why do you want to be rich???

[Rustic23]

Enuff,
The ‘family income’ structure, if graphed would look somewhat like a pyramid or a pear. There are a lot more folks at the bottom than at the top. There is only one Bill Gates, and from there it spreads. At the bottom there are lots of people living under bridges. More than we want to admit. If you sliced this pear in the middle, where would the income line be? My guess is about $50,000. Just because that may be the average income, does not mean folks are living it up, in fact my guess would be like you said, pay check to pay check.

Your point is well takes as to what makes up this figure. Those that have seen my earlier post know I don’t trust many of the statistics quoted. (Except Marshac’s I now know where he gets his from)

We currently live on about $60,000 and have managed to save enough to retire. Our living expanses will be less than $50,000 upon retirement. Major difference is, none of our income will not be subject to SS tax, with hard monthly expenses of less than $3,000. On the other hand I figure my daughter and son-in-law’s income somewhere around $150,000 a year, and they live pay check to pay check.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

So I can have...one...millllion...dollars!

Then I'm going to buy some sharks with frickin laser beams on their heads.

 

[ebisky]

For me and Bobby Mcgee, Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose. The notion that you have to be rich, as in have a lot of money, to be free is misguided, to say the least. If you are defining freedom as the ability to buy that Porsche or not, etc. you are only talking about the freedom to consume. My definition of monetary freedom would come closer to having the bills paid and lunch money in my pocket. But even that definition is falls short. Freedom is more tied to truth, inner peace and contentment than it is to money. The rich can be shackled while the poor can be free. Get rich if you want to. I have no problem with that if that's what you want to do, but don't expect it to automatically make you free, happy or any of the other things that are truly important in the long run.

setab

Just because you have freedom doesn't mean you'll be happy. Freedom is about not having restrictions, not happiness.

"Freedom is more tied to truth, inner peace and contentment than it is to money" Apply your theory to any people or group of people who have been enslaved. I'm sure they would have liked their freedom over any inner peace or contentment they had. Frederick Douglass actually literally acquired enough freedom/money from the sale of his book, "Narratives of a life" to have freedom and no longer be a slave. The best of both worlds is to have inner peace & be free, yet again, any inner peace that results from the refusal to acquire more freedom/money is due to the structure of society.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

oh one more thing. naked maid would be nice too.

Funny you should mention that...

This service is available in Edmonton, Alberta. (Do not underrate the ingenuity of Canadians! I am constantly being amazed. When the rules are different, the game is different!)

Ed The Gypsy,
Stranger in a Strange Land

 

[TromboneAl]

I don't think that naked maids are very expensive.

 

[kz]

Rich=happiness.

Happiness=giving money away

I want to be rich in order to give money away. It runs in my family.
And it's not b.s. to us.

 

[Enuff2Eat]

kz

i don't mean to give back is b.s. literally. it's just a "political" cool and right things to say and people tends to say that so often withOUT a deep honesty.

rustic23

i agree with you 100%. higher incomer is taxed to death and sometime "think" that they make big bucks and therefore living a pretty high live style and live "paycheck to paycheck".

enuff

 

[Nords]

"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do."
                        -- Bob Dylan

That's rich enough for me.  

I don't think that naked maids are very expensive.

I'm not so sure about that.  My extensive "naked maid" research on Google indicates that totally naked maids are apparently in short supply-- the rest all seemed to be wearing something.

Although many of the websites appeared eager to exchange offers with me...

 

[Bruce]

Independence! 8)

 

[SC]

The notion that you have to be rich, as in have a lot of money, to be free is misguided, to say the least. If you are defining freedom as the ability to buy that Porsche or not, etc. you are only talking about the freedom to consume. My definition of monetary freedom would come closer to having the bills paid and lunch money in my pocket. But even that definition is falls short. Freedom is more tied to truth, inner peace and contentment than it is to money. The rich can be shackled while the poor can be free. Get rich if you want to. I have no problem with that if that's what you want to do, but don't expect it to automatically make you free, happy or any of the other things that are truly important in the long run.

This is one of the most intelligent paragraphs I've read. Kudos setab.

 

[Gone4Good]

If I wanted to be "rich" I'd never stop working.

 

[Eagle43]

Compared to several of my family, I am rich. Why do I want to be? Independence. I just love being independent. And money grants that. Well, money and health. Got both, for the moment.

 

[audreyh1]

If I wanted to be "rich" I'd never stop working.

Bingo!

Audrey

 

[UVaOK]

Compared to several of my family, I am rich. Why do I want to be? Independence. I just love being independent. And money grants that. Well, money and health. Got both, for the moment.

Excellent point about health. I was always told that the first true digit of your net worth is best represented by your health; you can accumulate and attach as many financial zeros as you desire to that first digit, but without it, you're still left with 0. Without your health, being rich doesn't mean much.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I don't think that naked maids are very expensive.

As it turns out AND BEFORE I MET MY WIFE it happened every now and then at no additional charge.

 

[Enuff2Eat]

Excellent point about health. I was always told that the first true digit of your net worth is best represented by your health; you can accumulate and attach as many financial zeros as you desire to that first digit, but without it, you're still left with 0. Without your health, being rich doesn't mean much.

agree that health is number One but not 100% true for everybody. There are millions of healthy people are broke and wish that they are better off. i heard somewhere that 70% of divorce in US are related to finance...

enuff

money can not buy health and happiness but it makes life easier and "sometime" less stress means more happiness...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yep, the vast majority of divorces are due to financial issues or over sex.

I guess if you're paying for sex, you've got no problems.

 

[Sam]

An older, wiser friend of mine once said: It's not shameful to be poor. But there is nothing honorable about it either.

Sam

 

[Spanky]

Richness is a state of mind.

 

[CybrMike]

I think being "rich" is an illusion. If you have $5 million than you think rich is $50 million. If you have $1 million then you probably think $5 or $10 million is rich.

 

[Spanky]

I think being "rich" is an illusion. If you have $5 million than you think rich is $50 million. If you have $1 million then you probably think $5 or $10 million is rich.

It's all relative. Compared to Bill Gate, almost everyone is poor. Comparison is the cause of most unhapiness. The constant strife for more will keep us dissatified with what we already have.

 

[retire@40]

Therefore, being rich means being happy with what you have.

 

[kz]

Thanks, Enuff2Eat.

I totally understand the "politically cool" comment you made. I've seen what you're talking about and don't like it. Too many fakes out there who just want to be heard and seen.

I really do like giving money away. I just get a kick out of it.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Compared to Bill Gates, almost everyone is poor.

But we have better haircuts, and I'll bet not one of us married the woman who was the project leader on one of the worst software products ever...

 

[Sheryl]

Therefore, being rich means being happy with what you have.

I like the saying,"Happiness is wanting what you have, not having what you want."