What is "rich"

[Chicken lady]

Reflecting on a conversation we had with mil while she was visiting. She literally just made the first statement for no apparent reason. (we were all sitting in silence by the fire)

Mil : it used to be that if you had a million dollars you were rich. Now you have to have a billion dollars to be the same amount of rich.

Dh (who is definitely not worth a million dollars from a cash/asset standpoint) : I feel rich. (smiles at me and I smile back.)

Mil (who probably is. In an annoyed tone) well I don't!

Me: what is it you want that you can't have?

Mil: that's not the point. The point is that if you're rich you don't have to worry about money or a budget. I have to worry about a budget.

(interesting, because while we discuss, evaluate, and plan for large expenditures, I haven't had to "worry about" the budget for years.). Sometimes dh says something like "we spent a lot going out last month. Can we cut that down?" and I say "sure." and we do, and I don't feel like I'm suffering because I haven't eaten out for four weeks.

I have everything I need and everything I *really* want. I don't worry about how we are going to pay the bills next month or hesitate to take an injured kid to the urgent care for an X-ray. I have an embarrasing share of non-economic riches.

Dh company is having layoffs and it's possible he could lose his job, but I'm not afraid. It would suck, things would be painfully tight, the addition would be half done and on indefinite hold, but we'd get through it.

What s "rich" to you?

[Teacher Terry]

Having enough $ not to worry about paying bills and mostly having my health. At 61 I really realize that without that no amount of $ matters. Your MIL will never be happy-there is no amount of anything that will be enough for her. Very sad.

[JaneV2.0]

By much of the world's standards, I guess I'm rich. I own property, I have no debt. I don't stress out about bills.

But I agree with your MIL to the extent that if you're really rich, you don't have to worry about being "out of network," of if you can swing the pricey health care your loved one requires--after all, the Queen Mum got a hip replacement at ninety. Or if everything goes to hell in this country, you can just buy your way into a place more to your liking. There are a lot of real advantages to having boatloads of money. I'd say there's rich, and then there's more money than you could spend in ten lifetimes rich.

[pinkytoe]

I recently stumbled onto a YouTube about a village in Guatemala where just about everyone lives in dire poverty. They would practically beam with joy to have just a few extra dollars (pesos) now and then. It made me feel obscenely rich. So I guess rich is having more than you could ever need.

[bae]

My outlook is that everyone starts out with roughly the same amount of "wealth". But by "wealth" I mean time. We have a finite number of days on this Earth, whether we have a billion dollars or $10 to our names. All the money in the world can't buy back a single day of your life.

To me, "rich" means you are in control of your time, that you get to spend it doing things you want to do.

[creaker]

"Enough is as good as a feast."

- Mary Poppins

[Williamsmith]

I can't honestly respond to this without sounding syrupy and stupid.

What is rich? The essence of life is memories. Simplicity is freedom. Money is a government construct. All it does is create a need to maintain. Money is the opposite of freedom. Yet, I still buy lottery tickets. So again I ask, what is rich? And why do I seek it?

[razz]

My outlook is that everyone starts out with roughly the same amount of "wealth".

To me, "rich" means you are in control of your time, that you get to spend it doing things you want to do.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. Where people see deficits is if they have not yet figured out what it is that they want to do.

If you have no sense of purpose for your life, no sense of joy of being alive, 10 billion dollars won't help. If my needs are met which they are, if I feel love and loved which I do and if I can make a positive difference in some way, I am grateful and rich.

[ToomuchStuff]

The Queen, is part of an institution of Monarchy. Taxes pay at least a part of her expenses, in the way the first family gets paid for here. (that don't count in my book)
Then you have the Super rich, which is different from the rich. She mentioned a million dollars, well, that is a much different thing in the early 1900's then in the 1960's. Comparisons really need dates to be appropriate.
Even those that I know, that people would consider money rich, have budgets. I can think of two I know, that give around 8 years of my income to charity every year. They give more then that, and the pile diminishes more then it can refill itself. (basic math)
At least two people I know, own banks. One I know had 1 million in a trust fund by his first birthday, and he isn't the only one I know like that. Things like that, afford certain comforts, like the ability to do what you like to do, or work part time, and enjoy things you like. Rent three places in NY, NY until you figure out which one you like, etc. etc.
Rich from a financial perspective to me, is having enough to keep yourself comfortable and knowing how to keep it. From a personal perspective, it is something else that involves peace of mind. That is something being super rich can't really help, as then you have to worry about personal and family security.

[ctg492]

Not having to struggle to pay for life's needs.

My mom always said she wanted to be so rich she could go to the grocery store and not look at prices. I know now mom's finances since she pasted, sadly she could have done that since she was not extravagant. Old habits die hard.