I’m Rich; Are You?

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One thing I’ve discovered by asking is that most people define “rich” as someone one or two steps higher up the annual income ladder than themselves.

When I say we are rich and so are they, many of them disagree. Yet the people I mean are living in single family detached homes that are between half to entirely paid off. They live within walking distance of 4 grocery stores, 2 medical clinics, 3 dental clinics and a library. They all own at least one vehicle, most own two. [One owns two, but doesn’t count the red convertible because “it’s always breaking down.”] They all have some form of health and dental insurance. They all have some form of pension or RRSP savings. Their children are all enrolled in a sport or activity (like piano lessons) that costs money. At least one partner in each home is employed full time. To me, they and we are all rich. Our lifestyle is what most Canadians dream of and aspire to have. Personally, I feel grateful and thankful for being rich. And my family tries to give back both monetarily and with our time to help others because being rich comes with responsibilities.

While it’s easy to get agreement that Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are rich that’s about where the consensus ends.

How do you define rich?

Do you have to make over $100,000/year to be rich? $200,000? Are you rich now? Or has what is “rich” risen as you have moved up?

Other people have also wondered and discussed richness recently.

Jane at the Money Puzzle describes three millionaires she knows but seems doubtful whether the third one is really rich.

In Baby, You’re a Rich Man, The Wall Street Journal tried to decide how rich is rich with respect to changes in US personal taxes.

Adina at Timeless Finance “shares her scale from Destitute to Out of Sight.” I’d never really thought just how rich is RICH before reading her analysis.

Caroline McClatchey of BBC News Magazine examines “The rich: Exactly what does the terminology mean?” and introduced me to the concept of Banker Bashing.  Strangely enough MERs did not enter the definition.

Big Cajun Man offers a Simple Tip to becoming rich and explores a technological marvel from the late 1990s (animated GIFs).  Ah, I remember my first animated dolphin….

Mark at My Own Advisor is on his way to rich-dom if he’s not already there, as shown in his May 2013 Dividend Income Update.

Someone on Yahoo! Answers made the question even trickier by asking “Am I rich or just wealthy?”  I never even thought whether there’s a difference. Is there?

I’d say probably if you have to ask whether you are rich, the answer is Yes.

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Do you think you’re rich? Does money even factor into your definition of rich? Please share your views with a comment.

8 thoughts on “I’m Rich; Are You?”

  1. Considering my net worth is a negative number I don’t, and probably won’t ever have to ask my self the question “Am I rich?”.

    I will probably never get to rich because I am at the top of my pay scale at work (49K last year) and I can’t even get 1 little ad on my blog.

    Thank you for mentioning my post. Some days I think that truly wealthy people are very different than the rest of us.

    • Have you tried ads from Yahoo!, RateSupermarket, or Amazon? (I admit I have never made 1 cent from advertising but I hope some day to make something to at least pay the costs for hosting my website.)

      While I understand that you are not listing yourself as monetarily rich, I would imagine you feel very rich when you think of your sons. They sound wonderful. (well, except for the protein powder: and my brother outgrew that stage so hopefully your son will too!)

    • The Moneysense article is interesting. i agree with some of the comments, though, that it would be better to know the numbers for single people as well as for couples. Unfortunately, many of us will end up unexpectedly single, often through an unexpectedly early widow/widower-hood. That can cause financial problems because CPP, for instance, does not just rollover to the survivor. Nor do most private pensions. It could mean the survivor may receive 40-60% less income but still have essentially the same fixed costs.

      Just out of curiousity, do you know Mr. Aston?

      • nope (tho I’m sure he’s a very nice fellow)

        …thanks for your blog, I’ve found it useful

        • Thanks, I was just curious. I personally like several financial writers and look around for articles by them. Mr. Aston was new to me.

  3. I HAVE THE MEANS TO BE RICH AND WEALTHY BUT CANNOT FIND THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLOIT IT. IT IS A MULTI BILLION DOLLAR CONCEPT BUT NO SUPPORTERS TO BRING IT TO PASS. IF I KNEW SOME CROOKS I WOULD GO TO THEM. THEY HAVE THE MONEY AND THE MEANS TO MAKE YOU RICH AND WEALTHY ANDNWILL GIVE YOU THE OPPORTUNITY AND HELP. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE PASS IT FORWARD TO ME.

    • Please don’t shout at me. : )

      None of the Crooks I know have any money to invest. We are all hard-working honest Crooks.

      Unfortunately ideas, even good ideas, are quite common. It’s the perserverance, hard work, and dedication to bring those ideas to completion that are in short supply.

      Good luck finding a sponsor.

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