The difference between being rich and being wealthy

September 18, 2005 10:25am by

I thought this was an interesting quote, via a reader of John Succo at Minyanville.

"In my mind, there is a difference between being rich and being wealthy. One is rich when one has enough capital to possess most everything one wants today and will need in the future. One is wealthy when one possesses enough capital to posses everything one would want today, and everything one will need in the future, and still have a great deal left over."

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  1. David commented on Sep 18

    Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time.
    -Stephen Swid

  2. Catablast! Media Group commented on Sep 18

    No, no, no — that quote is too pedestrian.

    Here we go — I got this from Ric Edelman, by the way.

    Rich just means you’re income rich — “Bob, I’m rich; I got paid 200,000 dollars lat year…I think Ill go buy a Lexus, now…then maybe a new Jaguar….”

    Wealthy is asset-related: “Bob, I think I’m what you call wealthy — I only got paid 80,000 last year, but I was smart enough to dump half of it in a mutual fund. Fidelity called and they said the account has tripled in value…”

    The first scenario is common — the second, not so common.

    Wealth is having assets that can be converted to other assets — they’re fungible and surplus-value-creating.

    Conversely, rich people buy depreciating assets, like cars, so they stay rich and never become wealthy.

    A car loses value the day you drive it off the lot.

    That’s not for me.

    Oh by the way, I’m neither rich nor wealthy : )

  3. technicator.NET commented on Sep 18

    What is your take on crude oil prices? I wrote about it on my blog and I am bearish at this point. By the way, I love your layout.

  4. rakehell commented on Sep 18

    I don’t know about this rich/wealthy distinction, but I like the maxim that you are rich if you have a full complement of indoor servants while your parents are still alive.

  5. hans Suter commented on Sep 18

    “A car loses value the day you drive it off the lot.”
    Buy it used ;-)

  6. Fred commented on Sep 18

    Fortune cookie: He who knows he has enough is rich.

  7. scott commented on Sep 18

    Chris Rock’s classic definition:

    “Shaq is rich. The guy that signs his checks is wealthy.”

  10. Lord commented on Sep 19

    Being rich is having money to burn, being wealthy is not wanting to.

  11. Larry Nusbaum, Scottsdale commented on Sep 19

    There are two types of wealthy people here in Scottsdale: Those with money and those without. (You go figure it out)

  12. Anon Y. Mouse commented on Sep 19

    “Rich people plan for four generations. Poor people plan
    for Saturday night.” — Gloria Steinem

  13. charleslc commented on Mar 2

    The difference between being rich and being wealthy is that the rich need to impress and the wealthy need to be impressed.

  14. matthew commented on Jul 7

    I think being wealthy means owning property that can make more money and also having large amounts of money whereas being rich may mean only having alot of money.

  15. me commented on Jan 9

    i think being rich is having a lot of money but nothing to spend. Being wealthy is having what you want and more to spend.

  16. Frank commented on Jan 20

    Rich/Wealthy yada yada yada…..

    I am not spoiled, I just want what I want, when I want it !

    BTW…. let’s talk about BROKE !

    Broke, I would love to be broke, broke is a long way up. LOL

  17. Zulfa commented on Apr 13

    Rich today = poor tomorrow

    wealthy today = wealthy tomorrow

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