Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes money provides so much.

Where does it fall on your list of priorities? If you have money is it important that you let other people know by material things? Do you assume people are jealous of you?

It seems like many responses point to money money money being the driving factor.

Money is very high on my list because I come from a poor family. I'm the first one in my family to go to college.
I have escaped poverty and I now consider myself UMC.
I have experienced growing up that rich people are treated with more respect. The poor are ignored and disrespected.
I buy expensive things to let other people know that I have money. Everywhere I go, I'm more respected and I'm getting better services because of it.

So true! People respect you and treat you better.

My alarm clock is set to trump’s song from the apprentice. Money money money moooooonayyyy!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes money provides so much.

Where does it fall on your list of priorities? If you have money is it important that you let other people know by material things? Do you assume people are jealous of you?

It seems like many responses point to money money money being the driving factor.

Money is very high on my list because I come from a poor family. I'm the first one in my family to go to college.
I have escaped poverty and I now consider myself UMC.
I have experienced growing up that rich people are treated with more respect. The poor are ignored and disrespected.
I buy expensive things to let other people know that I have money. Everywhere I go, I'm more respected and I'm getting better services because of it.

Are you a minority? Because I'm a waspy looking white woman and I do NOT buy expensive things (although I maintain a very neat and tidy appearance) and do not find I am lacking respect or services.

Money is a tool. When we are missing a tool, we have to find a way to get it or adapt. When you think of it as more than that, it begins to take over your life, in a very bad way.

There’s something to be said for being resourceful in the absence of money. Often is can be very fulfilling. There was a time where I couldn’t afford a lot of the things I wanted and I had to find a workaround, and when I was successful, it was a really good feeling. The alternative could have been feeling stressed and miserable because of my lack of money, which I feel is sort of the ethos of this board. No. Money isn’t everything.

Anonymous wrote:Yes money provides so much.

Where does it fall on your list of priorities? If you have money is it important that you let other people know by material things? Do you assume people are jealous of you?

It seems like many responses point to money money money being the driving factor.

It falls very high on my list of priorities, as you could argue our entire society was built on money and its acquisition.

My DH and I are very comfortable (but not rich) and I don’t do anything to show this off to the world. We do take nice vacations but otherwise I shop mostly at Target, TJ Maxx etc. We share a car and it’s not a luxury brand. We live in a good school district and our kids go to public.

I don’t assume anyone is jealous of me because that’s not how I see the world.

Anonymous wrote:Money isn't the point, the flexibility and security it provides is the point.

This. To answer the OP's questions:

Where does it fall on your list of priorities?

Pretty high. The more we have, the earlier we can retire, and the more fun things we can do both before and after retirement. That's pretty important. Also, money doesn't solve all problems, but solves a lot of them. THe more money I have, the less I worry.

If you have money is it important that you let other people know by material things?

No - if anything it's the opposite. I prefer to fly under the radar.

Do you assume people are jealous of you?

Assume? No, but I suppose there are people who might be. We are paid extraordinarily well, but make on the lower end of our friends and neighbors, as ridiculous as that sounds. Hard to think that any of them would be jealous of us from a money standpoint.

Money for me is all about my own security. I don’t care at all how others see me in terms of money — whether you think I’m rich or poor. I care about the fact that I can go to sleep at night without worrying about whether a check will clear over night before my next paycheck gets deposited, or panic when food in the fridge feels warm because it could mean a major appliance repair that I could never afford. The main benefit of money is not any specific material good, but the freedom from worry it offers.

Family
Health
Money

In that order

Money is extraordinary important, especially in no safety net America, and is a top priority for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes money provides so much.

Where does it fall on your list of priorities? If you have money is it important that you let other people know by material things? Do you assume people are jealous of you?

It seems like many responses point to money money money being the driving factor.

Money is very high on my list because I come from a poor family. I'm the first one in my family to go to college.
I have escaped poverty and I now consider myself UMC.
I have experienced growing up that rich people are treated with more respect. The poor are ignored and disrespected.
I buy expensive things to let other people know that I have money. Everywhere I go, I'm more respected and I'm getting better services because of it.

Barf.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up LMC to parents who grew up in poverty. To me money is stability and stability is everything.

+100. This all day. Every day.

When I was a kid I really wanted to grow up and be "rich". I ended up going to law school and getting a job at a top tier law firm and making what I considered to be a ton of money at 25. I thought I had made it onto the road to riches. Then I realized how much it sucked to grind it out at a firm. All nighters, insane levels of stress, people who lived and breathed their jobs. I realized that's not what I wanted, and I would happily forego the opportunity to be "rich" if it meant I could be happier. I quit the firm and found an in-house job where I make less but am much more content with my life.

Money isn't everything.

Anonymous wrote:Like everything else, perspective is required. I retired early as a big law partner with a net worth of about $4 million. A decade later, I’m worth about $7 million. When I left my firm I was making close to $1 million a year, and had I stayed where I was by now I’d likely be making close to $1.5 million a year and my net worth would probably be double what it now is. But it wasn’t worth it to me. Yes, money is important but it isn’t everything.

yes...not when you have to work like a dog as you did,,,

Anonymous wrote:C.R.E.A.M.
Cash Rules Everything Around Me
Ps. Wu Tang is for the children

+1

Anonymous wrote:I grew up LMC to parents who grew up in poverty. To me money is stability and stability is everything.

+1 Money is stability, opportunity, and in many cases safety. I never want my kid on the side of the highway getting one of the gallons of water kept in the trunk out to refill her radiator. People who think the pursuit of money is only about materialism are the ones who've never lived without an extremely generous baseline.

C.R.E.A.M.
Cash Rules Everything Around Me
Ps. Wu Tang is for the children