What is Your Definition of Wealthy?

[Mike 03]

In the distant past I would do this poll from time to time, but it is always fascinating to receive the opinions of others on this question, and I appreciate in advance the opinion of anyone willing to participate.

Because this in an escalating poll, I am asking you to vote for your baseline. In other words, if someone making sixty grand a year is "wealthy", please vote for that rather than the next highest amount.

Likewise, if you have a target not generally listed here, please specify it. Thank you in advance.

[Forkboy]

1. It's all relative, as most live right to the extent of their means.

For someone like me I could live easily on 30K a year, with money left over for fun. For many that's total poverty.

I'd say anything over 100K a year is wealthy, anything over 250K is very well off. No one should be struggling on either amount.

[Silent3]

9. There are a lot of places where, especially if you have kids, $100K wouldn't...

...go that far. You might not be hurting, exactly, but you wouldn't be living in the lap of luxury either.

[Forkboy]

11. I didn't mean it to be filthy rich.

But, kids or not, one should be able to live decently off of it. If I can do it alone on less than 10K, than a family can do it on 100K.

And not hurting to me IS a luxury. ;)

[Alias Dictus Tyrant]

2. Income is not wealth. If you have to work, you aren't wealthy.

Or at least that's how I see it. Even at $100,000 per year, you would still have to work decades to save up enough money to live without working.

[Mixopterus]

5. Interesting

But I don't think the definition of "wealthy" means not living by your own labor. That has a different definition which most people would identify as "rich".

Wealthy =/= Rich

[Raine]

20. I agree, if you have to work you're not wealthy

no matter what your income. IMO

[provis99]

32. Paris Hilton has to work: so in your mind, she isn't wealthy?

on the other hand, homeless people don't have to work; so they are wealthy?

You need to tighten up your definition a little bit more.

[Umbral]

43. Paris Hilton has to work? Why, is it a stipulation of her trust fund? nt

[GodlessBiker]

44. Paris Hilton does not have to work.

[readmoreoften]

49. I completely agree.

It's not a matter of your wage; its the fact that you have one or have had one. If you have a high wage, you're middle class (the class between the working class and the capitalist class)

[panader0]

3. Real wealth is unrelated to money

I'm healthy, my kids are too. They are doing well in school. My home and land are paid for. I've got plenty of firewood cut. I've got beer on ice and a few buds left. And tonight is band practice. Man, I feel wealthy, even though I only made 13 grand last year.
Besides that, over 100,000 is wealthy.

[Lebam in LA]

65. Your kind of wealthy is what I'm aiming for

:toast:

[Hello_Kitty]

4. I picked the 5 to 10 million one.

Not because I don't think a person making $100-200K is doing very well, I do. But income is not the same as wealth. When doing long term care planning, $2.5 million or less in assets still puts you in the middle class category, where self-insuring for a nursing care need is not really a good option for you.

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. Someone without health insurance

and meaningful access to health care is not wealthy by any of these measures.

Treatment of a single accident or serious illness can easily exceed the $1 million lifetime maximum benefit payable under many policies. There were a couple of area youngsters whose treatment for H1N1 exceeded that $1 million threshold. And I know someone else who 1 year recovery in a series of trauma centers, hospitals and various rehab facilities exceeded that threshold several times over.

[sandnsea]

7. The $100,000 income should lead to the million

which means that's the starting point of wealth. Whether people keep their wealth or not is a different matter.

[leftofcool]

34. Unfortunately, by the time Mother IRS gets here share

the state gets her share, social security gets her share and a smidgeon to the 401K, no to mention the HSA, 100K just aint what it used to be.

[sandnsea]

54. The "smidgeon" to the 401K & HSA

puts you on your way to $1,000,000, when you have a free and clear house, which is wealth.

[leftofcool]

59. Not us

Too late in the game. Only have the hsa because our insurance deductable in 5k and we lost a lot in the 401K game. Deductable is high due to cancer so we have to save for some of the treatments. Got some of 401k back but not enough to last thru retirement which starts this year especially not after we pay the taxes on it. We do have free and clear homes though which helps but they will never be worth even close to a mil.

[sandnsea]

64. Whether people lose their wealth is another matter

I already said that. It can happen for a variety of reasons. But a $100,000 income is still the starting point to building wealth. It's possible, if not probable, at that income. Whereas it's highly unlikely at any income below that.

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. "Other"

Someone whose investable assets are sufficient to generate enough income as to provide well more than enough for living expenses.

In other words, someone who has enough that the money their money makes is more than they can reasonably spend.

[dysfunctional press]

10. wealth isn't measured by annual income.

if you have to answer to a boss- you aren't 'wealthy' in my book.

[kentauros]

12. I'll always remember Chris Rock talking about this on Oprah

"Oprah is rich. The person that signs her paycheck is wealthy!"

Although, I would still call Oprah "wealthy", Rock is really spot on as far as the definition goes in my book. Millionaires are considered paupers by the billionaires, while we complain about people making over $100k...

[EmeraldCityGrl]

16. Chris Rock's best quote on wealth...

"Wealth is passed down from generation to generation, you can't get rid of wealth. Rich is some shit you can loose with a crazy summer and a drug habit."

[kentauros]

21. LOL! That's hilarious!

And so true! :D :thumbsup:

[JackRiddler]

27. Okay, but I always thought of rich as richer than wealthy.

[11 Bravo]

66. "Shaq is rich. The guy who signs his check is WEALTHY".

[wolfgangmo]

13. Anyone whose income does not depend on their work

They could be making any amount from their investments, but if they don't have to work in order to pay all the bills, then they are wealthy.

Right now I would peg that at about $250,000 to $500,000 but it could be more or less.

[etherealtruth]

15. That's very similar to my thoughts on the matter

[leftstreet]

14. Why does no one ever poll 'what is your definition of poverty?'

I'm tired of talking about rich people

[TroglodyteScholar]

17. This poll is all fucked up. You can't compare net worth with income levels. Apples/oranges.

No vote recorded.

[Electric Monk]

18. The average income in Haiti, pre-quake, was $860 a year

/just sayin...

[Hello_Kitty]

24. So that's what everyone should be making?

Funny, I was under the impression that we didn't want to emulate Haiti's economic policies.

[Electric Monk]

28. See post #25

[Hello_Kitty]

36. And?

You felt is was necessary to mention Haiti's average income because, why, exactly?

[Electric Monk]

40. There is no absolute definition of wealthy, it's always relative.

[Hello_Kitty]

45. Yep, it's all relative when the plutocrats are telling you to get used to lower wages. eom

[onehandle]

19. There's individual and there's household income.

One may not make the definition. The other might.

[Raine]

22. Income doesn't equal wealth

it's the assets that count.

[CBR]

23. $100,000... wealthy???? nt

[JackRiddler]

25. Sorry, this is the wrong question...

Wealthy is relative.

90% of everyone in the US is wealthy compared to 90% of the world.

You should ask, what's your definition of the power elite and ruling class? As in, who's running the show, and who's getting the lion's share of the benefits from how the show is run?

[jberryhill]

46. +1

[maxsolomon]

26. Mrs. Solomon & I bring in well over 100K/year

yet we drive 15+ year old cars and rarely go on any vacation but camping.

I have student loans (just like Obama), 2 kids in college, a poorly insulated house, & the cost of living in Seattle is extraordinarily high. But we spend most of our $ on :smoke: & :beer:

[bbinacan]

35. I'm with you

:smoke: :beer:

[asdjrocky]

38. You really need to learn to grown your own.

[anonymous171]

29. $200,000. nt

[bbinacan]

30. 5-10 million. n/t

[proud patriot]

31. I voted net worth5-10 million

[McCamy Taylor]

33. Depends on where you live, but $100,000 a year should be enough most places.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

55. It depends on more than that....

If I'm single and living in Iowa City, $100,000 is a small fortune.

If I'm married and have a kid in college and am paying the support for my elderly parent and I'm living in Manhattan, I'm going to be chronically broke.

[JackRiddler]

57. Nope.

You won't be living in Manhattan. Not unless you're in the last rent-controlled apartment left from the 1960s.

You'll be in Queens. And chronically broke.

But if you're anything and living in a St. Louis suburb, you can have a big house and an acre of land for like a fifth of the market price of the little attached thing I live in (in Queens) with its 30-foot backyard (a treasure!).

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

58. Yes. I'm sure you're right about that...

I have a friend who rents something in Manhattan that is too small to be called an apartment but too large to be called a breadbox. And she pays something like $3K for the privilege.

[dionysus]

37. i'd say over 200k. 100k is extremely "well to do" depending on where you live

100k isnt all that much if you lived in NYC or LA for example..

[leftofcool]

47. Or Annapolis/DC

[phasma ex machina]

39. Other. Free time is infinitely more valuable to me than paper artwork. nt

[tosh]

53. +1.

:thumbsup:

[TransitJohn]

41. Other

Someone who has no outstanding debt, and garners a personal income from capital rather than their labor is wealthy.

[Stevenmarc]

42. $60,000, ROFL, obviously someone never lived in NYC.

Wealthy is never having to fly commercial.

[Fly by night]

48. Being happy, joyous and free (just for today)

[L0oniX]

50. After you have made millions it's not the money ...it's the power.

That's why the some of the rich keep working even though they could have retired after the 1st million.

[nonconformist]

51. LOL, who voted over 60K?

I wish.

[jberryhill]

52. Give me $10, and I'll tell you /nt

[madmom]

56. If I could buy what I want, when I want, without having to worry about whether

I'll have enough money to pay bills and buy food at the end of the month. I can help my kids financially without hurting myself.

[dugaresa]

60. people who are wealthy do not work

they don't live like you or i do.

they don't have to work to have healthcare and they don't worry about mortgages.

i have friends who are caretakers at a small estate of a wealthy couple. the couple i know are upper middle class and by this poll might be considered wealthy but they have to work to live and pay for healthcare, etc. if they don't work, they won't live.

the people they work for hire people to take care of their stuff and they don't have to work. they in fact travel about having fun.

[bigmonkey]

61. Simple, your investment income is the median income.

n/t

[gblady]

62. other....

any of the above....

[Spider Jerusalem]

63. My definition of wealthy? Of independent means.

This excludes most people. Those who are in professional occupations and making a few hundred thousand a year? They have mortgages. Credit card bills. Car payments. They're not 'wealthy'; they are the middle class (upper middle class, but still middle class). 'Middle class' is a term that's become distorted in American usage, where the majority of people are really WORKING class but don't like to think they are.

[JoeyT]

67. Other

People that aren't retired but for whom working is completely optional are wealthy.

[JanMichael]

68. Tone deaf to the poor 80% of the time?

Just sayin'.