7/29 http://news.yahoo.com/study-finds-only-28-percent-173022359.html
Only 28% of millionaires consider themselves wealthy. So it is
not just my wife!
\_ People have been using the term "millionaire" as a synonym for
"rich" for a very long time. But there's this little thing called
inflation. Having a million dollars in 1900 is roughly equivalent
to 20-25 million dollars today. As time goes on, it becomes easier
to be a millionaire, and that million buys less than it used to.
Yet people fixate on that number. *shrug*
\- I think for the purposes of this conversation it's more useful
to compare to say 1970. Today paris hilton and i have the same
iphone [although she probably has a more expensive case]. in 1900
you didnt have indoor plumbing, travel was risky etc. I think
the real effect here is one of cohort. Also longer lifespan
adds to insecurity, as does the state of medicine/medical
expenses ... insurance doesnt make all of that go away.
BTW, David Cay Johnston is always worth reading.
\_ Ooooookay, one million in 1970 is about six million today.
My point is unchanged. Are you happy now?
\- this coming from the person whose point is "there is inflation"
\- this coming from the person whose point is "there is
inflation"
\_ Not at all. Reporters going off about "ZOMG!!!
Millionaires don't think they're rich!!!" is a bit
silly, because we've been using the term "millionaire"
as a synonym for "rich" for so long that today there's a
substantial gap in meaning. Inflation, in this case,
has made the words no longer truly synonymous, but
people keep using them as synonyms anyway.
\_ Pentamillionaire is too hard to say and would just
confuse most people anyway. But even just one million
US dollars is quite a lot in most of the US (and the
world).
\_ If you live in the bay area, if you had a million
1970 dollars you could retire and live comfortably
for the rest of your life. If you have a million
2013 dollars, you're going to be going to work
monday through friday and paying your mortgage.
That's the difference. "Sounds big" isn't enough
to retire on.
\_ Sure and I am in that exact situation. But it
is plenty to retire on in most of the country.
It is even enough to retire on here, if you are
happy with a modest, middle-class lifestyle and
have no kids (or your kids are grown).
\- The most notorious cases of the "whiney rich"
which got a lot of press that I am aware of [such
as the Plutocracy-apologist University of Chicago
Business School Prof] were people with high
*incomes* who were talking about how they were
having trouble making ends meet saying they hardly
had any money at the end of the year, but were
including expenses like private school for 2 kids,
saving $75,000/yr toward retrement, $15,000
vacations ... based on their car lease estimates,
they were driving a pair of $100k cars etc. So
they were people making say $250k/yr per couple
and upset that 1. they couldnt vacation like their
college friends who were making $2.5m year on wall
street, 2. couldnt keep spending the same money on
cars/restaurants/wine/hobby post-kids. As far as I
know, when I was a kid, rich and poor had to stand
in line at Disneyland. Now rich people can buy
their way to the front ... so there is a lot of
"plutocratization"/pecuniary externalities.
But my point is you have to look at wealth and
income. The south bay is filled with retired
millionaire school teachers who bought houses
in the late 60s and 70s for essentially 0 [$20k?].
But I agree the ones who bought investment property
and thus are maybe worth $5m have a different
lifestyle than the folks with "only" a teacher's
pension and a $1.5m house.
\_ Can rich people literally buy their way to the
front of the line at Disneyland? Or is that a
figure of speech?
\_ Last time my wife and I went to Disneyland
there was some kind of scheme where you could
reserve a place in the short line. If you
bought a regular ticket, like us, I think you
were limited to just 2 short lines, but I
recall there being a more expensive ticket
that gave you access to 5 lines or something.
\_ I do not think that this is true, but
will see if I can find some info. I do
know about the Fast Pass, but am pretty
sure that everyone can only hold one at
a time.
\_ Plus, even Gilory Gardens, a non-profit
park, has a similar scheme.
\_ The sleazier way to go about this is to hire
a disabled person to accompany you in their
wheelchair so your group can bypass the lines.
I read an article about tour guides doing this
for affluent families at Disneyworld not too
long ago.
\_ Gee, I wouldn't want to put up with having
a stranger in my vacation with my family
just to get to the front of the lines, let
alone paying for it.
\_ I've stood in plenty of long lines at
amusement parks. Standing in the summer
sun for an hour and a half to two hours
with young kids? I can see the appeal.
It's hot, kids get bored in the lines,
and if you can skip it, then you get to
do more with your day. Do you consider
a tour guide an intrusion into your
vacation?
\_ The even sleazier way is to rent your own
wheelchair. |
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