How do you define "rich"

[Pavo]

Hello all -

I've been toying with the definition for a while now, especially after some people have told me that I am 'rich.'

How do you define rich?

And when I ask that, I am speaking strictly in assets of monetary value or corporeal richness. I personally do believe that you can be rich in many ways - emotionally, ethereal(ly), mentally, spiritually - as well as bankrupt.

I think it's all relative - I'm rich when compared to the family of 6 in Nepal, but am I rich when compared to a colleague at work? Is it determined by net worth alone? Number of properties you own? Is there a tangible value or benchmark figure to work off of?

Interested in others' thoughts.

 

[REWahoo]

I think it's all relative -

Yep. No one around here thinks I'm rich...except my relatives.

 

[Eyerishgold]

The term "rich" is so objective that it's difficult to define. As you state, it's all relative. There was a thread started recently saying that $5 mm is the new $1 mm. That's pretty accurate in my estimation. I think having $5 million in investable assets makes your "rich" or "wealthy" by anybody's standards. With $5 million you might not be as rich as some are but I think you're deifnitely rich.

 

[Rustic23]

The poverty level in the us is between $13,000 and $20,000 depending on the number of people in th family. The medium family income is around $48,000.

So what is rich? I'll bet to those making $13,000 the medium income folks are rich. However, in no way would Bill or Warren consider those with $48,000 incomes rich.

Therefore, IMHO, rich is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[bbbamI]

How do I define rich?

When the money works for me instead of me working for the money.

 

[FinanceGeek]

bbbamI has got the right idea, I'd define it as "having enough assets to meet one's current and future spending needs while following a conservative investment strategy".

A reasonable operating definition might be getting to the high 90s on FireCalc.

 

[mickeyd]

I'm rich.

Of course, I never realized it until ER became a reality and I found myself saying "Damn, I'll never get around to spending all of this if it takes a lifetime"...and it will.

 

[retire@40]

How do I define rich?

When the money works for me instead of me working for the money.

Thank you William E. Thomason.

 

[retire@40]

Rich is when your glass is completely full. It all depends on the size of your glass.

 

[W2R]

When I was younger, I thought that being rich meant having an income maybe three standard deviations above the mean.

Now, looking around me, I think that being rich, or poor, is primarily a state of mind.

 

[citrine]

For me rich means:

Able to save for retirement.
Able to pay all of my bills.
Having a diverse group of friends and personal interests.
Having a sense of self.
Having spirituality.
Having peace of mind and serenity.

 

[brewer12345]

Rich to me means being wealthy enough that you really don't have to care about money ever again.

 

[unclemick]

Rich to me means being wealthy enough that you really don't have to care about money ever again.

ER - as in not having a J-O-B and no intention of thinking about one, let alone looking.

- 14th year .

 

[Meadbh]

For me rich means:

Able to save for retirement.
Able to pay all of my bills.
Having a diverse group of friends and personal interests.
Having a sense of self.
Having spirituality.
Having peace of mind and serenity.

That is a perfect definition of "rich", thank you Citrine!
I'm batting 4 out of 6 right now but need to work on #3 and #6.

 

[Sam]

To me "rich" and "financially independent" are synonymous. So a person is rich when he has enough wealth to support his lifestyle, be it 6K/year or 600K/year.

 

[Bigritchie]

How do I define rich?

When the money works for me instead of me working for the money.

Exactly!

 

[Rustic23]

If this thread was 'What is well off', I may agree with the if you are FI you are well off. IMHO rich is a different creature. There are people on this board that appear to get by on less than $35,000 annually. For me that's not rich. As all there financial desires appear to be fulfilled I would say they are financially well off. Not rich. Most of the members of Congress are rich. Well over a several million in assets and income.

For me rich is still relative, and, to some extent that is the problem. While I don't have the exact stats, folks making more that $100,000 a year were in the top 5% of the nation, and over $250,000 were in the top 1%.

I have seen several post on this board from those that pro-port to have incomes above $100,000 and some over $200,000. My guess is they feel well off, but not particularly rich. However, to those living on less than $35,000, I'll bet those folks are rich.

 

[travelover]

Maybe this is old news:

http://opencrs.cdt.org/rpts/RL30922_20060522.pdf

Page 15 shows median and average savings by age group for 2001 and 2004.

For me it gives some perspective of how "rich" I am, relative to the rest of the country.

 

[Miss_Lala]

Maybe this is old news:

http://opencrs.cdt.org/rpts/RL30922_20060522.pdf

Page 15 shows median and average savings by age group for 2001 and 2004.

For me it gives some perspective of how "rich" I am, relative to the rest of the country.

I hate it when the age range is "35 and under". Being 11 years under that, yes, my accounts are less. I wish they at least had a catagory of 30 and under.

 

[travelover]

I hate it when the age range is "35 and under". Being 11 years under that, yes, my accounts are less. I wish they at least had a catagory of 30 and under.

Sure, rub it in to us old coots!

 

[Enuff2Eat]

RICH is....

Rich is ...

When you really got FREE time.

Having a million dollars in the bank and busy as hell is NOT rich.


A Retiree is Rich.


Enuff

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i'm rich enough but not rich. rich to me doesn't pay for reality, rather it buys the fantasy. rich is the 300 million dollar lottery, not shared with three other winners, which pays for that 100 footer and the crew to run it. there are relatively very few rich people; but there are lots of people who live richly.

 

[CuppaJoe]

This is just one aspect of "rich" which comes up all-too-frequently in my personal and business life: The rich have options others do not linked to having a spare $15,000 or so a month to keep a seriously ill person at home. So their moral dilemmas can be different. If it is a child who is ill, the marriage might end. People will criticize either way, "you should have kept him at home, you should have left him in the hospital."

 

[W2R]

Maybe this is old news:

http://opencrs.cdt.org/rpts/RL30922_20060522.pdf

Page 15 shows median and average savings by age group for 2001 and 2004.

For me it gives some perspective of how "rich" I am, relative to the rest of the country.

Look how well prepared the median 55-64 year old was in 2004, compared with 2001! We had the biggest increase in median retirement account value of any age bracket. Maybe that is due to the very welcome help of the "over-50 catchup" as well as higher contribution limits.

Another thing that interests me is how badly SKEWED the data is. No bell curve, this. The mean was more than twice the median in my age bracket, indicating to me that a few had quite a lot in their accounts, bumping the mean up but not the median.

 

[travelover]

.......Another thing that interests me is how badly SKEWED the data is. No bell curve, this. The mean was more than twice the median in my age bracket, indicating to me that a few had quite a lot in their accounts, bumping the mean up but not the median.

Yes! And that is the data for those who actually have an account -which for 65 and older was only 36.3%