You are renting their second house, but they don't make enough money off the rent payments and still have to work an actual job to support their family.
this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2025
12 points (64.3% liked)
Ask Lemmy
28869 readers
1752 users here now
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected].
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected] or [email protected]
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
It's hard to tell now days because people are into conspicuous consumption. Like you may drive an Acura and they drive a MBZ right? But you may Max out your retirement and savings and they're saving nothing. I think until you see where their kids go to college you may not be able to easily tell.
Look at where their kids go to school. The rich never skimp on that.
You’re the same age but they’re retired.
I think they'd be a lot more than slightly more successful than me.
It depends a lot on your age, and how much more modestly you're willing to live, and whether you plan on leaving anything to anyone.
Having kids is a huge factor. Not only does it destroy 2 decades of potential savings, plus another potential decade's worth it you put them through college for even 4 years - money which could supplement your retirement income; but also most parents want to leave something to their spawn, and are unwilling to burn down whatever capital investments to $0.
Childless couples (and the perpetually single) have many more options for early retirement.
People have different priorities. Someone may have just bought a $500 designer shirt, while I bought a $500 comic book. Hard to tell by looking.
Is the house paid off?
Even rich people don't do that.
Although we now know the metaphor is flawed, I don't have a better one: people are like goldfish*: their spending increases to match their income. You make $100,000/y and buy a $300,000 house with a mortgage. The average person who makes $1,000,000 isn't going to buy a $300,000; they buy a $3,000,000 and still need a mortgage. If they make $30,000,000, they'll still take a mortgage because they also want to buy that G500 Gulfstream and a megayacht.
Maybe when you get into the billionaire range, they're just paying cash. But the "just slightly" folks aren't paying cash; they're buying more expensive houses.
A paid-off house is just a house someone's lived in, continuously, for 30 years.
Good point, but misses the brief. We're talking normal people who are doing well, not mega yacht rich.
Well assuming you're not "financially successful" and talking about wealth classes that make their money from working, then by comparison they don't do anything differently when their paycheck arrives, or even know what day exactly they get their paycheck. If someone is living above their means or otherwise financially at risk, they're paying close attention to the numbers in their accounts. More subtly, they might say something like "I just got paid, let's go out for dinner" or "I'll buy those tickets on Tuesday" when there's no reason they shouldn't just get them now for whatever it is.
This, and if they're a friend, not pausing to think before a shared activity that would make you consider finances. A weekend/weeklong trip, concert tickets to a costly performer/seats, trying a new more expensive restaurant for lunch, etc. Even if they aren't interested that time, the explanations say that openly or they address the cost in time, not money.
This, and not knowing the price of basic things.
They seem to be at exactly the same level. But they have more savings. At least, given the average savings most people have, that would be enough.
If they have a better computer or phone than you.
Edit: (but only if it's one or two generations apart)
They might also prioritize technology over Gildan garments with expensive words on them. Seriously everyone thought I was ultra super rich with my Surface Headphones and Fire Emblem Fates Limited Edition New Nintendo 3DS XL but I wasn't, I just didn't spend that money on two pairs of sneakers with a basketball man's silhouette on them.