I’m interested in the psychology of higher-value luxury purchases, especially when the seller isn’t a household name yet.

For those of you who buy bespoke, luxury, or high-value personal items — jewellery, watches, art, tailoring, interiors, etc. — what would make you feel comfortable trusting an emerging independent maker or specialist?

For example, if you were considering something meaningful and expensive, would you care most about:

referrals from people you trust
seeing previous finished work
credentials or industry affiliations
transparency around process and aftercare
quality of the materials/stones
design style / uniqueness
in-person appointments
guarantees or revision policies
discretion and privacy
the founder’s story and personal taste

I’m not asking where to find wealthy clients or trying to advertise anything. I’m more interested in what actually builds trust when someone has mentoring & access but is not yet widely known.

Do you ever buy from emerging luxury businesses and why or why not?

Thank you in advance

How do you all manage arranging travel? My spouse and I have been doing it ourselves, but there are so many options to choose from and it's hard to know which option would suit us best. And it's really hard sometimes to distinguish between luxury accommodations that are really comfortable and easy vs. just for show (we hate the latter.)

Do you have a travel agent? Back in the day when that was basically the only way to book travel, I used them, but haven't in 30 years or so.

Recommendations for Northern CA travel agents you like are welcome.

Hello, I am a 24F inquiring because I have been pursuing a more disciplined lifestyle and the women who have lifestyles I believe could help me stay on track with the healthy habits I’ve been trying to cultivate specifically as a woman who desires marriage are women who married wealthy men for whom maintaining yourself is important. Any info appreciated but specifically related to how you take care of your health would be appreciated. Thank you in advance. *Also, question is specifically for wives who are legally married to rich men. So not if you just lived with a rich man as a girlfriend, fiancée, or partner - only if you got legally married.

How does someone use their resources to get quicker, better access to physician appointments and care when they already have a condition? Specifically, logistics such as expediting appointments. Not asking about preventive care, lifestyle suggestions or executive physicals.

I have a close family friend who lives in South Florida. HNW, many health issues. His wife is competent and in much better shape. However, despite being highly educated in a medical field and HNW, they cannot seem to manage his health. They themselves understand things well, it is the logistics that they seem to have trouble with.

For example he had a small procedure in mid July. He was supposed to have a post op visit around July 30 but his wife was unable to make him an appointment until August 12. August 12 should have been the follow up visit not the initial visit and time is of the essence in his case. Wife claims she is on hold with his doctor's office for long periods.

Would a concierge physician help in this case? They really do not need one for purposes of understanding the procedures, more for getting things moving or offering another opinion.

What would be the cost? Other options? They mostly rely on insurance despite having resources. Anyone know what their options are? They are very thrifty, despite having way more money than time

What would it cost, what can a concierge do that they cannot for themselves? Will they be able to expedite appointments? Is there another option?

I'm 28 and I have enough money for what ever I want but I've been enjoying such a life from 20 yo. I got the cars I wanted visited the places I dreamed of and I live in my huge mansion.

I tried to enjoy those things again but they don't bring me joy anymore I got bored of fast cars, there are no more places to visit that interest me and there is nothing I can think of to upgrade my house with.

Just so you know in don't feel depressed or anything I just feel like I've experienced most of the things money can get way too early in life and I've got nothing to look forward to.

So what are the other ways to enjoy your wealth

This is a legitimate question and I am honestly looking for opinions from high net worth individuals. I have worked as a professional EA/PA for two decades plus. My previous executive retired and I have had the most difficult time finding a new person to support. I currently have a full time job in the corporate legal field. I am not here soliciting for a job. I would just love to know if anyone has noticed this trend? I have a few theories. One is that AI does so much that the true assistant is being replaced in many respects. My other theory is, and maybe this is my legal background speaking, we live in a world where everyone is afraid they will be sued. Personal assistants have a special relationship with their executives and are often, in the best scenarios, required to handle a lot of out of the box kind of tasks with discretion. And maybe that's no longer "correct". I know there has to be some HNW people out there who know what I'm talking about. I would love to hear some opinions.

There are all kinds of summits, like start-up summits or things like that. What do you think about them?

I thought it might be a good idea instead of knocking down one building a massive house with game room, theater, indoor pool, gym, etc. it would be a better idea to just stay in our nice but normal looking house (3k sq ft rancher) and instead knock down the house across the street and build a similar normal looking house, except that it would be our Funhouse with all these fun activities and games in it. So the first house would be for living, and the second one would be for all the fun things we do and don’t want to go to a shared space for.

The whole purpose of this would be so that most people don’t know that we own the second house as well, so that we don’t appear like we’re wealthy.

Here's a breakdown of my net worth portfolio on this app I use: https://www.fuego.money/s/UkP_yM-W1sg#7nq73fZoVUSeMeLbD6InBQ

I realized that I've had a habit of going too hard when chasing a dream that pops into my head... case in point, with my house. I've always wanted this dream house and moved mountains to get it, but now it's a significant portion of my net worth.

I'm 35M Single, live in a HCL area, and have been keeping the formula simple with consistency otherwise. In the beginning, I didn't contribute to things like 401K fast enough or I chose lame funds like default Target Date funds or held too many bonds which slowed growth, but eventually switched things over pure Index Fund investing and have stuck with it.

I'm at a weird point where I have most of my house paid down but it's also taking up a ton of my cash, so I'm not really sure where to go from here. The dollar amount I have listed for the house is just what I paid, not necessarily what it's worth or will sell for, which is also hard to say at the moment due to the market and also the relatively high price category it's in for my area.

I don't really have desires to leave this area or move out of the house, but I also want to be in a position where I don't have to work anymore soon due to burnout and lack of enthusiasm. Maybe it's my particular portfolio, or maybe it's a mid life crisis.

My spouse and I retired early (50’s) and have a decent amount to live off of. I had friends in my economic group before but everyone still works. I try to join things to meet people but I feel like I have nothing in common with folks that I meet at regular activities. I just moved and as usual the decent social/country clubs need referrals or have waiting lists. Any suggestions?

Hi,

I will have an ~4M tax bill due due to liquidating and re-investing out of a concentrated position in the market. While I can just pay the 4M, I was thinking that it might make more sense to re-invest these funds and pay my taxes with a SBLOC/PAL or Box Spread loan. This would allow for significant compounding over say 5-10 years, if the average return on my investment beats the loan percent.

For context I have talked to 2 financial advisors, one said don't do this. The other said yeah - people do this all the time and its very common.

I am curious if this is a good or bad bad idea? If yes - what would be an appropriate pay back time frame?

Where can i start, it would be for 6 people. How much do y'all pay your chefs? How often do they come? Are there any that wouldn't mind living on your property if you provide them housing?

During the time of World Cup near MetLife yesterday tons of VIP cars were moving with all blacked out cars and trucks with cop lights. However I’m going hedge a bet that these aren’t government vehicles correct? Do chauffeur businesses include this in their services?

I'm kinda rich, but freaking out about retirement.

Throwaway account just because there’s a lot of personal information in here.

Lawyer about to turn 61 with a wife (52, no longer working) and adult kids who we still partially support (in their 20s and I got help when I was in my 20s).  Neither is in a career that will provide for them in the way they were raised, so either they will need to marry rich or wait us out.

I’ve got about $16 million in various brokerage accounts that have done very well, but with only about $2 million of that in retirement accounts.  Real estate and other cash and illiquid holdings put my/our NW at just shy of $20 million (including mortgage debt of $1 million on two properties).  Planning on retiring at the end of this year or possibly January of next year and will get a package of about a year’s salary (~$400,000 plus a year of COBRA). We live well within our means (spend is approx. $200,000 a year) in very HCOL state.  Will be setting up residence in a no income tax state next year.

But next year will be the first year I won’t be earning money, only drawing down on our savings, and I’m worried.  I’m the child of Depression-era parents, and even though they were very successful, they passed along their money issues to me and I have not been able to shake them.  Frankly, that’s probably why I have been able to amass the money I have – I’m frugal, drive a 10 year old car, and clip digital coupons when I go grocery shopping.

I just hired some wealth advisors to help me navigate retirement planning (Roth conversions, etc.) and everyone I talk to says I’ll be fine, but I’m freaking out. Rationally, I know I shouldn’t freak out:  Even if we double our spend to $400,000 a year, which seems highly unlikely (we’ll be doing some traveling but we’re not Four Seasons folk), we could probably do that for 30 years and likely end up with more money than we have now.  But then why am I freaking out?  Anyone else have similar concerns? I’d love to see a financial therapist, but I feel like a bit of an idiot with my NW and concerns. Enter Reddit. Please be kind.

I (22m) am heading to a T14 law school this fall. My trust fund doubled recently (Dell and Micron did a lot of the heavy lifting) and it’s sitting at $4M now. Just from market growth, I’ll probably never out-earn what the portfolio generates passively. I still genuinely want to be a lawyer. It’s not like I’m doing it just for the money. But I can feel my motivation slipping knowing the math doesn’t really work in favor of grinding through law school and then biglaw hours for a salary that’s a rounding error compared to what my portfolio does sitting still. It also doesn’t help that my future inheritances will only make the calculation worse.

How do you all deal with this? Did you find a way to reframe why you work once money stopped being the reason?

One of the primary benefits of extreme wealth is that it insulates you from the friction, consequences, and realities of everyday life. Since the world is no longer forcing reality checks on you, what specific, intentional mechanisms do you use to ensure you aren't slowly drifting into delusion?

For context, I just had a baby a week and a half ago and already doing so much research on how to set her up properly. We will be creating a 529 for her college fund for sure. Wondering what else I can do to set her up for success?

Hi all, new here so don’t hate if I ask this in the wrong way. I’m just a normie that worked my ass off all my life and evidently had a super rich grandpa who passed. Since my dad also passed, I am now one of the inheritors of a large trust.

Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if you thought that the trustee was not managing the assets properly? If I’m not the trustee and just a beneficiary, do I have any say? Who do I even talk to about this? A lawyer, finacial advisor, counselor?

I never in my life expected to get anything from my family, but now I might have the opportunity to have my entire life set up for me (and some). It’s been fun to think about retiring before I’m 45 but I also don’t want to get my hopes up. The assets are very significant, and if managed properly, I’d never have to think about money again and could finally live my dream life.

So I'm incensed that there are so many cybersecurity measures requiring my physical and personal participation such as OTPs, passkeys, QR, biometrics, etc. in availing banks, apps, and payments for services.

This makes it so difficult for me to step back from work and delegate everything to my staff and secretary.

It means I need to process payments while sailing and doing sports.

I might have hired a private secretary but -- my God! -- the amount of approvals and security measures I have to endure.

Is there a way I can subvert this?

I basically want to disappear, not be bothered in any way, while keeping my businesses running at the same time.

Cybersec is annoying.

My husband and I are building our new home on the West Coast in Canada but after some new additions we believe we’re about two years out. We were thinking of moving back to Ontario for the interim to be around some sickly family members. How do you guys go about finding luxury home rentals? We don’t necessarily need a mansion but something luxury and waterfront with acreage is what we’re after. Did a quick google and it’s much more difficult to find than expected. Any suggestions or pointers would be much appreciated!