How I keep the stash meaningful to me : GDP/person

[pom]

I did a fun spreadsheet, that calculates the amount of interest income and dividends I get per year and compare it to the GDP/person of countries that I have visited.  Just checked and now I am at the level of the GDP/person of Malta, I have been there and it's pretty nice so if all else fails, I can take the next plane to Valetta.

For someone that loves to travel, it is a nice way to make the stash feel more real.

Here is the GDP/p of a few countries that I could live in:

Cambodia: 1 000
Morocco: 3 000
Ukraine: 4 000
Thailand: 5 000
China: 6 000
Panama/Mexico/Brazil: 10 000
Portugal/Malta/Czech Rep: 20 000
Spain/Italy: 30 000
France/UK/Germany: 40 000
USA/Canada: 50 000
Australia: 70 000
Switzerland: 80 000

Do you have a way to make your stash feel "real"?

[hybrid]

Real as in real lucky I was born in middle-class America?  Nope, already there.... 

I just don't get the folks who see their cup half empty in a place like this.  One of the reasons I like this site so much.

[Bigote]

Another way to look at it is your share of national or global wealth.


Total household wealth in the US is 78T.   Per capita that's about 250k, per household ~700k.   

[pom]

Real as in real lucky I was born in middle-class America?  Nope, already there.... 

That is a pretty strong misconception in the US that you are lucky to have been borned there. Most people around the world live a pretty good life. Of course if you watch TV you would think that everyone in Africa is starving, everyone in India is begging, everyone in Thailand is a sex worker, everyone in Greece is rioting .... When you get there you see that most of them have regular jobs that pay enough for them to eat their fill, buy houses and spend their weekends with friends and family drinking beer while watching football on TV (but maybe not on a 1000 inches screen).

[limeandpepper]

Real as in real lucky I was born in middle-class America?  Nope, already there.... 

I just don't get the folks who see their cup half empty in a place like this.  One of the reasons I like this site so much.

I don't get anything from the OP that they're seeing their cup as half empty. If anything, it's an optimistic post. Depending on the size of the stash, there are so many places in the world one could live in, how is that not a positive thing? And if you don't want to live anywhere else, that's great but surely it's still nice to have choices.

[limeandpepper]

On topic, I don't do the GDP thing but I have calculated how far my interest/dividend income could go in different countries that I could see myself residing. So kind of a similar thing, though my way is more personalized as it takes into account how I would like to live in such a place and what my spending habits would be over there. I agree it can be fun, especially for those who enjoy traveling!

[hybrid]

Real as in real lucky I was born in middle-class America?  Nope, already there.... 

I just don't get the folks who see their cup half empty in a place like this.  One of the reasons I like this site so much.

I don't get anything from the OP that they're seeing their cup as half empty. If anything, it's an optimistic post. Depending on the size of the stash, there are so many places in the world one could live in, how is that not a positive thing? And if you don't want to live anywhere else, that's great but surely it's still nice to have choices.

I wasn't implying that the OP did, I was referring to all the doom-and-gloomers who constantly gripe about life in these United States.  Whereas this site preaches optimism, and I dig that.

[hybrid]

Real as in real lucky I was born in middle-class America?  Nope, already there.... 

That is a pretty strong misconception in the US that you are lucky to have been borned there. Most people around the world live a pretty good life. Of course if you watch TV you would think that everyone in Africa is starving, everyone in India is begging, everyone in Thailand is a sex worker, everyone in Greece is rioting .... When you get there you see that most of them have regular jobs that pay enough for them to eat their fill, buy houses and spend their weekends with friends and family drinking beer while watching football on TV (but maybe not on a 1000 inches screen).

I can think of a few billion Chinese and Indians that might disagree with you there.  If I had been born in Europe, or Canada, or Australia, OK, not much discernible difference there.

Still, I consider myself fortunate all the same.  You say "most".  I know this much, I don't want to be anywhere near the 51st percentile of the GDP/person curve.