What I mean by that, from my understanding, wealth is just one part of it, they are socialized completely differently, do different things and there are certain “tells”. For example, someone who wins the lottery is very different than someone born and raised upper class. Can anyone explain?
In: Culture
Patterns of money spending, assets that can generate more money, connections to other wealthy and powerful people, sports, how they talk… For instance, if I won the lottery, I might have a million dollars, but I would not be able to reliably earn millions more since I’m still just a painter. I don’t have any friends in high places, and I still talk like I used to. Not only this, but I have no idea what to do with that million. Rich people know how to turn their money into more money, while poor people tend to have just enough money to get by and so they often do not know how to invest large sums. Meanwhile, if Bill Gates was suddenly tricked out of all of his money, he still has all of his connections to help him recover, he still has a job that pays really well, he still has investments, and he talks like a CEO who has been in the business for ages. If something bad happened to him, it would be because he spends more money than he has without realizing, and this would have to happen very soon after he lost all of his wealth since he would make it back very quickly.
Another thing I’ve realized with some of my wealthier friends is they are blissfully unaware about very day-to-day things you’d think would be common knowledge like how to do laundry or wash the dishes because they’ve always had someone else do it for them
Working knowledge of legal and money lingo and practical experience with tax shelters, boards of directors, scam artists and so on.
Here are some tells: Experience with expensive sports like yachting, polo, and dressage. Experience travelling the world. (“I find Paris so much more enjoyable in the spring than London, don’t you?”) Experience navigating expensive, exclusive locations like four-star hotels, private jets, the high-roller tables in Vegas, and so on.
Wealthy people generally have nice teeth. Except for British wealth. Not sure what’s going on there.
How they ended up that way.
Self-made millionaires are MUCH different than those who inherited it. I’ve seen this many times.
Self-made still penny-pinch and have a frugal streak..or otherwise they never would been self-made. I’ve seen people born into money piss it away and not think twice about it. They have access to more and most likely don’t ponder where it comes from or how it was made.
It’s just the wealth, fundamentally.
Everything else – travel, hobbies, exclusive education, social experience, etc. – are all opportunities that only exist because of the wealth. Even better diet and access to healthcare leading to just a healthier person is wealth-based in many jurisdictions. Take two people of equal intelligence and qualification, but give one a lifetime of healthy diet, access to an orthodontist, better clothes and a more expensive hair care regimen, and see how the two do side by side when vying for the same job, right?
As for tells like the behavior of lottery winners, its about being conditioned to wealth: If you’ve always had more than enough money, a sudden windfall is unlikely to change how you manage it. (And you’re likely already in a peer group of other wealthy people who model this behavior to you.) People who live paycheck to paycheck who come into sudden wealth haven’t had that kind of life training. nor have people in their circles who would have that kind of experience.
It’s just the money.
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