Why the rich want to get richer

[jeffrey]

Study after study shows that people would prefer a medium-sized house in a neighborhood of small houses to a big house in a neighborhood of much bigger houses. What people really want isn't to have a big house, in other words, but to have a bigger house than their peers. Economists call products driven by this sort of status competition "positional goods." The less-technical term for this sort of behavior is "keeping up with the Joneses," and we all do it.

When you're talking about changes in CEO pay, you're not talking about changes in the money CEOs use to make ends meet. You're talking about changes in a compensation package that has long since become totally abstract. Making $50 million is nicer than making $40 million, but the things it's buying, and the things it's saying about you, are, at that point, positional: it's a display of worth, not the way you put food on the table. People sometimes ask what CEOs need with all this money. The answer is they don't need it. But they need to not be making less money than other CEOs. If they are making less, then what does that say about them?

Why the rich want to get richer - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post

[krantcents]

There may be an element of that, however many rich people work hard because they enjoy what they are doing. I cannot imagine not working at something. A quiet retirement would be boring to me although I work would be different as I get older.

[Steel]

Why the rich becomes richer? This is because their financial blueprint is different compare to ordinary people. They think Big and creative.

[nitemarecooper]

The rich become richer partly because they have enough money to spare they can invest in certain high return investments not available to lower income people. Further, often they can reduce their taxes paid on their income due to various methods of hiding income and getting away with it also not available to lower income people.

[photo]

[quote=jeffrey;297167]
When you're talking about changes in CEO pay, you're not talking about changes in the money CEOs use to make ends meet. You're talking about changes in a compensation package that has long since become totally abstract. Making $50 million is nicer than making $40 million, but the things it's buying, and the things it's saying about you, are, at that point, positional: it's a display of worth, not the way you put food on the table.

The former CEO at Pfizer, Jeffrey Kindler, kept making mistake after mistake, so he was fired. His severance package for being such a bad CEO? Nearly $10 million.

[Gary Barzel]

Was your question why the rich want to get richer? I think this applies to everyone, rich and poor alike. Everyone wants to have more money at their disposal. If you want to know why the rich get richer, well once you have more money at your disposal then you can invest more money, and put your money in many places, thus resulting in you getting richer.

[jpg7n16]

Originally Posted by Gary Barzel

Was your question why the rich want to get richer?

That wasn't his question - it was the title of the article...

[ZenQueen]

If the need to having more than the Jones' is causation for getting richer, then it's nothing more than being insecure and narcissistic.

My idea of wanting to get rich and then continuing to do so is because I've always had a strong desire to become a philanthropist. I cannot even begin to fathom having myself surrounded by all manner of materialism, but then, that's just me.

[photo]

Originally Posted by ZenQueen

I cannot even begin to fathom having myself surrounded by all manner of materialism, but then, that's just me.

People do need to save their money to become richer if for no other reason than to feed themselves when they are no longer able to provide an income for themselves. Many people think of a million dollars as being rich, but for retirement, it's really not that much.

Many extremely rich people do not live like they are rich. Look at Warren Buffet's house. He has owned it for decades and although it's very nice, it isn't a mansion or castle.