what is the definition of wealthy?
 

i've been wondering with all the talk about unfair benefits to the "wealthy" - who is wealthy? is it someone who makes $75K, $100K, $150K, $200K... what income level makes you say "that person is wealthy, he's not like us?"

All relative, no?

My personal opinion and expereince tells me that it's far more about who you are who you know than how much you have. 7 figures in the bank is nice but with the right contacts in the right places by being born into the right family and it's 8 or 9 in no time at all.

my personal definition is that if you can maintain your current lifestyle without working for 5 years without touching the principal in your investments - then you are wealthy.

For the purposes of unfair benefits (such as in the book I mentioned), it is on the order of a million dollars.

It's definite if the person would be capable of living comfortably off of interest on their investments.

People with lower incomes than that, say the figures you mention, are wealthy as well, but are more upper middle class in my estimation. At the lower end of that range, it would depend on conditions such as family size and location.

that's the point, jag. it all depends on where you are sitting. i had a distant cousin refer to me as wealthy. i almost sprayed my guinness on him in laughter. to him, i'm wealthy. to me, one of my mentor's is wealthy, but he doesn't consider himself to be so. in his words, "i'm comfortable" he looks to others that he considers wealthy. i'm curious though because some people refer to "wealthy people" as if they had the plague, never realizing that wealth is all relative... (sort of like a fiance in kentucky.)

that's the point, it can't be definite. i've got some clients that live off their gains, without touching principle but have WELL under a million dollars. under your definition, yes. under mine - maybe. it isn't important how much you make, it is how much you spend (or want to spend)

I live in a city where it is not uncommon to a $30,000 pricetag on a watch in the window and to see 3 luxury cars parked on one road, cash strapped means you can't afford to have a new yacht built for the summer season in Italy. Personally i think when you start getting above 5-6m - the point where you can live well above average purely on interest and still grow the principal above inflation without having to make a return above 5%.

Then there's the 100m+ category which is when you start playing games with the big boys, property, directorships and all the other fun stuff.

To me wealthy means being able to drive around and know you can buy anything you see. It means you could stop working right now and live better than most people for the entire rest of your life including international travel, new clothing, owning several homes, etc. It means you never work for money; money always works for you.

Really wealthy means you can no longer spend all of the money you have. Bill Gates is unable to spend himself penniless during his lifetime.

I think earning 1 million dollars per year is above average, but not wealthy.

i understand that jag - there is no question about the wealth status of those individuals. i wasn't really even going that large scale. this is in my mind because i was speaking with someone who stated in no uncertain terms that anyone who makes more than $200k in a year is "wealthy" and should pay 50% in taxes so that the "little guy" doesn't. personally, i think that is bullshit. both guys work equally as hard for what they have, why should the one who makes more have to give up a higher percentage of pay. that is the definition of unfair. it smells of wealth redistribution to me.

I don't know about that. I think I could blow 60Billion fairly easily if I put my mind to it. Hell you could drop the whole lot into the US national debt as a goodwill effort and it'd barely be a blip.

Hi - radar! LOL you must have radar in your ass! i just commented in another thread where we are talking about taxes that i hope you don't drop into it. whenever we talk taxes, i'm afraid you'll burst a blood vessel.

a la Brewster's Millions ?

The middle class carries the tax burden, the rich don't pay tax (you should know), the poor can't pay enough. Until people hit that number where it's worthwhile to invest in some serious tax minimisation machinery they get screwed and thus the government keeps running, it's part of the circle of life.

I can discuss taxes rationally just as I can discuss armed robbery rationally. They are the same thing. And I thought this thread was about wealth, not about taxes. Personally I think if a person makes a billion dollars a second, nobody else is entitled to a penny including the government. I think the same thing is true if that person makes minimum wage.

And for the record I'm not against all taxes, I'm only against any taxes based on income like state or federal income tax, social security tax, payroll tax, etc.

here we go.......