Why Do Billionaires Want More?

[TromboneAl]

It's said that in his early years John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) asserted his two goals in life:
- to make $100,000
- to live to be 100

To be clear, $100,000 in 1859 (when he was 20), is $2,771,265.88 in 2017 dollars.

 

[TromboneAl]

Yes, apparently my air travel chart is off.

If I try to think of how things would be different if I had a lot more money, the only thing I can think of is travel. I hate flying, but if I had a private jet ...

 

[NW-Bound]

I was thinking of how Rockefeller would love to pay for a coach seat, compared to riding the train or a stagecoach. He died in 1937.

Although he was born in 1839, he lived long enough to see the dawn of air travel. Air travel started in the late 1920s, but Rockefeller was in his 90s at that point, and would be unlikely to want to travel much, even if he could have an entire aircraft or a dirigible to himself.

 

[Elbata]

Remember before the crash being able to buy a house with no job no down payment and get a loan 20% above the home value?

This guy played it right before and after the crash. Good for him.

The guy who I found most impressive during this time was Michael Burry. What a fascinating man.

 

[MarieIG]

I never want to control anybody, so I never think of money as power. I look at money as comfort. And of course I always want more comfort. Money also means options. Options to do a lot of things. Even if I do not exercise those options, it's nice to know I can if I want to.
But to say I do not want more money is to be a hypocrite. And I hate to be called a hypocrite more than any other label.

I dunno about living as a poor man. But to live an upper-middle-class lifestyle like someone with $10M, while really having $100M would be really cool. Comfortable enough, but below-the-radar.

Well I agree, money is comfort and options. I also see it as security.

 

[Spanky]

I also see it as security.

What is the amount of money will provide security for you? In other words, how much money do you need to feel secure?

 

[MarieIG]

What is the amount of money will provide security for you? In other words, how much money do you need to feel secure?

That's a hard one. A reliable income, more coming in than going out.. Enough to support an average house, car, food, clothes, to afford heath care, a small personal care budget, to be able to visit my children and give them small gifts, to make charitable donations, to keep my kitty in style.

I would also like to be able to keep a lid on costs. My DH has more expensive tastes than I do, which makes me nervous and raises the amount I would otherwise need.

 

[brett]

I suspect that it is more about winning or succeeding than it is about the money at that point.

 

[kevdude]

Whilst a working joe, one of my clients is now a billionaire, although he wasn’t at the time I worked with him. He owns multi family properties and his goal was to be one of the top 50 owners in the US. Currently his company is top 20. So he was motivated by “moving on up”. Another client is also a billionaire, but was not at the time. He owned what was at one time the largest home builder in Hawaii and then sold it to DR Horton. After the sale, he just wanted to “stay in the game”, but moved into multi family as well.

You won’t find either of these gentlemen on any list of billionaires in the US as their companies are private and they stay under the radar. Based on that, I suspect the number of billionaires in the US (and globally for that matter) is quite a bit higher than the reported number.

Even though I will never come close to having the number I suspect is needed to comfortably fly in a private jet regularly, the first gentleman I mentioned above did fly me in his Gulfstream to see some of his properties. It certainly is the way to go.

And yes Al, I think you need to rethink your flying numbers. We’re over your chartered jet number, and there is no way we could afford that on a regular basis. In fact, we just started the first class option. Although that could be due to being frugal/cheap (potato/potahto) than anything else.

 

[Spanky]

That's a hard one. A reliable income, more coming in than going out.. Enough to support an average house, car, food, clothes, to afford heath care, a small personal care budget, to be able to visit my children and give them small gifts, to make charitable donations, to keep my kitty in style.

I would also like to be able to keep a lid on costs. My DH has more expensive tastes than I do, which makes me nervous and raises the amount I would otherwise need.

I think living "comfortably" on a 2% SWR or less would suffice for us. Obviously "comfort" has a different meaning for each of us.

 

[NW-Bound]

About the security part, I have found what helps is to look at people who have to live with less than what I have now and to try to put me in their shoes. If they can survive and live normally, then I will be able to also. That eases the fear.

WR of 2.5% right now. If we claim SS early, will get a nice boost.

 

[MarieIG]

I think living "comfortably" on a 2% SWR or less would suffice for us. Obviously "comfort" has a different meaning for each of us.

I would like a 2% SWR myself (a truly safe rate in my mind), but I am prefer to be discreet about that so as not to attack the wrath of the 4 percenters.

 

[MarieIG]

About the security part, I have found what helps is to look at people who have to live with less than what I have now and to try to put me in their shoes. If they can survive and live normally, then I will be able to also. That eases the fear.

WR of 2.5% right now. If we claim SS early, will get a nice boost.

I think about my grandmother, a widow. She lived pretty well in a rent controlled apartment in Brooklyn for about twenty years. Then the crime rate really sky rocketed in her neighborhood and she began to suffer from macular degeneration and a little dementia. That could have been really bad, but my parents took her in and treated her like a queen.

 

[omni550]

A long, but interesting read on Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, which might give you a sense of what makes him tick.

https://longreads.com/2018/03/13/the-billionaire-philanthropist/

omni