Can you be too rich? I always think of that Russian story; In the end he only needed 6ft of land.

[captain queeg]

https://apple.news/ATGD1jTqLSSuJtakoM9OwdQ
The article includes discussion with Disney’s granddaughter.

The wealth disparity in the US, and probably many other countries is obscene. I’m not immune from wanting nice things but when you have so much money you can buy a $500 million yacht that you use a few weeks a year or go to space for 20 min it’s more like an addiction. Here we are 40 yrs later and trickle down economics is running at full bore again.

As I get older and have retired I’ve simplified my life even more. I’m comfortable, as long as my health is good I don’t feel the need to prove myself or acquire a lot of stuff. The opposite is true, I’ve made an effort to get rid of a lot of “stuff”.

[Walleye]

1. The idiots always say rich people are immune from bribery because they don't need more money

Rich people always want more money, it’s who they are.

[Midnight Writer]

6. Exactly. Look at Charles Koch. Near 90, has billions, and will destroy people so he can have more.

I recall one billionaire saying he wouldn't even know he got tax breaks if his accountant didn't tell him. They had absolutely no impact on his life. It was just numbers on paper that were getting bigger.

[jimfields33]

9. I don't know the answer but bribery exist in those that are rich and poor

If the rich stopped making money let’s say at 5 million, would he be better off? Would Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, ect even exist? What about most companies? They’d never grow if they stopped at some arbitrary number.

[Torchlight]

11. Nothing was invented prior to bribery?

[jimfields33]

12. I think bribery started pretty close to day one of human beings

[Happy Hoosier]

2. Me personally? Nope.

But if I was super wealthy, I would not spend it all on my own personal luxuries. Don't get me wrong, I would live large. I would travel and see the world... in style. BUT. The vast majority of my mega wealth would be placed in foundations. Some of these would have specific beneficiaries I want to maintain. Others would issue grants in response to applicants. In short, I would fund things I think benefit us as a people. I would issue grants large and small to the local theater company that needs a roof repair to the local food bank trying to make ends meet for so many people.

[OLDMDDEM]

3. Good entry

My wife and i are retired. We fought like crazy to save for retirement. It has paid off. We are not wealthy but we are comfortable and live an affordable lifestyle in the Washington DC suburbs of Maryland. We give to our favorite charities each year and are pleased with how we are leading our lives. That's all that matters.

[PatSeg]

4. I've never had a whole lot,

but like you I am trying to get rid of stuff as well. The older I get, the more I realize how little I need. The whole "I never have enough so matter how much I have" is some kind of disease. Some very wealthy people actually have a deep-seated fear of poverty and probably a fear of death as well.

[brooklynite]

5. What does being rich have to do with "proving yourself" or "acquiring stuff"?

One of the reasons my wife and I are “rich” (by the definition of most people here) is that we don’t spend flagrantly. We also chose not to have children, which gave us, on average, about $500,000 in additional assets in comparison to most people.

Nb: One thing we DO spend money on is getting Democrats elected at all levels.

As for the question of being “too” rich, I’m guessing there’d be no agreement on what an acceptable level of wealth is.

[dumbcat]

7. Same here

Never set out to be rich. I spent my entire 40 year career with the US Army (active duty and DAC). My very frugal Chinese wife and I always managed to spend less than I made, even while raising a family. So we always saved a bit, invested in several different retirement plans, and built up an emergency fund in some brokerage accounts. Bought a house, etc. Normal stuff.

Now, after 12 years of a very comfortable retirement on my govt pension and some investments we still spend less than half of our income, the rest goes to various investments. We helped our son buy two houses. Donate to some favorite causes. We don't try to accumulate wealth, but according to a site I just looked at our net worth is at the 90th percentile in US Household net worth. (That was kind of a surprise!) All that will eventually go to my son and his family.

I too am trying to "get rid of stuff". Twenty-five years in the same house, and I am kind of a tool collector and tend to never throw anything away. It's hard, and my son will probably have to deal with it all eventually.

As you say, not everyone who is considered "rich" got that way by continually wanting more "stuff". Sometimes it's just a result of being naturally frugal.

[ChazII]

8. +1

Being frugal is a blessing.

[csziggy]

10. This is so true - it just takes spending less than you make

Which of course at current minimum wage is impossible.

Back in the early 1970s my sister began working in the school system in Florida. She made maybe $3000 a year but put a percentage of every paycheck into a retirement fund. Since it was automatically removed, she never noticed or thought about it.

She has always been a thrift store devotee. Most of her clothes, much of her furniture, and a lot of her gifts all come from thrift stores. So her expenses have always been low. That IRA was not her only investment.

Last year she had to take her first forced disbursement from that IRA - over $90,000! All of that money came from investing about 5% of her paycheck every year for the thirty plus years she was in the school system and not spending any of it until she was forced to take a pay out.

Of course, if she were starting out in a Florida school system now, her pay would be so bad that she probably could not afford to put aside even 5%, even with her frugal spending.