Comments on: The Rich Can Teach Us A Thing Or Two http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/ A premiere personal finance blog, established 2003. Within, Flexo discusses his own experiences with money, and he and other authors comment on a wide range of personal finance topics. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:50:42 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: terry http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/#comment-66494 terry Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:40:39 +0000 http://wp.consumerismcommentary.com/?p=621#comment-66494 Hey Dawn! I earn minimum wage (and have student loan debt). How the heck do you expect me to spend less????? Hey Dawn! I earn minimum wage (and have student loan debt). How the heck do you expect me to spend less?????

]]> By: Justine http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/#comment-1164 Justine Fri, 13 Jan 2006 13:12:39 +0000 http://wp.consumerismcommentary.com/?p=621#comment-1164 Oh Yeah! About the buying a Katrina family a house part with no strings attached or no catches either. Oh Yeah! About the buying a Katrina family a house part with no strings attached or no catches either.

]]> By: Justine http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/#comment-1163 Justine Fri, 13 Jan 2006 13:09:56 +0000 http://wp.consumerismcommentary.com/?p=621#comment-1163 Liz Pulliam Weston at MSN Money is so TOTALLY WRONG about the rich give away more of their money, there is research out there that says otherwise about 10% of the rich give away their money and some don't, they hold fundraisers to get money to give away some give away a couple thousand to a million they should give away several million a year. More low income or middle class people give more of the money away then rich people do. One Reason: we know what it is like to struggle and it hurts us to see others struggle. I would like to see a rich person buy one katrina family a house and pay for the taxes and other payments that comes with owing a house until the family can pay on their own. If their giving their money away they are doing a really good job of allocating it to charities who need it. Liz Pulliam Weston at MSN Money is so TOTALLY WRONG about the rich give away more of their money, there is research out there that says otherwise about 10% of the rich give away their money and some don’t, they hold fundraisers to get money to give away some give away a couple thousand to a million they should give away several million a year. More low income or middle class people give more of the money away then rich people do. One Reason: we know what it is like to struggle and it hurts us to see others struggle. I would like to see a rich person buy one katrina family a house and pay for the taxes and other payments that comes with owing a house until the family can pay on their own. If their giving their money away they are doing a really good job of allocating it to charities who need it.

]]> By: thc http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/#comment-1162 thc Mon, 14 Nov 2005 09:28:06 +0000 http://wp.consumerismcommentary.com/?p=621#comment-1162 I'm just thrilled to think that $500k in investable assets is considered "rich". Yippee. I’m just thrilled to think that $500k in investable assets is considered “rich”. Yippee.

]]> By: Flexo http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/#comment-1161 Flexo Fri, 11 Nov 2005 22:15:14 +0000 http://wp.consumerismcommentary.com/?p=621#comment-1161 Awki, I think we're on the same page. While the article calls these items "things we can learn from the rich," the only thing we're learning is that the rich can do things others will find it harder to do. Awki, I think we’re on the same page. While the article calls these items “things we can learn from the rich,” the only thing we’re learning is that the rich can do things others will find it harder to do.

]]> By: mmb http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/#comment-1160 mmb Fri, 11 Nov 2005 21:23:49 +0000 http://wp.consumerismcommentary.com/?p=621#comment-1160 Awki, another way of looking at it is that these people didn't let lack of money stop them from going after what they wanted. Bill Gates wasn't Bill Gates 33 years ago. He was a scrawny kid in a basement building computers. Besides, I doubt very much a person who doesn't give much to charity at 30,000 dollar will give significantly more at 300,000. The only exception being the truly poor, the homeless, who literally have nothing to give. It's behavioral science. We are set in our behaviors no matter what our net worth and having more or less money will not change that. Awki, another way of looking at it is that these people didn’t let lack of money stop them from going after what they wanted. Bill Gates wasn’t Bill Gates 33 years ago. He was a scrawny kid in a basement building computers. Besides, I doubt very much a person who doesn’t give much to charity at 30,000 dollar will give significantly more at 300,000. The only exception being the truly poor, the homeless, who literally have nothing to give. It’s behavioral science. We are set in our behaviors no matter what our net worth and having more or less money will not change that.

]]> By: Lee http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/#comment-1159 Lee Fri, 11 Nov 2005 10:45:18 +0000 http://wp.consumerismcommentary.com/?p=621#comment-1159 Number two strikes home for me, I can't wait. :) Number two strikes home for me, I can’t wait. :)

]]> By: ~Dawn http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/#comment-1158 ~Dawn Fri, 11 Nov 2005 06:32:27 +0000 http://wp.consumerismcommentary.com/?p=621#comment-1158 Awfki- Spend less, make more money and have an attitude of not giving up, failure means nothing but learning. Awfki-
Spend less, make more money and have an attitude of not giving up, failure means nothing but learning.

]]> By: Awfki http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2005/11/10/the-rich-can-teach-us-a-thing-or-two/#comment-1157 Awfki Fri, 11 Nov 2005 01:54:39 +0000 http://wp.consumerismcommentary.com/?p=621#comment-1157 This is meaningless. 1. They give away more. --- So, they've got more to give away. Bill Gates could probably give away %50 of his gross income every year without impacting his lifestyle. It doesn't make him a better person, though he might be, it just means that giving doesn't cost him anything. 2. They are much more likely to own businesses. --- That's probably how they got to $500k a year in the first place. 3. They borrow strategically. --- They can afford to pay off the credit card balance every month. They can also afford to buy multiple houses. 4. They don't blow a lot of money on cars. The average value of cars owned by millionares is higher, but this value as a percentage of total net worth is significantly lower for the rich than for the average. --- Duh. They're rich so of course the "value as a percentage of total net worth is significantly lower". 5. They're almost always homeowners --- Really! If I was rich I wouldn't own a house I'd rent a one-bedroom apartment. That was sarcasm, BTW. You take any person and hand them a bunch of money and odds are good that within a short period of time they'll match all those points. If you want to tell me about what I can learn from the rich tell me about how they got rich in the first place. I bet most of them didn't match many of those points until after they made their money. PS. This wasn't meant as a personal attack. I just chanced across this and had to comment. This is meaningless.

1. They give away more. — So, they’ve got more to give away. Bill Gates could probably give away %50 of his gross income every year without impacting his lifestyle. It doesn’t make him a better person, though he might be, it just means that giving doesn’t cost him anything.

2. They are much more likely to own businesses. — That’s probably how they got to $500k a year in the first place.

3. They borrow strategically. — They can afford to pay off the credit card balance every month. They can also afford to buy multiple houses.

4. They don’t blow a lot of money on cars. The average value of cars owned by millionares is higher, but this value as a percentage of total net worth is significantly lower for the rich than for the average. — Duh. They’re rich so of course the “value as a percentage of total net worth is significantly lower”.

5. They’re almost always homeowners — Really! If I was rich I wouldn’t own a house I’d rent a one-bedroom apartment. That was sarcasm, BTW.

You take any person and hand them a bunch of money and odds are good that within a short period of time they’ll match all those points. If you want to tell me about what I can learn from the rich tell me about how they got rich in the first place. I bet most of them didn’t match many of those points until after they made their money.

PS. This wasn’t meant as a personal attack. I just chanced across this and had to comment.

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