How do the young rich avoid solitude, fill their time?

[omni550]

The recent thread "Coping with Excessive Solitude" got me to wondering about people who are wealthy at a 'younger age'. This might be due to being a trust fund kid, coming into a large inheritance, making it big at some endeavor, etc. For talking purposes, let's call them the YR ('young rich').

Since many of us are/were worker bees, we got a certain amount of social interaction from our workplaces.

As many YRs have never been worker bees, what do the YR do for their social interactions to avoid excessive solitude? Especially if they are introverts and/or single?

It might be my imagination, but I'm thinking that in the past, private clubs in big cities filled a niche where the moneyed (of any age) could hang out with others of their ilk. Those venues seem to be either drying up or not necessarily where a YR might choose to spend their time socializing. If so, what do the YRs do in this day and age?

omni

 

[Texas Proud]

I knew a guy who hung out with YR trust fund babies....

They went to private schools.... went to other places where 'we' do not go... there is ample opportunity for them to get to know one another and do what they want to do....


As an example (and remember, this was in the 80s), my guy was golfing with his 'buddies' and they started to talk about an investment.... he asked about it and wanted to invest in it with them.... then found out that minimum was $25,000.... he was not a TR baby and did not have anywhere near that amount of money....

 

[Senator]

Think Charlie Sheen, Lamar Odom, Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus. They all find plenty to do.

 

[Sunset]

That is what Milan used to be for.

Now there are a ton of private places (why risk rubbing shoulders with the unwashed?)

Billionaire Vacation Playgrounds : Luxury Travel : Travel Channel

It all sounds pretty nice.....

 

[Midpack]

IME when you're rich, young or not, you buy friends whether intentional or not unless you consciously choose otherwise. Once others know you're rich, new "friends" will come out of the woodwork. The challenge is choosing wisely from among the candidate friends.

I've known several cases, I am a reluctant acquaintance with someone of considerable means right now. It's obvious to the rest of us who his real friends are, but seemingly he's oblivious. He is retiring at the end of this year, he may be in for a rude awakening when his social influence wanes and if/when stops spending lavishly.

 

[stepford]

Im my youth I used to hang out with a crew that included a bunch of TFBs (trust fund babies). They seemed just as happy chasing girls and doing outdoor sports as the rest of us. Just typical 20-something dudes - if anything happier/mellower than the rest of us since they could do this 7 days a week without that pesky "work" thing.

 

[Texas Proud]

IME when you're rich, young or not, you buy friends whether intentional or not unless you consciously choose otherwise. Once others know you're rich, new "friends" will come out of the woodwork. The challenge is choosing wisely from among the candidate friends.

I've known several cases, I am a reluctant acquaintance with someone of considerable means right now. It's obvious to the rest of us who his real friends are, but seemingly he's oblivious. He is retiring at the end of this year, he may be in for a rude awakening when his social influence wanes and if/when stops spending lavishly.

So does that put you on the non-friend side

 

[Midpack]

So does that put you on the non-friend side

Yes, though we're not friends to begin with, we're acquaintances as I said. Were it not for a single common interest, we'd never even know each other.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Jamie Johnson (Johnson and Johnson heir) has made a couple of documentaries on the subject of trust funds kids like him.

One was Born Rich. I found it interesting. It is available on Hulu:
Watch Born Rich Online | Hulu

Two different relatives of mine (not rich - just regular Joes) who do volunteer work at nonprofits have billionaires in their groups, though they not young - they are all retired. So at least some of the super rich are looking for good uses for their time and community involvement just like many of the rest of us.

 

[Bamaman]

At Friday afternoon happy hours in Atlanta's exclusive Buckhead suburb, the Y/R are out in force trolling for Miss Americas that are also out in force. The ladies are also trolling for Y/R's of the opposite sex. Let me just say they're a very attractive bunch of people.

After all, the Y/R's don't have to settle for ugly spouses. And those that didn't get prenuptial agreements later wish they had more solitude rather than get into the chase.

 

[splitwdw]

Don't know about your area but here young rich (nephew) stay out late at clubs and sleep late, belong to private clubs (gun, golf and hunt), fox hunting, travel to resorts, go to theater, go snow skiing, go boating, etc. If they don't run with a rich group they treat their friends and family. He worked for his money. Sold his business at 28 and is enjoying himself. He says he's bored sometimes.

 

[Markola]

At Friday afternoon happy hours in Atlanta's exclusive Buckhead suburb, the Y/R are out in force trolling for Miss Americas that are also out in force. The ladies are also trolling for Y/R's of the opposite sex. Let me just say they're a very attractive bunch of people.

After all, the Y/R's don't have to settle for ugly spouses. And those that didn't get prenuptial agreements later wish they had more solitude rather than get into the chase.

+1 Bamaman. Holy smokes, is that ever true. I grew up in GA but left after college, in large part because I was intimidated by that hyper-competitive Buckhead meat market scene, nor did I see for myself a future life revolving around church and the Dawgs. I know there are regular ladies there, too, but I wasn't meeting them. Instead, I went west and married a nice, real Midwestern girl who thinks my accent is "exotic" and that I'm "interesting". I haven't corrected her. Also, the upper midwest culture frowns on debt-supported conspicuous consumption, while Atlanta thrives on it. Hence, I'm heading toward ER about the time many of those former meat marketeers are headed to Buckhead's apparent hundreds of plastic surgeons, which I notice when home are the absolute heaviest advertisers in all the free Buckhead lifestyle mags. To each their own, I reckon.


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[Danmar]

This thread seems a little silly to me. Just another opportunity to criticize wealthy people I guess. Seems like an unusual preoccupation with the wealthy.

Anyway, not sure about billionaires, as I don't know any, but the ordinary wealthy do things that you would expect: nice trips, nice restaurants, nice cars, nice clothes, nice clubs. Most work or volunteer at least when young. Most have at least some "ordinary" friends and display the same spectrum of social behaviour that you see with less wealthy people.

 

[Greencheese]

As a young millennial I do have a friend I met in college who is a trust fund baby (albeit it's not big enough to never work) and a few other friends who came from very high net worth homes.

Most of them do what everyone else wants to as well. They visit their favorite bars, restaurants, want a new phone, and generally like to have fun with their friends. The only difference I see is the things they want/buy are nicer (Honda civic vs BMW and $500 vs $5,000 bike) and the occasional thing that just costs more, like owning a boat. They tend to use the same dating apps as my other friends, drink various craft beers, watch the same movies, and want greasy pizza at 2am after being out all night.

Will these things change in a decade or so when income levels start to produce a wide differences in living situations? Who knows, but for now they're just nice people who buy stuff that just costs more than the things I'm used to buying. But hey, free boating is a pretty nice perk in exchange for $30 of beer and Doritos

 

[FIREd]

I am not a trust fund baby but I did retire at a younger age. Thankfully, I am quite a solitary animal (introvert) and find plenty with which to keep myself busy. But I am not a hermit and I enjoy some daily human interaction. For that, I do what everyone else does to get their fill of social interactions, I spend time with friends and family (mostly on the weekends), or I go out. I live in a very densely populated area so I do not need to go very far to be surrounded by loads of people with whom I can choose to engage, or not (at the park, the library, lunch, etc...). I have no desire to belong to any social club as I find the idea repulsive.

 

[Sunset]

This thread seems a little silly to me. Just another opportunity to criticize wealthy people I guess. Seems like an unusual preoccupation with the wealthy.

Anyway, not sure about billionaires, as I don't know any, but the ordinary wealthy do things that you would expect: nice trips, nice restaurants, nice cars, nice clothes, nice clubs. Most work or volunteer at least when young. Most have at least some "ordinary" friends and display the same spectrum of social behaviour that you see with less wealthy people.

Good point, maybe we should also ask "How do the young poor listless welfare collectors avoid solitude, fill their time?"

But then we might be considered picking on the poor

 

[FUEGO]

I guess the same way all of us 30-something early retirees do. Online forums, facebook, sports, outdoors, groups revolving around hobbies/interests (music, theater, metalworking, crafts, animals/pets, etc), volunteer gigs, social/political activism. For the socialites, there's cocktail parties, art galleries, concerts, the bar scene, political fundraisers.

For those that have a spouse and/or kids, that opens up another set of social options. Today (Monday), for example, the semi-retired wife and I hung out with four different adults, all of whom work full time or close to it. Lots of adults with jobs don't work strict 8 am to 5 pm jobs (shift work, work from home, self employed artists, etc), so hanging out in the middle of a day on a Monday isn't that unusual. We all have kids, and we had a kid-centric day, so that's a part of it.

I imagine among the YR/trust fund set, there are enough friends and acquaintances that aren't clocking in at a 9 to 5 job routinely and are thereby available for socializing/recreation during the work week.

 

[Al in Ohio]

You assume everyone views solitude as a negative. There is a slice of society that view it as nothing but positive. Too much? Doesn't happen. It's only degrees of not quite enough to be perfect.


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[kcowan]

By the nature of our new social circle built since retirement, we now have friends that have net worth in the $15 to $25 million range. Aside from driving expensive cars and having nice house and cottages (resort properties), they live like we do. They like to get a good deal when they go to a restaurant with us. They spend more time on succession planning because they have to.

In fact, the major difference seems to be the amount of time they spend maintaining their "stuff". Owning multiple properties requires a minimum amount of attention to each. Adding a 0 to your net worth brings added responsibilities!

 

[Danmar]

By the nature of our new social circle built since retirement, we now have friends that have net worth in the $15 to $25 million range. Aside from driving expensive cars and having nice house and cottages (resort properties), they live like we do. They like to get a good deal when they go to a restaurant with us. They spend more time on succession planning because they have to.

In fact, the major difference seems to be the amount of time they spend maintaining their "stuff". Owning multiple properties requires a minimum amount of attention to each. Adding a 0 to your net worth brings added responsibilities!

Good post. Totally agree.

 

[marko]

As many YRs have never been worker bees, what do the YR do for their social interactions to avoid excessive solitude?

It might be my imagination, but I'm thinking that in the past, private clubs in big cities filled a niche where the moneyed (of any age) could hang out with others of their ilk. Those venues seem to be either drying up or not necessarily where a YR might choose to spend their time socializing.

omni

Speaking somewhat from experience, 'avoiding excessive solitude' is seldom an issue. The greater problem is cutting loose the leeches.

Back in my day, Chamonix (Sun Valley for the lesser set) and Fort Lauderdale were the hangouts. Today, it's more Aspen and Miami.

The old money private clubs are less busy but mostly because the crowd is too mobile to spend any time in one place.

I suspect also that a good portion of YR today are no longer Americans but more Asian and Arab. There was a recent article in the Boston Globe about college sophomores with not one, but two Lamborghinis to tool around town in...and a $3M condo in town while going to school.

 

[JoeWras]

Back in my day, Chamonix (Sun Valley for the lesser set) and Fort Lauderdale were the hangouts. Today, it's more Aspen and Miami.

I lived in FL in the 80s and this is where the word "socialite" was introduced to me. (Aside: I accidentally called someone a socialist, when I meant socialite, and got a lot of laughs.)

It was kind of strange. It seemed many women (I guess the term only applies to women?) embraced the term. To me, it was the female version of "playboy," both off-putting terms to me. But then again, I knew "yuppies" who were proud to be called that.

Anyway, I'm off topic, but when I was just a working dude living among the Y-A-R, I can say they found plenty of ways to spend time (the Club, shopping, the beach, shopping, golf, shopping, etc). And one thing is for sure, they sure as hell didn't want to spend it with me, since I was not YAR, and that was just fine with me.

 

[mpeirce]

Then there are activities like this

Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show 2015

 

[rodi]

There seem to be quite a few YR types at the beach I walk at every morning (in the very expensive La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego.). You can tell they don't have jobs because they are surfing EVERY day for hours. You can tell they are rich by the range rovers and mercedes SUVs they drive.

Coincidentally, there are a lot of YP (young poor) at the beach also. Same thing of being at the beach every single day to surf. But the cars are beat up pickups, vans, etc. Then there are the normal working folks - at the beach several times a week - but by 8:30am or so they are showering at the outdoor shower and putting on work clothes.

All three groups seem to interact together - it's all about the quality of the waves that day.

 

[gcgang]

Seems like many YR keep working in their passion to make the world a better place. Think Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates...