# Dreaming of being rich -- do you? have you in the past? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597 "2023-11-23T19:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/41 "2023-11-24T22:58:09Z")
I do not dream of being rich. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/42 "2023-11-25T04:06:57Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > As I get older, though, I have thought about things like … > > My sleep isn’t good. I wonder if the uber-wealthy have on-staff (maybe live-in, three shifts) massage therapists who help them fall asleep. > > Having a private chef to make me delicious, nutritious meals at any time would be pretty nice. > > I wondered if their linens are changed daily and replaced weekly. I wonder if there are some categories of garment – maybe underclothes – that are never worn twice. These are the kinds of things that I would define as real luxury. And they are definitely tempting. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/43 "2023-11-25T04:11:25Z")
[Adnan Khashoggi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_Khashoggi) traveled on a private jet, always accompanied by a chef, masseur, and chiropractor. And he sold arms that found their way into the hands of child soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/44 "2023-11-25T13:38:52Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > [Adnan Khashoggi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_Khashoggi) traveled on a private jet, always accompanied by a chef, masseur, and chiropractor And a valet. And a barber. He may very well have been a soulless, heartless monster, but he looked … _fabulous._ > **[Businessman Adnan Khashoggi's High-Flying Realm](https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,963261,00.html)** > > Free-wheeling and free-spending, he flits between deals and a dozen homes ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/45 "2023-11-25T15:21:05Z")
Then there was [Nubar Gulbenkian](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubar_Gulbenkian). He, like [his father before him,](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calouste_Gulbenkian) used his wealth for good. But he was remembered for being described: “Nubar is so tough that every day he tires out three stockbrokers, three horses and three women”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/46 "2023-11-25T15:40:50Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > [Adnan Khashoggi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_Khashoggi) traveled on a private jet, always accompanied by a chef, masseur, and chiropractor. > > And he sold arms that found their way into the hands of child soldiers. Meanwhile, [Charles Feeney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Feeney) made billions after founding a chain of duty-free shops and spent the rest of his life giving the money away, mostly secretly. The Wikipedia article says his philanthropy funded a thousand buildings all over the world, none with his name on them. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/47 "2023-11-25T15:57:07Z")
All I want is enough to buy [this island](https://www.privateislandsonline.com/united-states/florida/pumpkin-key) and have sufficient funds for transport, supply and security. [I’m not greedy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKMNPQ35OUc). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/48 "2023-11-25T20:19:03Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > > > The main thing I’ve always wondered about having bunches of money is what it would be like to shop and not care what something cost - I don’t know if I could do that. > > I think, just based on observation, that rich people always care what something costs. That helps them stay rich. My husband’s grandparents took thirty of their relatives on a Mediterranean cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary. They not only paid for airfare and accommodations, they gave everyone spending money. We were staying in some ancient fancy hotel in Barcelona and met for breakfast at the hotel the next morning. Grandma looked at the menu, said, “These prices are outrageous,” disappeared and came back 20 minutes later with McDonald’s for 30 people. I think that often rich people (at least rich people who don’t regularly have to deal with money) don’t actually know or comprehend how much things cost. Case in point, your example of paying for airfare, hotel, and spending money for 30 people to go to Spain and then balking at the cost of the breakfast buffet. My wife and I do pretty well financially, but I wouldn’t mind being a lot richer. Probably not obscenely rich like the Roy family from Succession. But maybe rich enough such that I didn’t have to depend on a high paying corporate job for most of my income. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/49 "2023-11-26T07:47:03Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > [Adnan Khashoggi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_Khashoggi) traveled on a private jet, always accompanied by a chef, masseur, and chiropractor. > > And he sold arms that found their way into the hands of child soldiers. He also once signed a fake rebate check for 25¢ that had been sent to him by _Spy_ magazine in a prank. (The _checks_ were real, but the stories behind them were fake.) In the early 1990s, _Spy_ sent pitifully small rebate checks to filthy rich people, and followed up with smaller ones if they responded. Khashoggi tied with another guy for the lowest-value check that a billionaire would sign. The other guy was a Queens-born casino operator who was having money problems. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/50 "2023-11-26T08:26:35Z")
You forgot to mention his 86 metre yatch Nabila, which was bought by the Quees-born casino operator just mentioned and became the [Trump Princess](https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/editorial-features/trump-princess-inside-donald-trumps-superyacht). Beautiful guided plumage. Men of taste flock together. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/51 "2023-11-26T08:50:47Z")
I read that Spy article when it came out. It was obvious to me then that they had nothing to do with those checks. It was one of their accountants ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/52 "2023-11-26T14:24:16Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Probably not obscenely rich like the Roy family from Succession. But maybe rich enough such that I didn’t have to depend on a high paying corporate job for most of my income. But isn’t that them? The thing that drives me nuts about the portrayals of wealth like Succession is that even better than the money to do lots of things, they’ve got the money to do _nothing._ There never seems to be one character that just chills in a nice house reading the classics or something. No one knows how to be rich. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/53 "2023-11-26T17:35:07Z")
Being rich would definitely make my dreams come true, but I wouldn’t say I dream about it, anymore. I’m too jaded for it. I could and would put untold millions into nature preservation, even just staying local. Loss of habitat is a tremendous threat to life and it happens before my very eyes. It would give me immense and sustainable satisfaction, something that luxury cars or outrageous trips abroad couldn’t. Having someone else make me tasty, healthy and quasi-infinitely varied meals the year round would be a huge boon, most importantly by increasing the time / energy I have to do other things. Even living in the city, the food quest is a drain on varied resources. I haven’t been sick for realz, but if / when that happens, being rich would make a world of difference. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/54 "2023-11-26T18:02:30Z")
Sure, I idly think about it especially when the news is a reporting a billion dollar jackpot. My idea of “being rich” is pretty much the same as me now except without needing to work and with nicer stuff and knowing that my family is taken care of – not flying a solid gold jet to my private island (also made of gold). I guess that’s why I wouldn’t really give a shit about “rich people problems” either. I don’t want to talk to people now; I’m not going to suddenly start giving a shit about high society when I have my billion dollars (less tax). ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/55 "2023-11-26T19:32:05Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > If I won the lottery tomorrow, I doubt I’d even move out of my current house. Sure, I’d fix it up quite a bit, but I don’t need the headache of anything bigger (or worse, more properties) I have a somewhat insane fantasy about spending millions on my very modest house, turning it into a fabulous castle on a tiny suburban plot. Something like what Ned did when he spruced up the ol’ Flanders place with the monkey’s paw. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/56 "2023-11-26T20:41:40Z")
I have this dream of having a concert grand piano in the living room, even though I can’t play one. I think what I really dream of is having enough space for a piano. Realistically, I’d rather have a big game room with a pool table, pinball table and stand-up arcade video games and perhaps a dedicated home theater. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/57 "2023-11-26T21:32:10Z")
> [@epbrown](#): > > The thing that drives me nuts about the portrayals of wealth like Succession is that even better than the money to do lots of things, they’ve got the money to do _nothing._ There never seems to be one character that just chills in a nice house reading the classics or something. No one knows how to be rich. There will always be moochers, but I think most people feel like they need to be doing something productive, no matter how much money they have. Which is why you will see some unhappy retirees until they get into something like volunteering or other projects. I think if I were a billionaire I would still want to work, like 20 hours a week. But I would be working on what I wanted to work on - in my case, writing books, and paying other people to market them. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/58 "2023-11-26T22:27:30Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I wonder if there are some categories of garment – maybe underclothes – that are never worn twice. You wear your underclothes twice? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/59 "2023-11-26T22:38:23Z")
And when they get dirty you turn them inside out and start anew, and then front to back after a week, what else? Except you are a superhero, in which case you wear them over your tight fitting pants. In this case, it is the pants you have to turn inside out, then front to back after a week. OK, I’m gone 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597/60 "2023-11-26T23:12:07Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > You wear your underclothes twice? The list of people letting me wear _their_ underclothes – once, twice or otherwise – is not all that long and _definitely_ not terribly distinguished. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreaming-of-being-rich-do-you-have-you-in-the-past/993597.md?page=4)