How rich is rich? What's your opinion?

[bhenries]

Okay, here's a question I'd like to put to everyone.

I was in a posting about the fair taxation system, and I noticed that people, who seem to be afraid of numbers sometimes, use the term "rich" when talking about the taxbase and progressive/regressive tax systems.

So, in your opinion, how much do you have to make to be considered "rich." That is, in your opinion, when would you define someone as rich?

Just curious.

BH

P.S. Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond :yourock:

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. 25 Million Dollars.

[AndyP]

2. Hmmm

I'd say if you make over half a million each year you're rich, everything beyond that is just gravy.

[trotsky]

4. Seems about right to me, too.

Half a mil per year is an incredible amount of money. From $250,000-$500,000 I'd say you're very well off, and from $100k-$250k you're comfortably upper class.

Doesn't the quintile breakdown start the top quintile somewhere around $120k/year?

[RapidCreek]

If I earned 250,000 bucks in one year I could retire

Jesus some of you people must live grandiouse lifestyles. As far as I'm concerned...anyone who makes over 90 grand a year is rich.

RC

[private_ryan]

30. retire with $250K?

did you buy the Unabomber's shack by any chance?

[RapidCreek]

36. My moms retired on 80k and SS

She lives quite nicely...in a 4 bedroom home in a pleasant neighborhood.

RC

[RapidCreek]

37. Tell you what chief

if that's pocket change for you...throw it my way. I'll show you how to do it...K?

RC

[private_ryan]

44. no problem

just wait by the mailbox. Make sure to tell me how to do it though....be fair.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

3. In my state the average income is $25,000 per year

(Montana)

So in that context, I would say someone who earns $250,000 per year or more, or to put it a different way, ten times the average income.

[RapidCreek]

35. I hear ya

from SD. Shit you make 50k a year and folks around here think you're Donald Trump

RC

[Bombtrack]

5. It depends on what part of the country a person lives in

It really depends on alot of things. For instance, I'd be more apt to call a family $200K earning household rich if one or more of the adults in the household had parents with extensive assets such as an estate or bussiness worth a considerable amount of money, than if the same household had few relatives that were successful.

It's really something that one isn't able to put a number on that easily.

[beyurslf]

6. Once you're making over 250K a year I would say you're wealthy.

I think it also could depend what part of the country you live in. 150K a year in KS is a lot. Maybe in San Fran it would be more like 500K a year.

[AP]

22. It also depends on how you make it. A person making 200K in

dividend income, paying low taxes and living a live of leisure might be "wealthier" than a doctor who was to work 6 days a week, 50 weeks a year to make 300K simply because, after taxes, he is richer.

[Syncronaut Seven]

7. Rich? Don't point that finger at me!!!

I'm thinking gross earnings greater than 125K/250K a year (single/joint), posession of assets greater than 500K/1Mil.

I'd be thrilled if we hit 20% of that mark.

[Toucano]

8. The amount is only part of the equation.

Where the income comes from is more important.

Is their income from working? Or from assets and investments that produce income without regard to the actions of the person?

A tax code that fails to make the distinction is a mistake.

[fairfaxvadem]

9. when paying cash for everything is always an option....

If you can buy pretty much whatever you need or want and have a high standard of living, without being in debt and can pay for everything in greenbacks in additiono to having a healthy stash in the bank, I'd say you are rich.

I mean, when the cost of something is no longer an issue or a consideration, you are well off or rich.

[Sandpiper]

10. I'd say its relative to where you live

$250,000 might be rich in Peoria, but it definitely isn't in California.

[jsanteramo]

11. Hmm...Good Question

How rich is rich?

When you can go to Bergdorf Goodman and have someone else try on your clothes for you while you sip a glass of champagne.

Or if you are like Carrie from Sex and the City and have 400 pairs of Manolos and still can afford a designer wardrobe and housing without a problem.

Life would be good O8)

[stewert]

12. Bad Question.........

This question gets posted here all the time.

The answer is, there is not one answer.

It depends on where you live and what the cost of living is in that area. Here
in Peoria someone who makes more than $100,000 a year is rich. But in Chicago
$100,000 a year is an average wage.

Each city has an average yearly wage for that city, if you make 5 times more than that
you are rich for that city. If there is anything wrong with the tax code is it's too complicated,
and the rich are under-taxed.

In general if you make $300,000 a year or more you are in the top 5% of taxpayers, so
you are rich. That means you make more money per year than the other 95% of working people.

The average yearly wage here in Peoria is about $30 to $40 grand a year, so a person making
$100,000 grand a year is doing pretty damn good here. But like I said, in Chicago or New York
you can barely get by on $100,000 a year.

[bhenries]

14. Sorry but

I'm a newbie -- so, I had no way to know that the question is a regular one.

:shrug:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. Riches

are spiritual, not physical. The richest person in the world is the person who has overcome the false ego for the real.


As far as money is concerned-a person is rich who has money for descretionary spending.

[private_ryan]

32. try buying a house or lunch with spiritual riches

n/t

[Mr.Green93]

15. anyone over 50k a year

[monobrau]

23. please...

You have to make more than that to afford a 2 bedroom fixer-upper in No. California.

[RapidCreek]

31. Yea no shit

Guess that's why people from Northern California are selling their two bedroom fixer uppers moving to the Black Hills of South Dakota and building 5 bedroom mansions with bamboo floors and 4 car garages and retiring at the age of 40.

Frankly, I wish they'd stay in CA.

RC

[stilpist]

16. "Rich" is a measure of wealth, not income.

It doesn't matter how much you make if you spend it all; you'll be broke the day you stop working.

I'd say "rich" at a minimum requires that you have enough savings and investments to be able to live the rest of your life in your current style without working at all.

You might want to add some padding to that for unforseen events, maybe the ability to fund your descendents, whatever.

[Michael Costello]

59. I would agree with this with the modifier

"Rich...requires that you have enough savings and investments to be able to live the rest of your life in your current style without working at all." in which you never touch your money, and simply live off the rentier extractions of the money. In other words, you live off the rent, interest or most importantly profit of your money.

In some ways this question comes from within the existing establishment framework of questions. A better question is - in the relationship between rentiers and workers, what establishes that one is a rentier. In other words, to see it as a social relationship between people, not a social relationship between a person and an object. I mean, it's ridiculous if you think of it - what makes it so one person owns an apartment building and another doesn't? There is no connection between the person and building, it is an idea, a concept, that he has an authorized connection to extract rent from it. Thus it is a social relationship between people (landlord and tenant), not a relationship between landlord and building, which is ridiculous if you think about it.

[laylah]

17. Being financially

secure (for ME, that would be maybe $30k year), debt free, good health for myself and all of my loved ones, a house on 2-5 secluded acres with a great trout stream, and a 1979 Canary Yellow Champagne Edition VW convertible...I would be THE richest woman on this planet!
:hippie: :party:

Jenn

[bhenries]

18. Hear hear

[private_ryan]

33. where do you live Jenn?

n/t

[smirkymonkey]

19. If you can live very comfortably just off

your investments and other assets, without regard to income. Otherwise, your finacial health is entirely dependent on maitaining your earned income (job, business, etc.), which we all know can disappear at anytime.

Also, your assets must heavily outweigh your liabilities, i.e. if you have 10 million in assests, but 20 million in liabilities, you might be living like you are rich, but in absolute terms you could easily become insolvent under certain circumstances.

[trof]

20. I'm almost rich!

Except for the "very comfortably" part.
Started drawing down on my IRA 3 years ago.
I have no idea if it's enough to last us.
We're cutting corners that we didn't even know were there to cut a few years ago.

For some reason, I've always thought a million bucks is "rich".
If I had a mill invested, I could live pretty comfortably off the proceeds.
I don't.

[private_ryan]

34. move to Alabama

n/t ;)

[smirkymonkey]

43. I would love to be in that position...

I have about 30-35 years to go, but I can't wait to retire! As long as I have a roof over my head, food on the table, and enough left over to partake in some of life's pleasures (travel, arts & culture, classes, etc.) I will consider myself comfortable.

I am weaning myself off the need for "things" and regularly give things away as a practice of letting go of my attachment to objects. It makes me feel more secure in that I don't fear NOT having money as much as I used to.

[AP]

21. The more money you have, the richer you are. And the farther out you go,

the easier it is to make another dollar with less risk and work, making you richer and richer.

[leftyandproud]

24. Family income over 80k puts you in the top 10%

I'd say thats rich...definately. Compared to what I'm making, it's a millionaire...tax the bastards

[AP]

49. If that's AGI, that number is deceptive.

It doesn't tell you how it was taxed. You could have high AGI, but if it's all earned income, you could actually have significantly less after tax income than someone who gets all their income from dividends and capital gains, and it also wouldn't include income that isn't taxed at all (eg, income from muni bonds, a portion of the gain from a house you sold afte living in it for 2 of the previious 5 years, etc.).

[latebloomer]

25. Really rich

is the very top sliver of jackals that feed off the rest of us cash cows.

[Christ was Socialist]

26. if you are in the top 20% <nt>

[leftyandproud]

28. = household income of 70k

average household income is around 46k if I recall. 70k would put you in the top 20% bracket

[GreenArrow]

27. how rich are you? take this test

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

[BiggJawn]

41. Yeah, well, I don't live in Tierra Del Fuego, do I?

So it's small consolation that my 48 kilobucks puts me in the top 1% world-wide...Guess that means I can be expecting an invite to Bill and Melinda's next soiree'?

[GreenArrow]

46. well, you could probably take a years salary

and retire in Tierra del Fuego for the rest of your life. Bill and Melinda could probably buy Tierra del Fuego.

[Padraig18]

29. Anyone with a net worth of more than $5 million is rich, IMO. n/t

[Egalitarian]

38. Double the median for your area and family size (nt)

This may seem low to many, but by the numbers you would be well off relative to the masses, hence rich.

[taquinas101]

39. Are you talking about wealth or income?

If you are talking about income, the top 5% of US households make about $150,000.00 annually. If you are talking about wealth, the top 20% of households in income, which earn about $85K annually, have about $300K, which includes home equity.

Personally, I define "rich" as someone having a substantial net worth of at least $1,000,000.00 in investable assets, excluding home equity. Afterall, we've all heard the phrase "house poor."

[moof]

40. there are two distinct rich sets.

First they both fit under this definition,

rich = you don't need a job for anything, money, healthcare, or future monatary needs of any sort.

rich & powerful = you need not concern yourself with the laws of the American justice system, in almost all cases your name alone will grant you immunity from any involvement in any wrongdoing.

[BiggJawn]

42. A lot more than I do...

There was a thread going a while back where somebody was bragging that they just took a job with a 25 kilobuck pay cut. I asked if they were making $150,000 or $30,000 at their previous job, because it WOULD make a difference in the level of sympathy I extended to them.
Never got an answer....

I ain't rich or wealthy or what ever way you want to split the hair by a DAMN sight. I'm almost "comfortable", though...

[CJCRANE]

45. It's all relative -

if you have 5 Ferraris and $10M in the bank, but all your neighbours have 20 Ferraris each and $100M in the bank, you prob won't feel very rich.

[Jim__]

47. If you don't have to work ...

you're rich. I'm not including people on disability who can't work and have to get by on a pittance. But, anyone who can live off their investments, their trust fund, whatever, and doesn't have to get up and go to work every day is rich.

[troublemaker]

48. Simple. Full time Servants

After all your needs are met the only thing really "worth owning" is other people.

[bhenries]

50. Careful with that...

the NYT just did a hit-piece on John Kerry and his butler man-servant (they sarcastically refered to him as "part butler/part buddy."

It was a disgraceful story. Could their corporate bias be any more obvious?

[AndyP]

51. yeah I read that too

thought the cable "news" was going to make it up to a big deal, talking about how wealthy he is. I guess it's ok for a repub to be rich but a rich democrat makes them sick. I think it's way more honorable for a rich man to say that we need taxes on rich people, pretty much saying "I need to pay more taxes".

[bhenries]

52. One thing tha bothered me, though

was that it said he only paid this guy -- who does everything but blow his nose for him (lol) -- about $40,000. That ticked me off. Someone who does all that for you, is worth way more than $40,000/yr; esepcially considering how rich Kerry is. He can certainly afford to pay.

[mike1963]

53. I have very little money but I consider myself adequately rich.

Our modest house with 2 acres of land is paid for, the taxes are very low, our cars are old but suffice very well, the cost of living out here in the semi-boonies is incredibly low. We have quite a few pieces of 'stuff', mostly for unimportant uses but no need for lots of money.

I've "made" over half a million some years and practically zero in others...looking back, I don't recall any being better in any substantive way than others.

[AP]

54. Repeat for emphasis: there's not magic line you cross into wealth.

The more money you have the richer you are.

However, I'd probably conced that you're rich once there's no chance that you'll ever slide down to poverty.

Also, if you're in debt, you're almost definitely not rich.

[CalebHayes]

55. When money is not a factor in your decisions anymore.

[AP]

56. Another thing: it's a RW notion that there's a line you cross into wealth

because that's where RW'ers want to start the top tax bracket, knowing full well that many Americans who are poor will set it low enough so that it's a de facto regressive, flat tax on the wealthy.

If the top bracket starts at 80K, it burdens the person making 81K so much more than it burdens the person making 100,000,000. Essentially, it's a flat tax.

[kodi]

57. rich is when you don't have to work & can still maintain your lifestyle

money doesn't really matter. its what you need to live the way you want to that determines if you are rich.

[doc03]

58. When you have cash left on payday

I would say when you don't have to work and have enough money to do what you like and not have to worry about money. For me $1 mil would be more than enough. For another person $100 mil wouldn't be enough.