No, Carter, they're not 'rich' -- for the most part, at least not
in "real" wealth...if they OWNED the properties, that'd be one thing...
I work with these folks, some of them....they have two incomes, perhaps
$75-85K total/year, and are mortgaged to the hilt....the 'subdivision' folks
are NOT the ones I referred to...I'm talking the 2% that are TRULY rich....
not on 'earned' income, mostly....even doctors and lawyers that are WORKING
don't have the money for a $200K car and 900K house and 50K audio system...
these folks were BORN that way....
Here's what I do.....take everything you own that's worth cash
value....including
equity, etc, EVERYTHING....subtract all of this (fair values) from what you
owe, or
the other way around....now, don't fret, MOST of us have a negative net worth...
at least until 60 or so....THAT's how much you have....my "net worth" is about
$15K, NEGATIVE>>>>my co-workers, using the same formula, are $50K PLUS in the
hole.....I'm worth $35K "more" than them.....no car balance, no consumer credit
balance, house paid up to half it's value, and $25K in possessions/cash/etc....
I have a modest income (<30K) and we live fine, with lots of free time
and a few 'toys'.....much better, in fact, than the 2-SUV/$250K
households....they're always beating the hounds away from the door :)
I grew up in a household where you paid cash for everything except a
house.....that's served me well for 40+ years, don't plan to change now
:) :)
73, Walt
On Wed, 31 Mar 1999 08:12:00 -0500 Carter Grabarczyk
<k8vt@ameritech.net> wrote:No, C
> Sorry if this is off-topic, but Walt, you really hit one of my hot
> buttons!
>
> Walter S Delesandri wrote:
>
> >
> > Point #2 -- some people have more money than I do....not a little more,
> > not a higher 'salary'....1000 times more!!! A friend of mine has
> > bought two cars in the last three years...the "add-ons" (TT&L, luxury
> > i.e. gas guzzler tax, and insurance on these vehicles) cost MORE than
> > my GROSS value (house, cars, possessions, etc) NOT COUNTING THE
> > COST OF THE CAR!!! (one over $200K, one well over $100K) Oh, BTW,
> > he paid cash for all. Now >IF< (unlikely) he got interested in
> > ham radio 'collecting', I assure you there'd be no "top" limit...
> > His camera gear (amateur only) cost more than 99% of the ham
> > stations on the air today!....$400 for a little transmitter
> > wouldn't be a problem, since the speaker cables connecting his
> > stereo speakers cost $1000 (not a typo, BTW) Having grown up
> > with a truck driver for a father and a housewife for a mother,
> > I had no idea such people even EXISTED!!!....but they're coming
> > out of the woodwork.....ham radio and audio gear (my interests)
> > have skyrocketed as the "other" folks have gotten interested
> > in them...
> > Also, to these people, whose 'time' is worth THOUSANDS of dollars
> > per hour, it's MUCH easier to buy from EBAY than to 'scrounge'--
> > what's a few hundred more, when your insurance alone (house, car,
> > possessions, life, possibly mal-practice) is hundreds PER DAY?
> > Ever get a tune up on a Rolls-Royce or a transmission overhaul
> > on a Carrera?....A Signal/One or KWM-380 is chicken feed, much
> > less TenTec!! --
> >
>
> $40,000 SUVs as common as VW Beetles used to be, multiple ENTIRE
> SUBDIVISIONS with the cheapest house starting at $400,000. Can there be
> THAT many doctors, vice presidents or drug dealers out there? (and, yes,
> they do seem to be coming out of the woodwork). Is it "a dollar down and
> a dollar a week"? Where IS all this money coming from????
>
> 73/Carter/K8VT
>
> P.S. We will have to move this thread to rec.money.whine :-)
>
> P.P.S.
> Does this support my theory that we are becoming a two class society-
> the worker bees and the very, very wealthy?
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