How much do you need to be wealthy in America?

[ncbill]

So, at 52, wanting to retire at 53, I'm thinking if I work One More Year, I can buy a house instead of a condo, and if I work 2 more years, I can buy a house AND a Lamborghini. Then I'd feel 'tapped out' at only having $2MM in investments and $100K income. Or I could work 5 more years and add more than $1M to the pot, but then I'd be 57 and miss out on my remaining healthiest years. I think I'll settle for FIRE at 53, a condo and a Alpha Romeo 4c.

Lease it.

Fun-to-drive but not fun-to-own luxury vehicles are best leased.

 

[Fleur58]

With all the rich people who saved a lot of money to FIRE and/or are rolling in big pensions and SS--its easy to feel inadequate even if you do have a million or more--which someone will quickly point out its not nearly enough and definitely is not wealthy and they have way more. All of this comparing with other people who saved money can be stress inducing . What is the point of all the constant head banging on these Money type sites?
IMO--You are wealthy if you have enough to live comfortably AND you have the health to spend it. What good is sitting on millions if you are sickly and confined to a wheelchair or chained to your doctor appointments each month? The comfortable number varies according to your priorities and needs.

 

[HI Bill]

Congrats. Then you will be one of the "idle rich". Which is even better than being wealthy. Not all the wealthy are idle.

Thanks...but like many here, I won't be idle. I'll be travelling, diving, writing articles and taking underwater photos to go with those. Not so much to earn money, but to share my love of the ocean and to keep myself busy!

 

[HI Bill]

But ya'll might need to saddle up out there. That nuisance might be the next St. Helen's or Pinatubo. But def not wishing that on anyone/anywhere.

Thanks...the erupting island is 200 miles away, and is a shield, or strato volcano. Not a plug dome like Mt. St. Helen's. We might get a bit of SO2 or ash, but that's about it...Hawaii Island on the other hand, is in for a bit of a rough ride, IMHO.

 

[HI Bill]

You are wealthy if you have enough to live comfortably AND you have the health to spend it. What good is sitting on millions if you are sickly and confined to a wheelchair or chained to your doctor appointments each month?

Yep. Watching my mother die in February at age 80 hastened my desire to 'get on with the rest of my life' and to decide what's really important. As one person said on this forum, there's no need to be the richest person in the cemetery (something like that).

 

[Major Tom]

Just a few days ago, was discussing pet names with some friends. One had named his cat ****head. He really loves that cat.

I'm pretty sure I can guess what the cat's name is. That's funny! You just reminded me of a recording I heard the other day of Steve Martin talking about the time he washed his cat. It won't be as humorous if I transcribe it here, so I won't try.

Talking of cats. I was telling a friend recently how much my 3 furry gals cost me to have. I guesstimated a rough monthly total including not just food and litter, but vet bills too - averaged over the life of all 3 kitties. It wasn't a fortune, but it certainly isn't an insignificant amount. Once in a blue moon, I think that if I didn't have the cats, I'd have more money to spend on other things. Then I immediately realize what great value they are, because without them, my home wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun, and I'd really miss the company. Not that you can put a value on life but, to a frugal fellow like me, my kitties enrich my life far beyond what I spend on them. To get back to the spirit of the thread, this makes me a wealthy person indeed.

 

[Gumby]

By all objective measures, the young wife and I are wealthy. But it seems to me that our life is much the same as it was 25 years ago when we weren't.

I have mentioned it before, but it bears repeating - the wealthiest I have ever felt was the day (probably 37 years ago) when I walked into the grocery and bought what looked tasty, without knowing or caring how much it cost. That was most certainly not the case when I was a child; we were poor and sometimes hungry. My aspiration when I was growing up was not to be rich. Rather, I just didn't want to be poor like my parents. Buying what I wanted at the grocery seemed a good yardstick.

 

[street]

By all objective measures, the young wife and I are wealthy. But it seems to me that our life is much the same as it was 25 years ago when we weren't.

I have mentioned it before, but it bears repeating - the wealthiest I have ever felt was the day (probably 37 years ago) when I walked into the grocery and bought what looked tasty, without knowing or caring how much it cost. That was most certainly not the case when I was a child; we were poor and sometimes hungry. My aspiration when I was growing up was not to be rich. Rather, I just didn't want to be poor like my parents. Buying what I wanted at the grocery seemed a good yardstick.

I can relate to your response. I knew what poor meant from an early age also. We never went hungry and had only what we needed nothing more. I consider myself wealthy and blessed in life. There is a lot more people with a lot more money then I have but I'm wealthy in many ways.

 

[unclemick]

It should be pretty clear by now: Wealthy is someone who has a lot more money than you have.

Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness. At a much younger age when I got a raise/promotion I practiced catch and release in the pursuit of happiness(counted/equated with wealth). Ratcheting up the expectation to a higher level of wealth.

Now after 24 going 25 years of ER 'with enough' it's a WAR to de - clutter to get rid of stuff 'that one has to maintain/repair/pay taxes, license, insure' so that you are the manager instead of the stuff managing you.

The ultimate horror would be to inherit a mansion with servants, grounds keepers and all the service required. Or perhaps a yacht having experienced plain old boat ownership in my youth.

heh heh heh -

 

[NW-Bound]

Might be lack of creativity on my part, can't imagine what I would spend that kind of money on that would actually make a difference in my quality of life.

That's $2000 USD per waking hour.

Anything about $10k per month I'm already well into frivolous territory by my standards.

I ran across some data published by CapRelo (Capital Relocation Services) that shows the average gross and take-home incomes in several developed countries. I was surprised as how low the average annual income was in several Western countries.

In the following list, I have sorted some representative countries in the order of take-home pay in US dollars.

Country|Gross Pay|Take-Home
Russia|$9,720|$8,456
Romania|$9,480|$8,532
Sweden|$46,804|$22,410
Denmark|$64,310|$28,227
France | $40,718 | $28,503
Germany | $42,369 | $29,685
Japan | $39,089 | $35,279
Canada | $48,688 | $35,299
UK | $46,252 | $40,169
Ireland | $56,787 | $42,322
Australia | $59,538 | $46,781
USA | $64,154 | $52,344
Switzerland | $85,718 | $84,006

Note how Denmark's tax rate is sky-high. The Swiss tax rate is very low, and they take home the most money but their cost of living is famously high too.

I was surprised to see the Irish do so well compared to the Swedes, the Danes, French, and Germans.

The above are developed countries, and people in developing countries would be down to a couple thousands if not hundreds of dollars a year. So, one does not have to spend as much as $10K/month to feel wealthy.

See: https://info.caprelo.com/blog/tax-rates-by-country.

 

[candrew]

''Wealth is passed down from generation to generation. Rich is something you could lose with a crazy son with a drug habit.''

Chris Rock

 

[iloveyoga]

I can relate to your response. I knew what poor meant from an early age also. We never went hungry and had only what we needed nothing more. I consider myself wealthy and blessed in life. There is a lot more people with a lot more money then I have but I'm wealthy in many ways.

I love buying groceries and not worrying about the prices. It's the best money I spend every week!

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I like being able to go into a store and know I can buy whatever I want, even if it is only the dollar store.

We live in a Whole Foods kind of neighborhood. WF is the most expensive but the other stores are not too much less. I used to spend $10K+ more a year than I do now for the same kinds of foods so price shopping, discovering 99 Cents Only and Grocery Outlet and having the time to cook more from scratch has been pretty cool for our retirement budget. I got a coupon in my email today for $1.27 for one avocado at a neighborhood retail grocery store when yesterday I bought a bag of avocados at 99 Cents Only for $1.99.

 

[aja8888]

I like being able to go into a store and know I can buy whatever I want, even if it is only the dollar store.

We live in a Whole Foods kind of neighborhood. WF is the most expensive but the other stores are not too much less. I used to spend $10K+ more a year than I do now for the same kinds of foods so price shopping, discovering 99 Cents Only and Grocery Outlet and having the time to cook more from scratch has been pretty cool for our retirement budget. I got a coupon in my email today for $1.27 for one avocado at a neighborhood retail grocery store when yesterday I bought a bag of avocados at 99 Cents Only for $1.99.

Just curious, but how many avocado's come in the bag?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Just curious, but how many avocado's come in the bag?

I counted them just for you - 15 small avocados (2 pounds).

 

[NW-Bound]

15 small avocados for $2 is a heck of a good deal. Where I am, the typical sale is 3 for $1. Once in a while, during the season, 5 for $1.

I like these small avocados as they are just the right size for one serving, and we eat one a day. Sometimes, we even share one.

It is great in the US that food cost is so low. If one knows how to shop, the food expenses should be a small part of the total budget, and one does not even have to be a millionaire.

PS. We do not eat as much as we used to. So, I derive the pleasure from cooking and learning new dishes, in order to complement the joy of eating.

 

[Lakewood90712]

This is wealthy

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Being Healthy, is being Wealthy in America. You can easily end up broke if you are not.

 

[Freedom56]

Wealth is all relative. But this article gives some good advice.

https://www.financialsamurai.com/th...guide-to-staying-invisible-from-society-rage/

 

[aja8888]

I counted them just for you - 15 small avocados (2 pounds).

Great deal!

 

[JoeWras]

I love buying groceries and not worrying about the prices. It's the best money I spend every week!

To me, this is the best answer here as to what being rich is.

 

[COcheesehead]

Someone told me a long time ago, being rich was having choices. I always liked that definition.

 

[NW-Bound]

Someone told me a long time ago, being rich was having choices. I always liked that definition.

Yes.

As in "Do I take the usual 1st class seat to Paris for this weekend trip, or do I blow some dough and charter a private jet?"

I am definitely not rich. Still trying to get my wife to go for business class seats, let alone first class. Private jet? Not in this life.

 

[street]

^ yep that is a great answer.

 

[SnowBound]

To me, this is the best answer here as to what being rich is.

So: What about "those folks" that don't have to even go shopping. They open the frig and the pantry and the food they desire is already stocked for them. Are they the Mega Rich? Are they less rich if someone behind them says "make sure you get some broccoli with that"?