It’s Easier to Be Rich If You Don’t Have to Look Rich

It’s Easier to Be Rich If You Don’t Have to Look Rich

January 30, 2020 By Machinist

Wealth is a fascinating paradox.  People who look rich, especially those who really care about looking rich, usually aren’t actually rich.  On the other hand, as we learned from The Millionaire Next Door, there are millions of incognito millionaires all around us.  I have had my own experiences with perceptions of wealth, and I’ve discovered that it’s easier to look rich than to actually be rich. 

More importantly, I’ve learned that it’s much easier to get rich if you don’t care about looking rich. The choice is yours.  Would you rather look rich or be rich?

Misadventures with the Perception of Wealth

As I prepared to graduate from business school, I traveled to several interviews with prospective employers.  One of these was Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, Nebraska.  My host in Omaha was a relatively high-ranking manager at the company and an alumnus of my university. 

This guy, who was probably about twenty years older than I, tried to help me feel comfortable and provide an authentic impression of life in Omaha.  On the evening before my interviews, he and his wife met me and my wife at the airport and took us to dinner.  The next day, he picked us up again (in his own car) and drove us to the office for the interviews and then took us out to show us the neighborhoods where we might want to live.

The dinner was fantastic.  You can’t beat an Omaha steak followed by a piece of chocolate decadence drizzled with fresh raspberry puree.  It was all down hill from there.  I’m sure that the overall impression I left Omaha with was not what my host had intended. 

You see, I had spent the previous two years working hard to earn a degree that would propel me into a high-salary job.  I was anxiously anticipating the lifestyle that the average starting salary for my program would entitle me to.  As I mentioned here, I had a ski boat all picked out and naturally assumed I would have a house on the lake.  My brief but candid glimpse into my host’s lifestyle was an affront to my carefully cultivated avocational aspirations.

What I am trying to say is that my host drove an older Toyota, and he made a reference or two to making choices based on scarcity of resources.  I was ready to be rich, not to be concerned with making ends meet.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://perpetualmoneymachine.org/be-rich-or-look-rich/#more-891