“Wealthy have at least one jet
Very Rich have a Netjets card and use it liberally, seldom flying commercial
Rich will fly private if they are going in a group, but still need to rationalize it
Very Comfortable fly Business Class, occasionally First Class, never Coach
Comfortable flies Coach, but often upgrades for longer flights”
Theres a category you missed. The wealthy person who is in demand - think of a rock star traveling around the country. They get a private jet written into their contracts and someone ELSE pays for the jet; they have no need to own one or purchase NetJets.
Anyway this is a silly taxonomy. Plenty of rich people still fly commercial regular class.
There are some pretty funny comments here. I doubt most people here are middle class. I also doubt that most people in the USA would consider the income or asset levels cited here as the requirements for being wealthy or rich.
These threads that try to define what is rich pop up occassionally. They are amusing.
I have a friend who never made more than $200,000 from his job. His wife doesn’t work. He is a very bright guy.
He has inherited millions and will inherit many more millions.
He lives in a $5 million house. I don’t think he has any debt. If he does, it is miniscule.
He told me he is not rich.
Ok…
It’s true. He doesn’t have a private jet or even the use of a private jet.
To take the other side, a little bit…
My aunt is probably worth $1.5 million. $600,000 house. Interest rates are so low. Dividend yields are low. Her pre tax income is less than $65,000. She has 2 disabled grown up kids.
In some circumstances, I can see calling a $1.5 million net worth rich. But that income doesn’t look rich. Having disabled kids doesn’t help either.
Man oh man, nothing like reading too much into a light-hearted post
I provided the airplane taxonomy in part because of a conversation I had with my kids. If a previously-unknown rich Uncle left me a billion dollars in his will, what would I change? I said that I’d never again go through TSA lines and would fly private. Otherwise, we live well, and I wanted my kids to know that, especially the one who thinks that we sacrifice for him.
We are not middle class. We are somewhere in the 1%, even using the US as the denominator, and globally, everyone on this forum is probably in the 1%.
If you can buy an Eclipse jet for $600,000, then you are rich. I like aviation. I’m quite comfortable. A Cesna with thirty years on it would be a life choice of plane over boat/second house, etc. A $600k jet at who knows what per flight hour is not affordable for even upper middle class unless in retirement when using a lifetime of savings.
I think comforable flies, very comfortable flies business class/first class, both considering the individual is footing the dime, not business flight or upgrades from business miles. I can hop on a plane coach to take care of family matters for a weekend but I shop airports and airlines to do it. Most in America couldn’t do that without putting in a credit card they don’t intend to pay. I know many true, middle of middle class, that flying a family of four to see family is once per year event with savings and usually bite the bullet and drive too many hours for the length of the trip.
Dstark, the very fact that airplane travel is part of your competitive set makes you rich to the average person.
This is the same kind of nonsense as “you just can’t live in the NYC area for under $150k!” Well, sure you can. Plenty of people do. Just in ways and neighborhoods that are invisible to us.
IMHO “rich” means your money works for you instead of you working for the money.
The number varies because different people value different levels of lifestyle.
A friend of mine - there will never be enough $$$ for this person to stop flying coach all over the world. If I was in this person’s shoes I’d never step outside of first class.
What is rich? When the fact that tens of thousands of dollars flying is flying out of your bank account for college doesn’t keep you up at night. I know my family is very fortunate. We did work very hard to get here. My husband works 60-80 hours per week (that is not a typo) and I work 40 hours per week from home while raising the kids. We cut coupons, look for bargains, drive cars until they hit 200,000 miles. No ski vacations (per the comment above), cleaning people or excessive spending. We assumed (correctly) that college would be full pay for our kids, and assumed (correctly) that a perfect GPA, perfect on 2 of the 3 SAT sections, 2 Subject tests and all APs along with varsity captain positions and club presidencies wouldn’t be enough for our unhooked daughter to get into Ivies. She did get amazing merit at some excellent LACs so she is very happy. Everything we’ve worked and saved for will go to our kids’ education, but it’s worth it.
@Pizzagirl,
I am agreeing with you on most of your posts in this thread.
I am not sure about the airplane travel part. I am not quite sure what you are saying.
The average person can’t afford to fly?
I know that many people can’t afford to come up with $2,000 in a month to pay for an emergency so maybe that’s true. I think there is a majority of people in this country who aren’t liquid enough to come up with $2,000.
Disneyland came up in a conversation yesterday. Is Disneyland no longer affordable to the middle class?
I know two billionaires fairly well. One always had a jet, the last was a gulf stream. He had a small fleet of amazing cars as well. And vacation homes all over the world. He’s in prison now.
The other buys coach tickets only but usually gets upgraded. Drives run of the mill midsize cars. Owns one nice house and stays in nice hotels while on vacation. He has made several 7 and 8 figure donations to institutions and charities that he values.
Both have been tremendously generous with time and advice for me at various points in my life. They were also great examples for my kids. I hope they can see what being rich really means.
I have one close friend who is a multimillionaire. I pester him occasionally about why he doesn’t have a private jet yet. His answer is always that true happiness isn’t having your own jet, it’s having lots of friends who have their own jets and are happy to take you along for free:).
“Is Disneyland no longer affordable to the middle class?”
I don’t know what Disneyland costs but surely you’re aware that the classic family outing of a Major League Baseball game is not affordable to the average blue collar Joe with a family of 4, between tickets, parking, and getting a hot dog and a popcorn and sodas for everyone. I hope this is not new news to you.
Disney is about $100 a ticket now. I was in the area yesterday and there were a lot of people there. So either it’s all upper class people or the great unwashed middle class masses are still finding a way to pay for it.
Yes to all of the above; my biggest focus industries were food and pharma, but I also consulted for household goods and media companies. Why do you ask?
But yes, when you work in fields where you have to (gasp) rub shoulders with the average person, you get a real appreciation for the fact that not everyone lives like we do.
@dstark. From the looks of the people I saw milling around yesterday, it looks like a reunion of all the people who have appeared in the “seen at Walmart” series:). With mouse ears on.
