Don’t forget that the goal is to be rich, not to look rich. Too many people are impressed by the assets other people own. One lifestyle means that you are living to impress other people while the other means you are impressing yourself. Pride and ego is the ultimate expensive enemy you must fight within yourself.
Outward appearances can completely be different from the internal truth. My former coworker in banking owned a Tesla just 3 years out of college. Some girls were actually impressed by that Tesla. I was surprised that they were. All I could think about was the maintenance expenses, interest expense, and the hefty multi 5-figure price tag.
I bought my used hatchback car for $10,500 all cash, no financing. It’s a reliable car and it impressed a total of 0 people. I’m not even impressed by my car and I am completely supportive of that. The purpose of my car is to get me from point A to point B safely. Nothing more and nothing less.
Why is that? To me, the goal is to be rich, not to look rich. I couldn’t care less if other people think that I’m poor as a result of driving that car. In fact, I welcome it because of how much I love stealth wealth. What I do care about is does that car bring me reliable transportation.
The answer has always been a resounding yes. I sometimes can’t believe what a steal of a car that I acquired. Through thick and thin, it has never broke down on me so far. The maintenance expenses that I poured onto the car has been less than minimal. It is fantastic news to me.
Why The Goal is to Be Rich Not to Look Rich
In reality, average people like you and I don’t have the capability of looking rich. The rich owns a private jet, island, or yachts. It is mathematically and literally impossible for the average person to own those things on their own. However, a person who desires to look rich does acquire those things.
Even if they don’t own the truly extravagant things as a private island, they look to own a fancy car or a bigger house. For all intents and purposes, they look like the epitome of success to the outside world. That’s only the surface of the iceberg that others see.
Underneath the surface of the iceberg is the mountain and crippling debt they took on. The additional hours at work they had to labor over to even afford the down payment. To everyone else, they are the embodiment of who they want to become. To themselves, they are digging a bigger hole for themselves.
That’s why the goal is to be rich, not to look rich. You are living your life for yourself, not for somebody else. Would you rather have everyone think of you as successful and actually be a failure? Or would you rather have everyone think of you as a failure and actually be successful?
One of the ways that you can be successful is for you to SMASH that social share button for the Google algorithm named BERT 😊 . I’ve spoken to BERT and he told me that he wants everyone to actually be rich instead of looking rich. BERT approves of the message and wants every reader to be rich.
So if you could please, spread the message for everyone to see, you will make both BERT and I happy!
Two Split Truths About That Mansion
The next time that you are passing by that gigantic mansion you see, remember that there could be two truths to the mansion. The first truth is that the mansion accounts for a tiny fractional amount of their overall net worth. The second truth is that they actually cannot afford the mansion.
Either ways, there is no reason to be jealous or let other people’s successes affect you emotionally. Comparing yourself to others is fine in getting you motivated to pursue that goal. However, it becomes unhealthy once it tugs at you emotionally.
Trying to one up someone else as a result is a recipe for mutual destruction. Keeping up with the Jones’ will make you lose in the long run. The ones who actually win when you keep up with the Jones are companies. Companies who sell things that you don’t need to you. That’s not the right path to success.
When I go out in public, I never go out in fancy clothing. I go out in a shirt and jeans. That’s all I need and that’s all I need to show off to the world. Hey, people don’t pay attention to me as much as I think they do, anyways. I know I am a nobody and I am perfectly content being a nobody.
I understand that the goal is to be rich, not to look rich. Therefore, I religiously employ the minimalist lifestyle and see excess as the enemy. I see having the right amount as a huge ally.
With that said, let’s explore further on the two truths of what it means for your neighbor to own that expensive shiny thing.
1) It’s a Very Small Percentage of Their Net Worth
The rich stay rich because they spend like they’re poor. The poor stay poor because they spend like they’re rich. You see stories of billionaires with their yachts, multiple mansions, and fancy cars. It gives you the false notion that they are spending money like there’s no tomorrow.
That’s actually a very good example of how the rich spend money like they’re poor. In retrospect, the mansions and yachts are a very tiny fraction of their net worth that they splurge on. Think about a billionaire dropping $10 million on that McMansion you see.
It has tennis courts, a bowling alley, movie theater, 10 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, a gaming room, and much more. Everything you would want all in the comfort of your home. You have to realize that $10 million is literally 1% of a billion dollars. The amount they spent on the house is negligible.
Sure, $10 million may be a lot of money. However, in reality, it’s a tiny fractional amount. In other words, they are spending like they’re poor. That is the ultimate way to cheap out.
The poor will gladly spend $200 – $400K on a house even when their net worth doesn’t come close. They are spending 100%+ of their net worth on a house. They are living like they are rich, not like they are poor.
2) They Overspent On It
More often than not, the fancy shiny new thing that others have are financed with debt. It’s one thing to finance a money generating asset with debt. It’s another to finance a depreciating asset with debt. While they may appear to be raking in a ton of money, in actuality they are laden with debt stress.
More likely than not, your peers are not exorbitantly better than you. Your coworker that started the same time you did likely will do as well as you in terms of finances. If you can’t afford that brand new car, chances are they can’t either. What that means is that they had to look for external funding sources.
It could be the bank of Mom and Dad or it could be actual bank who gave them a loan. Either ways, they couldn’t have afforded it on their own. The appearance of them looking rich may not be the entire picture. It’s more than likely not reality.
Instead of following in their footsteps to destruction, take the right steps to be rich. Max out your 401k, save as much money as you humanely can, and invest it. You’re not going to look rich at all but rather quite poor. That’s quite all right. That’s a great goal to have. To look poor but be rich.
It’s never advisable to purchase something to impress people that you don’t like with money you don’t have. The goal is to be rich, not to look rich.
The Rich Usually Look Poor
I own two pairs of really nice looking suits. It’s for the very special occasions like a wedding, interview, and more. I haven’t bought a new suit in about 3-4 years. Why? There’s no need to. When there’s a special occasion, I wear the scarce fancy clothing that I own.
The rest of the time, I wear clothes that I got for free at university or company. Yes, that means that I provide free marketing for those organizations. However, in return, I get free clothing and warmth. It’s a win-win.
Never in a million years will anyone look at me and say “that guy’s rich”. Instead, I blend in with the crowd and do not stick out like a sore thumb. To me, the goal is to be rich, not to look rich. I don’t consider myself to be rich right now either. However, if I continue down this path of looking poor, I know one day I will get there.
Mark Cuban more often than not wears a t-shirt and jeans. Mark Zuckerberg wears the same clothing every single day. Their lives are very simplified so that they can tackle on the complex decisions at work. They understand what is actually important and what can be skimped out on.
The next time that you are out in public, the one who looks the poorest is probably the richest person in the room. CEOs gladly go into a room in casual clothing while others wear suits and ties. They rarely have anything to prove to anyone else because they’ve already gotten to the top.
If others mock them for it, it does not bother them. At the end of the day, they’ve gotten to where others are dreaming to get to.
The Goal is to Be Rich Not to Look Rich
Living in reality instead of fantasy will lead you to not having money regrets down the road. If the goal is to make other people jealous of you, you start to lose. It’s a fantasy world where people are paying more attention to you than you think they do.
As a result, you may have an exorbitant amount of decorations for when you have people over. Or maybe you bought new clothes because you wanted a new look. These days, the truth is that technology has become far more sophisticated than ever before.
The products and services that we buy usually last a very long time. There’s no need to get the latest and greatest. Shoes will last a good 5 years with proper care. What that means is that you don’t need to buy new things so often. Most of the products you buy are high quality and lasts a long time.
So then, the real reason for buying the newest thing is to look rich and keep up appearances. That is a terrible reason to do so. You shouldn’t want to look like a millionaire but become a millionaire. The rich are some of the most frugal people you will ever meet.
Sure, it might actually make them look cheap to others, but they fully accept that and do not care. What matters to them is are they saving money they should be saving. That is how everyone should think to better their financial lives.
Substance is much better than form. Who you actually are is much better than who others think you are. The goal is to be rich, not to look rich.
“The goal is to BE rich, not to LOOK rich”
Bingo! Couldn’t have said it better myself!
Why spend myself into the poorhouse to impress other people? When they get to know me, they won’t be impressed by my poor judgment anyway…
Absolutely! a reader commented something that still sticks with me today. “Never put pride before profit”. That was deep.