What is “rich”?

[Spikedriver]

Yep. I got a chance to hobnob with some wealthy people. They aren't as happy as you think.
One of them put it in perspective for me. He said: "suppose you have work done on the engine in your truck and get a $300 bill; you stress out about paying it. I had work done on the engine in my yacht and have a bill for $30,000 and stress out about paying it. It's the same thing. We're both miserable".
Money doesn't buy happiness.

I think in the Bible, in Proverbs, it says something like "More money brings more worries". That rich man was worried because he has a yacht. He's right, it's the same, except that he could have put the yacht money in the bank, and went home and slept well. Most of us have to worry about the $300 car bill because without the car, we aren't getting to work. Having a million dollars is just a temptation to buy a million dollars worth of crap. That's how I see it. Or, it's a way to go two million in debt.

 

[The Innkeeper]

Yep. I got a chance to hobnob with some wealthy people. They aren't as happy as you think.
One of them put it in perspective for me. He said: "suppose you have work done on the engine in your truck and get a $300 bill; you stress out about paying it. I had work done on the engine in my yacht and have a bill for $30,000 and stress out about paying it. It's the same thing. We're both miserable".
Money doesn't buy happiness.

Yup, I have known numerous people with serious wealth over the years. Most were unhappy, several confided that it ruined relationships because they never knew who cared about them and who just wanted their money.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

@Supervisor42 you were indeed kept around for a greater purpose and being watched over. I saw a similar accident where a woman ran a roundabout with a truck coming into the roundabout down a hill. She and her car ended up between the cab and the trailer and the roof was peeled clean off the car and half of the windscreen pillar was missing. The truckie was white as a ghost and asked me if I could look in the car to see if the woman was alive. She was and had ducked below the steering wheel and that is what saved her. Apart from a few scratches and shock she was fine much to the relief of the truck driver.

DH was in a tank accident and was in an APC during military training and a Leopard Tank ran up the rear of them on night exercises. The tank driver was night blind and didn't see the APC. Out of 2 vehicles 2 out of 6 were killed and the APC that DH was in got split in half. DH was in the turret and the force of the impact from the tank squeezed him out the top like a sardine and he bounced a couple of hundred metres down a tank road.

The Leopard tank got sent back for reconstruction and DH ended up being put back together over 4 years. They didn't wash him after the accident thinking he would not last the night but he did and he is still walking. He has virtually no feeling in his legs so how he is doing that I wouldn't know.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

As others have said I believe rich is having a roof over your head, food in your stomach, all your "needs" met, bills paid and money left in the bank and good relationships with your spouse and or children.

I have blessing in my life all the time which makes us rich. We are neither rich or poor either and it is our own attitude that makes us either rich/wealthy or poor.

 

[angie_nrs]

You might be someone who has good self-discipline to keep moving forward with the accumulation of wealth, instead of finding ways to spend your money. This might be through investments, running some sort of business or businesses. Poor people have many wants that they will spend their money on soon after it comes to them, whether it is a necessity or not.

Weedy, I thought this was spot on! Hubs and I have made a good living. We really want for nothing and are amazed and grateful daily of all the things we've been able to accomplish in our lives, not just monetarily, but other things too. We both value our contributions in our jobs. Hubs focuses more on how he can help someone out in his job.....more-so than how much he will get compensated for it. I think he gets compensated well b/c he doesn't focus on the money aspect of it. For the most part, I love my job and thus have been compensated well for it. We have always led our lives spending less than what we make and investing in the future. When you do this your whole life, you can amass a nice nest egg. We feel rich b/c we're quite certain we could live the rest of our lives without making another dime if we had to. However, we're not wired that way. We can't just sit back and do nothing. It just doesn't feel right and quite frankly, is just boring. If we won the lottery tomorrow, I doubt we would change much of anything.

It does seem that those who always complain that they don't have any money are the ones who can't seem to put in the extra effort to make more money OR save a penny. As soon as cash comes in, it goes out. That would stress me out and make me miserable. I'm not talking about those who have no choice, but those who could change things if they had the self motivation to do so. On the flip side of that, I also wouldn't trade my life for any celebrity out there. I love my privacy and no amount of money would be worth giving it up. Plus, I think many celebs have traded their soul for thier fame. Nope, I'd like to keep my soul thank you very much. You can keep your celebrity, your fame, and your money. It does not intrigue me one single bit.

I don't know if I'm "rich" since it is a relative term, but I do feel very blessed. All of my needs are met.....family, spiritual, basic needs, etc. We indulge in some fun things but have found out in life that indulging in fun things is not nearly as much fun if you don't earn it. We like to work hard so that we can play hard. Vacations aren't nearly as fun if you aren't escaping from work. Weekends are typically a fun time, but the weekdays are spent earning it.

I think many of those on this forum are rich, at least in my eyes. If you are healthy, happy, self sufficient, intelligent, appreciative, and have love in your life......than you are rich.

 

[Supervisor42]

...We have always led our lives spending less than what we make and investing in the future. When you do this your whole life, you can amass a nice nest egg. We feel rich b/c we're quite certain we could live the rest of our lives without making another dime if we had to. However, we're not wired that way. We can't just sit back and do nothing.

I can sit back and not work!
+1 on the nest egg. The current generation doesn't realize the power of investing in the future and have zero discipline. I had put 8%-14% of my income into the 401K throughout my working years.
You always hear people say: "If you had invested only $1,000 in XYZ 20 years ago...."
The worm turns.
The one thing I won't have to worry about in my retired years, is money.
I have more than enough, but I'm not 'rich' from that.