
How your life changes at different levels of wealth (2015) - MCompeau
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2s9u0s/what_do_insanely_wealthy_people_buy_that_ordinary/cnnmca8/
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NoPicklez
This part of the post is what amazes me the most.

"PERSPECTIVE. The wealthiest person I have spent time with makes about
$400mm/year. i couldn't get my mind around that until I did this: OK--let's
compare it with someone who makes $40,000/year. It is 10,000x more. Now let's
look at prices the way he might. A new Lambo--$235,000 becaome $23.50. First
class ticket internationally? $10,000 becomes $1. A full time executive level
helper? $8,000/month becomes $0.80/month. A $10mm piece of art you love?
$1000. Expensive, so you have to plan a bit. A suite at the best hotel in NYC
$10,000/night is $1/night. A $50million home in the Hamptons? $5,000. There is
literally nothing you can't buy except."

~~~
glandium
This reminds me of this talk from Neil DeGrasse Tyson:
[https://youtu.be/B2inExgT77s](https://youtu.be/B2inExgT77s)

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JimboOmega
I'd be curious to see somebody do this for lower levels too. It'd be
interesting to see where the step changes are.

Right now, if the money fairy came down and doubled my salary, I don't think
I'd live that differently. Or if say $1M just landed in my bank account. I
would worry less, but don't see me going out and finding things to spend more
money on.

I think there's a lot of "wealth inertia" but it'd be interesting to see the
idea explored. I think most people tend to live a certain lifestyle, and even
if they could afford a higher level one, you probably don't immediately. The
reverse is also true and tends to get people into trouble. I know if my salary
started creeping downward it'd be very hard for me.

I wonder if this has been explored in any real detail - how much extra income
really triggers lifestyle changes. Is it just affordability steps as the
author claims?

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1ba9115454
In a way these are not life changing events. Whether I travel coach or by
private jet is largely irrelevant to me.

A bigger impact on your life would be any of the following.

\- Your health and exercide.

\- The strength of your relationships.

\- Having 1 or 2 close friends.

\- Being grateful for what you already have.

\- Enjoying your work.

\- Having a dog.

\- Learning new things.

\- Giving back.

~~~
Arn_Thor
I've got a few of these things going for me, but I'm still terrified of the
future. And I know it doesn't make logical sense. I'm young, and just this
year made six figures for the first time, saving plenty of that for the
future. But I'm haunted constantly by the worry that something might happen
and I lose my ability to work and earn so I'm unable to save up for and
provide for a family I might have in a few years. I'd give anything to have
that concern taken away

~~~
unforeseen9991
That's normal, as the default mindset is the scarcity mindset, part of the
survival instincts. I've had this for as long as I can remember, although for
me it definitely starts to fade with age.

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farazbabar
The one thing that sets many ultra wealthy, especially the self made ones
apart from a lot of people is how much they value time. I especially liked the
fictional evolution of ultra wealthy into immortals in "altered carbon"
because it alleviated time as the most important and finite thing they have.

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shelune
Read this 3 times already throughout the years, still amazed by how this guy
can explain such a sensitive & hard to grasp concept in a very casual manner.

Perspective is the most essential thing here. Most people would probably see 1
million not much different from 1 billion (I mean they know it's different,
but not much since it's just a big number). "A suite at the best hotel in NYC
$10,000/night is $1/night", this hits me hard.

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grecht
Very interesting. This guy not only seems to attract rich people, but rich
people who display their wealth. I wonder how "hard“ it is to live a fairly
normal, modest life with that kind of net worth. Could you restrain yourself
and not buy that Porsche?

It‘s hard to say if you‘re far away from being able to afford things like
that, and content with it. It‘d surely weaken the problems with relationships
they mention at the end.

~~~
sho
> but rich people who display their wealth

This is the key IMO. I know a few people who fall into various of the
categories mentioned and, well, you wouldn't know it meeting them. The place
they live is probably the only real tell besides maybe watches and acessories.
Apart from the occasional splurge - weddings, the occasional destination
getaway - they're pretty thrifty. They didn't get rich by throwing money
around uselessly.

And that "perspective" concept doesn't really work that way in practise from
what I've seen. If first class tickets were $70 instead of $7k i would never
fly anything else, but people I know worth 100x more than me sure don't act
like they are.

Like any group of people I don't think it's possible to draw these
generalisations. Culture and individual personality plays a huge role. I also
imagine the more you feel you have something to "prove" the more likely you
are to engage in conspicuous displays of wealth, but for a large number of
people that doesn't seem to be the case.

~~~
fatnoah
>They didn't get rich by throwing money around uselessly.

I've also had the privilege of knowing some people that fall into the
categories from $1MM to $1B+. You couldn't tell which bucket they belong to
just by meeting them. The down to earth guy who's just a dad to the kid on
your soccer team, yeah he's worth $3 billion, but bikes everywhere. You son's
best friends parents? They're normal, but have a 6k square foot home in the
downtown area of a major city, but shop at Costco and only own one (nice, but
used) car.

Agree that the flashy folks are the ones at the lower end of the spectrum.
They've gotten some cash and are a) showing off and/or b) trying to enjoy it.

One of the biggest changes I've noticed (and have noticed this of myself as my
career and income have progressed) is that you're aware that you are paying
more for things, and therefore expect more. This definitely can create the
appearance (and occurrence) of entitlement.

