If I had a million dollars, everything would be awesome! Right? Well… maybe not. It turns out that being wealthy can be expensive.
After spending a lot of time and effort becoming wealthy, many millionaires and billionaires discover that it can be a lot harder to hold on to their money than they ever would have anticipated, and that with money frequently comes a great deal of stress. Here are three reasons it sucks being rich.
You Could Be In Danger
Now, depending on how a person becomes wealthy, it is possible that they will be well known, not only in their community, but in their country, and maybe even all around the planet. That sort of attention can be nice, but it can also fix a target to the person’s home.
Professional athletes, for examples, are frequently the target of burglary attempts, because would-be-criminals think that the athletes will have their money stashed somewhere in their home – sometimes they do! And not only is their home a target, but they are, too.
When out at night, wealthy people are frequently the target of muggers who assume that they will have loads of cash on them at all times.
As a result of security concerns, many wealthy people find that they need to virtually shut themselves off from the rest of the world.
You’ll Get Lonely Really Quickly
Many wealthy people, particularly those who come into a large amount of money quickly, frequently find that many of their friends and family members think that they are entitled to various amounts of their money.
Many wealthy people claim that they feel that they cannot say no to their family members, and as a result their family and friends slowly (or quickly, depending on how brash they are) bleed them of their riches.
And once the money’s gone, it’s gone, and the family and friends rarely repay anything.
If money troubles do eventually come about, many once-wealthy people find an unsympathetic public. It seems impossible that someone could go from having millions of dollars one day to filing for bankruptcy the next, but that’s increasingly common for people who come into large amounts of money quickly, especially athletes.
Now, even if someone has good boundaries, is able to say no when it’s appropriate, and doesn’t get into tough financial situations, it can be extremely expensive to keep high-price items such as homes and boats clean and organized.
You’ll Have Trouble Maintaining Your Possessions
It seems obligatory that wealthy people have large homes and boats, but not only do these things cost a lot, their continue to act as a money drain to keep them nice and functional. CNN Money has a great infographic that breaks down some of the parts of a wealthy-lifestyle that quickly add up to be a substantial annual bill.
In short, some of the most basic awesome-rich-people-stuff turns out to be ridiculously expensive. For example, it costs around $75,000 per year to have a penthouse apartment cleaned – imagine how much larger it would be for a large home.
Or if you have a family and need childcare, it costs around $80,000 per year for a nanny.
So, you can see how expenses like that could quickly add up and drain away your savings.
Would I want a million dollars? Totally! But it’s important to keep in mind that there are costs that come along with anything, even wealth.
I also don’t see anything wrong with being rich, it just has to do with being more careful about choosing safe neighborhood to live in, not flaunting your wealth like the celebrities do and live modest lifestyle so that you announce to the world that your rich. Having your friends and family hovering around for a cut is an inevitable ordeal in every rich man or woman’s life, so if can’t get their real affection, you might as well make the best of it – just play along.
I’m a huge fan of being rich and living like you’re not! I wouldn’t want everyone to know once I’m a millionaire. I’m sure it’s much more difficult to find real friends when you live an extravagant lifestyle.
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Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. When you’re poor, you feel stressed thinking how you can make both ends meet and since you do not have not enough money you are okay with simple things life has to offer and you can live peacefully. But, when you’re rich although you can buy all the things you wish, you have more worries thinking about how you will grow your money even more, what properties to buy and you’re being paranoid that a lot of people may deceive or wrong you.
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… oops! That should have been “live” modestly, not “love. 😛
kay ~ the barefoot minimalist recently posted…“Ode To Todd” and/or “My Minimalist House”
Nah, I’d still love modestly. I’d know better than to make myself look obviously rich. I’m a minimalist. What would I need? 🙂
kay ~ the barefoot minimalist recently posted…The Tour of My Minimalist Home Continues …
I think this is more why it sucks to be a high-profile rich person. When I’m rich (as if it’s some sort of inevitable fact), I want to be a secret multimillionaire so I can quietly maintain my friendships and not be a target.
Taylor Lee @ Engineer Cents recently posted…Renovation Update
Yep, I’ve long said that being rich brings a lot of headaches. If we somehow came into a ton of money, we’d probably stay in our current three-bedroom. We’d make some upgrades, but overall this place meets our needs. The money would go into retirement accounts, some investing and I’d be obligated to get my husband a Challenger.
Oh, and more vacations. Otherwise, I’d like to think we’d stay the same.
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I would deal with these risks if I were rich. There are many ways to get out of trouble or danger. For instance, I would hire bodyguards as many as I can for security purposes.
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I have spent a lot of time thinking about “what if I won, today, $1 million”, which would be hard since I don’t believe in any sort of gambling. But it’s a nice fantasy, so I think about it anyway…
I figure I would keep the new totally secret. While I will want to help family, I want to help immediate family and on my own terms – not 18th cousins twice removed.
Figure I would get 500,000 after taxes. So, after we pay off our student loans and mortgage, that leaves us with $250,000. We’d put around half of that in our very bare retirement accounts and half of that into the kids’ college funds (which we don’t currently have) and the money is GONE.
Now, without any sort of debt, I am able to help family as the need arises, but no one is going to see me in a bigger house or with a new car. It’s sad that such a windfall would basically just go toward putting me where I *should* be.
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While I am not a millionaire, we have come across many people who expect us to pay for everything and/or give them money since we have a high income. It does stink but I guess you know who your real friends and family are…
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I’m willing to test this theory. Someone give me $10M and ask me how I feel. 😀
Not until I go first!!
I’ll let you play with my leftovers 😉
For me personally I don’t think there would be anything that suck about being rich, but I can see your point on a few things. To me no matter how much money you have, you just have to be smart about how you use it. Think before you buy!
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