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Hardly. I am not rich. I am far, far from rich. Perhaps if my net worth were 10x or 20x -- but I am not rich.
My mother is nearly 90 and lives in a HUGE house by herself. She will not even consider downsizing as she is an extreme hoarder. When we would try to straighten up we did NOT find dead animals under all of her stuff. But it was scary. People have their private reasons for their choices and I do not think they should be judged for them unless they are deliberately hurting someone, which I do not believe that misty does.
You seem to be trying to make a point. About half the people have above-average health, and about half the people have below average health. We can't change our genes and we can't change our luck. All we can do is focus on the things we can control.
No one is attacking you. You posted a post where you described a clearly wealthy situation, including putting in an elevator that cost "only" $50,000. Others pointed out to you that that's a wealthy person's thing to do, and that wealthy people live longer...you responded to those posts making it clear you weren't wealthy at all. You made a joke out of a comment another poster said about those with money live longer...you didn't seem to get the point she was making.
My post, which apparently struck a nerve with you, was just to make sure you were in touch with the fact that all these people posting in these forums online....almost all of them could not afford a $50,000 elevator in a house, because most are not in the top 5%, as you must be.
I pointed out there's nothing wrong with being wealthy. But you seemed to really not know you are. You are. If you think that one is wealthy only when one can buy a castle or two, you are wrong.
I stated before, and I'll state it again...the top 5% in our country earns on average $166,000 and up, and most of that is from a two-income family.
Most wealthy people could not buy a Rolls Royce or a castle, but they are in the top 5% in parts of America nonetheless. You really should know that, if you didn't before. Most people are aware of where they fall, in comparison with others. Middle class, upper middle class, working class, top 5%, wealthy, etc.
I'm back in small town Tennessee and it's a different world than the affluent Indiana suburb I resided in. Back here with my parents generation, there seems to be a lot of priority placed on having a large home on a large lot, no matter how practical that actually is for the owners.
Over the last few months I've been back, I've noticed that most of these ~60 year old couples have way too much house! Many raised their kids in the homes they still live in, with many rooms of those large homes sitting mostly unused. They're still trying to care for these homes - often in failing health going into their 60s and those without failing health often carp on about wanting to downsize, but no serious effort is made to do it. These people are going to own far, far more house than they can reasonably take care of as they age, and many have been unwilling to consider downsizing so far!
Do you own too much house? Can you reasonably take care of what you have? If not, do you have plans to downsize? What are you downsizing from and to?
Smart people downsize. My parents who are both now gone went from a two story house to a smaller one story. As they got older stairs would have been an issue.
I know nothing about the elevator woman's wealth (or the lack), but do know an elevator is a good and less expensive option than moving from one's loved home.
What is wealthy? Just looked online, UBS investors said it is having $5mil with $1mil in cash. I hear the term "wealthy" and "rich" being tossed around, sometimes in a pejorative manner (as if its bad) and wonder how each person defines it.
Well, my parents' estate lawyer said they were considered "rich" with over 2 million in assets, but not "wealthy". Wealthy was a total abundance of money where you could buy anything you wanted.
She was making the point that they should consider long term care insurance as they wanted to protect their assets. The lawyer had seen over 1 million evaporate for some clients with long term illnesses or dementia.
Also, many elevators cannot easily be safely retrofitted into an existing house. Chairlifts usually can be but it does involve two transfers if in a wheelchair.
People can be anything they want on the internet. Then again, people can be anything they want in real world. I have known more than a few who said how wealthy they were only to lose everything and file bankruptcy.
I would like to move to a smaller more modern home. Ours was built in the 1920s. Cute and all, but doorways are too small, lots of maintenance, super huge yard. I don't even go into parts of it.
Once my animal population decreases I will make the move.
Smart people downsize. My parents who are both now gone went from a two story house to a smaller one story. As they got older stairs would have been an issue.
What are you saying about the people who choose not to downsize? They are stupid?
Well, my parents' estate lawyer said they were considered "rich" with over 2 million in assets, but not "wealthy". Wealthy was a total abundance of money where you could buy anything you wanted.
She was making the point that they should consider long term care insurance as they wanted to protect their assets. The lawyer had seen over 1 million evaporate for some clients with long term illnesses or dementia.
Also, many elevators cannot easily be safely retrofitted into an existing house. Chairlifts usually can be but it does involve two transfers if in a wheelchair.
The thing is that yes, you CAN spend millions on long term health issues...but I believe there are ways to "economize" to help your dollars go further, without having to go to what many here seem to think are the hell-holes-of-the-earth nursing homes.
No - they may not be "country clubs" or "spa-like" but they are acceptable. We do seem to be unable to accept anything less than the best in healthcare and sometimes that is just not realistic. Those of us who CAN'T afford LTCi will be forced to economize...we'll make it one way or another but I'll try not to let that fear take over the rest of my life....hmmm....maybe at least a BIT of the fear is fueled by marketers? My guess is that there is quite a niche to be filled with places that are more intermediate in costs than the country clubs.
On a broader note - I won't be upsizing when I retire. For the simple fact that I would consider it EXTREMELY sad to have spent my working years overly depriving myself just so I could live BETTER when retired! If that's what you want, fine - but it seems bass-ackwards. I want to MAINTAIN my life - and I can do that and add travel for the same amount as I'm spending while working because my perfectly acceptable house will be paid off.
My post... was just to make sure you were in touch with the fact that all these people posting in these forums online....almost all of them could not afford a $50,000 elevator in a house, because most are not in the top 5%, as you must be.
There are many strategies to deal with housing for eventual aging, and I've articulated one.
95% of people are not in the top 5%, and one could extrapolate that roughly 95% (+/-) of C-D posters here are not in the top 5%. I'm not sure why you think it is important for me to somehow be in touch with my affluence. Since this is important to you, let me acknowledge that I am in touch with the fact that I'm affluent.
There. Do you feel better now?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bpollen
I pointed out there's nothing wrong with being wealthy. But you seemed to really not know you are. You are. If you think that one is wealthy only when one can buy a castle or two, you are wrong.
You have a very unusual definition of wealthy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bpollen
I stated before, and I'll state it again...the top 5% in our country earns on average $166,000 and up, and most of that is from a two-income family.
You have a very unusual definition of being wealthy. I disagree that being in the top 5% translates to being wealthy. When you are in the top 5%, you are affluent - not wealthy.
For example, the median salary of a firefighter in Menlo Park, CA is $147,000 per year. That's the MEDIAN. Note it is a high COL area, and to encourage employees to live closer to work, the city awards an additional $200 to $2,000 per month per employee as a housing stipend based on longevity and rank. The city did this because they would like first responders to live closer to Menlo Park. For example, one recently retired firefighter has long lived in Reno, Nevada, commuting to Menlo Park for shifts. That commute is (at best) 4.5 hours each way during non-rush-hour traffic, and at worst 10 or 11 hours each way (if there are snowstorms, traffic jams or accidents on I-80).
That median firefighter income, coupled with a spouse working for the fire department or say the police department or in city government in Menlo Park at the median will have a combined income pushing $300K.
By your definition these firefighters are wealthy. I disagree.
Those median firefighters might retire at 50 or 55 with a combined defined benefit pension north of $200K. They would have access to retiree health insurance rather than needing to purchase Obamacare plans in the open market, so their retirement dollars go farther than they otherwise might.
By your definition these firefighters are wealthy. I disagree.
Now, they might live another 35 to 40 years in retirement. The net present value of their combined defined benefit pension is north of $6 Million even without any cost-of-living adjustments. By your definition these firefighters are wealthy. I disagree. They may even be affluent. But they are not wealthy.
Quote:
Most wealthy people could not buy a Rolls Royce or a castle, but they are in the top 5% in parts of America nonetheless.
You have a very odd definition of being wealthy. By definition, wealthy people can indeed buy Rolls Royces, Ferraris, private jets, vacation homes around the world, fine works of art and the like. Can't afford it? You're not wealthy. You may be affluent. Just making it into the top 5% is not wealthy.
Mariah Carey's net worth is about $500 million. Ms. Carey employs a very large staff that caters to her every whim. The woman has an assistant whose sole job is to carry around sanitary hand wipes to give to Carey after she shakes hands with anyone. It is reported that she even has an assistant who has the responsibility of telling Mariah how beautiful she is every morning and several times throughout the day.
Mariah Carey is wealthy.
Charles Johnson is the San Francisco Giants' principal owner, reportedly with a 25 percent stake in the team. That's believed to be the largest among the team's 32-member ownership group, San Francisco Baseball Associated LP.
Charles Johnson is wealthy.
Stage magician David Copperfield (who pulls in $57 mil a year) owns not one, but a slew of small islands in the Bahamas.
Copperfield is wealthy.
Last edited by SportyandMisty; 11-05-2016 at 12:05 PM..
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