How rich is rich?
Mar 22, 2010 at 3:33 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 66

drummerdimitri

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Hello guys, I've been very interested numbers lately, and have been curious about what others think a rich person is. What salary, life style, location etc... would made a person rich in your opinion?
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 3:35 PM Post #2 of 66
Well lets see...

I make $28,000/yr
I have $8000 in personal credit card debit.

Anything more than I have is rich
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Mar 22, 2010 at 3:57 PM Post #4 of 66
How rich someone is depends on how much power they have due to their wealth.

If you are rich enough that you have a direct line to a senator, gov officials and even the president, then you're rich.
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 4:08 PM Post #5 of 66
Hmmm, good question.
I would say that you have an annual income of at least 5-10 times the country average. All in all economic freedom to buy pretty much anything you want, like a really nice property in the finer areas of the city, a yacht, cabin in the mountains, exclusive holidays abroad, ...

I am not there myself, although I am well within the top 1% richest people in the world!
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 4:26 PM Post #6 of 66
I have a home, a job and a reasonably healthy family. I'm rich without even taking into account how much I earn. Richness isn't just about money.
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 4:26 PM Post #7 of 66
Most people thing that someone who earns 3X more than they make is rich.

Wall Street Journal article said that you need $10,000,000 in net worth to be considered rich.

Salary is a misleading indicator for most of us. Let's say that you make $250,000 a year but spend most if it - you aren't rich, just a large scale consumer.

Income isn't the key indicator of wealth, net worth is.

Lots of folks you may think are average may be rich, like in the book The Millionaire Next Door.

They don't spend money on fancy cars and watches and headphones - they save and invest.
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 4:44 PM Post #8 of 66
In my opinion, being rich doesn't depend on one factor only. You need first of all to have a reasonably high income, enough to live comfortably, have enough money and assets to survive in case of an economic crisis or loss of job. There is no objective definition of the term "rich", but the majority of people would consider someone to be rich if their net worth is equal or greater than themselves. You may make a million dollars a years and spend 800k, but that wouldn't make you rich in my opinion. It's like defining god and his existence; it's a very subjective term and the definition is usually influenced by the person asking himself the question "am I rich", which is then manipulated in one's favor. Well, that's how I think of it at least.
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 4:46 PM Post #9 of 66
Rich can be defined, in terms of money, as the point beyond which more money does not improve your lifestyle.

Or...rich can be defined as the point beyond which money no longer matters.

Take your choice.
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Mar 22, 2010 at 5:06 PM Post #11 of 66
There is no defined universal dollar figure for it. I'd guess that we all have different dollar levels where we think rich begins.

When I was young I though $1 million was rich. Now you could barely retire on that amount. My image of rich would start at $50 million. Someone with that money could live a rich lifestyle. But they would pale in comparison to someone at $500 million or a billionaire.

Either way, at $10 million you would certainly be done with anymore money related stress at all, assuming you are conservative and diversified in your investments.
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 5:39 PM Post #12 of 66
It's all about your frame of reference.

In the end, it's just a descriptor.
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 6:11 PM Post #13 of 66
Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
There is no defined universal dollar figure for it. I'd guess that we all have different dollar levels where we think rich begins.

When I was young I though $1 million was rich. Now you could barely retire on that amount. My image of rich would start at $50 million. Someone with that money could live a rich lifestyle. But they would pale in comparison to someone at $500 million or a billionaire.

Either way, at $10 million you would certainly be done with anymore money related stress at all, assuming you are conservative and diversified in your investments.



how much would $1mil in securities when you were young be worth today? (assume asset allocation similar to most retirement plan - 100% stock when you were young, and 100% muni bond when you retire) - I am predicting it's somewhere around $10mil
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Mar 22, 2010 at 6:25 PM Post #14 of 66
Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hmmm, good question.
I would say that you have an annual income of at least 5-10 times the country average. All in all economic freedom to buy pretty much anything you want, like a really nice property in the finer areas of the city, a yacht, cabin in the mountains, exclusive holidays abroad, ...

I am not there myself, although I am well within the top 1% richest people in the world!



interesting website... according to that i'm in the top 0.80%.. but in california, i'm probably just average
 
Mar 22, 2010 at 6:31 PM Post #15 of 66
Quote:

Originally Posted by koven /img/forum/go_quote.gif
interesting website... according to that i'm in the top 0.80%.. but in california, i'm probably just average


That scale taps out at $250k/yr in salary (0.001%). You are only middle class in NY with that salary and you can, at most, buy a crappy little 2 bedroom in the city. So I don't see the point of the scale.
 

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