These are some of the ridiculous and wasteful things rich people buy and do to spend money. For instance billionaires like Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Sergey Brin spend millions of dollars on toys. This is money they earned from our kindness in tech services they provide. It is like getting your leftovers handed back to you after dropping a $100 bill into the tip jar!
Well, according to Robert Kiyosaki, the same thing the rest of us do, but on a much grander scale! Rich people can afford to build an entire business just for their pleasure. The really, really rich – billionaires – often have their own helicopters and airplanes. The world is their playground.
An elevator for their cars:
“A penthouse owner has a private elevator, but also their garage is a lift, so you can drive home and when you open your car door you’re at the same level as your apartment.”
Hired help to charge their phone:
“I knew a family that had a lot of household staff, including a person who had the responsibility of setting up, troubleshooting — and get this — charging all their personal electronic devices. Yes, their job included charging all the electronic devices.”
Movies commissioned about their lives:
“My in-laws have a rich friend who wrote a movie glamorizing her own life, produced and starred in said movie, got a famous retired actor to play her father, got her son’s model girlfriend to play her younger self, and gave us all the DVD and a collector’s book for the holidays… It was the most cringe ‘movie’ we’ve ever watched. … She also tracked down some singer she used to be a fan of back when she was a kid. She got this poor woman, now old and retired, to cameo in her movie where she had to listen to our rich friend sing one of her old songs and tell her how talented she is, and how she totally could have had a singing career if she hadn’t become a rich businesswoman instead. The former singer was so not into it and was clearly doing it for a paycheck.”
A convertible
We had a cute BMW Z3 when we were in our early 30s and didn’t know better. We loved it and we had a blast driving around town with the top down. However, the maintenance was very expensive. Everything little problem cost hundreds of dollar. Eventually, it overheated and I sold it off to someone who enjoyed tinkering with broken cars. It was time to get a bigger vehicle anyway because RB40Jr was going to join the family. We got a Mazda 5 minivan and it has been a good car for us. I hope this one lasts until RB40Jr graduates from high school.
Maybe he can take it to college and we can get a new convertible. I’d love a Mazda Miata with a stick shift. It’d be a blast to drive around with the top down again. Mrs. RB40 can get her own car if she wants or just Uber everywhere. When we’re rich, I wouldn’t worry too much about having 2 cars and all the related expenses. For now, we don’t mind sharing one car.
A beach house
I was talking to a mom at Junior’s school recently and she mentioned going out to the coast to stay at their beach house. Wow, that sounds pretty good. I’d love a beach house too. A vacation home used to be for wealthy people, but I think it is more accessible now with the advent of Airbnb and VRBO. You can make extra money to help fund your retirement by being an Airbnb host.
Ideally, I’d like to buy a beach house in Hawaii and live there about half time. We’ll travel the rest of the year to see the world and hire a company to run it while we’re gone. This is my very long term goal. We won’t be able to do it anytime soon because RB40Jr is just in first grade. Even after he goes off to college, we’ll be busy with helping our parents. My dream beach house is still a long way off.
An audiophile sound system
I enjoy music and an audiophile sound system would be an awesome way to spend money when I’m rich. There really isn’t much to say about this other than it is a really expensive hobby. I guess I don’t really need this because I listen to most of my music on YouTube, but isn’t that the point of this post? When you’re rich, you can be a little frivolous.
Better clothes
Stealth wealth has gone too far in this department. All of my clothes are cheap and very casual. We live very close to a college campus and I look like one of the students. Normally, this isn’t a problem because I like to blend in. However, I need to dress a bit nicer occasionally and when that happens, I don’t have anything to wear. Last week we went to see The Book of Mormon and I wore my black jeans and an old sweater. Mrs. RB40 is a much better dresser than I am and we’re not matching well in this category.
I just don’t like buying something expensive just to use them just once or twice per year. When I’m rich, I’ll be able to drop by Mario’s and spend a bundle on casual clothes.
Mrs. RB40 – Actually, some of the students dress better than you. But you do blend in.
Nice furniture
We have a mix of nice, acceptable, and junky furniture. Our dining set is falling apart and you can feel the springs in the seats. Our couch and matching reclining chair are nice quality items from Macy’s. The coffee table, TV console, and bookcases are made from cheap particle board. Our bed is moderate quality, but RB40Jr’s bed is a cheap foldout. We are not going to purchase anything right now because we plan to move into our duplex soon. When we do, I’ll pass our crappy furniture on to the college students in our building or just trash them.
Once we move to our duplex, I’d like to get nicer quality furniture. In particular, I want a nice dining set because we spend a lot of time there. The chairs need to be solid and comfortable so we can sit there for hours on end. The set needs to be able to stand up to our cat. She has been going agro on our current chairs and they are all beat up.
I’m not going to buy any more particle board furniture, but we won’t buy anything really expensive either. Heirloom quality furniture will have to wait until we’re rich. I’m not quite ready to pay $3,000 for a hand crafted dining table yet. Alternatively, I could take up wood shop as a hobby and make my own table.
Domestic help
Rich people need domestic help. Nobody wants to cook, clean, do laundry, shop for groceries, and clean up after pets. We all just put up with it because we have to. Well, I enjoy cooking, but the other chores are no fun at all. I’d love to have a helper come in every few days to do all the other chores.
A good personal trainer
When I’m rich, I’m going to hire a personal trainer to help me stay fit. My requirement is very specific, though. I need a personal trainer who pushes me just enough and not too much. All personal trainers I’ve tried pushed too hard. It’s annoying. My personal trainer also needs to be an expert on yoga and Tai chi so they can lead a class. As long as I’m dreaming, I might as well ask for everything I want.https://bc41b3efa0599f4def61cf80c16b32ac.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Okay, now it’s your turn. What would you buy when you’re rich – a boat, a car, or something really cool? Let’s keep it somewhat realistic. I want a space trip too, but that’s way too expensive even for most rich people.
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Weekly massage therapy
My shoulders are sore and tight all the time. I spend 4-5 hours on the computer every day and that puts a lot of stress on them. This is still a ton better than when I was working full time. I spent 12+ hours on the computer a day back then. Anyway, I’d love a weekly massage to help relax my shoulders and neck.
Mrs. RB40 is also tense all the time. I guess that’s life in the internet age. Everyone walks around with shoulder and neck pain. For now, I’ll see if Mrs. RB40 is willing exchanging massages every week. Even a little bit would help both of us.
First class tickets
Ummm… first class. We got upgraded to business class once on a Lufthansa flight from Portland to Frankfurt in 2003. It was awesome! We made fun of the sardines in coach and giggled all the way through. The flight attendant gave us Champagne in a real glass. The food was nice and we slept much better with just 2 of us on one side. Unfortunately, we haven’t made it to business class since then. So sad. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to stomach a first class ticket even when I’m rich, but it’s on my list.
A heated swimming pool and hot tub.
Of course, our beach house would need a heated swimming pool and hot tub. We could go lounge in the pool every day and have pool movie parties. Mrs. RB40 had a pool in her backyard when she was young and she’d love one again.
Our hotel in Cancun had heated pools and they were so nice. It is much easier to go swimming when you don’t have to deal with the shock of getting in. Lounging in a cold pool isn’t that much fun either. Our condo pool is always too cold except on the hottest summer days.
Conclusion
They are wealthier than most people. They can afford to do fun stuff, like ride around in helicopters and go to the most expensive restaurants. But, these things don’t make them happy. There are better ways to enjoy life besides buying items that will depreciate in value immediately after purchase. The real joy is found in helping people, having fun, and being generous.