Meet the surprisingly rich

CNN ^ | 8/18/03 | By Les Christie, CNN/Money Contributing Writer

[Lazamataz]

To have this sort of money, and never feel free to enjoy ANY of it, is a mental illness.

[nevergore]

What happens if your mentally ill and poor like me?

NeverGore :^)

[ExSES]

To have this sort of money, and never feel free to enjoy ANY of it, is a mental illness.

I'd like to agree with you but, some folks just don't get a kick out of spending money (and they are not "mentally ill"). They sort of balance out the "Ying & Yang" of the more typical spendthrifts who keep our "Consumer Economy" humming (or now, perhaps, limping)...

[hunyb]

Reminds me of my husbands grandmother.......she's not rich by any means (but, of course after reading this, she could be!), but she is the type of person who will not use anything new we get her.........the funny in the family is the story about the new towels she bought for 'company' use only, so they stayed in the closet for years, NEVER touched! One day she is cleaning out the closet and comes upon the towels........they are completely destroyed by moths, practically fall apart in her hands........

[HEY4QDEMS]

They say it's better to be poor and happy than to be rich and miserable.

I'd settle for moderately wealthy and moody.

[Southack]

The Millionaire Next Door lists lots of similar examples of wealth.

It divides people into two groups: those who have money and those who pretend to have it.

For instance, I've got a buddy whose wife insists on sending her children to an expensive private school even though they live in the wealthiest, best run public school district in their state...in spite of the fact that they have to skip meals to make the tuition payments...all because she doesn't want to "look poor" to her rich neighbors. It's crazy, but there are lots of people who think like that. They'd rather live poor than look poor. They'd rather look rich than actually save to be rich.

Whereas the actual rich people in the world are seldom fooled by such appearances, and normally simply increase their disdain of such wasteful spending.

Your mileage may vary, however...

[paltz]

They say it's better to be poor and happy than to be rich and miserable.
I'd settle for moderately wealthy and moody.

They also say that money isn't everything but it makes being miserable a whole lot easier.

[Cable225]

One family she's familiar with, however, did not sound pleased. The children and even the wife were infuriated when they learned after the family patriarch died that they were much wealthier than they ever realized. They had felt deprived for years.

"Now," Potash said, "they're spending like crazy."

Sounds like the old guy knew what he was doing.

[spodefly]

To have this sort of money, and never feel free to enjoy ANY of it, is a mental illness.

I don't know, Laz ... living frugally is a challenge that some people enjoy. Besides there are 2 things that all people can do no matter how stupid they are: fornicate and spend money.

[July 4th]

Essame clad herself in such worn clothes and old shoes that no one knew how well off she was. ($10 million)

This is the reason they are so wealthy. They're cheap. My grandmother is nowhere near as well off as this woman was, but she has saved a great deal of money too. She also shops at Goodwill and buys mislabeled cans at the supermarket.

[Guillermo]

There is/was this mentally ill woman in Macon, who lost her son and husband in a car accident. All day, she would walk from one end of town to teh other.

Her husband had a very good job and had a lot of insurance on himself and his son.

I knew someone who was familiar with her, and told me she was worth well over a million dollars.

[nkycincinnatikid]

Mental illness ,no, but financialiy traumitized maybe. My dear old dad witnessed his free spending, entreprenurial father lose it all in the thirties , and spend his life as an extremely cautious man where money and career was concerned. I'm sure he never felt his thrift actually caused him to miss out on a whole lot though. Nor did he regret leaving a few mil to my mom.

[babble-on]

There once was a lady from Macon
Whose late husband brought home the bacon
But after he died
she would no longer ride
Is poverty really worth fakin'?

[mtbopfuyn]

And then there's the POS son who snooped through hidden records and found out his parents had a small nest egg put back so the greedy basturd tried to get them declared incompetent to take control of it all. Not to be deterred by their too soon deaths caused from all the worry he piled on them, he then went after their estate and tried going after the heirs' personal property wrongly accusing them of getting their share ahead of time. Ah, but God punished him three fold in the end. Yes, it's best to keep all money matters to oneself.

[Arpege92]

"They say it's better to be poor and happy than to be rich and miserable."

Only rich people can get away with saying something like that!

[Chewbacca]

Better to be rich but look poor. It keeps you from getting robbed.

[tpaine]

To have this sort of money, and never feel free to enjoy ANY of it, is a mental illness.
2 -laz-


Typical socialistic reaction.
- You mistakenly reason his money is best used for what others consider to be enjoyment, -- thus ~he's~ crazy.

The jokes on you kid.

[Lazamataz]

Messr. Paine, certainly we can agree to disagree without throwing about the term Socialist, can we not?

[Lazamataz]

True Story:

I once almost took work in Macon,
In Georgia where temps are a'bakin',
But I'd be a jerk,
It was government work,
And that is a job not worth takin'.