# Rich and dead or poor and alive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 2, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325 "2018-10-02T16:52:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325/21 "2018-10-03T00:29:28Z")
That’s a tough one. I lean toward dead and rich. I don’t have kids but a billion would ensure that every generation of nieces and nephews was taken care of for centuries. Then again, they could turn into total pieces of shit like some trust fund kids do. Probably dead and rich. But alive and poor isn’t bad. The minimum wage in some places is $15 now. If you also have a spouse that works, you can lead a middle class life on that in a low cost of living area. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325/22 "2018-10-03T01:47:08Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Hell, _housing_ costs money. I’ll have to desperately run (on foot: my car’s vanished and I can’t afford to rent) for one of the areas of the country with a standard of living sufficiently low that I could rent (not buy) a house there and still be able to…buy…food? Wait, am I allowed to buy (and thus own) food? > > Clearly this isn’t what the OP intended but if I’m not capable of owning food long enough to get it into my mouth and out the other side it’s going to be a very _hungry_ seventy years. You’re thinking _way_ too hard. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325/23 "2018-10-03T02:21:12Z")
I’ve often heard “Your wife and kids are SO LUCKY you like to cook!” To which my response is usually “I think they would prefer if I really liked to investment bank.” A New Yorker, my professions have always been in the lower-paid areas, like book publishing or running a hippie grocery. The kids went to private schools, where they saw their friends being handed a few hundred dollar bills peeled off the old man’s roll, and wondered why they weren’t getting the same largess. Me dead and a billion in the bank would probably suit them fine. And if I eat several hundred fewer meatballs in my life, what does it matter? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325/24 "2018-10-03T06:18:33Z")
When you take into account family history, personal health, and genetics I figure I have 5-7 years in front of me and I always wanted to leave a wealthy widow. So what the heck, sign me up for that billion. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325/25 "2018-10-03T07:31:30Z")
On balance, I think ‘poor and alive’ - but only really because: -There’s no way my family can be trusted with that much money, without me there to help them spend it, and… -I can find ways to be happy that aren’t about ‘getting ahead’ ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325/26 "2018-10-03T10:21:05Z")
I think I’ll just walk away without signing either. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325/27 "2018-10-03T11:25:59Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I’ve often heard “Your wife and kids are SO LUCKY you like to cook!” To which my response is usually “I think they would prefer if I really liked to investment bank.” > > A New Yorker, my professions have always been in the lower-paid areas, like book publishing or running a hippie grocery. The kids went to private schools, where they saw their friends being handed a few hundred dollar bills peeled off the old man’s roll, and wondered why they weren’t getting the same largess. > > Me dead and a billion in the bank would probably suit them fine. And if I eat several hundred fewer meatballs in my life, what does it matter? Depends on how good the meatballs are ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325/28 "2018-10-03T21:43:07Z")
As long as I have a roof over my head and enough food to ear, I am more than happy to be alive. My kids will get along just fine without a billion dollars. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325/29 "2018-10-03T22:25:12Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > You’re thinking _way_ too hard. It is my gift and my curse. Mostly it’s a gift though - it’s fun to pull things apart and find out if sparks come out if you turn the gears backwards! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rich-and-dead-or-poor-and-alive/822325.md?page=1)