# What is the point of acquiring unspendable levels of wealth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 17, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157 "2009-10-17T19:22:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/1 "2009-10-17T19:22:48Z")
Once you’re rich enough to have beautiful homes in NY, Fl, hawaii, Paris, etc, you have the private jet, you have your collection of Monets and pretty much every other material thing you could ever reasonably and actively take pleasure from,and your children have big trust funds - why keep going? unless the only reason is that the continued growth of your wealth is just a by product of activities you undertake for the pleasure of the activity itself (which is what I assume must be true for Warren Buffet, who seems to be nearly indifferent to his wealth), why? It seems to me that once you’ve reached the point where any normal human desire is within your means, the only reason you would actively seek to increase your wealth is because you intend to use it to better the lives of other people, or you have an ego attachment to doing so. Why else would you bother? This relates to another wealth question I’ve always had: why would you want to live in a place that had rooms in it that you never see or use? (Apart from guest rooms, of course) And how many rooms can you actively be using? How many hours do you have in YOUR day, because mine only has 24 and that pretty much limits the maximum number of rooms I can find useful: Living dining casual dining formal general entertainment room for dancing kitchen - gigantic kitchen - cozy library/study office bedroom bathroom gym movie theatre Everything else is bedrooms and baths for me and guests, and the number of those would depend on where I was and how much I wanted friends to visit. But apart from this, what else could you need or use? It seems to me that beyond this, all you could do would be to have different hobbies or interests that each have their own room: the art room, the sewing room, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/2 "2009-10-17T19:38:48Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > unless the only reason is that the continued growth of your wealth is just a by product of activities you undertake for the pleasure of the activity itself Either this, or it’s the same sort of urge that drives people to aim for the highest score in whatever their game is. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/3 "2009-10-17T19:45:48Z")
Who gets to decide what is enough? Being able to live comfortably, or being able to buy a new designer wardrobe every week? Going to your favorite concerts or having rock stars perform for you and your friends in your mansion? Going on a tropical vacation or buying an island? It’s all relative. If it weren’t, there’d be fewer Americans in debt because they would have stopped spending when they had a single TV instead of one in every room. It takes a very, very special person to have one mindset for much of their life, the kind that can make them a millionaire, and then switch it off at exactly the right moment without feeling like their life’s lost purpose. It’s a bit like a gambler getting out at the right time. Or anyone who’s retired only to feel useless. Or even a lottery winner, part of that lucky minority, who makes sound decisions with their winnings and lives comfortably 'til old age. It’s also worth mentioning that not every seemingly rich person has a real, liquid nest egg. Many of the richest people I know are the ones who worry most about money, whether they’re checking investments or comparing themselves to people in their social circle who are wealthier. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/4 "2009-10-17T20:21:28Z")
I believe it was Bill Gates who said, “You can only be so rich.” ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/5 "2009-10-17T20:37:21Z")
“Too much is not enough.” Said by far too many people to list them all. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/6 "2009-10-17T21:22:45Z")
Power. Status. The richer you are, the more you can lord it over other people. That IMHO is one reason why the rich person dominated GOP doesn’t mind the idea of running the economy into the ground; the rich are hurt less by something like a Depression. They have less money in absolute terms, but the gap between them and the common people is even larger and gives them more power. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/7 "2009-10-17T21:24:01Z")
The amount of money you have is one way of keeping score on who is ahead in the game of life. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/8 "2009-10-17T21:41:01Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > The amount of money you have is one way of keeping score on who is ahead in the game of life. “He who dies with the most toys wins.” ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/9 "2009-10-17T21:49:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Power. Status. The richer you are, the more you can lord it over other people. That IMHO is one reason why the rich person dominated GOP doesn’t mind the idea of running the economy into the ground; the rich are hurt less by something like a Depression. They have less money in absolute terms, but the gap between them and the common people is even larger and gives them more power. Yep, this is the exact reason why everybody wishes to earn money, and why there are no rich Democrats. It must be so comforting to be you. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/10 "2009-10-17T21:52:46Z")
Bill Gates does it because he had to in order to achieve most of his goals with Microsoft. He gives billions away however and seems sincere about it so his is about power but in one of the best possible senses of the word. Warren Buffet is doing the same thing. Accumulating money for himself and other people is his life’s work and he is very good at it. He has always lived an amazingly simple life in Omaha, NE for what he has and plans to give most of it away and not to his family when he dies. Sam Walton, the Wal-Mart founder, was very cheap and simple himself. These are a few of the richest people in world history and they didn’t just blow the money but they needed it to sustain their life’s work. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/11 "2009-10-17T21:56:18Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Yep, this is the exact reason why everybody wishes to earn money, and why there are no rich Democrats. Are you under the impression I’m a Democrat? Or like them? They are marginally less awful than the Republicans, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/12 "2009-10-17T22:37:48Z")
People like that get where they are in life by constantly setting goals for themselves. Once they stop setting gaols for themselves they become depressed. At least this is the readers digest version of what was said by wealthy folks who have tried to quit with the acquisition of wealth and just enjoy what they have. Sorry no cite. Just remember seeing this on a program I saw once. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/13 "2009-10-17T23:07:19Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Yep, this is the exact reason why everybody wishes to earn money, and why there are no rich Democrats. > > It must be so comforting to be you. Was that necessary? Not to go off track, but it’s jabs like that that are making the SDMB less fun to be around. Yeah, yeah, don’t let the door hit me on the ass on the way out. But what, exactly, elicited that mean-spirited comment? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/14 "2009-10-18T00:09:29Z")
I think people who acquire a lot of money and don’t spend it are probably see it as a form of security. If they have a lot of money in the bank then if something terrible happens they’ll be able to take care of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/15 "2009-10-18T00:22:16Z")
Because it’s only unspendable to you. To me, it’s money I just haven’t spent yet. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/16 "2009-10-18T00:33:37Z")
Most billionaires aren’t in it for the lifestyle, although that’s certainly a perk. The main point of having several billion dollars of net worth is to be able to play the game at the highest levels of finance. By the time you’ve gotten that rich, you’ve made a career of running corporations and buying and seling properties worth 10 or even 11 digits. You’re one of maybe as few as a thousand people in the entire world whose activities singlehandedly influence the global economy. Maybe some do reach a point where they decide to chuck it all and retire in luxury, or semi-retire and spend their time working with charities, etc. But most simply have been in the harness so long at that point they wouldn’t know what else to do with themselves. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/17 "2009-10-18T10:29:09Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Yeah, yeah, don’t let the door hit me on the ass on the way out. But what, exactly, elicited that mean-spirited comment? The mean-spirited comment was elicited by the deliberately stupid blanket generalization that **Der Trihs** made. Don’t worry, though. As a person capable only of binary thought, his feelings will not be hurt by my snideness. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/18 "2009-10-18T11:11:56Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > The mean-spirited comment was elicited by the deliberately stupid blanket generalization that **Der Trihs** made. Translation: I don’t feel any obligation to suck up to the wealthy like I’m supposed to, and that apparently offends you. So you throw out insults and accusations ( “deliberately stupid” ), because you don’t have any actual counterargument. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/19 "2009-10-18T11:34:08Z")
Yes, a person’s available money allows for a certain level of personal comfort. And it’s also true that there’s only so much one can consume at once. It’s the old truism that you can only drive one car at a time, after all. But, as stated above, money is power and influence. Take the nicest and baddest persons on Earth and they powerless without money. But let them accumulate $50MM or more and they can do a lot of good or bad. They can exert control over companies and governments through their wealth. Or, to spell it out, money buys you influence and influence buys you power. You can control your world that way. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157/20 "2009-10-18T13:19:34Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > But, as stated above, money is power and influence. Take the nicest and baddest persons on Earth and they powerless without money. But let them accumulate $50MM or more and they can do a lot of good or bad. They can exert control over companies and governments through their wealth. Or, to spell it out, money buys you influence and influence buys you power. You can control your world that way. How much is $50MM? Please write it out with a bunch of zeroes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-acquiring-unspendable-levels-of-wealth/514157.md?page=2)