Why Do Rich People Say They Feel Poor?

Managing money is different from accumulating wealth, and the lack of investment education in schools may explain why people struggle to maintain their financial gains. The examples you provided are relevant, and I personally benefited from the market crisis, as I embrace challenging times while others tend to avoid them. Well, at least my advisor does too, jokingly.

Grew up lower middle class, got engineering degree, secured 6 figure job, saved 160k in 2 years. I don’t feel rich however I do see the very clearly lit up path to wealth. I just have to stay humble for another 10-20 years and early retirement is a very real possibility. Feeling rich to me is just being able to do whatever I want to do within reason and not stress in the slightest over the cost.

My dad used to say, “It’s not about how much you make, it’s about how much you spend”. I’ve lived my finances by those words. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the fruits of my labor from time to time. But as I’ve made more money, I keep my lifestyle the same.

Small business owner here. A guy once said "you are rich when you don't care what the restaurant bill is". I'm finally there after years of toil.

I’d be retiring or working less in 5 years, and curious to know how best people split their pay, how much of it goes into savings, spendings or investments, I earn around $200k per year but nothing to show for it yet.

1 in 4 people that earn 175k Dollars probably are surrounded by friends and family earning 300k

Earning $175k in my rural community is the equivalent of earning just over $500k in SF. Geography matters

Objectively I’m better off than I was five years ago, but I definitely feel less comfortable than I used to be. I can pin point exactly why - expenses have gone up (part inflation and part addition of a family member that is also building a business) and the “fun” line in the budget just simply doesn’t stretch as far as it did a few years ago.

Another possibility is those making 175k are focusing on saving a large portion for retirement. Last year we made 155k and this year will be on track to make 175k.... but we live off 60k a year and that's been consistent for multiple years now with no increased lifestyle. We save around 50-65% of our gross wages a year (usually because our salary is ~100k and a large majority of the rest is through quarterly bonuses so we don't budget for them and just save most of it)

I think we should have a conversation on lifestyle creep. It’s not an evil thing. It needs to be proportional to how your income increases. We used to live off of $20K a year. Our lifestyle has increased that number 2.5x however we make $400K/yr now. My lifestyle of $75K as a family was a big jumb, but our margin/spread is still extremely healthy.

"He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity" - Ecclesiastes 5 : 10

There’s one thing that some people don’t understand about people who earn more money; they pay more taxes.

George, the main reason for this is called a 'mortgage' post-2020.I actually make 175k on the dot, and still feel poor for this reason. We cannot buy a house back in the area that we work (which is a typical large-metro suburb). For reference, I made 140k+ pre-covid and if we had bought a house then would have had zero issues finding a great place to live. I'd gladly swap salaries and go back in time if I could... in a heartbeat. We have 1 child, zero debt, live essentially in the woods right now in a low income area (no keeping up with the joneses here).... and we don't spend our money on much of anything fancy. I am also currently looking into a side-hustle as a 2nd job for the sole purpose to try and make extra money to put towards a mortgage. (never would've thought in a millions years I'd be doing this). Personally I am pretty convinced that the government has created this issue, and we are now waiting-out one of the biggest money-printing/shutdown blunders ever, that will one day be in text books.

$175,000 minus $40,000 in state and federal taxes, minus fully funding retirement accounts and savings to a level that will sustain your planned retirement lifestyle + living below your means to avoid lifestyle creep = living very average. Having a secure future and being able to address emergencies leads to contentment.

both my parents were low incomw but worked hard to buy a home and keep food on the table and clothes on my back. they taught me to work hard and get a good education. fast fwd 30yrs, retired USAF and collect pension work for the govt making 175k/yr and zero debt! feeling much love!

1. They probably live in a high cost of living area such as LA or NYC 2. Perhaps they have medical expenses such as cancer treatment 3. Being comfortable is hardly the "this is fine" meme. That is all George projecting. 4. I'm sure some are just bad with their money, every income bracket has this

I'm a single person making well over (multiples of) $175K and a millionaire. While I don't feel broke, and I could technically go and buy a new car or a house with cash, I do comparison shop for the best price on blueberries. Even though my family was solidly upper middle class growing up, my parents grew up during the war and had a famine mentality that is ingrained in my psyche to this day. My parents have a net worth of close to 8 figures, yet, they refuse to upgrade their cracked iPhone 7. I live in a modest studio apartment in NYC and drive an 8-year-old BMW. As far as I'm concerned, this is the good life. So much of this is about psychology and not about literal numbers on a bank statement.

I definitely have money dysmorphia and I'm always comparing my wealth to people around me. Who are much wealthier than me. I grew up lower middle-class to middle-class range. Now, I'd say I'm upper middle-class and still feel poor-ish / comfortable.

We allowed some lifestyle creep, but honestly it was regular expenses that we couldn’t allow before the income increase. Stuff like YMCA membership and traveling to see grandparents… Thankfully we haven’t creeped all the extra up!

I make $180k and only feel poor because we're putting every extra cent to paying our house off.