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Hahahaha. I don't believe you. You made that comment because you were bragging. Sad that you embarrassed yourself and your son, but that's O.K. Everyone makes mistakes.
Did you brag because it made you feel superior for 5 seconds? If you can push the friend down, did it make you feel that much better after your chat? Why do you have to brag to feel better about yourself?
In actuality, what you did had the opposite affect. Instead of being impressed, your son was annoyed and his friend was not impressed with your being so boastful. Maybe your son will be having lunch with you alone next time.
"Maybe I should buy a Maserati and park it in a rented garage for me to drive when I come visit you."
It is always best to stay humble.
The rule of thumb is the more money you have the less boasting is necessary, in fact, you want to down play it. Same with everything. It’s all those insecure people who like to boast. You never heard Bill Gates or Warren Buffett say something stupid like that. The crowd I’m playing pickleball with, all claim to drive American car, judging by some of the comments they made, I’m sure they can buy a Maserati or Bulgaria easily.
The wealthiest human being on the planet is Vladimir Putin, with an estimated net worth exceeding $250 Billion, and possibly as high as $500 Billion. That greatly exceeds the combined wealth of Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett.
Socialism's redistribution has worked out very well for Vladimir Putin -- the country's wealth has been redistributed to him.
Same with the top people in China, their kids and spouses all come over here and spend money like crazy.
I consider myself fortunate that in addition to SSDI I have my late husband's military pensions. A lot of people my age and older are trying to survive on SS like my mother who received all of $1300 a month.
If you have time and energy to worry about how you compare to others then chances are you're doing just fine. Otherwise you'd be too busy or exhausted to care because you'd have bigger issues, like getting food on the table, making rent or affording the mortgage, being able to pay for medicine. Fantasizing about how you compare wouldn't be a concern, not when real life issues are in front of you.
Also bottomline existential - we're all going to die someday and no amount of fancy mansions, yachts, toys, cars, clothes or anything else you add to the list will halt that inevitability. No amount of money will stop time from moving forward.
So there's a choice: spend time and money trying to fill up a bottomless pit of insecurity to be able to measure against someone else/something else, or be grateful for blessings and fill up one's soul in ways that are priceless and meaningful and aren't about comparing oneself to anyone else.
I hope we don't end up in a socialist country. "Wealth redistribution" means they take the money you've spent a lifetime saving and give it to people who've never lifted a finger; maybe even illegals.
We do have "wealth redistribution" in this country. And you are right, that a lot of it goes to people who never lifted a finger-like say Alice Walton, Rob Walton, Jim Walton among many others. I would guess that they wouldn't survive a week doing what many of their workers are forced to do. So, giving workers a LIVABLE wage not only helps the economy, it also helps cut down on people needing social services. But, the bigwigs don't want that because it cuts into their profits so they have to pit the rest of us against each other for the crumbs they throw so everyone won't go after them for taking the most.
The rule of thumb is the more money you have the less boasting is necessary...
That's probably true in general, but personal insecurity, the intense craving to be liked, envy of one's "betters" and the need for compensation, transcend material-conditions. We need only to look at our present Dear Leader to observe, how a wealthy man (making an assumption there, but let's stipulate) still needs to make comparisons, to trot-out testaments of success, and to tout this or that superiority.
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Originally Posted by NewbieHere
I’m sure they can buy a Maserati or Bulgaria easily.
The price of Bulgaria has risen considerably since 1989. Not sure about its 0-60 time, though; probably not the best value-proposition.
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Originally Posted by Deoge
This is the reason that I don't get into a yacht measuring contest with my friends. Someone always has a bigger yacht.
They will. Similarly, someone will always be more beautiful, will bench-press more, will jump higher, will run a marathon faster, will achieve a higher rating in chess, and so forth. Well, does this mean that it's silly to train in long-distance running, beyond some minimum that's useful for reducing our blood-pressure and body-weight index? In other words, if it's silly to compete over yachts or mansions or investment-portfolios, how does it NOT follow, that it's silly to compete in sports or games?
There's an inherent competitive drive. It can lead to perverse excesses, but short of that, presumably there's a healthy element to it, is there not? And if so, why do we scoff at yacht-length-competitions being silly and gauche, but athletic competitions being legitimate and salutary?
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Originally Posted by Ghost Guy
...Now it's four years later, and they are still doing what they've always done, and telling me how "lucky" I am. My usual reply is that luck had nothing to do with it. If they did what I did, they'd have what I have.
But luck has always something to do with it! While your success isn’t to be gainsaid, consider the very nature of our language…. We say, “good fortune”, both in the sense of having gotten lucky, and in having done well for ourselves. Is it mere linguistic fluke that the two concepts share the same word?
At every turn, there are multiple options, multiple nudges. Which one do we choose? Are we always so wise, as to analytically weigh everything, making careful analysis, and then choosing the optimal? Or is it ever the case, that we luck into the best choice?
Didn't you say recently that you make $60,000 per year? That is not considered 'dirt poor' in this forum (or 'on this board') nor is it considered 'dirt poor' anywhere else in the U.S., as a person can live fine and better than fine in the U.S. on that salary, and the average salary in the U.S. among a number of groups and categories is really low, something like $25,000 or $35,000.
I think you're jumping their case for now reason. When they said "Compared to most of the people on this board, I'm dirt poor." they really meant compared to the "humble bragging" that most people do on the interwebs. Given what you see posted on social media most people are jet setting millionaires.
Reading forums like this one, and reading about how others live and how much they spend makes me feel very lucky that I ended up with my financial situation in retirement. City data and some other retirement forums provides more of a realistic glimpse into other folks’ balance sheet so much more than what I would ever know from my neighbors or even most friends and family.
I have to admit I do sometimes get jelly of some of the pensions.
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