Globally, the average income for an adult is $23,380 (when adjusted for purchasing power parity, or PPP). Sounds pretty good, right?
However,this figure conceals wide disparitiesbetween and within countries. The richest 10% of the world’s population currently take home 52% of the income, while the poorest half earn just 8% — an individual from the top 10% will earn $122,100, but an individual from the bottom half will earn just $3,920.
From the food we eat and the clothes we wear to the education and healthcare we get and the home we live in, money plays a huge part in shaping our lives.
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Well the owner of my small company is incredibly wealthy but also rad as fk and he drives a tank on property all the time just for the fk of it. He also owns a very old, gorgeous estate from an extremely influential family (think Vanderbilts) and we throw parties there. But on top of it - he lets his employeees rent it out for events. So my husband and I are throwing an anniversary party (never had a reception) in 2024. We have the entire estate and all 10 bedrooms for a whole weekend and it isn’t costing us a single dime. If I didn’t work for the company, the cost of the venue would be upwards of $25k for the day. I never expected someone so incredibly wealthy to be so down to earth and generous. It’s exactly who I would strive to be at that level of wealth.
I nannied for millionaires. It was new money and they had both grown up fairly blue collar. They were very down to earth, giving, and kind. Their children, however, had no rules, structure, or expectations inside of the house. Their previous nanny gave them whatever they wanted. That changed when I stepped in. I firmly believe kids need to know how to clean a bathroom, wash dishes, sweep a floor, and clean their rooms. Took about a year to get to that point but I can rest easy knowing they’re both currently in college and know how to clean the toilet 😂
We managed to get in touch with one of the Redditors who started this discussion,Sunnybestie, and they were kind enough to have a little chat with us about it.
“Actually, I was just karma farming,” Sunnybestie toldBored Pandaabout the origins of the post. “I made my account on December 3, and I didn’t expect that my fourth post on that same day would go viral.”
“I mean, I expected only thousands of views, but I was surprised that it reached millions within a few hours … and I was very happy that I now have enough karma for a year. Mission accomplished!” the Redditor, who is also a content creator on other platforms, explained. “I asked that question because I know people are interested in wealth and money.”
One of my friends is going to be a billionaire soon. His father is dying and he’s the sole heir to the family fortune. He already had access to it, but he chooses to live a middle class life instead. It’s important to him to teach his kids the value of hard work.So he’s basically the exception.
Years ago a friend of mine’s dad was trying to sell his start-up company and picked-up an investor at the airport. He was proud of his classic Rolls Royce and noticed the investor looking around, playing with the air vents. So he said “Is this your first time in a Rolls Royce?” The guy said no, but it was his first time in the front seat.
“Some are frugal, while others don’t mind splurging, like dropping $2K for a laid-back lunch with friends,” they noted. “Other Redditors expressed disdain for the wealthy due to the mistreatment they experienced; they were underpaid and denied even a minor raise, while their wealthy bosses were quick to splurge on extravagant items.”
A few Redditors also talked about how they admire wealthy people for their positive attitude, while others expressed the deep unease they feel about the stark inequalities in lifestyle and wealth. So basically, the stories were mixed.
One old money rich person treated me to a fancy meal and she was super polite and nice and tipped well, what struck me was the decisiveness and confidence that everyone there would cater to her, and they did. She wanted x dish that they didn’t make that day and they made it. The one that sticks with me was at the end she said “I want a cappuccino with (something) I want them to put a design on it” like I’ve gotten cute cappuccinos in my life, it doesn’t even cost extra, it never occurred to me to just ask for everything I want all the time.This was the same person that on a business trip hugged me after the flight “I did it, (womanthorned)!” Me: “oh was this your first time in economy” and she goes “no, flying commercial” just so we all understand how rich.
I was installing a floor in this Texas castle and there was this guy who kept coming over to check out my work. I thought he was the laborer of some other trade, but he was friendly so we just kinda started talking about life and s**t. I got to a point where I needed a hand to finish the install and when the guy got there to help, the same guy came around checking out our finishes and the guy helping me snapped up and started getting really attentive. When the guy walked away I asked him why he was tripping out and he told me that was the client. He was a billionaire and owned all of the property that your eyes could see.So one thing they do is go about their lives like a normal person.
To provide us with a better understanding of how wealthy people see the world, Grant Cardone — who owns and operates seven privately held companies and an over-$4-billion portfolio of multifamily projects — put together a list of eight money secrets they know that most of us don’t:
“Elon Musk, for example, bet the $22 million he made selling his first company, an online business directory called Zip2, entirely on his next business, an online banking service.”
Liv Garfield, CEO of Severn Trent Water, bought me and my colleagues a packet of Custard Creams to make up for the fact she was ending our bonus scheme. While she earned £1.5 million a year basic, and £2 million worth of shares.Ordinary people would have been too embarrassed to do that, I think.
He managed time very differently than anyone I was used to. E.g., our meeting with him began precisely on schedule, lasted 30 minutes, and there was no chit chat. Before this meeting we had a pre-meeting with his admin to discuss expectations. The admin explained that we had to be on time, no introductions/titles just name, no small talk, no marketing, be prepared to answer technical and financial questions quickly and succintly. For this latter, if there were numbers we had to know precisely which page of the material had the information.When the meeting took place we were brought in exactly – to the second – at the start time. Sat down and within 30 seconds he was asking us all manner of questions. I had to field technical questions that appear to be asked not so much for whether my answer was right, but that I didn’t hesitate. I also gained a healthy respect for my manager as he was SHARP and answered quickly and accurately.
They know that debt is for businesses, not people. “As I built my net worth, I did not accumulate debt on non-essential purchases like designer clothes or luxurious homes,” Cardone, author of ‘The 10X Rule,’ recalled. “Even if I could afford the bills, I didn’t want to waste money paying interest. Instead, I wanted to put everything I was earning into generating more money. For me, that putting my income into my business.““I also paid cash for my homes, and I have never accumulated interest on a credit card,” he added.
They know that debt is for businesses, not people. “As I built my net worth, I did not accumulate debt on non-essential purchases like designer clothes or luxurious homes,” Cardone, author of ‘The 10X Rule,’ recalled. “Even if I could afford the bills, I didn’t want to waste money paying interest. Instead, I wanted to put everything I was earning into generating more money. For me, that putting my income into my business.”
“I also paid cash for my homes, and I have never accumulated interest on a credit card,” he added.
I worked with their children in a professional manner and feel bad for them. They lack empathy and basic social skills, and were just beasts to anyone they feel is outside their economic class. You would be surprised how much money gets spent on coverups, from sexual harassment to drug issues, because the parents are chasing dollars and ignoring their intended trophy kids.
Ok you know how they sometimes have a box with a fire alarm or an extinguisher in it that says “in case of emergency break glass?”They had one of those in their bathroom. It said “in case of brokeness break glass” and had 10,000 cash in it.
Homeownership isn’t always their first investment. Cardone owns 12,000 apartment units, and he said that buying a primary residence is rarely what you see the wealthy go for first.Instead,cash-flow real estate is the place to protect and grow money. “On the flip side, cash-flow real estate — commercial real estate where you are making a monthly profit off of rent after your mortgage payments, property taxes and maintenance — is a great way to grow your money,” he explained.“You can make passive income off ownership of these properties, and it is often easier to sell them than a primary residence.”
Homeownership isn’t always their first investment. Cardone owns 12,000 apartment units, and he said that buying a primary residence is rarely what you see the wealthy go for first.
Instead,cash-flow real estate is the place to protect and grow money. “On the flip side, cash-flow real estate — commercial real estate where you are making a monthly profit off of rent after your mortgage payments, property taxes and maintenance — is a great way to grow your money,” he explained.
“You can make passive income off ownership of these properties, and it is often easier to sell them than a primary residence.”
Fly across the US and back for lunch because they liked a restaurant.-Pilot (use to fly private jets)
I was born to working class parents who made it to the upper middle class and put me in old New England prep schools, so I grew up around a lot of super rich people despite not being one myself. There were exceptions, but generally, the old money families were pretty humble and unassuming. One of my closest friends, for example, grew up in a legit mansion (15k+ square feet in the primary residence), had several other houses in various states/countries, a yacht, just endless money, and yet he still grew up wearing hand-me-downs from his older brothers and family friends. These families had the mindset that “we have endless pits of money, so we’ll buy whatever we want” alongside “it’s silly to spend money for the sake of spending money because we don’t need to prove ourselves to anyone.” As a result, you’d end up with these weird inconsistencies (like this kid is at my house talking about how his mom just bought a second set of horse stables so she has a place for her horses at their favorite vacation house, while my mom who grew up in the projects is wondering why his jacket has a tear with duct tape covering it). They spent money for pleasure, utility, and convenience, not for status or superficial reasons. In comparison, the first or second generation money families tended to be concerned with keeping up appearances and buying fashionable things. Again, there were exceptions, but this was definitely the trend.
They always buy in bulk. According to Cardone, the wealthy are willing to spend more on each purchase to get a better price per unit and save time spent on repeating useless activities.They invest in their network. “I have never had someone invest in me that didn’t know me,” the businessman said. “And most of the real estate I own today was purchased from sellers who picked me over other qualified buyers because we had existing relationships, and they had confidence in my ability to close.”
They always buy in bulk. According to Cardone, the wealthy are willing to spend more on each purchase to get a better price per unit and save time spent on repeating useless activities.
They invest in their network. “I have never had someone invest in me that didn’t know me,” the businessman said. “And most of the real estate I own today was purchased from sellers who picked me over other qualified buyers because we had existing relationships, and they had confidence in my ability to close.”
I worked for a billionaire. One time he went to lunch and didn’t bring his wallet. When they brought the check, he just signed it and started walking out of the restaurant The server chased after him and said he needed to leave a form of payment and that his signature wouldn’t be enough. He responded, with indignation, “Do you know who I am? My signature is more than enough.”. That’s something no normal person would even think of trying because it’s just absurd.
They are never content. Cardone said that the wealthy are never satisfied with their previous victories and believe they can always achieve more. “This helps them think big about future business ideas, inventions, investments and other wealth multipliers.“They don’t waste time trying to do everything themselves. Rather, they delegate. “The wealthy know that time is the only truly scarce resource,” Cardone said. “You can’t buy more of it.”
They are never content. Cardone said that the wealthy are never satisfied with their previous victories and believe they can always achieve more. “This helps them think big about future business ideas, inventions, investments and other wealth multipliers.”
They don’t waste time trying to do everything themselves. Rather, they delegate. “The wealthy know that time is the only truly scarce resource,” Cardone said. “You can’t buy more of it.”
I work with lots of millionaires and a few billionaires. Most work nonstop. There’s no boundary between workday, holiday, weekend, etc., but there is also no boundary between friend, family, coworker lots of times.It is easy to forget the cost of things when money is meaningless. When a $500k Ferrari is the financial equivalent to a gallon of milk for most families, then spending $20k on a party that includes private chefs, a bar staff, etc. is nothing.What happened recently was that someone mentioned there were a bunch of kids in MS who were getting trained at trade schools for jobs, but the certification exam was $350 so only 2 kids out of the 35 in our pilot program got certified. It was hard for anyone in that room to understand how these families couldn’t come up with $350 having a whole year to prepare. Most people in that room bill at $250-$500/hr. if they work at all.Two days ago, someone took me out to lunch and the bill was $250, but since it’s Christmas season and the waitress was really great, he tipped $250.A different time, we went out for drinks at the bartender was one of those “tell me what you like and I’ll make you something.” The lady goes to pay and just writes ‘math’ in the tip line and put $500 on the total for what was less than three drinks a person for four of us.On the other hand, there are lots of times when someone says something completely off the wall elitist. I grew up incredibly poor and some of these people are fifth and tenth generation wealth. They grew up with maids and butlers and private planes and their great grandparents have buildings all over the US named after them.One time one of them was talking about how she went to Walmart to people watch and never felt unsafe even though it was “the black part of town.” She tried to “make some black friends because if she could befriend them then she could educate them on better financial decisions.” It was such a condescending and racist approach we had to council her to never do that again. Another guy says things like “the blacks will ___ " and he thinks he’s very woke.Aside from all that, there is a general loss of touch with what everyday people face.
One client had a whole separate house on their property just for their dogs. They’d referred to a “dog house” and I was expecting like maybe a little building in the yard where they kept their toys or something, but this was a full furnished home with king sized beds and a huge play room on the main floor. They had a full training and feeding staff to care for the dogs and everything. They lived in their own house and would come over to visit. Seemed like a weird dynamic to have with your pet..One client didn’t have a litterbox for the cats, their cats I guess didn’t like using the boxes in the basement and they didn’t want to put boxes upstairs so they put down pond liner and kitty litter across an entire room in the basement and had their housekeeper run a rake through it daily.
However, when it comes to everyday life, they might not have all the answers. “Everyone is different, but generally speaking, many rich people are out of touch with the struggles of ordinary people,” Sunnybestie said. “[Maybe] someone who went from rags to riches [could] understand the poor [better] than the poor can understand the rich.”
“I grew up in a country where the majority of people romanticize struggle and poverty, but I also met people from my university and work who are extremely affluent,” they added. “I also worked for one who was featured in Forbes magazine. There’s a huge difference in mindset between the poor and the rich.”
“The poor will be able to understand the rich when they surround themselves with wealthy people, learn from them, and get rid of their limiting beliefs. I may sound elitist, but it is what it is.”
“Many extremely rich people (capitalists), however, are also one of the reasons why the poor remain poor,” the Redditor said.
I do consulting for public companies and work directly with CEOs and board members, so they’re all multimillionaires, but only a couple in the 3 comma club.1. There is no demarcation between personal and professional time. “We should set up a call” meaning vaguely next week, and they will respond with “I am free at 10 am on Sunday while I’m at my kids ski lesson”.2. They ask a million questions. About every detail. This is the number one personality trait I’ve noticed - the critical thinking is to the point where if you misspeak one word that is easily well understood, they will question you to be certain. I do think this is one (of many) factors that has made them successful.
Hire a private chef for a casual Tuesday lunch with her girlfriends…$2k, just like that.
I knew someone who didn’t like to do laundry so she just bought new clothes for each of her 4 kids every week. They were always high quality or designer clothes. At the time, all her kids were 10-16 yrs old.What would happen if they liked an item a lot and couldn’t find it again? Why not just teach the kids to do their own laundry? Why not hire a housekeeper who can do it? There are so many options, other than spending thousands every month just to avoid laundry. Plus they rarely donated it. Just bagged it up and threw it out. I never could wrap my head around it.
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Dated a rich girl that never wore the same pair of socks twice.
Way back in 1985 I was at a Christmas party in Crete Coeur, MO. I was just 21 and thought it was insane and still do all of these years later. this person had a house completely carpeted in white. Including the KITCHEN. She had 24 hr emergency carpet cleaner contractor.
They do not like being told “no.“Super rich people are almost always used to getting their way, and they can have mini-tantrums when they don’t.Although there is a difference between people who were self-made and came from modest beginnings and the children of those people, who are the crazy, sociopathic people that always expect to get their way.
They don’t work for an hourly wage. They do something once that they can make money from a bunch of times. Write a book, create a class, make a podcast or newsletter, make a video game. And then they save and invest their money so it will compound. Compounding interest is the secret to being wealthy.
6000 square feet home with one person living in it. That’s weird
I’m a financial planner for hnw individuals, mostly business owners.Here’s what I’ve seen:They practice delayed gratification until they don’t have to.They have a budget that they follow for the most part.They set goals & think critically about their plan to accomplish them.They take data-driven risks & execute.They use a task list every day.They automate when feasible & delegate when it makes sense.They sleep well & eat healthy.They practice productive mental health habits including setting boundaries with family & friends, saying “no” when appropriate & more.They put their fixed costs under 20% of their monthly paycheck & invest at least 20% of every paycheck into their goals.
They had part of the house permanently decorated for Christmas and it included a fully decorated Christmas tree that was suspended upside down from the ceiling. Which was actually pretty awesome.
My experiences: 1) CEO of large company. Didn’t come from huge wealth so fairly self made. As others said, a literal workaholic. 24/7, 365 days a year. Zero boundaries between work and personal (and expected the same of his direct reports unfortunately). Endless energy. Perfectionist. Edited to add: his wife was a b!tch and his adult kids hated him.2) Billionaire who inherited wealth. Was on his ranch in the West and this cow poke guy went with us on a horseback ride. He also cooked breakfast. I literally thought he was a hired hand, ends up he was the owner of the ranch. Was kind, friendly, could rope a steer like the “true” hired hands and make some mean breakfast tacos. Of course he flew to the ranch on his PJ while we got there dragging a*s in economy class with 12 hours of delays.
A waterfall and a river. When you come into the front door you are standing on a glass floor over a 4 foot wide stream running fast across rocks under you. To the right is a room with a rock face waterfall feeding the stream, and to the left there is a room with an open area pool with an “island” in the middle with a desk on it, and a glass bridge to the desk.
I worked for a billionaire for a year. At first, it was great, because he made us feel he was in the trenches with us. I came to find out that he made fun of us (there was only 8 employees) for the salary he was paying us and tended to throw people under the bus. It was one of the very few jobs that I gave less than 2 weeks notice and never looked back. I am so glad to be out of there.
Have no fear when addressing anyone, no social barriers
They built their kid his own house behind their mansion. It had an arcade and a trampoline room.
i didnt realise that the act of driving is some peasant s**t til i met them
Ooh, I can chip in here.My sister worked for an Asian property developer in London who bought a hotel in the south of France. He shipped his entire office to the hotel for the summer in order to get the renovation process up and running. He also needed a crew of people to work in the hotel for his employees friends and family, so I ended up working in food service and my wife was a maid. All in all there were about 100 people staying in the hotel. Owner’s family and friends, office staff, a crew of Liverpudlian carpenters and builders and their families, along with a private chef and his partner who was a pastry chef. A local french chef and to top it off, the entire cooking staff from a top London restaurant (7 guys) who would normally go back home to Hong Kong for a month, but instead the owner flew their families over to France.We worked 6 days a week and when off work, we cold use the pool and other amenities (projection tv). The owner had a 14 metre boat with captain which we used on our day off. There was also a chef de service who “had all the keys” particularly the booze storage room- One day, he had to go and testify in a trial for 2 days so he left me in charge with the keys. The booze storage contained about €2 million worth of booze including Cristal etc. I was allowed to supply booze to the guests and staff.I used to hang out with the French chef who once asked me if I like foie gras, to which I said yes. We returned from the fridge with a brick of foie gras which we munched on.Oh, and the Chinese cooks complained that the French gas burners were not powerful enough so they had to get some proper wok burners in.One night I watched the original broadcast on Sky News announcing Princess Diana had been in a car accident.That was a great summer.
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Work & Money
