Lessons from very rich people
I have had the great opportunity to know some very rich people in my life, I have had the awesome experience to know very well how they live, work, and manage money. Here are some lessons I have gathered and I want to share with everyone and hopefully you can get some knowledge on how they view money.
This is of course my personal views and questions that I have asked them as I got to know them. The three people that I am drawing this post from are from the following backgrounds, there is always exception to the rules of course, but for the most part these are true.
Family A : Owns a large kitchen cabinet company, has a nice home (nothing huge) and loves to eat out and travel, but dresses humbly and drives a used jeep cherokee.
Family B : Owns a steel manufacturing company and also dresses humbly, travels, loves to eat out in nice restaurants and also drives a used car. They are the ones that bought the property in Acapulco and only travel there for vacations. Their son asked for a new BMW M3, the father bought him a used Ford Explorer!
Family C : Owns a manufacturing company and also dresses humbly, lives in the Bridle path area, drives an older car bought new over 5 years ago, also has a property in Cancun, and only travel there for vacations.
Cars
They don't believe in new cars, they actually hate new cars. The only time they will purchase a new car is only for business purposes, but not for personal use. They like reliable used cars or if they do purchase a new car, they hold on to it till it dies.
Investing
They do not invest in the stock market, they hate investing in terms of risk, they would rather grow their business and only invest in things that they know with a high certainty that they will get a great return. Think properties, businesses that they know will make a great return etc.
Money
They are cheap wads when it comes to spending, don't expect them to rush in and pay for things when you are out with them, unless of course they invited you. They hate buying things that don't provide some kind of value, they will buy the most expensive thing for their needs, but only because of reliability and the ability to sell it later for a nice sum. Most of the people I know don't even have a flat screen tv, most of them have some old tv sets or they only have one LCD tv in the family room. Don't believe me, go to estate sales in a rich neighbourhoods, you will be shocked at what you see in there. They use credit cards like crazy, but only because it gives them points and provides protection on purchases.
Vacations
They love vacations and travel often, however, they either buy a property in the place they like, which saves a ton of money and it provides the ability to sell it later. For some who don't want to buy a property overseas, they will stay in very nice resorts, this is the rare time they will spend some good money in a place (though deep down inside, they wish they could go for free)
These are the lessons that I have learned from them as well, I drive a used car and bought a used mini van as well for the family. I do my best not to spend on frivolous things and try to buy things of value for selling at a good price later on. I don't have any LCD tv's at home and the one day that I do, I will find the best price and buy it cash.