How Much Income Makes You Rich ..........?

[mogandave]

Rich is not getting what you want, it's wanting what you have...

[SteveLynch]

I think it all depends on where you live and who you bare comparing your self to

Compared to the guy who cleaned my windows last week I'm completely minted the guy across the road who own the whole block well that's a different story

Having a good enough income to be happy and content is extremely different ,I'd like to be able to whip out the credit card and purchase up to it's limit with out a moments tought

I believed to be doing ok you needed 10k $ a month of an income in your hand ,but for some lifestyles that isn't enough

All depends on your spending I suppose

[mogandave]

People don't get rich by not thinking about what they spend.

[Mosha]

Rich is when money is just a method of keeping the score.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

People don't get rich by not thinking about what they spend.

But often their kids fail to learn the lesson.

I've noticed the Chinese are better teachers that way, wealth seems to often last more than the couple of generations it does in the West.

Better for the individuals that way, but the social effect is questionable.

Idealistically I don't think any property should be inherited, force each generation to earn it themselves from scratch. Would be well worth the theoretical loss of motivation to accumulate wealth, net social benefit.

[ignis]

and from time to time you get headline in many places of the world.......... Man who begged on the streets dies leaving a vast fortune in cash, property and jewellery........

[poanoi]

My definition of rich is having two sexy bisexual STD-free girls in my home at all time.

Donno where to find them and dont want to search either due to STD factor, so i'm poor

[BigJohnnyBKK]

The old geezer that owns the Siam/Scala movie chain and a large collection of exotic cars - and I'm sure all kinds of vast holdings I'm not aware of - often walks around Siam in tatty shorts and flip-flops, the street food vendors are better dressed.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

My definition of rich is having two sexy bisexual STD-free girls in my home at all time.

Well then I'm mega-rich, but few would share our definition 8-(

[Stradavarius37]

My definition of rich is having two sexy bisexual STD-free girls in my home at all time.

Well then I'm mega-rich, but few would share our definition 8-(

I support this definition and suggest that it be adopted by all concerned!

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I support this definition and suggest that it be adopted by all concerned!

I think it's worth repeating - I feel sorry for Tiger Woods, not least for being put through hell just for being famous, but for feeling compelled to go with such skanky looking pornstar types.

Even a $15 an hour wage slave can do so much better here in that department, and that's without having to spend 50,000 hours practicing his swing.

[GuestHouse]

A classic TV angst trip - dentures grinding over how much money other people have or have not.

[meatballs]

I think if you spent US$100k a year in Thailand you'd feel pretty loaded. I guess you could say you'd be rich.

In most western countries $100k a year is shit and barely middle class.

[chiangmaikelly]

A classic TV angst trip - dentures grinding over how much money other people have or have not.

A classic ageist bigot. Dentures indeed! It's not an old guy who wrote the OP. It is a young semen or seamen my spelling is a bit off today.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

In talking about these issues here, I figure for long-term residents in the not-too-outrageous levels, baht-per-month pretty well translates to dollars-per-year for overall relative standard of living. For me anyway, where labor-intensive local inputs far outweigh imported goods.

IOW I consider a 100,000 baht a month lifestyle here to be comparable - actually superior - to a USD $100K per annum one back home, even though it actually translates to around 40K.

But what I really love about Thailand isn't even available over there though so in the end it's apples to oranges innit.

[GuestHouse]

A classic TV angst trip - dentures grinding over how much money other people have or have not.

A classic ageist bigot. Dentures indeed! It's not an old guy who wrote the OP. It is a young semen or seamen my spelling is a bit off today.

CMK are you suggesting that only old people wear dentures?

That seems a tad agist....,bigotted even!

I only ask because I never mentioned age in my post.

[chiangmaikelly]

A classic TV angst trip - dentures grinding over how much money other people have or have not.

A classic ageist bigot. Dentures indeed! It's not an old guy who wrote the OP. It is a young semen or seamen my spelling is a bit off today.

CMK are you suggesting that only old people wear dentures?

That seems a tad agist....,bigotted even!

I only ask because I never mentioned age in my post.

Are you suggesting that you think the posters on Thai Visa are dumb enough to buy your lame excuse for age bigotry?

Really do you think there is a large group of young denture wearers on Thai Visa who would be upset over how much money other people have?

Except for your close relatives no one believes "denture wearer" was meant to mean anything except an old person with false teeth. You just don't like old people. We all know that. Live with it.

[GuestHouse]

Maybe I was referring to Brits, who are very well represented here in TV, a nationality renowned for bad teath.

Note: I just typed "Why do the Britsh have" into Google - which automaticaly offered to complete my search query with "have bad teeth" and then retuned 2,740,000 results.

[chiangmaikelly]

Maybe I was referring to Brits, who are very well represented here in TV, a nationality renowned for bad teath.

Note: I just typed "Why do the Britsh have" into Google - which automaticaly offered to complete my search query with "have bad teeth" and then retuned 2,740,000 results.

You don't really think anyone really believes you do you? Click on the picture to check.

[thaibeachlovers]

Rich is having enough money to live in Thailand full time. Poor is not.

Tell that to the offshore workers, im pretty sure they have more then you or me or most.

You got the point. The OP was trying to get his jollies by bragging about his seaman status vs teachers or others. I only pointed out that wealth is not having to worry about some old rummy jumping on your lady because of an off shore posting.

Otherwise there is no point to the post. I mean really how many, "how much money do you have in Thailand" posts have been written in the General Forum in the past 6 months?

There is so much more to success or the good life than money and after the plethora of nitwit postings in this forum about look at me mom I'm rich, someone had to tell the guy just what rich really is.

Fair point, actually i don't really care how rich others are. I make enough myself for what i want. I live here and enjoy my time. I actually work a bit too much currently but as i am the one taking on the jobs and reaping the gains i cant really complain because its a situation i created.

For me rich is being able to buy what you want, and save some money for a rainy day. Thing is the more money you have the more you spend. Some people making loads of money are still short at the end of the month.

I was going to write something similar.

Also for me, being rich would be not worrying about whether I will have enough in my old age, and being able to afford a set of tooth implants.

However, when I was young and footloose, being rich was about being able to travel and gain experiences without having to scrimp for a year.

[thaibeachlovers]

Wealth is subjective, if you have ever really been struggling then a modest income feels rich. Then we have the Banker class, people who are already rich, that happily impoverish others so that they can have even more money they can never spend. Taksin was a billionaire and yet still dodged paying tax, for many wealthy people there is never such thing as enough.

For the rest of us, it really is about having enough without having to lie, kill, steal, and defraud to get it. Money in itself doesn't make happiness but it certainly removes one of the great stresses from life; relationships, health, family dramas etc are still there though.

When I worked in London, I used to walk past people outside cafes drinking bottles of wine that cost more than I earned in a 12 hour shift. So they were rich. However, after the 2007 crash I'm sure more than a few became poor overnight as they probably never saved a thing during the good times, while I still had a job. So who was better off in the long term?

[GuestHouse]

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery."

Charles Dickens

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Note: I just typed "Why do the Britsh have" into Google - which automaticaly offered to complete my search query with "have bad teeth" and then retuned 2,740,000 results.

You don't really think anyone really believes you do you? Click on the picture to check.

I get the same ranking of auto-complete results, but 244 million pages. Of course Google knows I'm a yank so maybe that explains it.

[jbrain]

As Toybits commented, do not consider yourself rich just because you had money.

When I lived in the UK and worked as a rocket scientist, I was a GBP millionaire, (for a time until I got divorced!). I did not consider myself to be rich.

Now I work in Myanmar as a teacher, (although probably getting paid more than many teachers in Thailand and always have money spare at the end of each month). I consider myself 'rich' because of all the opportunities that are offered to me, and because of the genuine friendliness and generosity of those around me.

To measure richness only in terms of money is a very shallow [but common view] - IMHO.

Simon

Didn't you have 2 hotels only a few months ago?

[SlyAnimal]

Whether you're Lower / Middle / Upper Class depends on the people you're living nearby

My gf sometimes refers to people as being High so, for their village, or High so, for our town, or High so mak mak. With their income/assets/net worth being compared to that of their neighbours.

e.g. I'm teaching, and based purely on that, I'd probably be considered middle, or if I'm lucky maybe even upper class for my town. However if I moved to the provincial capital, I'd definitely only be considered middle class, in one of the bigger cities, I might struggle to even be considered middle class.

However, when it really comes down to it, what "class" you are, depends a lot on what you "show" as well. So if you only show people that you've got a certain amount of income, they'll believe that you're a certain class.

If you buy a BMW, drink black label and in general spend every nickle and dime you have on looking presentable, people will say you're upper class....

If you eat sticky rice for lunch each day and only drink lao kao people will think you're lower class, even if you're putting 100k+ into savings each month lol.

[SteveLynch]

Ripped from an investment article

my definition of rich is basically the philosophy of having your money work for you, rather than you work for money. Furthermore, being wealthy is having enough money invested so that you do not need to ever work again. Now that is my true definition of being wealthy

Kinda sums it. Up I think

[poanoi]

That is also the true definition of a pensioner

[ThaiPauly]

It was once said, "you know you are wealthy when you no longer have to make any decisions or choices based on your finances"

My old boss used to tell me that I would know when I made it when I could dine in a fancy restaurant and eat the food and not the price

[simon43]

Didn't you have 2 hotels only a few months ago?

Indeed I still do own 2 small hotels with my wife and ex-wife. But I have chosen not to take any share of the profits of those businesses. I have my own independant and sufficient income, a good medical insurance policy and the freedom to make my own decisions about what I want to do. I'm sure my partners do not agree with how I run my own life re financial matters, but I am no longer interested in driving a big car with a big face... - and I feel very 'rich'

[BigJohnnyBKK]

my definition of rich is basically the philosophy of having your money work for you, rather than you work for money. Furthermore, being wealthy is having enough money invested so that you do not need to ever work again. Now that is my true definition of being wealthy

Here's a specific version of that, works for me:

Given the capital (liquid true assets, not counting the home you're living in very conservatively assessed) I have now less all debt paid off, how many months/years could I live at X standard of living without working?

As that starts to get you to 100 years old, and X is getting higher than you really think necessary, you're getting there.

Then start converting over to this algorithm:

Not counting any income that results from your time and effort - passive income only supporting X, my desired standard of living.

Then it just becomes a question of X, balancing your greedy dreams, realism and your desire to keep hustling for the seemingly-almighty dollar against achieving the higher-level more true to our inner selves missions in life.

Remembering that comfort and ease are not why we're put on this earth.