Free meals...from vendors you work with, stuff being brought into your office. Vendors bring stuff like golf balls, clothing, gifts around the holidays like cakes, chocolates, baskets of stuff. Lots of rounds of golf and food at clubs. When you're wealthy you know other wealthy business owners. Was at a car show this weekend and one of my restaurant owner clients was there with a booth. Gave my family and me all our food for free. I'm not mega wealthy but relatively wealthy...HHI $900k. Free trips through employer for performance or continuing education. Tickets to sporting events and concerts in luxury boxes with catering.

Discounts on everything! If you have the funds to buy in bulk or can "pre-pay" you usually get a lower price. Ironically, it is really expensive to be poor in this country.

Number one is housing. Not free but discounted. Mortgage rates are an example, but also for renting. For someone who cannot scrape together a security deposit, they might have to live in a motel/hotel type situation.

And, if you are talking about younger people, it really might be that wealthy people are get free housing from parents or a relative, were LC young people are expected to pay and contribute funds even to family to help support the household.

Also in wealthier neighborhoods it is really easier to get free household items. The difference in the amount and value of free things on wealthy vs more mixed neighborhoods buy nothing/listservs is vast.

Anonymous wrote:Advice on important topics—they can just call one of their contacts and get an answer easily

This is a very important one actually.

Anonymous wrote:Cell phones
Computers
Cars

How?

Free consultations as PP mentioned.

Quid pro quo.

If they’re a public figure in the arts or sports, they might get a lot of free clothing, shoes, bags and travel.

I work at a smallish investigations/business intelligence firm. We often don't bill some of our richest clients for big chunks of work.

Pretty much the only "free" things here are better loan rates and some free bank services. I'd almost argue the latter isn't entirely free, since there is some opportunity cost - you are getting those perks because you have a certain amount of $ invested in that bank, that could be elsewhere working for you

box seats - not free. same thing. you are paying your FA for those one way or another.

corporate perks - (discounted tickets, health insurance, points from business travel, etc) - not really anything about being 'wealthy' more about what company you work for

Anonymous wrote:Political connections. I was a few months back with a new friend from a different socio economic status, who is doing important public service work when he says if only there was some way for x to become policy. Sounded like a great idea to me. I said, what is the cost. He says that the cost could be entirely underwritten by his public service group in perpetuity. I make a quick call or 2 and let him know that he has a meeting with the mayor later that week.

He meets with the mayor and she agrees that it is a great idea and introduces (or technically to ask the councils to introduce) legislation to implement it.

Lol, maybe this works for small-ball municipal level stuff, but the wealthy mostly don't get political connections for free: they pay huge sums to lobbyists or the politicians themselves.

Anonymous wrote:The lending thing is a huge one. We got a great mortgage rate because my DH’s law firm has a deal with Citibank. My DH remarked on how unfair it is that we pay such a lower rate when we could afford not to.

Eh. Not really “unfair.” A big law firm is a pool of low-risk borrowers. The interest rate reflects the relative risk.

Political connections. I was a few months back with a new friend from a different socio economic status, who is doing important public service work when he says if only there was some way for x to become policy. Sounded like a great idea to me. I said, what is the cost. He says that the cost could be entirely underwritten by his public service group in perpetuity. I make a quick call or 2 and let him know that he has a meeting with the mayor later that week.

He meets with the mayor and she agrees that it is a great idea and introduces (or technically to ask the councils to introduce) legislation to implement it.