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I would stick with the ones I had known for years. Like all of a sudden I would become sophisticated,intellectual and a connoisseur of the finer things?. Would probably get a nicer home,nice car .,entertain more and travel the country. Would continue to support charities and add a few more.
We have friends who "improved their situation" greatly, They are like family, and no money changes hands, but we have kind of "fallen from grace' in their "circle of friends".
Their income is now about 12 times that of ours. They both struggled through high level college degrees. They both have great incomes now, and we DO get invited to dinner at their offering, but it is awkward that we are not as able to "repay them back" with a likewise offer...we usually 'take care of the tip"{sometimes expensive as dinner our for us at our "haunts"}.
They don't really hold it against us, but we are not included much anymore, where once we were. Their circle of friends no longer really includes us...they "hob nob" with some wealthy, influential, and famous people down in the valley. They sometimes accidentally {or on purpose} "Name Drop". "Well, we were just saying at dinner to {insert famous person's name} just the other day..."
They bragged about "full funding our retirement to the tune of $2.5 million in just 10 years"....
We cannot compete. I think we remind them of where they came from, too....perhaps they'd like to forget??
They were once as about "poor as us", but their 5000sqft mansion in the hills vs our small 1100 sqft on the outskirts tells a lot. They USED to live in 900sqft! But not now.
WOULD I associate with the little people? Probably not anymore if I were to be that wealthy. It would be too hard a dynamic to deal with...though I'd definitely LIKE to think I would!
But reality may not agree.....
The bet of luck to anyone who improves their situation so well! Try not to forget the little people...
A friend won a million in the lottery and the next day people at work were asking me why he was still working.
Someone who wins two million after taxes and invests it all, and draws down 4% annually will receive about $80,000 annually over 30 years(not adjusted for inflation). That's a comfortable middle class income but it's not what I'd call "wealthy".
If you're talking about five million ($200,000 annual income), then you're getting into wealthy territory in my book. But that's me. Following article is interesting -- the definition of "rich" changes with a person's income:
And then there's the difference between wealthy and high society. Wealthy is 200K a year. High society is Astors, Rockefellers, and Vanderbilts. And that you just have to be born into. Bill Gates can't buy his way onto their lists.
I would definitely associate with the little people. Being of modest stature myself, it would boost my ego and self-image considerably to tower over tiny folks.
High society on a couple mil? That's absurd. That's not even enough to buy a single-family brownstone in Brooklyn. They probably get mistaken for the help.
I'm talking about middle America where a couple million debt-free is doing very, very well.
I would still maintain my friendships because I value them but I can see where the dynamic could change.
I am upper middle class in my area meaning I am in the 160k range. My life is also more "rich" in the sense that I travel frequently for work so most of my expenses are reimbursable (put it this way I am usually eating on someone else's dime most of the month) and I rack up tons of miles and hotel points which translates into pretty nice vacations. When I am not traveling I work from home and usually don't put in a 40 hour week the weeks I am home. So it is a very different lifestyle than most of my friends even now.
It makes some activities just different in the sense if a friend wants to go on vacation together, then I am just no longer going to stay in a dive. I am also usually not going to share a room (I am single). Not to say I don't make adjustments. I have a friend that I am going to the caribbean this year with-- she had a much lower budget than me and I am sharing a room with her, but it is a big room with an extra living room - a junior suite of sorts. We got it to fit in her budget. I am not fired up with the idea of all inclusive resort (usually the food isn't that great) but I love my friend to death and I view this trip as just some time to spend with her to celebrate one of her big life events.
But-- I have limits, I am not going to forego my first class airfare to sit in coach with her. *lol*
I would still maintain my friendships because I value them but I can see where the dynamic could change.
I am upper middle class in my area meaning I am in the 160k range. My life is also more "rich" in the sense that I travel frequently for work so most of my expenses are reimbursable (put it this way I am usually eating on someone else's dime most of the month) and I rack up tons of miles and hotel points which translates into pretty nice vacations. When I am not traveling I work from home and usually don't put in a 40 hour week the weeks I am home. So it is a very different lifestyle than most of my friends even now.
It makes some activities just different in the sense if a friend wants to go on vacation together, then I am just no longer going to stay in a dive. I am also usually not going to share a room (I am single). Not to say I don't make adjustments. I have a friend that I am going to the caribbean this year with-- she had a much lower budget than me and I am sharing a room with her, but it is a big room with an extra living room - a junior suite of sorts. We got it to fit in her budget. I am not fired up with the idea of all inclusive resort (usually the food isn't that great) but I love my friend to death and I view this trip as just some time to spend with her to celebrate one of her big life events.
But-- I have limits, I am not going to forego my first class airfare to sit in coach with her. *lol*
I think this post addresses what typically happens. In this case, there are three options. Lovetheduns, pulls back on something she would like (and can afford) to do; his/her fiend store us to do something they can't really afford;or Lovetheduns picks up/subsidizes the tab. It probably works for a while, but not over the ongoing haul. That's not to say that Lovetheduns and friend don't remain friends, but I think over time, they just do less together. I have to imagine that this isn't a one sided affair either. If Lovethedun's friend has character, he/she will sense th awkward was too. Has. Orang to do with beings snooty,or "forgetting where you came from." It's just life.
And this, my friends is why a divide develops between friends of different income levels. Does this "wealthy" person owe you something? They might pick up the bill from time to time, but there should t be any expectation of such. You pay for what you eat. If you can't afford it, don't order it
All I can say is when I am with a friend who is a lot poorer than I am, I usually buy the drinks or treat them to lunch. I don't buy them a house. But if I am making $45 K a year and they are struggling by on minimum wage, I am treating. And I'm a woman, it doesn't matter what sex they are. So that's just my philosophy. So my wealth is actually what most of you would call being a "little person" anyway. So I guess I'm just one of the little people helping out my fellow little people.
And to the person who wrote that being a giving person isn't a virtue, yeah, whatever.
We are here on this planet to take care of each other. If you are fortunate enough to have it better than other people, you should be giving back because no one makes it on their own.
So, what are we talking? A few million, tens of millions? For people around me, they'd never see the difference, I don't like McMansions, I don't want a high profile car, I'm not a boat person, I'm kind of an introvert so not a shmoozer and the social scene isn't for me. I'm naturally frugal, so frivolous spending, whether I have it or not, would be against my nature. My friends are my friends, not someone interested in me only because I have money. For those who remember, think Beverly Hillbillies.
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