In regards to how one perceives oneself as being wealthy or not, using Joe Heller's definition - I am somewhere in the middle and it has no relation to my actual net worth or investable assets. I felt 'wealthy' as a teenager 50 years ago when I could buy 6 gallons of gas for $2. Back then, the summer job I worked at paid the princely sum of $2.19/hour.
In the ensuing years, after college and other training, I worked more hours than most. I recently calculated just how many hours I worked in my lifetime - excluding all hours worked before college graduation (because of part-time/summer/winter break irregularities). By the time I retired nearly a decade ago, I had worked 125,000 hours. That is the equivalent of 62.5 years of full time work.
In my first years, I essentially worked for FREE - just to get the knowledge and experience. After that, I had no choice but to work overtime for decades, often sacrificing many things along the way. In retrospect, I enjoyed what I did for a long time, but toward the end, it was merely a grind.
I don't need or want for most things, yet I am amazed at the modern day mentality of people expecting something for nothing - as if the world owes them something - so they can have (what they perceive to be) the 'finer' things in life.
Recently the weather was inclement so I went to a high end mall to go 'window shopping.' By the end of that visit, I did not feel wealthy at all - even though my net worth was significantly higher than it was 50 years ago.
Yes, wealth is a perception and it fluctuates. I'm keeping my feet on the ground and am, for the most part, content with life. My investments are pretty much on a very conservative autopilot. I fully expect to run out of life long before I run out of money.
I wonder if the next generation will have any idea what the true cost of their inheritance really was (to paraphrase Alec Guinness' character in a 1965 movie)?
I doubt it. I'm sure that I am a member of the second generation of 'shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves' and, for now at least, I have enough.