Indicators of Wealth?

[RunningBum]

I often mention my wealthy, eccentric and notoriously stingy grandfather on this forum.

When we moved into his house after his passing (and a complete renovation) we found 11 gallons (yes gallons) of his prized bourbon! "you never know if they'll stop making it..."

Almost 30 years later, I still have a gallon and a half left.

What kind of bourbon? I have over 20 bourbons in my cabinet, ranging from Jefferson's Aged at Sea and Blantons down to Evan Williams. I usually only sip the nice ones with company. It's almost more like a display in my dining room hutch.

 

[NW-Bound]

My comment was in reference to your post of accumulated liquor stock. Grand dad's wealth was exceptional and had no relation to his bourbon shelf.

I was just thinking about the thread topic, and wondering about what kind of booze it takes for 11 gallons to become an "indicator of wealth".

You are right in implying that stockpiling 11 gallons of any kind of whisky is an "indicator of eccentricity".

For wine, 11 gallons, while more than what I have on hand at any time, would not be that much for someone with a real cellar.


PS. Just found out that one can buy an entire barrel of whisky of 53 gallons from some distillers, and have it delivered to his home. That's equivalent to about 200 bottles, and costs about $10K (no volume discount). I guess it would make a good conversation piece for a whisky enthusiast, and would not be eccentric at all. Would that be considered "wealth"?

PPS. Here's the gotcha. You will need a liquor license to buy in bulk like that. Oh well.

 

[Travelwanted]

What kind of bourbon? I have over 20 bourbons in my cabinet, ranging from Jefferson's Aged at Sea and Blantons down to Evan Williams. I usually only sip the nice ones with company. It's almost more like a display in my dining room hutch.

Nice collection. Do you have any Pappy?
I have a full bottle of 15 year and about 3 shots worth left of 20 year.

 

[Winemaker]

PS. Just found out that one can buy an entire barrel of whisky of 53 gallons from some distillers, and have it delivered to his home. That's equivalent to about 200 bottles, and costs about $10K (no volume discount). I guess it would make a good conversation piece for a whisky enthusiast, and would not be eccentric at all. Would that be considered "wealth"?

PPS. Here's the gotcha. You will need a liquor license to buy in bulk like that. Oh well.

The barrel originally contained 53-55 gallons. Whiskey is not topped off weekly/monthly like wine, and will lose up to 30% of its contents.

There is a barrel of Makers Mark with my name on it.

 

[NW-Bound]

That's right. I forgot that seepage through wood will cause loss, and that spirits are initially distilled extra strong to allow for loss of alcohol while aging in the barrel.

This means that if one is not a fast drinker, it is better to buy many cases of glass bottles for storage (but one loses the conversation value). This makes me wonder how much one needs to consume to make owning one's barrel practical. Perhaps 5 gallons a year, so that a barrel will get consumed in 7 years? That's about 1 shot a day.

 

[rayinpenn]

From the song: My Maserati does 185 I lost my license now I don't drive.... Life's been good to me I know..

They've opened a Maserati dealership in my town. I believe payments run well north of $700 a month. Can I provide the address to anyone.

Evidence of wealth for sure p - When I drive by I always think to myself - just who buys them?

 

[RunningBum]

Nice collection. Do you have any Pappy?
I have a full bottle of 15 year and about 3 shots worth left of 20 year.

No Pappy. As nice as my collection is, it's still not big league.

 

[marko]

What kind of bourbon? I have over 20 bourbons in my cabinet, ranging from Jefferson's Aged at Sea and Blantons down to Evan Williams. I usually only sip the nice ones with company. It's almost more like a display in my dining room hutch.

Sadly nothing too exotic. 11 gallons of Maker's Mark in bottles of various sizes.

The old man and some friends made their own liquor during prohibition so quality and taste was secondary to just getting a good buzz on. He wasn't fussy, but if YOU wanted to buy him a glass from the top shelf, he wouldn't stop you...

In later years, I'd drive him up to (tax free) NH to buy cases of bourbon, vodka and whiskey; became a regular outing!

 

[mpeirce]

Evidence of wealth for sure p - When I drive by I always think to myself - just who buys them?

When I see certain super cars my first thought isn't "saved hard for it" but rather "drug kingpin". Especially when I'm in south Florida.

 

[W2R]

When I see certain super cars my first thought isn't "saved hard for it" but rather "drug kingpin". Especially when I'm in south Florida.

Exactly. Same here in New Orleans, either "drug kingpin" or "pimp running slavery/prostitution ring".

I don't think anybody else around here is very concerned about what make of car they are driving, or it's age.

 

[Ronstar]

When I see a super car in my town (it's only happened once), my first thought is that they are lost.

 

[Danmar]

When I see a super car in my town (it's only happened once), my first thought is that they are lost.

Or professional athlete, entertainer, dot com multi-millionaire? Thing about super cars is that most owners have paid cash as opposed to the run-of-the-mill spendthrift who borrows to buy a Vette, BMW, or Benz.

 

[kcowan]

Show me a young guy (under 60?) who does not lust for a super-car (or even a classic)?

My buddy has a 92 Ferrari and a custom garage to store it. He considers it an investment in ego and never plans to sell it.

 

[Markola]

I just think, "I hope that was his first of many $250,000s, not his first and last."


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[marko]

Or professional athlete, entertainer, dot com multi-millionaire? Thing about super cars is that most owners have paid cash as opposed to the run-of-the-mill spendthrift who borrows to buy a Vette, BMW, or Benz.

At least locally, my Mercedes dealer says that the grubbiest guys will come in, start asking about a $170,000 car, take one for a drive and then plunk down CASH.

He claims the demographic is a lot different from what you'd expect.

 

[haha]

When I see a super car in my town (it's only happened once), my first thought is that they are lost.

Growing up I lived alongside the Dixie Highway. Once when I was about 15 I came home around 1AM and there was a Jaguar roadster, an Xk 140 with Empire State plates on it, idling in a pull-off in front of my house with no one in it. Turns out some locals felt that the driver didn't belong south of the Ohio River, and ran him off the road and took out after him with tire irons.

I went to bed, never found out how this played out. I think cops arrested the northerner for disturbing the peace or something, but at least he lived.

Today, I live 2 blocks from a Ferrari/Maserati dealer, so I see plenty exotic cars. If I had that kind of money, I can tell you that I would have zero interest in a Maserati. The Ferraris are so much better looking

Ha

 

[HFWR]

Show me a young guy (under 60?) who does not lust for a super-car (or even a classic)?

My buddy has a 92 Ferrari and a custom garage to store it. He considers it an investment in ego and never plans to sell it.

I wouldn't call it lust, necessarily; I reserved that for the ladies...

But by the time I reached my peak earning years (high five figures), becoming FI was more important.

 

[NW-Bound]

Growing up I lived alongside the Dixie Highway. Once when I was about 15 I came home around 1AM and there was a Jaguar roadster, an Xk 140 with Empire State plates on it, idling in a pull-off in front of my house with no one in it. Turns out some locals felt that the driver didn't belong south of the Ohio River, and ran him off the road and took out after him with tire irons.

I went to bed, never found out how this played out. I think cops arrested the northerner for disturbing the peace or something, but at least he lived...

Good grief! I stopped caring for a fancy car decades ago, but if this "indicator of wealth" can get one in such trouble, darn, I am glad that I will be safe.

 

[RobbieB]

I am going to buy a new car before I die, the first one ever.

It's looking like a Chevy Impala or a Ford Taurus.

But then I'll have some dough for what I really want, that Zero electric motorcycle that does 0 to 60 in 3.3 seconds.

 

[aja8888]

I am going to buy a new car before I die, the first one ever.

It's looking like a Chevy Impala or a Ford Taurus.

But then I'll have some dough for what I really want, that Zero electric motorcycle that does 0 to 60 in 3.3 seconds.

Come on, Robble,I expected a hot Porsche or a Audi A8 out of you, not a run of the mill Chevy or Ford!

 

[RobbieB]

See, that's what's important to me in this life.

Doing what I want to do, not what anyone else thinks I should do -

 

[rodi]

When I see certain super cars my first thought isn't "saved hard for it" but rather "drug kingpin". Especially when I'm in south Florida.

I walk the dog on the beach in La Jolla most mornings. I regularly see Maseratis, bentleys, teslas, jags, and Ferraris. But I also see beater cars... The fancy cars are often the residents of the neighborhood by the beach. The beater cars are folks like me who drive to the beach. The beach is free/public... so being at the beach is not an indicator of wealth.

The fancy cars are probably not drug dealers... but could be CEOs of fortune 500 companies. I walk by the Irwin Jacobs house (founder of Qualcomm)and Paul Jacobs home (executive chair of Qualcom, Irwin's son and next door neighbor) when I walk on the beach. They have nice cars in their garage. They definitely qualify as *very* rich. What strikes me more is they have a guy who works for them full time, who among other things, washes their cars regularly. Nice guy (the worker) and nice cars.

 

[NW-Bound]

Show me a young guy (under 60?) who does not lust for a super-car (or even a classic)?

My buddy has a 92 Ferrari and a custom garage to store it. He considers it an investment in ego and never plans to sell it.

Here.

Saw this just now. Yep, I stopped caring about cars, high-performance or classic or otherwise since I was 40. Could be even earlier, but definitely 40.

Cars are just transportation to me, and to my wife. My sister and her husband feel the same way, and they have been FI for a while. They spent a heck of a lot of money on travel though.

I think their stash is larger than mine, but they don't even spend money on housing as I do. They show no visible "indicators of wealth".

PS. And they do not drink. My sister never does, like my wife. My BIL cannot even drink beer now. Gout. So, I am a lot richer in booze than they are.

 

[Walt34]

Show me a young guy (under 60?) who does not lust for a super-car (or even a classic)?

I'm 66 and if I won the lottery (might help if I bought a ticket once in a while) I'd have a difficult choice: Corvette or 700 hp Dodge Charger? Or both?

 

[ShokWaveRider]

That Aston Martin Vantage look quite fusible....