5 reasons being rich sucks

I was reading The Personal Financier's piece about accepting that he'll never be rich. It's an interesting piece that you should definitely check out. I think he makes some good points about there being certain prerequisites.


Most of us don't have the drive to be rich. We're not willing to take the risks; we don't have anything to prove, etc etc.


Okay, fine. But I have to wonder: What's so great about being rich?



Just not my style

Aside from the occasional daydream about winning the lottery, I have never really had any interest in being rich.


I know that's practically heresy in this country, but it's true. There are a lot consequences to being rich that people don't consider.

1. Your life becomes public property. Look at celebrity gossip. It's not just about actors and singers.
   
2. Never-ending pleas for money. Your mailbox would be crammed with credit card companies wooing you and charities appealing to your sense of humanity. For every charity you do donate to, there's two or three more (minimum) that you have to turn away. Would you ever stop feeling guilty about the causes you're not supporting?
   
3. Money strains friendships. Think nothing can come between you and your buddies? Try a couple million bucks. You'll lead very different lifestyles. There's awkwardness and guilt aplenty there. And if the friends are good people, you can't just be grandiose and buy them houses. That would just make it worse.
4. You'll never know who your real friends are. Once your old friends have vanished, you may have trouble knowing who likes you and who likes your money. Besides being surrounded by would-be sycophants, even other rich people probably wouldn't be friends with you if you weren't rich. (Back to having things in common.)
5. What do you do with your time? Anyone who's been unable to work for a significant amount of time knows: Being home all day, every day is bo-ring. You can travel, but eventually you'll get homesick. I love reading, but even I get sick of too much reading after a week or so of dedicated bookworming. You can't (or shouldn't) spend all your time shopping. And it's not like you can really volunteer at the local library without causing a lot of awkwardness and maybe crowds. So instead you, what, throw fund-raising luncheons? What a party.
   

I don't know... It just seems like an awfully hollow existence.


Not to mention that lots of people who are supposedly rich end up bankrupt -- Ed McMahon, Mike Tyson, etc -- because they still spend more than they earn: designer clothes, new cars, huge houses, etc.


If being rich doesn't even mean you're financially safe, what's the point?



I'm sure it's fun

I'm not saying there aren't benefits.

1. Picking any house, not worrying about price and downpayment.
2. Help keeping the place clean
3. Having a cook so we never had to worry about meals
4. Buying Tim a fully equipped Selene Mustang. Heck, this is a fantasy: Buy him an Astin Martin, a Viper and a Ferrari!
5. Travel on a whim, wherever we want.

But weighed against all the other stuff? It just seems easier to scale back a few of those fantasies and live comfortably, without so much hassle and guilt.


And I have to wonder how much healthier our country would be, economically, if more people had more modest (aka "realistic") goals. Would we have this subprime mess, or would people have bought only as much house as they needed? Would we have this credit mess, or would people care less about having ostentatious shows of expense?


Do we even know why we place such an importance on wealth? It seems so natural that I bet most people haven't actually stopped to consider why being rich is ideal.


There are obvious benefits, such as freedom from mundane money worries. But most people find ways to afford a house (the last few years notwithstanding) and a few nice things. So it can't just be about materialism. In the U.S., being rich is practically transcendental.


I'd like to put it to you all. Why does being rich have so much more meaning beyond simply having ample money?


For my part, I agree with the whole Max Weber/Protestant Worth Ethic deal. It's quite a tangent, so I won't go into it unless someone specifically wants to know. Otherwise, I'd really like to hear what your theories are.