Who Do You Consider Rich?

What do you consider rich? Is it a specific number? Is it a lifestyle? I was involved in a discussion about rich people last week. Not the super rich, celebrity-type people, but real people that we knew. We were talking about ordinary people that work for a living, some with college degrees, some without. The argument continued throughout the week among the five of us because we could not agree on what qualified a person as being rich.

Rich is an adjective used to define wealth. The first definition given is "having wealth or great possessions; abundantly supplied with resources, means, or funds; wealthy" so that was our focus on trying to define who is considered rich. We argued three scenarios about who would be considered rich.

Rich Person 'A': 'A' is a lucky man. He has a good job, for now. He makes enough money to pay the bills and has a hefty savings account. 'A' has $20,000 in the bank and $100,000 saved for retirement, but owes $450,000 on his car, house, and credit cards. Is 'A' rich?

Rich Person 'B': 'B' is just as lucky as 'A'. 'B' pays rent, her monthly utilities, and her credit card balance in full every month. But 'B' doesn't have any money in savings. 'B' travels at least three times a year and never hesitates to go out to eat or to a movie with friends. 'B' gets whatever 'B' wants when she wants it. Is 'B' rich?

Rich Person 'C': 'C' does not make a whole lot of money. He works, pays his bills on time, and has a little extra every month. He pays cash for everything, has no credit card debt, and has a tiny mortgage payment that goes with his tiny house. 'C' has a small amount of money saved which he adds to every payday. Is 'C' rich?

So who is the richest person? Is it 'A' who has money in the bank but a big debt to go with it? Is it 'B' who lives life but has nothing saved? Or is it 'C' who has almost no debt and a small savings?

Of course this discussion went off on a tangent and we also discussed the richness of family, love, and security. The conversation came back to monetary wealth because we all agreed that you can have all the money in the world but it won't mean anything unless you have love and people to share it with.

We could not agree on who was richer and that is why I wrote this in order to get your opinions. If you have a better scenario on what you think is rich, then I will be happy to add it. I think that everyone looks at their situation vs. another person's situation and leans toward the other person as being richer than they are.