Stealth Wealth Moment

[Mulligan]

My ability to put up with other peoples mouth is directly in proportion to how much bigger or smaller they are to me.


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[Huston55]

I guess it depends on the specific model and your definition of 'few'. In Cincinnati a 2015 428i can be leased for $439/month. That is the advertised lease offer, not a negotiated deal.

Or, $238/Mo for a 2014 3-Series.


The Lease Outlet | Lease a BMW: 328i $306 Mo | Porsche 911 $811 Mo | Mercedes C250 $241 Mo | E350 $375 Mo

 

[RockyMtn]

I must confess I have reversed prejudice. If I see Mr. BMW I automatically assume this guys has no investable assets.

And if I know such guys in 9/10 cases that assumption is correct.

I must be the 1/10. Making assumptions of any kind is a dangerous game.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

I had someone back out of a parking space right next to me (I was in the car on a call). She scraped right down the side of my car - fortunately right on the rubberized door guards! Unfortunately, she scraped the paint right off the door guards, leaving a nice long line of primer. I politely asked for and received a copy of her insurance information. I took pictures of my car and her car for insurance purposes.

After she left, I immediately called her insurance company and filed a claim, sending the pictures along as support. A week later, her insurance company called me, telling me that she was contesting the claim and alleged that she never hit me. Having no witnesses, I thought I was out of luck, but her insurance company said that it came down to credibility. I explained that if she hadn't hit me, why would she willingly give me her insurance information and allow me to take pictures of her car (showing numerous scrapes on all 4 of her corner bumpers - meaning she was probably terrible in parking lots)? Another week later, her the insurance company called and told me they were honoring the claim and would send a check for $300.

I pocketed the check and bought a $10 bottle of touch up paint. After about 1/2 hour of painting, the door guards look pretty much brand new. Why invest $300 in an 8-year old car with 128k miles just to have a perfect paint job on door guards?

 

[travelover]

Looking at teeth makes lot of sense to me.

Works for horses, too.

 

[robnplunder]

Any similar stories from members of the forum?

I get mistaken for waiter in casual dining restaurants where waiter(ess) do not wear uniforms or aprons. On my way to and back from restroom, I get stopped and asked "can you get me some water?" Ditto in small 7-eleven type of market, e.g, I get "hey, where do you stock beers?" type of question. I just smile and say "I don't work here." Then again, they may be assuming I am rich enough to be the owner ... .

 

[38Chevy454]

I am looking forward to the days when I am retired and can wear my old garage working clothes all the time. I hate having to be dressed up, and even my fairly causal work environment, is more than I like. I am not one to be embarrassed about going tot he store looking like I have been working all day in garage or around the house.

As to the stealth wealth, I concur better to be thought of less means and have more, than be thought of with more and not have it!

 

[freedomatlast]

Dumb question, but how do you get insurance money, rather than getting your car fixed? .

Between the kids and me, we have had only incidents where the other party was 100% at fault. We take the insurance information from the other party at the scene, and promptly call their insurance company with the details. I don't involve my insurance company at all, since for most of our vehicles, we have no collision insurance (just liability) anyway. In all cases, the other party's inusrance company has promptly sent out an adjuster and a (negotiated) check is issued on the spot once they confirm there is no lien on the vehicle. If they start to delay the process, just mention a possible upcoming doctor's visit due to some pain, and this usually moves things along to a successful financial resolution very quickly.

Next, its off to the junkyard to get the parts needed and replace as necessary, and pocket and invest the rest as sweat equity.

 

[jjquantz]

I get mistaken for waiter in casual dining restaurants where waiter(ess) do not wear uniforms or aprons. On my way to and back from restroom, I get stopped and asked "can you get me some water?" Ditto in small 7-eleven type of market, e.g, I get "hey, where do you stock beers?" type of question. I just smile and say "I don't work here." Then again, they may be assuming I am rich enough to be the owner ... .

Don't wear a red polo shirt when shopping at Target. Made that mistake a couple of times.

 

[sengsational]

This thread has given me an idea for if I have an accident!

Since I usually have my mp3 player in the car (listening to podcasts of my choice instead of how X are killing Y), and the mp3 player has a voice recorder, I will activate the recorder! Problems with people changing their story might be mitigated a bit.

 

[marko]

I was impressed once when I walked into the Pfaff Porsche dealership in Toronto (I was out for a walk and was curious). I was dressed in my usual 501s and golf shirt with runners on but they treated me as if I might be laying down cash for a 911 Turbo S that day. Seems like they may have read 'The Millionaire Next Door' - well except what cars they are driving.

Luxury car dealers will tell you that nowadays, the guy with the jean shorts, T shirt, flip flops and baseball cap is the one that will drop $120K on a car and pay cash. (no, not a drug dealer either)

 

[FUEGO]

I think I told this story here once before.

DW and I were in Aldi's near our house. We live in a low to moderate income area of town, and the Aldi is frequented by those that I perceive to be of lower income. We had maybe $30-40 worth of groceries at the checkout line, including a $6 take and bake pizza. DW was pregnant with kid #3 and we had two other little ones in tow.

We usually don't dress like much if we're just going to Aldi or Walmart (as in my clothes may have been a little stained, perhaps a couple of small holes in my shirt, worn out collar, old sneakers, etc).

When I went to pay for the groceries, I couldn't remember the PIN on my debit card (I normally use credit cards, not an option at Aldi). I pulled out all the cash in my wallet and I was $6 or $7 short, so I grabbed the pizza and asked the cashier to put it back since I couldn't afford it without running to the car and grabbing $6 in change from my center console in my car (and holding up the line).

We leave the store sans pizza and proceed to our car. In a minute or two, a nice lady who looked decidedly lower middle class runs out of the store and hands us the pizza. She says "Here, enjoy the pizza. I know what it's like to be in your shoes and come up a little short at the check out line. I was there when I was pregnant with my kid too."

I tried to get her to wait while I grabbed $6 in coins from my car to reimburse her, but she insisted on making it a gift. She probably saw my beat up 14 year old Honda Civic and our family of 4 (about to be 5) and figured we needed the money.

I remember this happened shortly after we crossed the million dollar NW mark and we felt awkward about receiving handouts from someone who probably needed the money more than us.

 

[LoneAspen]

I remember this happened shortly after we crossed the million dollar NW mark and we felt awkward about receiving handouts from someone who probably needed the money more than us.

The reward of doing a kind deed for somebody (even though financially, they might not have needed it) was probably worth far more to her than any payback.

Just pay it forward to somebody else you might see in need someday

 

[2B]

DW and I were traveling by car one time I forget where now but after checking into our hotel I walked to one of the local markets to pick up a sixer. I didn't care for anything I found in their very limited premium beer section so I asked the clerk where the rest of the beverages where (it was a rather large store). Without even making eye contact he pointed over his shoulder saying "The cheap beer is over there. "

Well I never!

You were looking for the cheap beer? Right?

 

[rodi]

My husband has a story from before he met me. He was on a vacation with friends in Boston. He's an architect who likes to do pointillism drawings of architectural subjects. Boston is full of things he wanted to draw, so he'd head out solo, early in the morning to do his drawings before his travel buddies woke up. He was doing a drawing one morning and he had a dunkin' donut coffee cup next to him. He was wearing jeans and a hoodie under an denim jacket, since it was a brisk morning.

Some lady came by and commented on what a great drawing it was. She chats him up then tells him there's a group of people that will be having a breakfast at the church across the street and would he like to join them in about 20 minutes. He goes over there - and as soon as he's in the door, he realizes it's a homeless meal program. But he's not the quickest so he already has his plate full of food when he realizes this. He realizes the lady thought he was homeless. He makes a point of going over to the priest running the program and offers to pay for his meal, explaining the mistake. The priest gets a big kick out of the mistake. Hubby puts a donation in the box.

Later, he's finishing up his picture and someone else drops in a dollar to his (still partially full) dunkin' donut coffee cup.

Homeless? Or decently paid architect.... The crowds thought the former.

 

[FUEGO]

The reward of doing a kind deed for somebody (even though financially, they might not have needed it) was probably worth far more to her than any payback.

Just pay it forward to somebody else you might see in need someday

I remember we did something really nice (but small like paying for a $6 pizza) for someone else right before this happened, so we joked that karma bought us a pizza. In reality, it was the generosity of this one lady that bought us that pizza.

 

[Bestwifeever]

....decidedly lower middle class runs out of the store and hands us the pizza. She says "Here, enjoy the pizza. I know what it's like to be in your shoes and come up a little short at the check out line. I was there when I was pregnant with my kid too."

I tried to get her to wait while I grabbed $6 in coins from my car to reimburse her, but she insisted on making it a gift. She probably saw my beat up 14 year old Honda Civic and our family of 4 (about to be 5) and figured we needed the money.....

You realize that you make the same assumption about her ("decidedly lower middle class") that she made about you? She might have been just trying to save your pride by saying she knows what it's like to be in your shoes, but even if not, she could be worth multiples of the rest of us Aldi shoppers .

DH and I got back from an Aldi/Whole Foods trip last week and that evening I realized my shirt was pretty visibly inside out. D'oh!

 

[AnIntentionalRoad]

I get mistaken for waiter in casual dining restaurants where waiter(ess) do not wear uniforms or aprons. On my way to and back from restroom, I get stopped and asked "can you get me some water?" Ditto in small 7-eleven type of market, e.g, I get "hey, where do you stock beers?" type of question. I just smile and say "I don't work here." Then again, they may be assuming I am rich enough to be the owner ... .

Weird. Maybe stop wearing those corporate polo shirts with khakis.

 

[FUEGO]

You realize that you make the same assumption about her ("decidedly lower middle class") that she made about you? She might have been just trying to save your pride by saying she knows what it's like to be in your shoes, but even if not, she could be worth multiples of the rest of us Aldi shoppers .

DH and I got back from an Aldi/Whole Foods trip last week and that evening I realized my shirt was pretty visibly inside out. D'oh!

Yeah, I realized that I'm making a big assumption about her within 2 seconds after I told DW how weird it feels to receive charity from a person who might have 1/10 or 1/100 our NW. She might be a millionaire looking for a bargain just like me for all I know. We do live (and shop) in a somewhat lower income area, so it's unlikely this person was a stealth millionaire, but you never know.

 

[FUEGO]

I get mistaken for waiter in casual dining restaurants where waiter(ess) do not wear uniforms or aprons. On my way to and back from restroom, I get stopped and asked "can you get me some water?" Ditto in small 7-eleven type of market, e.g, I get "hey, where do you stock beers?" type of question. I just smile and say "I don't work here." Then again, they may be assuming I am rich enough to be the owner ... .

This has happened to me. Multiple times at walmart. I guess I have a decent number of khaki shorts and dark blue polo shirts, so I fit the dress code at WM on occasion. Sometimes I'll just respond and tell them "past the auto department, left, then go all the way to the front."

One time our whole family dressed to match the walmart dress code, totally by accident. Sam Walton did not rise from the grave to thank us or anything, but it was a bit weird. I've learned to switch to a non-blue polo shirt when shopping at walmart.

 

[REWahoo]

This has happened to me. Multiple times at walmart. I guess I have a decent number of khaki shorts and dark blue polo shirts, so I fit the dress code at WM on occasion. Sometimes I'll just respond and tell them "past the auto department, left, then go all the way to the front."

See 1:30 in for a similar experience...

 

[luckydude]

This has happened to me. Multiple times at walmart. I guess I have a decent number of khaki shorts and dark blue polo shirts, so I fit the dress code at WM on occasion. Sometimes I'll just respond and tell them "past the auto department, left, then go all the way to the front."

One time our whole family dressed to match the walmart dress code, totally by accident. Sam Walton did not rise from the grave to thank us or anything, but it was a bit weird. I've learned to switch to a non-blue polo shirt when shopping at walmart.

I worked at a Kmart for a while to earn some spending money when I was in college, and even after I quit, I would occasionally stop by the store to buy stuff and say hello to some ex-colleagues. On those occasions when I saw someone lost or looking for something, I would direct them to the right place even though I no longer worked there. Yes, I was a dedicated (ex)employee.

Lucky Dude

 

[luckydude]

Yeah, I realized that I'm making a big assumption about her within 2 seconds after I told DW how weird it feels to receive charity from a person who might have 1/10 or 1/100 our NW. She might be a millionaire looking for a bargain just like me for all I know. We do live (and shop) in a somewhat lower income area, so it's unlikely this person was a stealth millionaire, but you never know.

I worked with a guy on my first job right out of college with MegaCorp. He was also a recent college graduate and looked and acted like the rest of us, totally unassuming and very hard working.

One day a group of us went out to lunch together and as he pulled out of his wallet, we noticed that he had several paychecks that still hadn't been deposited (back in those days they still handed you a check). We teased him about it but later someone found out that he came from old money on both sides of the family. His parents were heirs to a couple of the family fortunes that even today would be instantly recognizable. One of his forebears donated land to local government and a street was named after the family. He had a trust fund of x million, and we eventually took to calling him the x-million-dollar man.

But he never flaunted or talked about his money. He drove an average car and worked hard and earned a decent paycheck like the rest of the us. The only difference was that he didn't bother to deposit the paychecks

 

[Buckeye]

In heavy city traffic I was sideswiped by a Cook County state's attorney in her county car. She was very apologetic, saying she was distracted because she spent her day laying off people at the office. Because of the traffic, I waited to the next day to get the police report.

When we went to settle, she completely lied and said it was my fault and since we didn't have a police witness on the scene I had no proof otherwise.

This is why I always call the police. A friend had something like this happen and she ended up paying for his damage even though he was the cause of the accident.

 

[Amethyst]

I never get mistaken for the help, and I don't get snubbed in stores. Even my small, cheap car doesn't seem to fool anybody.

I used to, though, when younger. In fact, when I was 20, a store owner accused me of stealing a sterling silver necklace I'd left with him on layaway (anyone remember layaway?) He reduced me to tears, and when he finally located the piece, which he'd naturally misplaced, he was so ashamed of himself (I think) that he wouldn't apologize.

Amethyst