What Represented the Pinnacle of Wealth From Your Childhood

[ETBen]

3.) Going skiing. That was astronomically expensive.

This!  Skiing was for rich people. And in my mind, I still associate it with rich people.  Never mind that I have a high income. And when I meet people who learned to ski as a kid and can’t believe I’ve never been, I still assume they grew up rich lol

[YttriumNitrate]

So, that's an interesting twist.  Rather than talking about the things that you used to think signified great wealth, or the things that kids today think signifies great wealth, what things do you, today as an adult, think signifies great wealth?  What do people with "real money" have or do that you and I do not?

In grad school the Big10 university I attended had its own airport, so I took flying lessons. The people who showed up to football games in private jets had "real money." But, the joke was on them since our football team was terrible.

Also, this thread has me wondering how much I could increase the monthly rent on my property if I spent ~$100 on rocker switches.

[Trifle]

I never met anyone with real money until I went away to college.

So, that's an interesting twist.  Rather than talking about the things that you used to think signified great wealth, or the things that kids today think signifies great wealth, what things do you, today as an adult, think signifies great wealth?  What do people with "real money" have or do that you and I do not?

In college I met a few blue-blood/old money types who had gone to big name prep schools and who were widely traveled.  Those two things were unimaginable to me as a kid. 

Today, I think of wealth primarily in terms of how much money someone has.  We don't usually know how much money others have, so usually we have to judge based on behavior/belongings.  For me the strongest signifier of wealth would be not having to work for a living.  Also maybe traveling a great deal, and/or owning multiple homes.  ETA:  In our area another big wealth tipoff is having one or more kids in private/prep school -- the kind of school where the kids are driving BMWs . . .

[HPstache]

So, that's an interesting twist.  Rather than talking about the things that you used to think signified great wealth, or the things that kids today think signifies great wealth, what things do you, today as an adult, think signifies great wealth?  What do people with "real money" have or do that you and I do not?

In grad school the Big10 university I attended had its own airport, so I took flying lessons. The people who showed up to football games in private jets had "real money." But, the joke was on them since our football team was terrible.

Also, this thread has me wondering how much I could increase the monthly rent on my property if I spent ~$100 on rocker switches.

Oh at least $25/mo

[Civex]

1. Doc Marten shoes
2. Oakley shades
3. Playing any sport that required travel or equipment

The area I grew up in was very rural and rather poor-I didn't realize until high school that trailer houses weren't the norm. My "rich" friend had all of the above and a doublewide trailer home.

[JanetJackson]

The rocker light switch thing I find surprising. They're normal in England, and replacement ones are about £2.

It's weird that I'm not the only one to mention it.  It's not that they were particularly expensive, it was just indication that the house was a newer home and had a "fancy"/rich feeling to them.  I seem to remember them showing up in the mid-late 90's in new homes.

Brought this up to my spouse. She agreed that this was an underlying assumption for her too - and it probably came from the fact that they were only in newer houses. We both grew up in the 90's, so there you go.

Now this has made me want to go through my entire house and replace our toggle switches with rockers for a more *luxurious experience* when our toggles work just fine.

I had to google what these are, but YEP, these were signals of wealth to me as a kid too.

[I'm a red panda]

I just told my husband the rocker switch thing. He said they were like $4-5 each when he worked at home Depot. A whole house of them would be pretty expensive.

[better late]

In elementary school, rich was
-clean houses that smelled good. (yeah - they had housekeepers)
-wall to wall carpeting and a white lacy dust ruffle around the bottom of the bed.
-those down coats with the ski passes layered one on top of the other attached to the coat's zipper. That was the epitome of wealth. (And a lot of those kids had families with ski condos they went to all the time so maybe I wasn't so off on that one).
-families who had a second phone line for the kids.

[golfreak12]

I grew up in the 80's.
I always associated making $100k as being rich. I remembered thinking if I can just make $40k I would be able to buy anything. Well I make over $100k now and I still shy from ordering expensive stuff on the menu at restaurants even if its the item I want.
On a smaller note I used to think being able to have a Neo Geo is rich.
Those systems were like $600 vs $200 for the Sega and Nintendo and their games were in the $200 range. But damn, the graphics were just like those in the arcade.

[Just Joe]

i'll add Umbro gear, Doc Maartens (sp?), and jeans that weren't Lee or Levis.

How about "Toughskins" jeans?

[familyandfarming]

I have to chime in! I remember telling one of my high school classes about my childhood obsession with Jiffy Pop Popcorn. Never got it after begging for it. (My parents were MMM my entire childhood.) A student brought one in the next day and of course I had a hot plate in my art room. It was much smaller than I remembered from the commercials I based my obsession on, and not that good! But we all laughed until we cried talking about all of our unfulfilled childhood obsessions as it was popping!

[YttriumNitrate]

Also, this thread has me wondering how much I could increase the monthly rent on my property if I spent ~$100 on rocker switches.

Oh at least $25/mo

Well damn. ;-) Rocker switches are $1.89 at Menards, I think I know a project I'll be doing when my current tenants move out.

[Tuskalusa]

Actual Sherry topsiders...not the fake ones.

[nath]

I grew up in the awesome 80s, things were pretty flashy around here in those days.

We had a big old house on a big block near the beach with a lovely garden. I thought we were rich as hell as a kid, compared to some people you see on tv living in the ghettos anyway. But in reality it was all for show and it wasn’t until I got older i realized how broke my parents were. The lack of food in the fridge and deterioration on the house should have been a sign. They ended up having to sell it and lived a middle class life ever since.

The truly rich kids at my school had a Rolls Royce or Ferrari, or at least a W126 Mercedes S class.
Swimming pool and also a tennis court was surprisingly not that unusual.
One kid came back from summer vacation and told everyone his dad had purchased 2 x brand new Bmw 5 series! Absolutely dreamy
Also I loved property even as a kid and the super rich had a modernist architect house (think weekend at Bernie’s)  or Georgian style with an awesome stone kitchen and high ornate ceilings.

Once I was a teenager the rich kids could afford to go on overseas holidays (very rare among friends) and could buy any clothes they wanted and even a brand new car once they had a license.

Today I go on holidays 3-5 times a year and have had many new cars.  Don’t plan to have a pool, tennis court or Rolls Royce anytime soon though :) could afford the big house too but choose not to and getting close to FI these days.
Ooh yeah I just ordered a pair of Air Jordan’s only $160 on Nike.com.   A small fortune in the 1990s sense

One from my wife, her pinnacle of rich is parents who are doctors

[radram]

If Robin Leach stopped by, you were rich. He never did.

[StarBright]

I never met anyone with real money until I went away to college.

So, that's an interesting twist.  Rather than talking about the things that you used to think signified great wealth, or the things that kids today think signifies great wealth, what things do you, today as an adult, think signifies great wealth?  What do people with "real money" have or do that you and I do not?

Generally:
-vacation homes, of the beach house or lake "cottage" variety (also condos or chalets in good skiing locations). For the REALLY RICH, the same but in really tony communities like Mackinac Island, Hamptons, Nantucket, Newport, West Palm Beach (not to be confused with Palm Beach), etc. Also a few people I know have apartments in various European locations. Basically anyone who goes places for an entire summer or weeks at a time.
-Time to volunteer. and be "board members" I feel like all of the wealthy people I know have a ton of free time to volunteer for causes, particularly artsy ones (opera, ballet, art museum, etc).

Specifically:
- a residence on "The World" ship. One of my friends' parents have a "home" on the World and they have gone to the most AMAZING places like watching the penguins in Antarctica or Spring Equinox at Angor Wat.

I think it is the intersection of our interests, type of work we do, and how often we move, but DH and I seem to know a lot of rich people. I do get cases of envy sometimes (Angor Wat!), but generally the rich people we know are so relatively low key that we just like them!

I will say that the wealthy folks I know as an adult are totally different than what I imagined wealth to be when I was a kid (except for the Tech and Banking Bros - they act how I thought "rich" people act).

[Just Joe]

Also, this thread has me wondering how much I could increase the monthly rent on my property if I spent ~$100 on rocker switches.

Oh at least $25/mo

Well damn. ;-) Rocker switches are $1.89 at Menards, I think I know a project I'll be doing when my current tenants move out.

I grew up in a house with rocker switches back in the 1970s. Not a big deal.

What you want is central house lighting control. Our neighbors had that as far back as the late 60s or early 70s. Ever room had a button to turn the lights on and off. Then in one room - hallway or den as I recall - there was this central panel where everything could be turned on and off. Don't remember if there was a dimming function. Pretty cool to my twelve year old self in the early 80s.

All that went right along with a central radio and intercom system. On some weekends our parents would turn on the local country hits channel and we'd all clean house. And with the push of a button, announcements could be made - or - a person could just give a holler (open floor plan). My grandparents had a similar radio system with a record player! The den even had stereo sound. Amazing... ;)

[dignam]

So funny about the rocker switches.  I didn't realize it until this thread that I did use to equate that to wealth in the 90s.

Today?  Wealth to me means you're still able to save for your financial goals even in the midst of a major unexpected expense (in the thousands of dollars).  Wealth is peace of mind about the unexpected. 

[DadJokes]

3.) Going skiing. That was astronomically expensive.

This!  Skiing was for rich people. And in my mind, I still associate it with rich people.  Never mind that I have a high income. And when I meet people who learned to ski as a kid and can’t believe I’ve never been, I still assume they grew up rich lol

My family went skiing once in my childhood. It was a big deal just because it was the first and only out-of-state vacation for us, even if it was in the neighboring state of New Mexico. I got altitude sickness and had to spend the entire vacation in the cabin.

[BlueHouse]

A house with white columns and a green lawn with no dandelions.  And the fancy doorbell chimes!

Childhood friends moved a few towns over to an upper-middle class area and lived next door to a true rich person -- Milton Bradley.  Yes, that one! 

We used to LOVE to find an excuse to go over to their house (some old lady that I assume was Mrs. Bradley would always let us in, and always let us ring the door bell a few times.  It was one of those doorbells that had chimes inside and rang that tune:  "Ding Dong Dong Ding, hear the chimes ring" (but without words) 

[damnedbee]

An HBO subscription

[YttriumNitrate]

Childhood friends moved a few towns over to an upper-middle class area and lived next door to a true rich person -- Milton Bradley.  Yes, that one! 

Didn't he die over 100 years ago?

[ohio4life]

I was talking about this yesterday after seeing the thread on Reddit. I believe the top comment at the time was a house with stairs. This one was spot on for me. I thought a house with stairs meant you were very wealthy. In my town and most of the burbs around me most houses were small post war ranches and only the new builds had an upstairs.

[ketchup]

Big-ass TVs.  Now you can get a 50" at Walmart for like $250 and won't weigh as much as piano either.

[HPstache]

Big-ass TVs.  Now you can get a 50" at Walmart for like $250 and won't weigh as much as piano either.

Lol @ the heavy as a piano part.  Big TV's were definitely a rich thing in the 90's.  I remember one of the richest families I knew had a TV that was a MASSIVE rear projection TV that was probably 96in or more.  Might be my kid brain over-inflating the TV size... but it was big.

[Spiffy]

Child of the 80s here. For me it was taking a trip over spring break.  My family never went anywhere for spring break but lots of my friends either went skiing or to the coast (Texas gulf). Our family vacations were always driving to a neighboring state with a camper behind us. We never flew anywhere or stayed in hotels or ate out. For our spring breaks my brothers and I had to help our parents with some project like paint the garage doors or scrub the patio bricks. Yes, I was jealous of those "rich kids".

[canuckiwi]

As a child of the '80s, the G.I. Joe USS FLAGG play set was the item that would show your family was rich. I never knew anyone who had one, and imagined only children of royalty would ever get to play with it. They were about 6 feet long so you would need a dedicated room for it.
Remaining ones now are $1000+ dollars, but are really just coffee tables for boys.

[BlueHouse]

Childhood friends moved a few towns over to an upper-middle class area and lived next door to a true rich person -- Milton Bradley.  Yes, that one! 

Didn't he die over 100 years ago?

Dammit.   Wonder who that guy was.

[John Galt incarnate!]

When you were a kid, what things did ‘rich people’ have that you thought represented the pinnacle of wealth?

For me there were 4 things that represented the pinnacle of wealth.

mansions

very large yachts

Rolls Royce/Bentley/other exotic sports cars

jet aircraft

[GoConfidently]

Trips to Disney. We went to Hanna Barbera Land once but it wasn’t the same. Now as an adult, you’d have to pay me to go!

Vacations that involved staying at a hotel and not with family.

Ordering anything you wanted off the menu at a restaurant, including a drink that wasn’t water.

College funds.

[Asalted_Nut]

For me it was kids who had lunch money to actually buy the lunches the schools sold.

I understand now that some students getting lunch from the school got it possibly because they DIDN'T have money, but I was always so jealous of their fried items and hamburgers and pizza, while I ate my peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich brown bagged lunch from home.

Also on that note, any kids who had Lunchables were rich in my mind.

[Channel-Z]

Born in '76... I can duplicate a lot of answers here.

We lived across the street from a family who had a house spread over two lots. They had computers, they were the first family I knew of with internet service, video games, HBO and Cinemax, a convertible, a 1956 Chevy (which my friend and I nearly wrecked as ten-year-olds), a two-level living room, brand-name clothes, vacations that didn't involve visiting elderly relatives, and they attended a private school.

However, they did not have a swimming pool. They packed for a day at the municipal pool just like the rest of us.

[Loretta]

I remember going to a friend’s birthday party at a house that had a finished basement——whoa was that luxurious!  This was around 1987 in the rural Midwest. 

Guess jeans, Nike tennis shoes and generally buying clothes at a mall were not in my family’s spending priorities.  We were thrifting way before it was a verb.

[Askel]

I have to chime in! I remember telling one of my high school classes about my childhood obsession with Jiffy Pop Popcorn. Never got it after begging for it. (My parents were MMM my entire childhood.) A student brought one in the next day and of course I had a hot plate in my art room. It was much smaller than I remembered from the commercials I based my obsession on, and not that good! But we all laughed until we cried talking about all of our unfulfilled childhood obsessions as it was popping!

I can relate, my folks were pretty mustachian too.  Wealthy is name brand snacks. 

Even the most over the top, completely gonzo luxury dining experiences of my adult life don't compare to the insane indulgence of being allowed an ENTIRE can of coca-cola to my 8 year old self.  Two was just a bender of epic proportions.

[Acorns]

I grew up in the 80s, my family was comfortable, probably the lower tier of UMC. Wealth to me was -

Elementary school/Jr High
- a swimming pool!
- not having a bunch of kids (I come from a pretty big family and my parents always said that the rich families only had 1 or 2 kids because kids are expensive, ergo fewer kids = more disposable income)
- annual vacations to Hawaii or Disneyland (the one and only time my family ever flew anywhere all together on an airplane was when I was 17 and we went to Hawaii, otherwise we vacationed in the RV and stayed with relatives).

High school
- a newer imported car to drive (it seemed like the rich kids drove Volvo/BMW/Jettas)
- a Nokia phone with a slide out dial pad, maybe gold plated
- shopping a Macys or Nordstoms for clothes, or pretty much any mall store
- still a swimming pool

[LifePhaseTwo]

Even the most over the top, completely gonzo luxury dining experiences of my adult life don't compare to the insane indulgence of being allowed an ENTIRE can of coca-cola to my 8 year old self.  Two was just a bender of epic proportions.

LOL - this! We were only allowed sodas on very special occasions... and one of my most vivid childhood memories was of being taken out for a big-deal dinner at which I got to have a Shirley Temple “cocktail” - the height of wealth AND sophistication!

[NorthernMonkey]

a 'racer' bike with drop handlebars and gears. My BMX seemed so basic in comparison

[BuildingFrugalHabits]

I had a friend who had a nintendo entertainment system with 30 games.  30!  Converting to today's dollars, that works out to roughly 8.6 million by my math.

@GuitarStv I don't want to rub salt in the wound but I bet he had all the cool upgraded controllers to go with it...while the rest of us were nursing our nintendo thumb after a long afternoon of Contra

Hahah, I bet he was rocking the Powerglove!

[BuildingFrugalHabits]

I'm going to say that the Aeroblade model rollerblades were the absolute pinnacle.  Honorable mentions include the Snake-eyes and Stormshadow GI Joe Action figures, a Laserdisc player, a TV larger than 27-inches, a home intercom system, and (in my kid mind) a car with orange radio lighting instead of green. 

[BuildingFrugalHabits]

On a smaller note I used to think being able to have a Neo Geo is rich.
Those systems were like $600 vs $200 for the Sega and Nintendo and their games were in the $200 range. But damn, the graphics were just like those in the arcade.

Yes! Any non-mainstream videogame system i.e. NeoGeo, Atari Lynx or the handheld Turbo Graphix 16.  Nintendo was the one that we all had.  The other systems were very exotic.

[jps]

Turbo Graphix 16

Yeezy Yeezy, what's good?

[GuitarStv]

I had a friend who had a nintendo entertainment system with 30 games.  30!  Converting to today's dollars, that works out to roughly 8.6 million by my math.

@GuitarStv I don't want to rub salt in the wound but I bet he had all the cool upgraded controllers to go with it...while the rest of us were nursing our nintendo thumb after a long afternoon of Contra

Hahah, I bet he was rocking the Powerglove!

Or the nintendo robot.  :P

[rocketpj]

An Atari or Intellivision game system.  I was desperate to have one, but the first digital device I got was my Commodore 64 that I bought with my paper route money.

I think the folks could have afforded it, but then they probably wouldn't have both retired at 55 to a nice lifestyle.  No regrets.

Later I used to think that Peter Pocklington was probably the richest man imaginable (then owner of the multiple championship Edmonton Oilers).  It didn't take long before it became clear he was also a corrupt crooked doofus (I think he is or was in prison recently).  And he sold Wayne Gretzky to the LA Kings, a sin for which there can be no forgiveness.  But for a brief period in the mid-80s in Edmonton he was like a rich god among men.

[Jeblers]

On a smaller note I used to think being able to have a Neo Geo is rich.
Those systems were like $600 vs $200 for the Sega and Nintendo and their games were in the $200 range. But damn, the graphics were just like those in the arcade.

Yes! Any non-mainstream videogame system i.e. NeoGeo, Atari Lynx or the handheld Turbo Graphix 16.  Nintendo was the one that we all had.  The other systems were very exotic.

Had a friend that had a 3DO. Yes, I considered him rich as a kid and they were loaded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3DO_Interactive_Multiplayer

[Rural]

Store-bought clothes rather than homemade, and new clothes rather than handed down from cousins (most of mine were both homemade and handed down)


Color TV


Sleeping in a room with heat (still don't do this now as our home doesn't have central heat or AC)


Food from a can instead of a glass canning jar


Meat as a matter of course instead of a special occasion


Wheat bread rather than cornbread

[BTDretire]

Growing up lower middle class in the 70s/80s, rich to me meant anyone with a finished basement,

You had a basement! Lucky you.
My home was 720 sq ft until I was 12, when my dad added on two rooms making it 960 sq ft.

[business325]

More than 3 pairs of shoes at a time. Now i've got over 100. :-)))

[GuitarStv]

More than 3 pairs of shoes at a time. Now i've got over 100. :-)))

Why would any person need more than a couple pairs of shoes and boots?

I buy shoes in bulk when they're on sale, so have three or four unused pairs in the back of my closet most of the time . . . but as far as stuff that's currently being worn?  I've got:
- 1 pair running shoes
- 1 pair dress shoes
- 1 pair waterproof boots
- 1 pair heavy winter boots
- 1 pair cycling shoes

and even that seems kinda excessive.

[Cool Friend]

More than 3 pairs of shoes at a time. Now i've got over 100. :-)))

Why would any person need more than a couple pairs of shoes and boots?

I buy shoes in bulk when they're on sale, so have three or four unused pairs in the back of my closet most of the time . . . but as far as stuff that's currently being worn?  I've got:
- 1 pair running shoes
- 1 pair dress shoes
- 1 pair waterproof boots
- 1 pair heavy winter boots
- 1 pair cycling shoes

and even that seems kinda excessive.

Supposedly if you rotate shoes (two pairs of dress shoes you wear for work, for example) instead of wearing the same pair daily, they last much longer, and not just twice as long.  Last year is the first year I bought two pairs of sneakers (on clearance sale of course) to rotate and they're in pretty great shape still. 

[Mike in NH]

More than 3 pairs of shoes at a time. Now i've got over 100. :-)))

Do we need to have an intervention? If you were a Centipede, you'd still have 100 extra shoes :)

Sidebar: Today, while doing extensive background research for my comment, I learned that Centipedes always have an odd number of pairs of legs, so they never actually have 100 legs, usually between 30 and 354. This should be in the next edition of Lies My Teacher Told Me.