People Share 30 Small Subtle Things About Wealthy People That Scream They Are Insanely Rich
The rich and the poor… there’s been a great divide between these two that is as old as history itself. And although, in the US, self-described middle- and lower-class Americans say they admire people who get rich by working hard, accomplishing their American dream, it’s when they’re at the top that it starts bothering others.
A Pew Research study found that nearly six in ten survey respondents say the rich pay too little in taxes. And this is the tip of the iceberg. So since we’re not diving deep underneath it, we’re taking a look at one very telling thread.
“What small thing screams 'I’m rich'?” someone posted on r/AskReddit, sparking more than 5k comments with eye-opening responses. Let’s see what people had to say below.
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I was 17, flying home from my sister’s house and I struck up a conversation with this well dressed businessman. (My mother was a seamstress and had taught me about how to “read” people’s clothes) Dude was super cool super polite. Genuinely just wanted to chat about whatever.
We chat for like an hour, then it’s time to board. His section is called first and he sees that I didn’t get up to board with him. He walks back over, asks to see my ticket. I show him, he gently shakes his head “no” and smiles while he signals me to follow him to the gate.
We get to the gate agent, he says “this is my friend throwaway, is the seat next to me open?” “Excellent, I’d like him to have that seat please.” Hands her a black credit card and next thing I know I’m sitting in first class instead of coach. I told him that was very nice of him, but he didn’t need to spend that kind of money (if I remember right it was like $800) just so I could sit by him. He explained that that “kind of money” literally meant nothing to him, he was enjoying our conversation and wanted it to continue. It was the most surreal feeling ever. So I sat in first class, enjoying all the perks that brings, and talked to this guy about life for the next three hours. Turns out he owned several stamping companies that all had government supply contracts and he had accumulated far more than $800 while we had been sitting in the airport talking, let alone the length of the flight.
When we landed he explained that most people just fall all over themselves trying to suck up to him once they know who he is, but I just talked to him like he was a normal human being and I reminded him of his grown sons from when they were teenagers. He thanked me for the conversation, I thanked him for the great seat and we went our separate ways.
That guy had money, and he knew what has actual value.
Nice that a conversation with a polite and interesting 17 year old had value to him.
Sometimes? Nothing.
I know a man who's the kind of rich where it took him only a day or two to convert more than a million dollars to cash (not, like, physical cash, but the liquid asset) to buy one of his kids a house.
He drives a rather beat-up old Subaru, when he's not riding his bicycle instead. He wears jeans and polo shirts. His watch is a $200 digital watch - wouldn't bother wearing a fancy expensive analogue watch, all they do is tell the time, what's the point? He's lived in the same house for 50ish years.
The only real tell is the air of total chill he has. He's not worried about much. Money insulates you from really a lot of stress.
Working at a luxury resort, one thing I’ve noticed is that the people who want to give the air of being very wealthy will have lots of designer patterns on their clothes and accessories, like Louis Vuitton print, but almost all of the truly ridiculously wealthy people will basically wear nondescript leisure wear and really plain looking clothes (like plain jeans and tees with no logos).
Bored Panda reached out to the author of the thread, u/_--__-__---, who posed the question “What small thing screams 'I’m rich'?” on AskReddit. The Redditor said that they were thinking of something interesting to ask people on the subreddit while browsing through some past questions. “One idea that stood out was 'What screams “I’m rich”?' so I decided to narrow it down a little bit so that the answers would be less obvious,” they told us.
“For me, a small thing that screams 'I’m rich' is not caring about the prices of things,” the Redditor said and continued: “For example, randomly paying for a group of friends’ dinners, or just casually sliding the credit card to the cashier without much thought about the price of what they’re buying.”
They spend money if it saves you time. Time is more valuable than money.
I guess it just depends on what you have more of or consider more valuable. When I was a student I had plenty of time and no money so I was willing to spend the time doing something. Now that balance has shifted and I will pay for expedience and I am certainly not rich.
An expensive watch that isn’t a Rolex.
Rolexes are how rich people or not even rich but “had-a-good-year” show off wealth to poor people.
A truly wealthy person will have a Patek or AP Royal Oak or a Mueller, and not necessarily even a flashy one.
Not noticing you haven’t been paid in two months.
I work with some people that pull in 20k+ a month. We had one come in mid March and said I don’t think I’ve been paid since December.” Sure enough two months didn’t pay out for some reason.
He wasn’t even mad and just kind of mentioned it like he was talking about the weather.
If I miss A paycheck I’d notice on payday.
Years ago I worked for a charity where we received monthly donations by standing order. Person had phoned because they'd just noticed their bank was giving us £400 a month instead of the £40 they had intended. This was after months of the payment being made incorrectly. They weren't cross or worried, just wanted it corrected. (Bank error, not the charity's, so they had to speak to their bank.) Not the same I know but on my lowly salary it felt shocking to me at the time. I would have noticed if it had been £40!
“Another example is just being casual. Rich people tend to carry less on their shoulders, so they relax, and are usually pretty chill,” they explained.
The author of the thread was quite surprised by some of the responses. “Some people told long stories about their experiences, which was wild to me.” Moreover, “There were also other things like 'Not noticing you haven’t been paid in 2 months' from u/Graphics_Nerd. This one was surprising because I would have never thought about that.” The Redditor was overwhelmed by the idea that “you could have so much money that you wouldn’t even notice that you weren’t gaining it from your job.”
Going to space for like 2 minutes in a penis shaped rocket.
And then suing NASA cause they chose the other guy's penis rocket to fund
My wife worked as a pastry chef at a very fancy NYC restaurant when we were in our 20s and just started dating. On her day off, we went to dinner there with a friend. The three of us were treated like kings: the head chef came out to see us and chat, we were served 6 desserts, etc. An older guy eating in the corner just randomly sent over an expensive bottle of wine to us. “Because we looked like we were having such a good time”. I was amazed. Having the kind of money where you can just do random acts of kindness. I’ll never forget that.
"Having the kind of money where you can just do random acts of kindness. I’ll never forget that." You do not need money to do random acts of kindness. The smallest thing can REALLY make a person's day. Compliment the cashier on.... pick something (jewelry, hair, eyes, mask, efficiency ), it is easy!
I have first hand experience with this. I actually work with wealthy people's bank accounts so they can't lie about what they have. Looking over transactions and stuff here's what I found.
You can't actually tell. We have millionaires walking in like they are homeless and people who spend more on fancy cars and designer goods but barely have $100k to their name. The truly wealthy don't wear brands. They are not there to advertise a luxury good. They give a CR*P ton to charity. More than I make in a year. Mostly for tax reasons but some are just that kind. We have a joke that the ones that are truly wealthy are the ones who are the kindest. They don't have to think about it and usually live low stress lives. They LIKE to take the time to get to know you and chit chat.
The aholes are always the ones who don't have to work anymore but also don't have the money to not think about it. There are also quite a few that are sweet in this category but you ALWAYS find the aholes here.
Something kind of interesting, I've never met an idiot rich person. Have definitely met some that didn't know what they were talking about or were misinformed but they have all been easily teachable. They don't forget things easily unless diminished capacity is an issue. Definitely have some offspring and spouses that were idiots. But the people who actually accumulated it all, pretty bright people.
There's a great book named Class that has this same take on the out of sight wealthy. Worth reading.
I was at a really posh restaurant (you know the kind where there are about 8 pieces of silverware?) we had saved up for months and a group of 8 of girls (nurses and CNA’s) went out. One of the recently divorced nurses was flirting with a guy at the next table. When we got our checks he leaned over and tossed his platinum card on the “I got this”. Like combined our tab was easily at least $1,000.
Perfect skin and good teeth. Rich people can afford to go to doctors and medical professionals for their appearance. I had a friend who worked for a skin doctor. He let her train on her friends with some new products and apparently, it's a thing where you go in on a regular basis and your skin smooths out, all the weird spots go away and you just glisten like Arwen or Galadriel. I did get to go in for one practice treatment and the other folks waiting in the room had amazing skin. Ever since then, I could spot moneyed women just by their complexions. Also, a good number of them.. you can spot if you know fabrics really well and how they are supposed to drape when well made.
They don't watch tv or anything like that. Lamborghini said they don't make advertisements cause their customers aren't sitting around watching tv.
They will never complain about the cost of something but will nit-pik the quality of work to death.
Not thinking twice, when making plans, about whether you can afford it.
They don't think of the price so they don't realize their friends might have to. Go on cruise with your buddies. Get to the first port and they want to do the $750 swim with dolphins excursion and two of you end up eating ramen for the next 3 months because you just maxed out the credit card that was supposed to cover the bills this month since you aren't getting paid this week.
Keep a business afloat for two years during a pandemic with very little income coming in. I’m grateful for my boss and I hope his vintage Rolls Royce gets finished soon.
Yeah, our boss finished his $1M spec house, bought a small family-run golf course and closed on the site where he’s building the new business and getting us out of the leased building. (Golf carts were HUGE during the pandemic)
I once vaguely knew a family who were very rich. Even the kids had bodyguards (kidnap-ransom risk) When I stayed at their home for a weekend on a visit, the father casually mentioned not to push a certain button in the room, when I asked what it did out of interest he explained off-hand that it was a panic button to alert security and bodyguards in the grounds, like it was the most natural thing in the world. They were impeccably polite with me but I felt like Oliver Twist wandering into the wrong home.
My father always told us that we were lucky to be poor because rich people have to be afraid of robberies and kidnapping.
A friend once told me that her parents said if you had to take a loan for something you couldn't afford it. So they never had car loans or home loans.... Must be nice
Buying art. And not Instagram art, but gallery dealer art.
I'm not wealthy by any means, but I do buy gallery art. For a price of a vacation abroad - or less - I can get a piece speaks to me and will stay with me. It's an investment in my well-being and general happiness.
Same. My wife and I love to peruse galleries, and find something we like. Typically not super expensive, and we save up for it, but I love walking around the house and seeing original, unique art.
Load More Replies... The same artists you see in galleries have Instagrams. Social media is a thing.
I'm so poor I wait until the end of January and I buy a calendar for that year. Then use the pictures as prints.
I will never understand the appeal of buying art for the wall. How many times can a person look at the same thing and still appreciate it? If I saw it in the gallery, why would I ever need to see it again? How can it possibly be worth more than $20 as decoration? I honestly don't understand it.
Wealthy person commissions artist, artist makes art, wealthy person has art appraised by friendly appraiser in the millions, wealthy person buys art, donates art, get massive tax write off, artist and appraiser also make bank. It’s a good racket.
I enjoy art, but I would never buy something with its future value in mind. I'm interested in something that speaks to me. Its value can be assigned by the estate agents after I'm dead.
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I worked at a gas station in the 90s when Steve Wozniak would come in to get gas. He dressed in shorts a t-shirt and flip flops and drove a $120k car.
Being completely clueless about how people who have to manage their money have to live.
Could just be people who don't manage household finances too. My friend's dad couldn't even balance a check book when his wife died ( he was elderly and only had a 6th grade education and the wife handled the finances) so my friend had to go once a month to pay his bills and balance the checkbook. My dad also got an allowance of 100 bucks a week and the rest went in the pot for my mom to handle finances cause he didn't want to know. And some people are just terrible at math/ money management. In undergrad our history department chair was banned from writing checks by his wife cause he kept bouncing them. It is easier now with digital apps though
Affording healthcare in America
Or in Europe affording to go to real specialists that will take care of you and not the overcrowded poor public doctors who are overworked and underpaid and don't care anymore. My mum is getting blind and she needed to pay a private doctor (medium range not fancy private) because the public doctor had such a long waiting list that she would have been blind by then.
SORT: PRICE: High to Low.
This hits below the belt ngl. My price is always Low to High and I stop checking out the product when the price exceeds the highest amount for low.
Not checking the price before making a purchase.
They have connections. These don't have to be crazy let me call the mayor type of things but if you say your looking for a job or something and they offer to put you in contact with people they probably are doing well
That's the ugly secret they don't teach you in high school - its more important who you know than what you know. Both the owner of a garage and the guy running a hedge fund are more likely to hire a friend or someone they met at a tailgate party than a random person with a great resume because they've passed the eyeball test. That's also how the guy whose family makes enough money that he can do an unpaid internship goes to work at the hedge fund of a former fraternity brother and then gets hired over the guy who graduates top of their class at State U but had to work summers to make money instead.
Through my work as a lawyer, I have a number of wealthy clients. The most common trait between them is an easy-going demeanor along with a bit of a sense of entitlement, though not so much in a rude way. They are used to getting their way and are usually able to accomplish it through some combination of charm and money.
A likeable charmingness is another common trait. It may be that most of the wealthy people I know are business owners, and their good manners and conversation skills go a long way in their course of business. There could be a bit of a bias here just because I don’t really know any really wealthy people other than “small” business owners, but I have scarcely met a brash or rude person with real wealth so far as I know.
Go hang out a high end horse farms if you want to see rude and entitled.
Buying specialty equipment for a new sport or hobby. Poor people rent or buy used stuff for their hobbies, and if they do buy supplies get the low end version rather than the fancy stuff.
investing in a sport/hobby you enjoy often is a way to SAVE money on rental equipment. I know the scuba pic above probably wasn't sanctioned by the submission author, but it's a great example: if I hadn't bought my BCD, weights, regs, tanks, suits and other ancillary equipment early on, I would have paid many times that amount by now renting the stuff.
Not having a case on your phone.
I don't have a phone case. Nothing I do would require one as its always either in my pocket or on a desk/ bed. Though I did buy a waterproof pouch for rafting
I had a friend at university about 25 years ago who I'd assumed was from a similar background to my other friends and mine — middle class. The only thing that gave him away eventually was when I saw a letter he had written to his parents. In addressing the envelope, he had only needed to put the name of his house and the county it was in. No other details required. Turned out, his parents basically owned most of that county, and he was a viscount.
Dressing like a hobo inside exclusive clubs and be served as the most important person there.
The family is well traveled. Travelling can be done cheaply on an individual basis but that takes a lot dedication and planning. If the whole family is well traveled they probably are just well off
One weird detail that I've noticed about the wealthiest people I've known is that they minimize their assets. They don't own their house, they've formed a trust fund that does. They don't own a car (or jet, or yacht), a private LLC does (that leases to the individual for $1 a year or something).
Not knowing how much basic things cost. When you're living paycheck to paycheck you know exactly how much you're going to need to buy groceries or pay bills. Rich people have everything on autopay, because they always have money.
I know plenty of poor people with autopay too. F****d me over royally when my friend died and autopay paid out but her work refused to deposit her last paycheck without a huge amount of paperwork. God it was such a mess to fix. I do not use autopay
Being unreasonably cheap with really weird and specific things.
Worked for a super rich lady, importing $50-100,000 dollar horses from Germany. She would buy new lux leather halters and then forbid us to put them on the horses, so they sat in a cupboard and grew mold. She also left the horses in the care of highschool students and a potsmoking hippie paid minimum wage. At least one horse got seriously injured when it pushed past a girl and got his leg caught in the manure spreader. Tore half his hoof off.
Having no clue what a gallon of milk should cost. $1? $5? $10?
Properly tailored clothing.
Always watch out for the shoes - the shoes are the biggest giveaway of all.
Where I live if you don’t have someone living in your garage I’d say you’re pretty rich. (Silicon Valley)
I work in a library and suggested teaching basic car maintenance to teens and 20 somethings…how to check your oil, top off fluids, change a flat, etc. My coworker remarked why? Everyone’s parents buys them triple A… I was so shocked I just stared
Checking oil, fluids, etc is important so you don't kill your car completely, not just about getting stranded. And I have AAA (courtesy of my anxious mother even though I'm 40+) but just yesterday stopped and helped a man who had no jack change his flat tire. Skills are skills and you should learn all you can.
Gear. Went on a hike/bike/kayak tour or the Sipan islands and my wife and I got to know this slightly older couple that was with us. As other posts will say they wore very non descriptive clothes. Upscale leisure athletic, I would call it, but what screamed "rich" to me were the little things. Dudes watch was super high end, their equipment was top notch and their custom bikes were easily 5K each. Turns out they are both lawyers making oodles of money and travel when they get good deals.
Spending hours researching a product so you can be certain you’re buying the absolute highest quality that money can buy.
A rich kid at university once asked me with a straight face why I was working over the summer instead of going abroad to have a break.
I don’t know if this is “small” but Steve Jobs never had a license plate on his car. He’d always lease for five months and 29 days, because in California you have to get a license plate within 6 months. His assistant would drop off his lease and pick up a new one. I used to live in the Bay Area and saw him leave Apple and head straight into the carpool lane at full speed. He never cared about getting ticketed.
That's cause fines only punish the poor, unless its a country that makes fines income proportionate, which the US does not
If they pay with a black card, the rewards on those things are ridiculous and the criteria to get one is also ridiculous
In high end stores or high ticket price item places they walk in and are clearly confident they are supposed to be there. I don't mean in the cliché holiday were are the peasants to wait on me kind of way just that they know they belong. Someone who is there to make their "first big purchase" or whatever often looks nervous. The people window shopping look awestruck
Lack of stress, eat out a lot, are never phased by surprises like “oh my tires punctured” “ovens broke” “I need a new boiler”. They can just get them
A friend of mine from Catholic school where they wore uniforms said expensive belts and shoes were rich kid indicators. I guess it was a matter of degrees, it was an expensive school so everyone was doing ok, but if a kids rocking To Boot New York kicks, their parents are balling
Not bragging about how rich you are
Not true. The d**k race between Bezos and Musk is the highest form of bragging ever.
Having legit wealth tends to create an entourage. I had a relative who had not only money but a certain degree of power. He was able to give relatives jobs. Some for actual qualifications, some made up. He had legit goons who would take shots at you if you messed with their meal ticket.
2 sheets of 1/2” plywood just stored up in a shed
Seems weirdly specific. And most people I know with farms have a woodpile somewhere that has plywood and a bunch of other stuff just hanging around
Pumping gas at the empty 76 station rather than the Arco across the street that's $0.35/gal cheaper.
The size of the bathtub. Us normies can enjoy the luxury of a bath but in a tub that is just a little too short or too narrow, noone in their right mind would spend an extra few thousands to get a slightly bigger bath... Unless...
A bath and a separate shower in the same room screams wealth. Add a heated towel rail and maid rolled towels and you know you've made it.
Van life.
I saw someone who did the math and just the basic necessities to set it up was over 30 grand. I think that wasn't including the actual camper. So not only would you need lots of money to even start it, but you'd need a pretty stable job to sustain it.
Note I'm talking about when they're constantly traveling the country in a large camper.
Right? I follow some youtubers who do van life and their expenses are incredibly high for a ridiculously small home. For that money they could own a nice place near their family and travel abroad from time to time. Its ok if they want to be nomadic but they sell it as 'simple living'.
This is not necessarily specific to being wealthy but often correlates and that is they expect to be listened to. Again this isn't the pretentious talking down to kind of thing so much as a confidence thing. Wealthy people typically have jobs with influence and other people working for them. They are used to having people expect direction from them, providing it and being listened to.
I was walking around San Francisco with some friends from work late at night after drinking. One of them, who was the daughter of a member of the board of our very big company, was walking the same direction as me so I offered to walk with her a while. I live fairly far from SF and I had to catch an Uber home. She asked me why I was walking the several blocks with her and I said “to get out of the surge zone.”
It was very clear that she likely either doesn’t know what a surge zone is with Uber or that it absolutely has no impact on her choice in taking one.
Here in the UK, if you wear a pair of mustard coloured corduroy trousers and a red jacket, or a similar combination
When they have an accountant rather than a "guy who does my taxes".
What about of they call the "guy who does my taxes" their accountant, even if taxes is all they do?
If you've ever been on the campus of a prestigious college or university in the U.S., everyone is in shape and gorgeous.
Well, almost everyone.
Having a couple of rental properties
um...you dont have to be uber rich to have this. just smart.
Gartered dress socks. Completely invisible status symbol. Totally unnecessary. Gives the fat cat an edge in negotiations, knowing that their silk stockings are buttressed by a rarely donned anachronistic garment, and that their opponent is relying on a cheap elastic weave to keep their trashy blended socks affixed to their calves, strait and tight.
I would add buying apartments for their kids so they don't need to worry. Giving somebody a house for free is definitely giving them a fortune since they will never pay a loan. My aunt is rich (family money she is hardworking and normal) and gave both my cousins a really nice apartment. I will never be able to own a home.
I am a personal assistant to someone wealthy of the old wealth kind. I think the most important one is that they outsource tasks that give them time to do other things. A driver so you can do business while traveling, a PA (hi) to make sure your life is scheduled properly, maids to clean, a gardener, stylist for clothes shopping etc.
Yep. My boss outsources EVERYTHING and spends all his time building and flying model aircraft (yes, really).
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When one's "estate" means your own house, outbuildings and grounds and doesn't refer to a square mile of hundreds of other people's houses. 😄
I worked for a software company that sold a special type of manufacturing software that was very expensive & usually purchased by a factory. So it’s unusual when a private individual buys it but that’s what happened & I was sent to train the guy “on site”, which turned out to be a huge mansion with a large garage that contained several vintage race cars & a couple of expensive CNC machines in the corner. The guy I taught the software to was one of the guys who worked in the garage of this mega-estate. He was a very good student & after the last training session was over as I was leaving the estate I asked “who owns this place, anyway?”. He looked kinda sheepish & said “I do”. The guy was retired from a “data collection company”. (Yep, just what you think. A company much like Ross Perot’s EDS). After my initial shock & amusement I asked him “So how much do you know about me anyway?” He chuckled & said “more than you know about yourself “. I thought he was one of the mechanics.
Location, location. In USA we're middle-class retirees. When we visit family in Central America, who'd be middle-class in USA, we and they are filthy rich. It's disconcerting to vacation at a resort with impoverished peasants standing outside, glaring at los ricos.
That only works if you have the salaries from USA. If you have the salaries of CA you would be as poor as them. You are just benefiting from their poverty.
Load More Replies... I would add buying apartments for their kids so they don't need to worry. Giving somebody a house for free is definitely giving them a fortune since they will never pay a loan. My aunt is rich (family money she is hardworking and normal) and gave both my cousins a really nice apartment. I will never be able to own a home.
I am a personal assistant to someone wealthy of the old wealth kind. I think the most important one is that they outsource tasks that give them time to do other things. A driver so you can do business while traveling, a PA (hi) to make sure your life is scheduled properly, maids to clean, a gardener, stylist for clothes shopping etc.
Yep. My boss outsources EVERYTHING and spends all his time building and flying model aircraft (yes, really).
Load More Replies... When one's "estate" means your own house, outbuildings and grounds and doesn't refer to a square mile of hundreds of other people's houses. 😄
I worked for a software company that sold a special type of manufacturing software that was very expensive & usually purchased by a factory. So it’s unusual when a private individual buys it but that’s what happened & I was sent to train the guy “on site”, which turned out to be a huge mansion with a large garage that contained several vintage race cars & a couple of expensive CNC machines in the corner. The guy I taught the software to was one of the guys who worked in the garage of this mega-estate. He was a very good student & after the last training session was over as I was leaving the estate I asked “who owns this place, anyway?”. He looked kinda sheepish & said “I do”. The guy was retired from a “data collection company”. (Yep, just what you think. A company much like Ross Perot’s EDS). After my initial shock & amusement I asked him “So how much do you know about me anyway?” He chuckled & said “more than you know about yourself “. I thought he was one of the mechanics.
Location, location. In USA we're middle-class retirees. When we visit family in Central America, who'd be middle-class in USA, we and they are filthy rich. It's disconcerting to vacation at a resort with impoverished peasants standing outside, glaring at los ricos.
That only works if you have the salaries from USA. If you have the salaries of CA you would be as poor as them. You are just benefiting from their poverty.
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