Triggered randomly by the title of the Pit thread about the price of eggs.
I think I must be odd, I have never particularly wanted to be capital-R Rich. Comfortable, sure; well-to-do, okay but only if it comes naturally. I never daydreamed about being rich, let alone did any serious planning for it. I worked at various jobs until I found a niche at a newspaper, and I dug in well enough that I survived the drawn-out death throes of the industry until I could afford to retire (with a pension, yay! Thank you Newspaper Guild!), which was only a few months before my recommended 66th birthday. My father left me some money, but every cent of it and more went into remodeling this house to make it more livable.
When I think of winning the lottery, all I can imagine are the headaches that come with that kind of money. I don’t want servants around, spying on and stealing from me (although I wouldn’t mind being able to hire a cook). I don’t want constant pleas for money from charities and relatives. I don’t want to hobnob with other rich people. I might like to travel a lot, or eat out more, or to have a newer car (just for the big-screen GPS), but those are very middle-class dreams. And I’m afraid all that money, even equally shared, might somehow come between me and my husband.
I started out saying that I think I must be odd. But in truth, I think most people are pretty much like me in this regard. How do you feel about it?
I’ve never really fantasized about being rich. I’ve fantasized about some concrete things, like paying off my student loans, or owning a koi pond.
I grew up with not a lot of money and a slightly upper middle class lifestyle seemed like the pinnacle of achievement.
My husband comes from significant wealth through his grandparents. In our early days of dating, we had some confused conversations about what standard of living we wanted to have through our own careers. I wanted to be “pretty well off” which meant something very different to him. After some specific clarifications, it became apparent we both wanted to be comfortably middle class.
And that’s all I have ever wanted. (The problem is, it’s getting harder to be comfortably middle class.)
Becoming a regular part of my husband’s family events was a bit of a culture shock. Cocktail attire for holidays? Putting makeup on little girls? It has certainly had its benefits, but I guess I would rather occasionally benefit from the wealthy rather than be rich myself. Nothing about the family lifestyle appeals to me, with the exception of the food. Grandma’s mansion is a fun enough place to hang out, but I wouldn’t want to live there, with all that empty space.
It is a culture focused almost entirely on appearance, with special emphasis on women acting and looking a certain way. The men always have to be the center of attention and many of them are pathological. There is a lot of judgement no matter what you do. And the ostentatious displays of wealth are often embarrassing. I look around and see a lot of unhappy people.
Heck yeah. I’ve thought about winning a major Lotto jackpot, or being fortunate enough to have dumped everything into Apple when it was under $2 a share. Or loaning Bill Gates a few grand for a share of his garage company.
The headaches that could come from managing great wealth IMO pale compared to managing with not enough wealth.
I’d spend quite a bit to limit my contact with many folk, and to have people handle what I do not care to.
I’ve never wanted to be ‘rich’. I’ve never wanted to have a home so large that I needed strangers to live in it to care for it. I have no desire to be waited on by anyone in my home.
I have wanted money in the past, but only for specific things: Startup capital for a business, a car I’d like, etc. But ‘rich’? Nope.
I’m not sure that I’ve really seriously dreamed of being rich, per se; even when I’ve bought MegaMillions tickets, I don’t spent much time thinking about “what I’d do if I won.”
I do dream of being financially comfortable, enough so that I wouldn’t need to worry much about finances (and having enough money to hire a financial planner to take care of the details for me). That’d also include being able to retire early – or at least be able to step down to a part-time job. I’d also kinda like to be able to buy an early 1970s Porsche 911, and be able to pay someone to maintain it.
In my mind, that level of wealth wouldn’t be “rich,” but YMMV.
Most of us can only dream of being rich, which assumes the rich themselves have things they can only dream of.
On the opposite economic spectrum of our billionaires are the Australian Aborigines, who believe in Songlines, or Dream Tracks. Since Bruce Chatwin looked foolish trying to understand them, I sure won’t try. But it at least makes me think that dreaming itself is the highest state of riches, and remodeling the kitchen cupboards in my castle in the sky a worthy pursuit.
Sure I dream of it, ideally acquiring the wealth quietly, rather than something public like a lottery win. Part of the fun (and stress) would be figuring out where to give away large sums.
Day dreamed a lot. Mainly around how I could do really amazing things for my special needs daughter like create an autism non profit, build a community of mixed neuro typical and neuro divergent folks, create some businesses to employ the neuro divergent folks, get in professional help, etc. After Serena passed away in January, I don’t really have any daydreams around wealth any longer.
I’ve had all kinds of daydreams about being super-rich - to the point of even being specific about which sports teams I’d own, which prison ministries I’d start, and which movies I’d film with my own movie studio if I had enough money to do so.
Good thread…I’d not thought of it before but it’s true that I’ve never desired to be rich. Not that I wouldn’t be excited to win the lottery or whatever, but it’s not a dream I’ve really thought about.
The only wealth goal I have is to buy my own home (for the first time) but this is within reach now. Anything beyond that feels like a “nice to have” rather than anything I care about.
I have a possibly unreasonable fear of being at the mercy of the people who would be “taking care of” me, if I had that kind of money*. I value my privacy too much to trust it even to people who are being paid to protect it.
Yes, I think I would feel differently if I had a specific and personal something to spend it on. I wouldn’t want to leave spoiled rich kids behind me, but doing some of the things you describe would, I’m sure, be very satisfying.
The only thing that I might really want, between now and the grave, is to be able to afford really luxe care facilities and not to have to worry about running out of funds to pay for them.
*I just flashed back to the movie “A New Leaf” where all of Elaine May’s servants were in a conspiracy to rob her blind. Maybe that’s where I get that idea from.
We’ve had occasional money worries, but nothing too bad. I’ll admit I’ve daydreamed about being rich now and then.
If I won the lottery, I’d finally get some home repairs made, be generous with my dad and sisters, and give a lot more to the DNC, state and county Dems, and my favorite causes and nonprofits. We’d probably travel a good bit more. I wouldn’t quit my job, though (I like it too much), and would never live any kind of ostentatious life.
When we were really poor, I dreamed of being rich. Once we were financially stable and didn’t have to worry about money anymore, I realized we still weren’t what is considered actually rich in the US. There’s really not much more I’d want for myself, and when I think about what it would mean to be rich rich, it’s not all that appealing.
Mainly, I’d like to know we can handle unexpected expenses, we can help our kids financially if they need it, and we’ll have enough money to pay for end-of-life care so our kids don’t have to carry all the weight.
The only “rich person” thing I still sometimes dream about is an assistant to take care of the hundreds of administrative-type tasks, like arranging house repairs or getting the car to the mechanic or shopping. But realistically, that would just be one more thing to have to manage, so I bet it wouldn’t be as much fun as I think.
All I ever wanted to have enough to not have to worry about money, which is where I am.
My daughter rode with a girl whose father was a founder of a big company that IPOed. He was rich in the ride a helicopter to work sense.(Except he lived near a small nuclear reactor, and his neighbors didn’t like the noise.) He was rich so that when he wanted a dock on a lake he bought the houseboat that docked there.
My wife talked to his wife. She said she told him "buy one more gadget I have to take care of, and I’m leaving. And I don’t want to hire someone to help run the house.
Being that rich seems like a pain in the ass.
Now, rich in the sense of I get 48 hour days with no increase in the need for sleep, sign me up.