If you became very wealthy, would you associate with the "little people?" (neighbors, friendship)

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

In Maine it is almost impossible to tell who the wealthy people are.

It's the same in Oregon, as soon as you get out of the cities. The guy you have breakfast with at Karen's Coffee Cup can easily be worth $100 million, or $2 million. I don't think of $2 million net worth as being rich. That is comfortably middle class. You don't find someone living on minimum wage or SS in a restaurant, because they can't afford it.

If you want to hang with wealthy people, join the JCs or Rotary. Service organizations are where successful people hang out. Successful people leave unsuccessful people behind because unsuccessful people don't keep up.

[Woof]

Originally Posted by NeonGecko

........ I have one friend (I am disabled and don't get out much and all my old "friends" dropped me when I got sick). She is also disabled and has been for her entire life. I would buy her a house and put it in trust for her for her lifetime (with a repair fund).

.....

Hmmmm .... that might not be as helpful as you'd think. She might lose all or part of her benefits with those increased assets. Plus there's maintenance, not just repair, cleaning and mowing and shoveling, things she doesn't have to do with renting.

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

the people i used to associate with were not little people
little people are cute
the people i used to associate with were dirt bags.
i used to marry people now i would not even date.

Funny - I was going to say "I will only associate with the little people if they are not so little that I have to look down at the tops of their heads."

$2 million is not wealthy - it's enough to be able to retire on $80K a year, plus Social Security, so it's a nice comfortable amount. I am in that bracket and I associate with people from all walks of life, from car mechanics to CEOs.

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by Woof

Hmmmm .... that might not be as helpful as you'd think. She might lose all or part of her benefits with those increased assets. Plus there's maintenance, not just repair, cleaning and mowing and shoveling, things she doesn't have to do with renting.

That's right. Better to just buy the house yourself and let her live there rent-free until she dies, then the house reverts to you, and you can sell it or rent it out.

[Pinkmani]

As far as keeping friendships? Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on how much I change and how they react to my wealth. If they keep whining and want me to give them money, the friendship will slowly die off.



If I became wealthy, I would do the following:
~Provide dinners for families w/ kids on free and reduced lunch (sometimes breakfast and lunch is all the kids get, they don't get to eat during the weekends/winter break/spring breaks/summer).
~Hold weight loss contests ($1,000 every week, fitness equipment giveaways, clothing store gift cards, and excess skin removal surgery)
~Provide groceries for retired folks and widows/widowers
~Scholarships

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by imagardener

I had friends who started out my equal then got rich and they weren't that nice to me, they were snobby when I was struggling to make a living. What is more interesting is that when I later became financially successful (I felt personally successful before getting the money) they liked me even less. Old friends are not always the best friends although I have some that have liked me poor and rich.

When you live in a small town everyone knows where the other person stands in the pecking order and when someone "rises" to success/wealth it is not welcomed. In a big city people advertise their wealth (because otherwise how would you know) with jewelry, cars, watches, clothes, restaurants, first class tickets, etc.

Now I live in Florida and no one knows how much money you have, we're all strangers here. Cars don't count really, they could be leased. Jewelry/watches could be fake. I like people based on their intelligence and good manners and would be comfortable in a mansion or a shack if the person who invited me was interesting and pleasant. Money is not a measure of anything for me.

I personally think having children is much more of a factor in separating friends than money. Family comes first and friends fall by the wayside.

Completely concur about small town pecking orders and people getting up in your business. In my hometown, people were nosy and always into what else other people were doing. I moved 400 miles away and I do like the relative anonymity.

[Marc Paolella]

Originally Posted by vision33r

When you've become filthy rich, you become like Smeagle or Golem. You get very protective of your money or your Precious. Just look at all the ultra rich like Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg. They're set, they don't need anymore money but they keep piling it on and working on killing their competition. It's the anxiety that if you lose a penny to others you are gonna want to get the penny back.

Or maybe it is just because making money is fun, because money is a great tool for life, and bigger tools allow you to do bigger and more interesting things.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Every time I read the title, I wonder if we are still allowed to say "little people". It doesn't sound politically correct.

[Chowhound]

I wouldn't change a thing about myself, I'm still the long haired Slayer/Metallica fan that I've always been. I'd rather drive a pickup than a Mercedes and I've always never gave a rip about social climbing, matter of fact, I find those people tend to be spiritually out of whack and in places that I don't want to be in.... not trying to be judgy here, cause of course, not all rich people are social climbers and the like....

Usually it's nouveau riche types that do the social climbing anyways..... old money... well, it's old money.... that spells it out already.

Yes.... I'd hang out with the "little people"

Never cared for the country club set........

[coolgato]

If your friends change or become jealous because you have become wealthy, then they were really never your friends to begin with. Friends should be happy when their friends do well.