We just flew across the country with what Delta calls Comfort Plus and other airlines call premium economy. For $100 more we had comfortable legroom, no fighting for overhead bins, and one luggage item included. For six hours flights, definitely worth it. But in Portland, OR, walking around downtown, where people living in the street don't have anything, it's odd thinking about this.
Ha! There are spots in Larchmont, NY, one of the wealthiest suburbs of NYC, where there isn't cell service, still, in 2025. I don't see how people can stand to live there.
We compare ourselves to our neighbors. I've live in or immediately adjacent to NYC most of my life. My feelings of wealth, my sense of wealth, are skewed. But intellectually I know I'm wealthy. Depending on whether we include age, race, gender, or household vs individual, I rank somewhere between 84% and 94% for Americans. But these numbers don't explain how I feel, and this has a lot to do with the situations I'm in. Am I walking down Fordham Road on a summer Saturday afternoon or sitting in a first class plane seat (free upgrade, I knew how to ask nicely and got lucky) listening to the far wealthier women next to me talking about their conspicuous spending? And looking at the situation worldwide raises especially uncomfortable questions about how the wealth system we have was defined and how we continue to enforce it. Is it fair that we have so much more wealth, and what does it mean that we don't feel wealthly in our local situation, the reality we live every day? Regarding two small points in the article, we are losing the freedom to express our opinions without reprisal. Part of feeling wealthy has been the privilege of free speech which has expanded greatly since the 1960s. In a matter of months we've lost a lot of this and we are destined to lose more. For many people, this loss has also been a loss of monetary wealth. Similarly, during my lifetime we've had an explosion of food choices, at least for those of us with money. Whereas the curtailment of speech is already well underway, my expectation that food choices will drop is only a prediction at this point. What choices we have left will require spending more, taking a bite out of our wealth.
When I got to college 40+ years ago, there was an American Express card application on my dorm room desk. I mailed it in and got my first card. There was no fee for college students. When I got my first bill after graduating which had a fee, I canceled the card and fought with them to get the fee refunded. Rule #1: pay no fees.
Then cards with points came along. I was only interested in points which could be used to pay the bills or be refunded as cash. Points for travel or other things were never of interest. I always click on the offers for extra points for groceries or gas or restaurants, but I can't be bothered keeping track. As long as the card gives 1.5% or more back, I don't keep track. If you have a decent credit rating, you should use a card with points and pay in full every month. It's a perk of having money.
What about replacing bonds with an annuity? Let's say you own an an annuity which could generate $4000/mo through age 95. Wouldn't this be a sure thing (assuming the company remains solvent)?
To not have a budget, we need two things. One is as an attitude towards spending which is conservative. The other is money. It's easy to spend less than we make when our income exceeds what we need and when we are conservative about spending on what we want in addition. I can't speak for attitudes towards spending in general, although Humble Dollar postings suggest the vociferous readers here are very similar (I see myself in these postings). But I do know about wealth by looking up statistics, and due to wage stagnation, health insurance, and recent inflation, it's a stretch to expect people to meet the condition of having money, even if they are working hard.
I have experience with the investing (mis)methods described here with an empirical experiment. In 2008 I panicked and mostly cashed out of stocks. I had two IRA accounts of equal value and I started a new job in 2010 with a matched 403(b) plan.
Interest rates were low and the IRAs didn't appreciate. The 403(b) got steadily funded with each paycheck and invested mostly in a low cost S&P500 index fund. Then, with one of the IRAs, I slowly started moving cash into stock (influenced by HumbleDollar). Today, the IRA with a stock allocation is worth $60k more than the mostly cash IRA. The 403(b) is worth more than the IRAs combined. We know what's happened to the stock market since 2010.
But I continue to disagree with the premise of the stock market being great. What if stocks languished or crashed? And they still could the next trading day after you read this. We just don't know.
Comments
We just flew across the country with what Delta calls Comfort Plus and other airlines call premium economy. For $100 more we had comfortable legroom, no fighting for overhead bins, and one luggage item included. For six hours flights, definitely worth it. But in Portland, OR, walking around downtown, where people living in the street don't have anything, it's odd thinking about this.
Post: The 1% Club: Our Unnoticed Wealth
Link to comment from September 27, 2025
Ha! There are spots in Larchmont, NY, one of the wealthiest suburbs of NYC, where there isn't cell service, still, in 2025. I don't see how people can stand to live there.
Post: The 1% Club: Our Unnoticed Wealth
Link to comment from September 27, 2025
Travel only brings perspective when you have at least a modicum of introspection and are willing to accept trying the local ways of doing things.
Post: The 1% Club: Our Unnoticed Wealth
Link to comment from September 27, 2025
We compare ourselves to our neighbors. I've live in or immediately adjacent to NYC most of my life. My feelings of wealth, my sense of wealth, are skewed. But intellectually I know I'm wealthy. Depending on whether we include age, race, gender, or household vs individual, I rank somewhere between 84% and 94% for Americans. But these numbers don't explain how I feel, and this has a lot to do with the situations I'm in. Am I walking down Fordham Road on a summer Saturday afternoon or sitting in a first class plane seat (free upgrade, I knew how to ask nicely and got lucky) listening to the far wealthier women next to me talking about their conspicuous spending? And looking at the situation worldwide raises especially uncomfortable questions about how the wealth system we have was defined and how we continue to enforce it. Is it fair that we have so much more wealth, and what does it mean that we don't feel wealthly in our local situation, the reality we live every day? Regarding two small points in the article, we are losing the freedom to express our opinions without reprisal. Part of feeling wealthy has been the privilege of free speech which has expanded greatly since the 1960s. In a matter of months we've lost a lot of this and we are destined to lose more. For many people, this loss has also been a loss of monetary wealth. Similarly, during my lifetime we've had an explosion of food choices, at least for those of us with money. Whereas the curtailment of speech is already well underway, my expectation that food choices will drop is only a prediction at this point. What choices we have left will require spending more, taking a bite out of our wealth.
Post: The 1% Club: Our Unnoticed Wealth
Link to comment from September 27, 2025
When I got to college 40+ years ago, there was an American Express card application on my dorm room desk. I mailed it in and got my first card. There was no fee for college students. When I got my first bill after graduating which had a fee, I canceled the card and fought with them to get the fee refunded. Rule #1: pay no fees. Then cards with points came along. I was only interested in points which could be used to pay the bills or be refunded as cash. Points for travel or other things were never of interest. I always click on the offers for extra points for groceries or gas or restaurants, but I can't be bothered keeping track. As long as the card gives 1.5% or more back, I don't keep track. If you have a decent credit rating, you should use a card with points and pay in full every month. It's a perk of having money.
Post: What is your credit card rewards strategy?
Link to comment from September 20, 2025
What about replacing bonds with an annuity? Let's say you own an an annuity which could generate $4000/mo through age 95. Wouldn't this be a sure thing (assuming the company remains solvent)?
Post: Not Staying the Course
Link to comment from September 20, 2025
To not have a budget, we need two things. One is as an attitude towards spending which is conservative. The other is money. It's easy to spend less than we make when our income exceeds what we need and when we are conservative about spending on what we want in addition. I can't speak for attitudes towards spending in general, although Humble Dollar postings suggest the vociferous readers here are very similar (I see myself in these postings). But I do know about wealth by looking up statistics, and due to wage stagnation, health insurance, and recent inflation, it's a stretch to expect people to meet the condition of having money, even if they are working hard.
Post: Budget, What Budget? (Know Thyself)
Link to comment from September 20, 2025
One of.my kids was in Head Start. The program and the teacher(s) were great.
Post: This post contains a secret and words I used in a few forum posts ago. Why is it not encouraging.
Link to comment from September 6, 2025
I have experience with the investing (mis)methods described here with an empirical experiment. In 2008 I panicked and mostly cashed out of stocks. I had two IRA accounts of equal value and I started a new job in 2010 with a matched 403(b) plan. Interest rates were low and the IRAs didn't appreciate. The 403(b) got steadily funded with each paycheck and invested mostly in a low cost S&P500 index fund. Then, with one of the IRAs, I slowly started moving cash into stock (influenced by HumbleDollar). Today, the IRA with a stock allocation is worth $60k more than the mostly cash IRA. The 403(b) is worth more than the IRAs combined. We know what's happened to the stock market since 2010. But I continue to disagree with the premise of the stock market being great. What if stocks languished or crashed? And they still could the next trading day after you read this. We just don't know.
Post: This post contains a secret and words I used in a few forum posts ago. Why is it not encouraging.
Link to comment from September 6, 2025
I expect to same goes for most actively managed accounts at brokerage firms.
Post: Inventing Problems
Link to comment from September 6, 2025