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Comment by aphextron | Hacker News Reader

Reminds me of the 'I Am Rich' app launched back in '08. It was just an app that says 'I am Rich' and cost $999.99 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Rich)

Moral of the story: rich people will always want to show off that they are rich.

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> Moral of the story: rich people will always want to show off that they are rich.

I think you mean, "Some rich people are insecure enough that they want to show off that they are rich."

Amex caters to this very well: they play the whole "prestige" thing but if you have a "higher-level" card for the benefits (platinum, black) they are happy to issue you an ordinary green one you can use so people won't guess your wealth.

You really don't need to be wealthy to get a platinum card. You don't even need to be breaking six figures. You just need a good credit score. That perception is all hype.

That's how it is here in India. They tried pushing it like "prestige", didn't work. Now they just give it to anyone with a half decent salary and a willingness to be okay with the annual fee.

You don't actually need that good a credit score, since it's a charge card, not credit. You mainly just need the >$500/yr membership fee.

>it's a charge card, not credit.

What is the difference? I have always believed the terms to be synonyms, and the Wikipedia article for "charge card" does nothing to change that impression.

The book the Miliionaire Next Door[0] is full of counterexamples.

(http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/stanley-millionaire.htm...)

Edited to add the following paragraph.

The child post accurately points out that these families are not in the 1%.

The Millionaire Next Door isn't about the elite, it's about responsible late-career middle class families who have followed entirely standard middle class practices like going to college, saving for their children's college funds, owning their primary residences, and saving ~15% for retirement every year.

A family at median household income ($51k) that mortgaged a median-priced home ($180k) and saved 15% for retirement starting from age 25 will have $856k in a 401k and the better part of their house's value in home equity around age ~57.

If they don't at least have the 401k balance, they're going to be in serious trouble before before they're dead (unless Social Security is still around).

The Millionaire Next Door describes the minimum behavior required to avoid falling out of the middle class over a lifetime.

It's about the kind of people who might buy tickets to the symphony once or twice in a lifetime. Not the kind of people who attend its fundraiser galas. 40%-ers, not 1%-ers.

Pro tip: Symphonies price segment like crazy. Except the cheap seats are pretty good. A couple can usually go to a symphony for about the same cost as movie tickets plus movie theater snacks.

It was about $100-200 for two tickets in my city the last time I was pricing them. (Price varies by show, age, and if you're buying tickets to multiple shows.)

So about double a movie + dinner.

> Moral of the story: rich people will always want to show off that they are rich.

Selection bias in your sample.

The richest person I've met used to drive a small twenty year old car. Could afford at least a few Bugattis or so.

Exactly. Rich people tend to have rich people habits and are more concerned with putting capital to work for them rather than impressing people with expensive purchases. That's more of a 'new' money, financially illiterate habit. There's a reason pro athletes and lottery winners go broke more often than not.

Someone is out there owning those old-money waterfront mansions and $2m Central Park condos, vacationing at private clubs outsiders will rarely hear about, flying first-class around the world, writing six-figure checks at each $charity_gala_of_the_month, etc.

The mansions and condos tend to be private and secluded. The vacations and galas won't necessarily appear on Instagram. But the truly rich are absolutely out their living large.

I'd argue they are less driven by a need to hoard more money (they already have more than they know what to do with), and more driven by a need to shape world affairs in business and politics while fulfilling noblesse oblige social expectations like philanthropy for the poor, the arts, etc.

They might drive around town in a Toyota, but their family name is in big bold letters on a building somewhere.

Agreed. People who are truly rich do put their money to work for them, but they understand that an important way to do this is through social connections, and connecting socially with other rich people tends to be expensive.

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