Comments on: Your Take: What Does Rich Mean To You?

By: bryan

bryan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:43:11 +0000

i think you need several million dollars to be financially rich. for me, it would be monetary security not dependent on any one or two factors ie. job loss, business failure, market downturns etc. I would say that $2 million dollars in CDs providing you with a guaranteed $100k a year income would put you at the beginning of “wealth”. if you need to work for your money or be worried about money in general, you probably are not rich.. you should be able to do the things you love, have the time you want, etc. without money being a factor.

in my mind, i picture a nice vineyard estate in france with enough money in investments where i can eat the food i want, travel when and where i want, drive the cars i want, etc. and come nowhere close to worrying about running low on cash…

but thats just me.

i think theres a huge difference between being in being well-off (which most americans are regardless of your income level) and being rich…

By: Online Dividends

Online Dividends — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:42:25 +0000

Well you are always richer than other people and poorer than others..
Even though Bill Gates is super rich, he is poorer than Buffett. Even though I am richer than one of my college roomates who graduated with thousands in credit card debt I am poorer than my other roommate whose education was paid by his parents and who is making more than me.

I would be rich when I get enough annual alternative income that covers my expenses for two years.

By: Mark Nelson

Mark Nelson — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:36:18 +0000

You are rich when your passive income stream is more than your expenses.

By: Khyron

Khyron — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:36:36 +0000

But the Solo 401(k) also requires self-employment. Can you even have both of those accounts concurrently?

By: dogatemyfinances

dogatemyfinances — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:04:49 +0000

To max out a solo K takes more than 50K. To me, being rich would mean being able to max out an employee’s 401(k) AND a solo K.

By: JoeTaxpayer

JoeTaxpayer — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:10:12 +0000

I don’t think that’s really valid. One can gross $60k, live on $40k, so they’ve saved as story suggests, but is this person rich? Is rich based on income, wealth, or both? Is it about being able to buy what you wish, or being happy with what you have?
Or is rich being in the top X%? Top 2% is what? 200k? Is that rich? Obama and McCain seem to aim at 250k being the cutoff.
Joe

By: Kenny

Kenny — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:14:25 +0000

Rich has many definitions depending on the value system each person holds. I am an immigrant to the US, hence Rich translates a lot of Money (first), Knowledge (next), Access to Plenty of Everything (third) and much more.

Rich to me means that I can afford to get any thing/service I want, anytime I want, anywhere I want, if I so desire. Now, this does not mean that I actually cater to my ‘wants’, since I have learnt to focus on my ‘needs’ and have the ‘power’ to execute for my ‘wants/desires’.

I have been passing the above definition to my kids, and as you can notice, I have only answered the Money aspect of Richness and not the rest of them.

Humans Seek: Happiness

Bottom-line: HAPPINESS = RICHNESS + FREEDOM TO DO WITHOUT RESISTANCE

Hence, Being Rich at some time in your lifetime is Important…….

There are always exception to the above, but see My Blog Site for formula for success, that will bring Richness to your life……

Kenny

By: MattJ

MattJ — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:49:43 +0000

I will consider myself rich when the returns on my investments can reliably make twice the amount of money I can make at the best-paying job I could find.

By: Dallas

Dallas — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:54:35 +0000

I was astounded at your definition of rich. I quality but I assure you I am far far from rich. I’d like to call it scared. So scared in fact I trust CDs more than I do the market. We tap out the qualifier savings in your definition but I can’t afford to have my kitchen remodeled or go to Europe or buy a new car off the showroom. Hmmm, come to think of it maybe I can “technically” afford those things but not senisbly. Now I’m felling guilty that I have not donated more money this year to our local Humane Society…better go write a check.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:31:55 +0000

I agree that having enough to cover my needs (and to me, needs includes retirement savings and emergency fund savings) and to do a great deal of what I want. That means that once a year I’d like to take a small vacation for a few days, and be able to buy new books I am interested in reading while my husband is able to buy video games. We both like to go out to eat once a week. Being able to accomplish these simple pleasures regularly is my definition of rich.

By: Michael Guzzo

Michael Guzzo — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:36:49 +0000

I agree that those are good definitions of rich, but I think being debt-free would be a good addition. Without any debt, any amount of income is gravy.

By: jim

jim — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:22:59 +0000

That’s a good definition too saladdin.

By: saladdin

saladdin — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:58:36 +0000

Never having beautiful women turn me down.

saladdin

By: Ryan Waggoner

Ryan Waggoner — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:00:08 +0000

To me, wealth is not measured in dollars, but in time. The amount of wealth you have is the amount of money you have to live on without needing to work. Once you have enough passive income from investments or other to never have to work again, I think that’s the true definition of wealthy, because you own your time.

I wrote a post the other day on the reasons that I want to be rich…might be interesting given this topic:
http://www.ryanwaggoner.com/2008/08/8-reasons-why-i-want-to-be-rich/

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:12:03 +0000

I think defining what “rich” is can be a tough prospect, because it can be so subjective. To some being rich might mean just being able to stay current on their bills and just save a little extra. For others it might mean having millions of dollars and living in a lavish estate.

I think the way they defined it on the TV show is probably a good general way to define being rich or wealthy, and its one I aspire to.

thanks for the discussion!