Rich VS Wealthy

[cbo111]

Wealthy people occasionally rent space on private jets.
Rich people own jets.

 

[Jerry1]

They’re essentially the same but when I think of wealthy, I think of old money, family wealth - people who don’t really have to ever worry about money. Rich is a lower level and more relative. I could be considered rich to someone who is barely making ends meet. I don’t think I could ever be considered wealthy.

 

[GenXguy]

Same thing. People and websites will try to spin it differently, but who cares. lol

 

[MC Rider]

Rich vs Wealthy. Two sides of the coin.
In Real Estate appraisal I met people from most of the spectrum of income and wealth.


Not so much the real mega dollar types or famous types.
On those I met a house keeper who was there anyway, appointment arranged by a business manager or assistant.

 

[tmitchell]

Ditto.

In my 20s I worked close up with the Astor 400 in NYC. They all had multigenerational wealth and it was clear their money didn’t buy them happiness. For many it came off as a trap. The most fulfilled had careers as writers, designers, or business owners. The rest slowly drank themselves to death and tried to stave off boredom with endless parties for hat season, Met galas, or whatever. They DID have a pretty tight community and stayed very social. As such many lived much longer than you’d expect given their diet & lifestyle choices.
Most did seem exceptionally bored though. Gossiping was the number 1 pastime.

Now I happen to know a lot of rich people. They (like me) are largely workaholics with scarcity issues. Like the wealthy they are in search of meaning and purpose, but still worry it may all go away someday. Some are stuck spending their six figure income on private schools and expensive mortgages, trapped in their 9-5 until “someday” when the kids are gone. The lucky ones are starting to inherit money, allowing for some relief, but mostly they seem to be leveling up the housing game and will remain trapped. I guess their kids will be set to inherit lots of money and try to figure out how not to be bored.

 

[marko]

Wealthy people occasionally rent space on private jets.
Rich people own jets.

That's why they're wealthy and have more money. Old Money with nothing to prove vs new money that often does.

I was acquainted with a guy who had not one, but two Gulfstreams. Bankrupt ten years later.

 

[marko]

This may be a better distinction:
I met a wealth manager whose company specializes in generational wealth. Minimum portfolio: $500MM but most were in the low billions.

He said that such families tend to be highly paranoid, insular and distrustful of outsiders. Their greatest fear is that the money flow will stop and that none of them have the savy, drive or cunning that grandpa had to establish the wealth.

IMO, the rich have no such concerns as they are generally still working at something gainful (vs a hobby job) and often been both rich and poor, and thus less frightened by the prospect.

The rich are rich individually, while the wealthy are so as a family. Aka: "Family Money".

Full disclosure: 40 years ago I almost married into family money (Europeans). The inner dynamic was so strange and strained that it scared me away. (but a heckuva lot of fun while it lasted!)

YMMV

 

[Car-Guy]

This may be a better distinction:
I met a wealth manager whose company specializes in generational wealth. Minimum portfolio: $500MM but most were in the low billions.

They must not have many clients since they are fighting for the business of the less than 800 billionaires in the US. OTOH, if you are managing billionaire accounts, I guess you don't need many clients.

 

[marko]

They must not have many clients since they are fighting for the business of the less than 800 billionaire in the US.

They probably don't and likely don't need many. The word boutique comes to mind. I got the sense this was a small but compent outfit with most clients in the Palm Beach/Miami stretch. (after Madoff, no wonder they're paranoid)

A personal friend manages portfolios starting at $20 mil, but its just him and another guy.

Back in the day, one of my company's heavier shareholders had ONE GUY who worked for him exclusively. We'd meet with him but I never knew who his boss was.

Regardless, IMO the rich are rich as individuals but family money is what defines wealth (Gates, Musk et al aside). Just my view and YMMV

 

[tmitchell]

This may be a better distinction:
I met a wealth manager whose company specializes in generational wealth. Minimum portfolio: $500MM but most were in the low billions.

He said that such families tend to be highly paranoid, insular and distrustful of outsiders. Their greatest fear is that the money flow will stop and that none of them have the savy, drive or cunning that grandpa had to establish the wealth.

IMO, the rich have no such concerns as they are generally still working at something gainful (vs a hobby job) and often been both rich and poor, and thus less frightened by the prospect.

The rich are rich individually, while the wealthy are so as a family. Aka: "Family Money".

Full disclosure: 40 years ago I almost married into family money (Europeans). The inner dynamic was so strange and strained that it scared me away. (but a heckuva lot of fun while it lasted!)

YMMV

I like this distinction. I had a college roommate who came from one of America’s wealthier families. He was third generation from the creator of wealth. It was always hard to penetrate the walls of secrecy but I learned bits as time went along. Ultimately our friendship faded and I think it was partly due to the massive gap between my world and his. He eventually married the daughter of another wealthy family and I lost contact.

The one thing that I appreciated was that he and his siblings had to wait until 30 to get their trust fund. He was actually quite a classy and generous guy. But he still had massive advantages. While I sold hot dogs at the student grill over the summer, for instance, he got an internship that involved working directly with Bush Sr on his presidential campaign. I believe the internship was unpaid! I think I was making around $3.50/hr. Maybe I earned enough for a semester of books?

 

[tmm99]

Rich - has a pile of new money. It's a new experience.
Wealthy - has a pile of old money. Grew up with it.

.

My definition too.

 

[ls99]

Funny, neither a self proffessed rich nor a wealthy posted their take on the subject.
Guess in both cases discretion rules.

 

[Sunset]

Rich - has a pile of new money. It's a new experience.
...
I've been happy when poor, and happy when rich, I prefer to be rich.

Funny, neither a self professed rich nor a wealthy posted their take on the subject.
Guess in both cases discretion rules.

Missed my post

I'm rich in my own mind, I know I have less $$ than a bunch of others on this forum, but it's still a lot more than I thought I would ever have considering I was homeless at middle age.

 

[Sunset]

I'm reminded, how I knew this fellow around our age as teenagers that came from a wealthy family.
While he had advantages, it was interesting that he had to take regular jobs, like being a taxi driver.
His family $$$$$$ was just in the background, until he got a lot more mature.

 

[marko]

Funny, neither a self proffessed rich nor a wealthy posted their take on the subject.
Guess in both cases discretion rules.

You have to read between the lines.

As I noted in Post #32: "highly paranoid, insular...distrustful of outsiders". You could add discrete to the list.

Back in the 40s my great-uncle was the wealthiest man in town and everyone knew it but he wouldn't smoke cigars in public. "People will think I have money !"

 

[ls99]

Very well, I sentence myself to re-reading the thread.

 

[marko]

Very well, I sentence myself to re-reading the thread.

Lol!

 

[like2]

Well, I woke up healthy, feeling rather wealthy!


Looked at my IRA, son of a b****h!!, guess I ain't rich....

 

[old medic]

Well, I woke up healthy, feeling rather wealthy!
Looked at my IRA, son of a b****h!!, guess I ain't rich....

Swap the terms ..

I'm rich in my own mind, I know I have less $$ than a bunch of others on this forum, but it's still a lot more than I thought I would ever have

Thats Us...
But My point was about being rich in life... not money...
An oldtime tune I love playing...

I don't have a Mansion, Or very much gold.
But the house that I live in is as strong as its old.
It walls ring with laughter, and love from within.
Well I'd rather have that, Than a mansion my friend.

On our table there's always, Plenty to eat.
The clothes on our back, and the shoes on our feet.
Good neighbors that you can, Always trust and rely.
true Friendship, is one thing, that money can't buy.

I know I'm the richest, poor man on this earth.
But if you judge me by money, its little I'm worth.
But the good Lord, has blessed me, since the day of my birth.
Thats why I'm the richest, poor man on this earth.

 

[tmitchell]

In other news...single millionaires are the new middle class:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/not-wealthy-worried-grant-cardone-174832707.html

 

[RxMan]

I hope to have riches in the next life rather than this one.

“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24

 

[old medic]

In other news...single millionaires are the new middle class

We are barely Millionaire's.... But only If we count the value of our pensions, but depending on who you ask, they don't count towards net worth... LOL

 

[DrRoy]

I always thought of both as being the same, and the dictionary agrees.

 

[jollystomper]

I try to keep my life simple. Do I do not worry about the difference between the two, if there even is one. I just know DW and I are living very comfortably without either of us having to work, and that our money will outlive us. We are enjoying the moment, whether it be "rich" or "wealthy".

 

[Gumby]

I have been the richest/wealthiest one in my entire extended family since the day I graduated from USNA. That has greatly affected my thoughts on the meaning of these terms.