No Stupid Questions

I don't think you're kidding yourself, i think you're just capable of introspection and critical thought.

I frankly consider the excessive spending and flaunting of wealth that many people do to be a sign of pretty profound unhappiness, they're just trying to desperately fill a void inside them and distracting themselves with constant consumption.

No, looking at the world and at history we can see what actually makes people happy, and those things are quite simple: having a social group, being in nice places, and having hobbies. Of course there are other things too but these are the basic pillars.

Personally if i got a shitload of money i'd invest it in founding organizations to improve the world and funding existing efforts to do the same, because it's very clear that i personally benefit from everyone else having good lives. I want everyone to be so well off that you can drop me naked in any random place and i never ever have to worry about anything, i can 100% rely on people just giving me clothes and food and being able to travel for free, THAT is the ultimate freedom.

I would only live differently in that I would actually be able to do everything I want to do instead of doing nothing because I can't afford to do anything. Better home, better car, better gaming setup and I'd actually leave the house once in a while for more than just work and getting consumable goods like food, TP, soap, etc. And there isn't a lot I want to go out for. Bowling, pool, going up to Yosemite or down to Santa Cruz (gas is insane).

I have similar wants. Just a standard house, maybe some land for a bit of gardening, and a workshop to make things. Donate to certain charities and open source projects etc. Travel a bit.

But they're one little thing I'd do that would definitely show I'm rich:

I'd travel to local forest parks around the world, and bury actual treasure. Like a 3 gold bars. In in actual chest too. Maybe every now and then I'd do smaller treasures that are like a fancy sword or platinum ring or just medieval armor. Idk.

Then I'd go to the local university and set up riddles they'll lead to a part of a hidden map, with the map being hidden both throughout the university and maybe online too, depending.

But it wouldn't be a straightforward map. It would be a map to a random house built near the park. And somewhere in that house, would be the final map leading to the treasure.

Why? Because the world could use a little bit of magic adventuring I think. That's something that just doesn't really exist anymore in the modern era, in a way. I feel like finding treasure and going on a treasure hunt is something a lot of people as a kid probably thought would be fun.

And second, university students can always use some money, so they get first dibs too.

Likewise when I die any children I have would have to go to a mini mansion and solve the puzzles in order to get my last will that grants the finder my money.

So, we have a reasonable house but one that still needs a lot of work. I had a dream that someone offered us a million dollars for it in a forced sale because there were apartments to be built on our block, and I realized that wouldn't be enough. I wouldn't move out of our house for a million dollars. I want to live here.

If we got stupid money, I'd do all the stuff to the house that we want to do. I think we'd travel more too.

Having been both so poor I was homeless and now firmly middle class and everything in between - there is lifestyle creep with more money. We have done some of the stuff to the house that it needs, we host family holidays and parties, it costs money; we have two cars, not one, pets, occasional trips to the beach with a hotel stay instead of just for the day.

But the curve of this lifestyle inflation flattens as we approach our ideal, if that makes sense. There is a point where more just isn't better. We are so close to it now.

So if the money was infinite, but couldn't be distributed to others as charity, I think we would retire, travel, improve the house, get new cars (well, husband would, I love my car). Not move, not live super large, not eat much differently.

Either that, or I would open a little bar in my neighborhood, give up the dream of leisure and make it a wonderful, welcoming place with great drinks and food, start a business as my kids all are almost grown. That's more likely, I am not so good at slowing down.

I'm going to assume this isn't "lottery" ultra-wealthy where you can spend it all and suddenly be back to destitute. So you say you wouldn't live that differently, and immediately begin with "quitting work." That's the first step, because being wildly wealthy does change you incrementally because in this situation you've just bought yourself a commodity that once spent can't be bought back, time.

You now have 40 hours a week that you were giving to someone else. Add on 5-10 hours for commute time (.5 to hour commute) that can get up to 50 hours for whatever the hell you want to do.

Buying a new car just a quick glance at Carmax and you're looking at around $13,000 for a standard sedan. Not many have that pocket change going around, much less to buy the house that at low end houses cost $100,000 so you're done, no worries, no muss, no fuss and you didn't give some company your money in interest because you bought for cash. And on buying houses, as competitive as the market is, buying with cash right now at least in my region is about the only way to do it.

So lets assume you're working from home right now, you gained back 40 hours. Hey, I want to have a party/trip/etc! Well, your buddies are all working, possibly can't afford to go on trip, night out to eat. Offer to pay, but it's still the getting the time off. They've got bills to worry about, the ones you're not even thinking about. Sometimes they'll show up, other times, not so much. So either you're out fishing and working on your hobbies during that 40, or working to a new project job wise which really by this point is how the wealthy keep getting more and more money because build up a new thing, hire someone else to run it, passive income. But you don't have your friends to hang out with, travel and the like, you'll run into the others that don't have those concerns because you can buy your way around inconveniences (airport seats are uncomfortable, but those lounges are nice. Why have to take connecting flights? etc) those are also going to be the ultra wealthy. And they have a standard of living that will look more and more "normal" to you. Little bit of peer pressure, little bit of "take a ride in my Lambo" and finding it fun, it's a frog in the pot situation, you'll go back to your roots and go "How did I live like this?"

Well I know someone who regularly fantasizes about winning the lottery and the world of possibilities that would open up for them.

I'm sure more money could help with a lot of the stuff that life throws at you. But honestly, when I think about the things that I really want or would like to do... then it's rarely about money. For example, you want to become a photographer. It's not being unable to buy the priciest camera on the market that's holding you back. I even doubt if it's easier if you have the money to do just that.

You are suddenly super rich. Now all your friends and family expect you to provide for them. Every kindness they offer is suspect, are they doing it because they like you or because they want your money? How can you really know?

You don’t have to work and can go anywhere in the world. But your friends still have jobs, so you travel alone.

Some of your friends start to resent your new lifestyle. Others may just be staying quiet. You read about “crabs in a bucket” and distance yourself more from them.

It’s really isolating, but you meet some other wealthy people and you know they don’t need your money. And… you actually have some stuff in common with them. Yes Ibiza is overrated, but they suggest another place to check out. You go out with them to amazing restaurants that your old friends wouldn’t even appreciate. You can commiserate about how hard it is to get good help these days.

On top of all that, you slowly start to notice an emptiness inside. You should be happy! You don’t have to work anymore! You have everything you could ever want! Why do you feel this way!?!? Drugs and expensive purchases fill the need momentarily. If try telling your old friends that you’re not all that fulfilled, they’ll pull out the world’s tiniest violin for you. You lack purpose and goals, and feel like you are drifting in a life of luxury completely devoid of meaning.

If you’re lucky you find a way to have a new purpose in life and accept that the money changed you. If not you spiral and, best case scenario, wind up broke.

Dunno bud, I've met and heard about a lot of rich people in my life (my partner builds high-end houses), and they've all been absolute assholes, though some more overly than others. I know exactly 2 nice rich people out of dozens.

My theory is two-fold: one, to get rich you probably screwed somebody else over, and two, once you get rich you feel an inherent need to protect your resources without ever actually feeling satisfied (gated communities, voting for your own self-interest, suspicion towards normal people).

I do think that having large sums of money almost always lead toward personal corruption, and I wish we all just had enough resources and societal support to be healthy and happy.

You actually won't become wealthy.

The people who weren't born destined for it are the only ones that sit around imagining what it would be like...

I'm just a "temporarily embarrassed millionaire!"

It's all a hypothetical, feel free to just decide you are that type of person. No harm in it.

In real life though, if money is no object, the difference between a 2017 normal car and a 2025 luxury car is literally just "do you want extra features and a bigger screen on a car that will last longer?" It just doesn't make sense to get the cheaper version, unless you are giving up something else because you only have a limited amount of money.

I know a guy who's worth over 10 and probably closer to $50 million. He still lives in the same house that he did when he graduated university. He drives a 10-year-old car and his son who is one of my best friends drives the car that he had before that as a handme down.

Some people flaunt it. Some people build it quietly.

This gentleman that I know has bought both of his son's houses cash so they have no mortgages. He owns a million dollar cottage on a beautiful Lake and another property on the panhandle in Florida. You would think that he's on social security though if you just saw him bumbling about his yard.

I feel like the wealthy people you see are the ones who either get excitement from flaunting it or from lying about it (for example, mtv cribs was all fake). There are plenty of stories (yes i know they're just stories) about multi millionaires who drive the same old truck, wear regular blue jeans, and have a nice quiet (albeit larger than average) home.

It's not crazy at all. I just think we see the outliers more frequently than not because they want us to see them.

I remember having a guy living near me who made quite a fair bit of money, but since he was Christian he donated most of it to charity and just lived a normal middle class life lol

I guess this is essentially a philosophical question. Kind of like "would you defend your country?"

You can say you would but how could you ever really know unless the situation actually arises? Perhaps it's just my ego trying to convince I'm notably different from others.