We know a girl who is in boarding school in New York. Some of her classmates are rich. One girl she knows goes home a lot of weekends so she asked her how she was able to go home so often, get all her stuff done and make it back for school on Monday. She said her father sends a helicopter for her.

Anonymous wrote:My friend's children go to a school with a lot of wealthy families and the biggest "rich people" thing she's reported is that one family ships their daughter's horse (via plane) to wherever they are on vacation for a couple weeks so she won't miss her riding time.

Horse be like loving that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD and her college roommates got a bad housing lottery number (meaning they won't get the suite they want to live in next year). So the parents of one of the girls just bought a $4M 4 BR house for the girls to share next year. Sweet.

I remember a story like this from back in the 90s.

Guy was so appalled at GWs housing options and costs he bought a 2 bedroom condo in foggy bottom. Both kids went to GW and after 10 years and the housing boom, when he sold it he basically covered college tuition for both kids!

Rich, smart or lucky. One of the three!

VERY smart! The dorms at GW are literal dumps.

A relative by marriage is one of the wealthiest people I know.

Some notes about this family:

private school for children

two luxury cars, same brand, different styles

ILs paid for relative's terminal degree - all of it - no loans
custom built home

exotic, extensive travel and vacations as a family (typically a tour guide or guide is involved/hired)

completely new everything every few years - renovations, kitchen, furniture, baths

hires out for just about everything you can think of - landscaper, separate gardener, maids once week, had nannies, weekend sitters, tennis coach who comes to the house for lessons, etc.

Wife sits on several boards of charities, goes to lots of black tie type formal dinners, always shopping for a gown for next event

All of this and this family is kind of boring. Not over the top or showy and all are quiet people who tend to be low key.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have known a few really rich (10 figure folk). They live life easily, most are kind and pretty ordinary. Nicer houses, newer cars, etc. The things that have struck me: personal security and watches. Yes. Watches. It is unreal how much a watch can cost.

DH and I are super wealthy (thanks to our families - just regularly wealthy from our careers) and I have an Anne Klein watch that was less than $100. DH has a Rolex that was his deceased grandfather's. He has a backup watch that's worth much less for when he's playing sports or traveling.

I didn't mean to suggest anything was wrong wit it, but I guess I was a bit ignorant about watches. I had believed Rolex was expensive. I learned otherwise.


My point is, super wealthy people are pretty normal. Of course they, get to do things others can't. And they don't have anxiety about not having money. Of course some do have anxiety about having money and whether they are being the best person they can be . . . That's gotta be tough too.

Anonymous wrote:I have known a few really rich (10 figure folk). They live life easily, most are kind and pretty ordinary. Nicer houses, newer cars, etc. The things that have struck me: personal security and watches. Yes. Watches. It is unreal how much a watch can cost.

DH and I are super wealthy (thanks to our families - just regularly wealthy from our careers) and I have an Anne Klein watch that was less than $100. DH has a Rolex that was his deceased grandfather's. He has a backup watch that's worth much less for when he's playing sports or traveling.

Anonymous wrote:I have known a few really rich (10 figure folk). They live life easily, most are kind and pretty ordinary. Nicer houses, newer cars, etc. The things that have struck me: personal security and watches. Yes. Watches. It is unreal how much a watch can cost.

The reason is it's the only type of "jewelry" a man can wear and still look normal. So they're willing to spend on it.

I have known a few really rich (10 figure folk). They live life easily, most are kind and pretty ordinary. Nicer houses, newer cars, etc. The things that have struck me: personal security and watches. Yes. Watches. It is unreal how much a watch can cost.

Anonymous wrote:My DD and her college roommates got a bad housing lottery number (meaning they won't get the suite they want to live in next year). So the parents of one of the girls just bought a $4M 4 BR house for the girls to share next year. Sweet.

I remember a story like this from back in the 90s.

Guy was so appalled at GWs housing options and costs he bought a 2 bedroom condo in foggy bottom. Both kids went to GW and after 10 years and the housing boom, when he sold it he basically covered college tuition for both kids!

Rich, smart or lucky. One of the three!

Wife wanted a vegetable garden. So we spotted a quarter acre portion on our land with good sun and drainage, had a green house built, along with some raised planting beds, and a section for fruit trees, all enclosed with deer fencing.

She mentioned that she needed help putting up cages around the tomato plants. I quipped that she needed to do some actual gardening. Heh, it sounded funny at the time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Other stuff rich people do:

--ship their suitcases overnight instead of carrying luggage
--get everything tailored/custom made
--pay to get escorted around Disney and skip all the lines
--on that note, pay for private tours/private guides basically everywhere they go, so they can see everything on their own schedule/in private, not have to deal with any travel logistics

When you get escorted around Disney, you don't get to skip every line - not the way it works, we have done it twice.

Sorry. You get to do every line as a fastpass line, without fastpasses.

It's better than that. It's like FP+ line and then on many rides they still get to skip the FP+ people. We talked to the "tour guide" at pirates of the Caribbean. He was escorting 2 TEENS (!!!) and my husband flat asks what a tour guide costs and he says $600/hour for a minimum of 8 hours. They waited in the FP+ line after us. Then instead of scanning their bands, the tour guide tells the cast member (employee) how many they have and they cut ahead of all the FP+ through another lane that was not in use.

Rich is paying $4800 (not including tickets, food, hotel, etc.) for your teen and a friend to spend 1 day in the Magic Kingdom.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Places I have not stepped foot in months -- a grocery store, a gas station or a dry cleaners. All the things that I need from these places are taking care of by someone else, without my ever even really thinking about them. It's like food is in the pantry and gas is in the tank and clean clothes are in my closet just magically without my ever having to think about it. But I do appreciate it greatly.

That just sounds like the life of a child to me.

What I'm paying for is my time. I work very hard and earn and good salary, so I am fortunate to be able to pay someone to do all of that. Then when I am home, I am able to spend my time with my family instead of running around crazy doing errands I don't enjoy. What is childish about that?

What struck me about it was that I have been teaching my kids for years to clear their own plate from the table, make and pack their own lunch, be responsible for their things, and do their own laundry. It seems like a step back in terms of personal responsibility to never do any of those things. It just seems infantilizing to me. If your cleaning lady and cook go on vacation, do you just get take-out and let the laundry pile up? If you spill something, do you clean it or wait for the maid to do it?

This is OP...go away already. Fine, you think it is infantalizing to not have to do the bs in life so you can spend time doing the things you really want to do. Good for you. You are such a superb example of the human race. You epitomize adulthood and maturity with your table clearing and gas pumping. Kudos. Now, please, go away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Other stuff rich people do:

--ship their suitcases overnight instead of carrying luggage
--get everything tailored/custom made
--pay to get escorted around Disney and skip all the lines
--on that note, pay for private tours/private guides basically everywhere they go, so they can see everything on their own schedule/in private, not have to deal with any travel logistics

When you get escorted around Disney, you don't get to skip every line - not the way it works, we have done it twice.

Sorry. You get to do every line as a fastpass line, without fastpasses.

My friend's children go to a school with a lot of wealthy families and the biggest "rich people" thing she's reported is that one family ships their daughter's horse (via plane) to wherever they are on vacation for a couple weeks so she won't miss her riding time.

Anonymous wrote:Other stuff rich people do:

--ship their suitcases overnight instead of carrying luggage
--get everything tailored/custom made
--pay to get escorted around Disney and skip all the lines
--on that note, pay for private tours/private guides basically everywhere they go, so they can see everything on their own schedule/in private, not have to deal with any travel logistics

When you get escorted around Disney, you don't get to skip every line - not the way it works, we have done it twice.