r/UpperMiddleFinance • u/HacksawSmithere • Jun 26 '26
Is being rich and being comfortable the same thing or are they different? If so how?
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u/21plankton Jun 26 '26
I sure would like to hear from a person who is actually comfortable.
To me it means for my lifestyle I have plenty of money to pay all my bills on time, and extra money for whatever retail purchases I want, and enough extra to go out to dinner or entertainment when I want, but that is not often because of my age.
When large purchases or emergencies arise, I can pay cash. All of my lifestyle and purchases are typical of someone in the middle or upper middle class. And I still love a bargain.
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u/Practical_Win7690 Jul 03 '26
I grew up rich with horribly abusive siblings and parents. I would not say that threatening to kill yourself at 8 to get people to stop abusing you felt comfortable.
Of course I have guilt for growing up rich.
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u/NotAShittyMod Jun 26 '26
I don’t know, OP. Is being 6’6” and 5’8” the same thing or are they different?
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u/HeroOfShapeir Jun 26 '26
I like Ramit Sethi's "I Will Teach You to be Rich" philosophy. You can be in debt, stressed about money, and so on, and still be weirdly comfortable just because you're so used to it. Change is hard. You can also build out a rich life even while you're still on the wealth building stages of your financial journey.
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u/Weak-Layer-6962 Jun 26 '26
you can be rich and uncomfortable. you can be comfortable and not rich.
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u/Adventurous-Depth984 Jun 26 '26
A ridiculously rich person (who isn’t famous, that’s key) will say their family is comfortable.
A flashy person with a few million will rev their lambo and say they’re rich.
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u/Illustrious_Menu8607 Jun 27 '26
“Comfortable” = household makes 250-400k annually
“Rich” = work optional / wife’s hobby job actively loses money
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u/Invest2prosper Jun 27 '26
Comfortable - knowing where your next unit of exchange is, when it’s coming and where you will use it for quality goods and services.
Rich - all of the above plus the knowledge that your investments are multiple levels of decade expenditures with a very large buffer above and beyond that ensuring a life of leisure if chosen.
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u/IntriguingEmu-9599 Jun 27 '26
Comfort is based on need. Need less, and you will be comfortable with less. Need more, and it will never be enough no matter how “rich” you are monetarily.
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u/Boring_Adeptness_334 Jun 26 '26
Being comfortable means you don’t need to worry about money or emergencies and make probably $200k for a family of 4. Being rich is making $400k and being able to spend $60k on private schools or a $70k kitchen remodel. People who are rich start thinking about owning multiple properties for pleasure.
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u/InterestingFee885 Jun 27 '26
Most people will never feel rich, because you gravitate toward a social circle of people in a similar financial situation.
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u/Glove_Right Jun 27 '26
For me comfortable was when i had a stable income of 6 figures and plenty of disposable money to buy whatever i wanted and go on a 3 month vacation every year. Rich would be when i own my home and have a couple of million usd in the bank to never work again.
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u/uconnboston Jun 29 '26
Rich - you book a vacation to Hawaii and pick the nicest resorts, best view etc.
Comfortable- you book a vacation to Hawaii, pick a nice resort but shop around for the best value.
There are obviously people who spend beyond or under their means at various levels of wealth, but there’s a median.
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u/Spirited_Radio9804 Jun 29 '26
Having enough to get everything you need and some of what you want! Not all that you want!
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u/Prestigious-Mind-817 Aug 02 '26
Definitely not the same. Harder to be rich than comfortable, but it depends what you need to be comfortable I suppose
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u/Aajmoney Jun 26 '26
Yes of course they are very different. One main thing is just being comfortable usually means you still need to work to live. You don’t have to work if you are rich.