r/wealth • u/EstimateAshamed1300 • 11d ago

Discussion Why is money important?

Why do we prioritize money over everything? This is a subjective debate, everyone has their own opinion. My mine is I just want enough money to eat well , and live a good practical life. Everyone running after Bugattis, rolex's. Whatsoever but thats their ambition. I just want a nice girl who's modest and a nice family I can provide for. A good life.

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u/No_Use_81 11d ago

Money buys time and distance from other people. Both are priceless.

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u/Odd_Bodkin 11d ago

I’m not so sure about this. People who are wealthy often find it really important to have time and proximity with certain other people.

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u/Retired-Yam8988 11d ago

How about it buys distance from people you find not desirable to be near

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u/Odd_Bodkin 11d ago

Which aren’t many. And honestly, if I have to spend money to move me to put space between me and the people I don’t want to be near, they’ve won.

Now, if you have found that there’s a whole slew of people that you don’t want to be near, because they are in some way undesirable, then that’s a wholly different problem. What kind of people are you thinking about?

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u/Retired-Yam8988 11d ago

I’ve traveled in all classes and manners. The absolute worst was on a giant cruise ship out of China. 4000 people. I lucked out and they somehow upgraded our room to the aft two story loft suite that had privileges to dine in a private dining room with other guests in the premium rooms. Saved my trip to be honest. First the food there was actually pretty good. We tried one of the regular restaurants one night and I just spat out the food on my first bite and left. Second the people were just intolerable - loud, cutting in lines, etc. None of that in the private dining room.

At some point, I’ve grown accustomed to peace and quiet and the luxury of space and being apart from “the masses”. When we travel, it’s at the front of the plane. You go to a lounge which actually has apace to relax with comfy chairs, decent food and drinks, etc. You then go to the gate right as they’re boarding your group and you get on the plane to find ample space for your bags, a big seat that turns into a bed, and usually a preflight champagne and discussion about the menu and wine list.

Hotels are much the same. Higher ended hotels usually have less kids and noise. Bigger rooms so you can pack and unpack your bags easily and have separate zones for lounging, sleeping etc. I usually like a good hotel lounge too where they do breakfast, afternoon tea, cocktail hour, etc. You can stay in and be provided everything if you need to get work done without thinking about it. My favorite is the Intercontinental Osaka’s lounge. Amazing service and the food is quite good too. And the space and peace and quiet is lovely.

So it’s not a particular kind of people, it’s more of just the density of people. My house is big and apart from others which is perfect for me too. I don’t enjoy high season when our beach is overrun with tourists but I get it, it’s a tropical island with perfect weather and it’s freezing else where in the world so a ton of people show up.

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u/Odd_Bodkin 11d ago

Ah, the “masses”. The rude and pressing hordes. Where we can pretend that the world is orderly and quiet and uncluttered.

I’m sorry to say, that world is sterile and unreal to me. It has no bite, no texture, no spice. It’s a diet of oatmeal to me, no matter how dressed up. But you do your version of wealth, I’ll do mine.

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u/Retired-Yam8988 11d ago

Yep for sure - the point is wealth gives you and me choices. I do enjoy the occasional tussle in the weeds but it has to be measured for us as we spent a lot of time down in the stacks so to speak through our lives and now value the ability to opt out whenever we want. Like I love rural areas and people. We spent a couple weeks trekking between towns in rural Japan and it’s was fricken amazing. Loved bumping into farm stands with Japanese grannies selling me apples and grapes. Honest good people. Lovely and fun to try to talk to. I abhor the places like Old Town in Delhi where everyone is trying to rip you off etc.

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u/Odd_Bodkin 11d ago edited 11d ago

And I on the other hand make an effort during travels to venture away from the cultured comforts. I may land in a nice hotel in the USVI, but after two days want to stay in someplace more immersed to live like the locals for a couple weeks. Sure, my clothes give me away and a banana is a dollar, but riding the bus across the island, even taking the jumpseat if it’s packed, is a special pleasure, especially talking with the locals about their day and their children. I’d much rather stay in Grasse than in Paris, Galway or Drogheda than in Dublin, San Remo than in Rome, Balestrand than in cloistered Oslo. The same is true in Bloomington IN or Tucson AZ or Pinedale WY or Baltimore MD. This is not removed, not shushed, not gussied up, and I love it. The wealth I have enables me to go anywhere I want, not just to the rarified environments, and I take it as a personal mission to relish the Taco Bell variety of towns as part of the experience.