buy a 150K SUV. I am nearly 100% invested in stocks, municipal bonds and some treasuries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don't exist then. I am sure I am not the only person to drive a 20 year old entry-point Japanese sedan while my stock portfolio has ballooned to 20M. I think it depends on what sort of wealth you're talking about: if it comes from salary, and people are surrounded by others with the same salary, that's going to lead to visible signs of wealth. But if they made their money in a more discreet way and do not socialize with others who have that level of wealth (or who like them chose not to display it)... then it leads to driving a dinged up Corolla.

Can you even access that money without major tax implications?

This is a question a poor person would ask.

Why? If you have 20M in a brokerage account and want to buy a car with cash, then you'd have to liquidate some portion, which would trigger a tax event. Sure, you could take out a loan, or do some fancy accounting where you live off of loans instead of ever liquidating anything. But usually the person who has been fortunate to buy stock 30 years ago that is now worth 20M vs old money set up in trusts, they aren't generally doing that.

Why would you not have anything in savings or HYSA?

I have very little money in savings and a HYSA, certainly not enough to buy a 150K SUV. I am nearly 100% invested in stocks, municipal bonds and some treasuries.

Listen, I'm on your side vis a vis hanging on to an old car that works for you, but if you truly have a 20M net worth and almost nothing liquid, you're making a rookie mistake. You want to be able to weather stock market downturns and job losses without selling low, and at your NW I'd have at least 300-500k cash equivalents.