Comfortable or Wealthy?

[daylatedollarshort]

I can remember paying just over 30 cents in the 60's, but we got wine glasses as a bonus (probably had to save stamps or coupons). I still have them.

Bonus 2: Watching Mad Men, there was a scene in Megan's apartment in LA. "My" wine glasses were sitting on her table.

I have the same entry mirror as the Jennings in The Americans, which is set in the 80s so maybe it is time for an update. I have tried to replace it before but DH likes it the way it is.

 

[W2R]

The last time that gasoline averaged 20 cents a gallon was in 1942...........
Min. wage was about .30 cents an hour. lol lol

In St. Louis, in the 1950's and 1960's, it was quite often cheaper than that due to "Gas Wars". Gas stations would try to offer their gasoline at lower prices than all other nearby stations, and then when one station lowered its price, so would the others. Ruthless competition! But great for gas prices. I remember seeing gas for 17 cents a gallon and I wasn't even born until 1948....

 

[NW-Bound]

Here's something with bars --
https://dqydj.com/net-worth-brackets-wealth-brackets-one-percent/
I believe the numbers rise as a power-law at the high tail, very roughly 0.1% >50M, 0.01%>250M, and 0.001%>1.25B.

This confirms that I am not wealthy. There are several millions of people in the US with my net worth.

Even at $10M and higher net worth level which I am not, there are 1.3M households. Lots of wealth in the US. There are about 126M households, so the $10M level is the 1%.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

It's all semantics, anyway.

An individual who is considered wealthy, affluent, or rich is someone who has accumulated substantial wealth relative to others in their society or reference group. In economics, net worth refers to the value of assets owned minus the value of liabilities owed at a point in time.

What reference group are YOU in? Sounds like keeping up w/ the Joneseseses to me.

 

[Another Reader]

Have you checked out the bogleheads net worth spread sheet?

Looks like that has not been updated since 2015. Too many problems.

 

[street]

This confirms that I am not wealthy. There are several millions of people in the US with my net worth.

Even at $10M and higher net worth level which I am not, there are 1.3M households. Lots of wealth in the US. There are about 126M households, so the $10M level is the 1%.

Yep, just a small fish in a big body of water. LOL But very comfortable and will never have to worry about money.

 

[Car-Guy]

This confirms that I am not wealthy. There are several millions of people in the US with my net worth.

Even at $10M and higher net worth level which I am not, there are 1.3M households. Lots of wealth in the US. There are about 126M households, so the $10M level is the 1%.

A different view point but I always felt this picture helped put US wealth distribution in perspective.

 

[Milton]

Go to Wal-mart the day before thanksgiving and look at the poor cashiers as they deal with grouchy customers and huge lines while making barely above poverty.

Now consider that you are retired (on $1.2m or whatever) and don't have to work like that.

Just last weekend, my wife and I were at a Walmart and I expressly mentioned to her how many elderly sales clerks were present and how lucky we were not to face that unhappy prospect in our joint future.

 

[Rianne]

Just last weekend, my wife and I were at a Walmart and I expressly mentioned to her how many elderly sales clerks were present and how lucky we were not to face that unhappy prospect in our joint future.

That's when i realize, all the Bull___t we put up with over the years was not so bad compared to that. Hours scanning, bagging and putting up with frustrated shoppers who don't even take the time to say "hello." Standing on your aching feet and aching back while kids scream they didn't get the toys they wanted. Listening to a boss that tells you no day off you've been hoping for to watch your kids softball game and babysit your grand kids. Rushing to punch in before the 10 or 15 minute deadline that will get you in trouble.



Wow, I just went to a place that seems like hell.

 

[Dtail]

That's when i realize, all the Bull___t we put up with over the years was not so bad compared to that. Hours scanning, bagging and putting up with frustrated shoppers who don't even take the time to say "hello." Standing on your aching feet and aching back while kids scream they didn't get the toys they wanted. Listening to a boss that tells you no day off you've been hoping for to watch your kids softball game and babysit your grand kids. Rushing to punch in before the 10 or 15 minute deadline that will get you in trouble.



Wow, I just went to a place that seems like hell.

+1 think about it many times when checking out at Publix. I make sure there are no retirement references.

 

[Beststash]

I prefer being comfortably numb...

My favorite Pink Floyd song!!

I'm comfortable and wealthy by my standards.

 

[Choices]

We are comfortable and grateful. Many of our neighbors are land rich but money poor and still work — very hard. We are so glad not to have to man a cash register, cook burgers, snow plow, load hay, climb 20 ft ladders, etc.
It is humbling to know that there are millions of people in the US who have more than we. I only hope that they are content and grateful, too.

 

[jollystomper]

That's when i realize, all the Bull___t we put up with over the years was not so bad compared to that. Hours scanning, bagging and putting up with frustrated shoppers who don't even take the time to say "hello." Standing on your aching feet and aching back while kids scream they didn't get the toys they wanted. Listening to a boss that tells you no day off you've been hoping for to watch your kids softball game and babysit your grand kids. Rushing to punch in before the 10 or 15 minute deadline that will get you in trouble.

Wow, I just went to a place that seems like hell.

+1

Earlier this week I went to one of the national home improvement megastores to pick up a few things. On my way in I ran into a friend who had purchased some large items. A store worker who had a limp and did not seem in the best shape was trying to help her load them into her truck. I stopped to help them get everything loaded.

While loading my friend and I had small talk about my retired life. After we finished, I went into the store with the worker who asked how old I was. He was just a year younger than me, and said "retired... that is something I'll never see". He also told me that the store was hiring for holiday work, and I'd be sure to get a job, in fact he would take me to his supervisor right now if I wanted. I asked him what type of work, and he said "doing exactly what you were doing out there".

I politely declined the offer. Encounters like these remind me to be content with what I have, and how fortunate I am to have choices within that contentment.

 

[JoeWras]

Don't forget, some just want out of the house and away from their dear spouse.



My friend works at one of the home improvement big boxes from 4 to 20 hours per week just for that. Every time I see him there, he seems cranky*. When I talk to him socially, he says he loves it. So, go figure.


* - admittedly, sometimes I tweak him a bit.

 

[jollystomper]

No doubt. I have a couple of friends like that. But in this case, this man was not in the best of health, I got a strong vibe that he was working out of necessity, and that he'd like someone like me working with him for those labor-intensive activities.

 

[MarieIG]

+1

Earlier this week I went to one of the national home improvement megastores to pick up a few things. On my way in I ran into a friend who had purchased some large items. A store worker who had a limp and did not seem in the best shape was trying to help her load them into her truck. I stopped to help them get everything loaded.

While loading my friend and I had small talk about my retired life. After we finished, I went into the store with the worker who asked how old I was. He was just a year younger than me, and said "retired... that is something I'll never see". He also told me that the store was hiring for holiday work, and I'd be sure to get a job, in fact he would take me to his supervisor right now if I wanted. I asked him what type of work, and he said "doing exactly what you were doing out there".

I politely declined the offer. Encounters like these remind me to be content with what I have, and how fortunate I am to have choices within that contentment.

That is very hard work when you're old and tired. I rather work another two years at my current job, then have to face something like that in the future.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

But this was the best line: Joe Duran, chief executive officer of money manager United Capital, said he likes to think of “wealth.” After building and selling his first company, “I realized that money is nothing more than fuel,” he said. “It is a resource that lets you have choices, but if you don’t think about what you are working for, you will die rich but not live rich.”

My goal in life is to live rich without the spending a lot of money part. Our neighborhood has gotten more pricey over the years so we live in a more upscale neighborhood now without having to move or pay more for housing. Property taxes are under a half of a percent due to Prop 13. ACA premiums are under $2 a month. I get a lot of bargains and freebies as a hobby. We're going to the ballet (seat filler tickets) and a museum event (free with membership bought during a Groupon sale) this weekend and will just pay for parking for the ballet.

So I am not off flying to my home at Lake Como for the weekend kind of rich, but since I grew up near subsidized housing and a cabbage field this is still a lifestyle beyond what I thought I would ever have. I know what it is like to always have to worry about running out of money. I had three part-time jobs and went to college full-time when I was younger, so not having to worry about money or work at all is pretty great.